N. HAWTHORN, A.N. OSTROVSKY, A.P. CHEKHOV, A.A. BLOK EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF SNOW MAIDEN

Abstract

The article is devoted to the development of the image of the Snow Maiden in the works of the same name by N. Hawthorne, A.N. Ostrovsky, as well as the transformation of the image in Chekhov’s drama “Three Sisters”, lyric cycle by A.A. Block “Carmen”. For the mythopoetic level, it is significant that there is a belief about the transformation of water into wine, into the blood of Christ. From here, you can see the proximity of the Snow Maiden’s melting, her transformation into water - the rite of the Eucharist, the communion of the blood and flesh of Christ. Correlation with the motive of the blood of Christ also makes the myth of the Snow Maiden closer to the Western European story of the Grail. Therefore, in the allegorical (conditional) aspect of the plot, the ending of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale play is read not only as Yarila’s victory, but also as the decline of paganism, a departure from primitiveness to Christianity. The evolution of the Snow Maiden’s image from Hawthorne and Ostrovsky through Chekhov to Blok demonstrates the literalization of the image, its complete translation into a mythopoetic plan, devoid of any allegorization or convention.