The research object of the article are tales created on the basis of the traditional plots with participation of the image of stepmother. The Azerbaijani variants are compared with their analogs in the peoples’ of the world folklore. The author of the article tries to show both the social aspects and mythological semantics of the problem of stepmother that is a negative paradigm of the archetype “mother”. When considering the conflict between stepmother and daughter – in – law in the context of social relations one can see that its basis is their belonging to the different tribes. From the mythological standpoint the connection between stepdaughter and ashes, soot is traced at almost all peoples and that is connected with the celestial bodies, natural phenomena. The motive “an animal helps a hero” in the analysed plot is explained by the totemic views. The author says about the sacral essence of the heroes’ lie in some episodes and considers it to be a magic method. The functions of the image of the crone in the plot are itemized, her status is determined in the article. The author also expresses her attitude to the motives “to be swallowed by a fish”, “hair”, “wind” appreciated by the different researchers.