Ivan The Terrible in Russian Folklore - Enemy of The Boyar

Enemy of The Boyar

The second way a positive image of Ivan was created through folklore can be found by looking at examples that show Ivan was “an enemy of the boyar”. Through tales such as “The Potter”, we see how the tsar was often depicted as siding with the commoner against the boyars and other aristocratic individuals. Throughout “The Potter” a friendship develops between Ivan and a common potter. The tsar is attracted to the potter because of his ability to answer riddles. Because the tsar is impressed by his quick wittedness, he vows that, “if you (referring to the potter) stick to me, and I’ll stick to you”. Consequently, the tsar helps this potter create a monopoly against the other boyars over the pottery sales in Russia. When an un-suspecting boyar is unable to pay for the merchandise he ordered, the tsar punishes him by making the boyar switch social roles with the potter.

Through this story we see that a friendship between the tsar and the potter develops out of the mutual dislike of the boyars. We are also provided with evidence that the tsar is more willing to help the common potter than he is the boyar. In addition, the tsar is attracted to the potter’s quick wittedness and consequently he was more willing to help the witty man from the lower social classes than he was the “stupid” middle- upper class boyars. Finally, this story is an example of Haney’s claim that through many folktales, Ivan is depicted as a “resolute but compassionate and an enlightened ruler, anxious to protect the peasants from the landowners, and he goes to some extraordinary lengths to do so”.

As the above examples of folklore show, a positive image of Ivan the Terrible can be found whenever a folktale has Ivan either a friend to a common peasant or an enemy to the boyar. There are a few reasons that folklorists provide us with that explain why this positive image of Ivan IV was created throughout Russian folklore. One valid reason is that the common people did not see the Ivan’s actions as negative- he was simply doing his job as the tsar. They believed that it was the tsar’s responsibility to protect his country, and he should do whatever it takes to accomplish that obligation.

In addition, because the tsar was seen as their only benefactor, the peasants often would not like to ridicule or satirize the tsar because they feared upsetting him. They hoped to create and tell stories about Ivan IV that would be pleasing to him, which would be build a better relationship between the tsar and the “commoners.” In addition, these stories also created the “ideal tsar” that many Russians hoped would run their country someday. Ivan IV was, for many of the peasants, the only figure of authority they knew and they did not know any other type of ruling. Consequently, the folklore “represents an artistic response to a historical event or character, and, in the case of a historical figure such as Ivan”. The stories regarding Ivan the Terrible were subjected to the tellers’ interpretations and opinion regarding him and his practices, and the folklore’s image of Ivan IV describes the ruler that so many Russians had hoped Ivan would become.