There are many theories about where
the plot for Swan Lake came from, and
since the creators never stated the ideas or inspirations behind this piece, any
of these theories could be correct. It, like most classical ballets, is based
on fairy tales and a legend, so finding any specific, agreed upon beginning
point is not possible. One of the main theories about the origins of this
ballet is that it was based on the German tale called “The Stolen Veil.” This
tale is about a swan that turns into a woman when her veil is stolen. There is
not much known about this fairytale today, but it is a suggested source for
this ballet.
The Little White Duck
Another theory is that this story is
based on the Russian story of The Little White Duck. In this tale, a Prince
must go on a journey and leave his wife with strangers. He tells her to stay in
her room and not trust anyone. She promises to do so, and does until one day
when a seemingly harmless old woman comes to her room and befriends her. The
old woman eventually convinces her to leave her rooms for a walk in the garden.
As they walk in the garden the old woman convinces her to swim in a stream
because it is a hot day. As soon as the princess gets in the stream, the old
woman turns her into a white duck and changes herself to look like the
princess. The prince returns and takes this false princess home with him
suspecting nothing.
The white duck lays three eggs and
they all hatch into three young ducklings, two of which are strong and big and
one of which is small. They grow up and begin to explore and the white duck
tells them not to go too far, but each day they go further away from home. One
day they wander into the prince’s courtyard and the fake princess gets them
inside and the two bigger boys fall asleep. The smaller one stays awake and
hears the fake princess getting ready to have them cooked. When she peaks in a
little while later and asks them if they are asleep, the smallest duck answers
her and convinces her that they are awake. She leaves and then returns several
hours later and asks again if they are asleep. The smaller duckling replies
that they are awake, but she realizes that she has only heard one voice and
enters the room. When she sees that two of the ducks are asleep, she kills them
and starts to get ready to cook them.
The white duck feels that something
is wrong and goes to find her children. When she sees them lying dead, she
lands and cries and yells for them. The prince hears her human cries and goes
out to catch her. When he does she returns to her human form. They send a
magpie to get living water that brings their sons back to life. The fake
princess was sentenced to death (Russian Crafts). Obviously, while there are
some similarities between this story and Swan
Lake, there are some major differences as well, not the least of which
being major character and plot differences. Most Russian accounts claim that
the ballet is based entirely upon Russian ideals and stories, but there are
multiple stories about birds turning into humans and vice versa in nearly every
culture around the world.
The theory that makes the most sense
is that Swan Lake not based on a specific
fairy tale, but is more loosely based on all of the ones involving bird and
human transformation. There is no specific fairy tale that has the same storyline of the ballet. It seems more likely that Swan Lake was created by combining all the stories about swans and
exploring the possibilities that they presented.
1.
“The
White Duck,” Russian Crafts. Accessed April 12, 2014, http://russian-crafts.com/tales/whiteduck.html.
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