ADULTERY IN LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY RUSSIAN AND GERMAN LITERATURE
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2020-5-155-163
Introduction. The article describes the changes in ideas on the family and the role of woman in public consciousness at the end of the nineteenth century. The aim and objectives. The aim of this work is to study the reflection of female emancipation process in Russian and German society at the end of the nineteenth century. Material and methods. The material for research is the novel by L. N. Tolstoy “Anna Karenina” and the novel by Th. Fontane “Effi Briest”. The analytical and descriptive, comparative, cultural and historical methods are used in this work. Results and discussion. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, European and Russian society faced the crisis of the family institution. The global historical, political, socioeconomic and ideological changes had their influence on the understanding of the role and place of women. The problem of women emancipation is widely represented in the works of the European and Russian writers of the given period. L. N. Tolstoy in the novel “Anna Karenina” gives a critical eye to the state of the “family matter”. The writer indicates the discredit of the traditional ideas on marriage in the society of Moscow’s and Petersburg’s nobility. L. N. Tolstoy exposes the hypocrisy of nobles, vicious in all spheres of life (official, family, economical spheres) but advocating for decency. In “Anna Karenina” we see how inequitable social gender roles are. The heroine of the novel was rejected not due to the adultery, but because of the aspiration to live openly. The conflict of the emancipated person against the ossified society becomes a plot engine in “Effi Briest” novel by the German writer. We found the coincidence of the key personality traits of the Th. Fontane and L. N. Tolstoy protagonists. The unifying quality is the ambition, based on the undisclosed emotional potential of a woman from noble society. If the social ground of Anna Karenina’s tragedy in the Tolstoy novel is the hypocrisy of the high society, the Effi Briest catastrophe is due to (in Fontane’s opinion) misconception of honour in the German noble society. Similar features are found in the male characters of the novels. However, there is a moral superiority of Karenin over Instetten that can be explained by peculiarities of the mentality. Conclusion. The comparative analysis of L. N. Tolstoy’s and Th. Fontane’s works allows us to conclude that there is coincidence of the created social and psychological situation and the characters’ emotional reactions to similar collisions without proven interference of the texts. In both works, developing women’s emancipation is portrayed as a complicated and dramatic process, which testifies to the epoch’s crisis.
Keywords: L. N. Tolstoy, Th. Fontane, novel, emancipation, adultery
References:
1. Goncharov I. A. “Mil’on terzaniy”: (Kriticheskiy etyud) [“The million of the torments”: (Critical exercises)]. In: Goncharov I. A. Sobraniye sochineniy: v 8 t. 1952–1955. T. 8. Stat’i, zametki, retsenzii, avtobiografii, izbrannye pis’ma [Collection of works in 8 volume. 1952–1955. Vol. 8. Articles, notes, reviews, autobiographies, selected letters)]. Moscow, Gosudarstvennoye izdatel’stvo khudozhestvennoy literatury Publ., 1955. Pр. 7–40 (in Russian).
2. Khabibulina G. N. Problema zhenskoy individual’nosti v tvorchestve pisateley vtoroy poloviny XIX veka [The problem of the woman individuality in the works of the writers of the second half of the nineteenth century]. Izvestiya Rossiyskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta im. A. I. Gertsena – Izvestia: Herzen University Journal of Humanities & Sciences, 2007, vol. 9, no. 29, pp. 114–117 (in Russian).
3. Mikhaylov M. L. Parizhskiye pis’ma [The Paris letters]. In: Mikhaylov M. L. Sochineniya: v 3 t. T. 3. Kritika i bibliografiya: Zapiski [Works: in 3 volumes. Vol. 3: Critique and bibliography: Notes]. Moscow, Goslitizdat Publ., 1958. Pр. 221–305 (in Russian).
4. Gudziy N. K. Lev Tolstoy [Leo Tolstoy]. Moscow, Goslitizdat Publ., 1960. 214 p. (in Russian).
5. Tolstoy L. N. Anna Karenina. In: Tolstoy L. N. Sobraniye sochineniy: v 12 t. T. 7. [The collection of works in 12 volumes. Vol. 7]. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1984. 496 p. (in Russian).
6. Bayev E. G. “Anna Karenina” L. N. Tolstogo [Anna Karenina of L. N Tolstoy]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1978. 158 p. (in Russian).
7. Eliseyeva A. V. Gendernye, sotsial’nye i natsional’nye performativnye konstruktsii v romane T. Fontane “Effi Brist” [Gender, social and national performative constructions in the novel “Effi Briest” by T. Fontane]. Vestnik Saint PetersburgGU. Seriya 9 – Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Series 9. Philology. Asian Studies. Journalism, 2014, issue 1, pp. 52–59 (in Russian).
8. Fontane Th. Effi Briest. Verlag Neues Leben. Berlin, 1972. 343 p.
9. Nabokov V. V. Anna Karenina. In: Nabokov V. V. Lektsii po russkoy literature [The lectures in Russian literature]. Saint Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., 2015. Pр. 189–285 (in Russian).
10. Simon Berlinger. Frauenrechtler wider Willen. URL: https://www.fr.de/panorama/theodor-fontane-frauenrechtler-widerwillen-12204782.html ( accessed 2 April 2020).
11. Von Frauenbildern zu Frauenkonstruktionen. Eine Analyse der Frauengestalten in Theodor Fontanes Roman Effi Briest. URL: https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/25599/BergFertigeMasterarbeitDerRomanTheodorFontanesAusgabe2010.pdf?sequence=2 (accessed 19 March 2020).
12. Die Rolle der Frau. URL: https://www.grin.com/document/128474 (аccessed 13 July 2020).
13. Zinin S. A., Chalmayev V. A. (author-comp.) Programma kursa “Literatura”. 10–11 klassy. Bazovyy uroven’ [The program of the course “Literature”. 10–11 courses. The basic level]. Moscow, Russkoye slovo – uchebnik Publ., 2018. 48 p. (in Russian).
14. Korovina V. Ya. (ed.) Literatura: programmy 5–11 klassov (bazovyy uroven’), 10–11 klassov (profil’nyy uroven’) [Literature: the program for 5–11 courses (the basic level), 10–11courses (the profile level]. Moscow, Prosveshcheniye Publ., 2020. 254 p. (in Russian).
15. Kurdyumova T. F., Leonov S. A., Mar’ina O. B. Rabochiye programmy k linii UMK [The working program for the curricula]. Moscow, Drofa Publ., 2016. 77 p. (in Russian).
( 431.15 kB ) 
( 424.13 kB )
Issue: 5, 2020
Series of issue: Issue 5
Rubric: TOPICAL ISSUES OF LITERARY CRITICISM
Pages: 155 — 163
Downloads: 688