Article

Name: The Motives of “The Life of Feodosiy Pechersky” in A. P. Sumarokov’s Drama “The Hermit”

Authors: Ilya V. Kuznetsov

Novosibirsk State Theater Institute, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Literary Life of the Plot

Abstract:

The first work in the normative literature of Russian classicism, genre-wise designated as a “drama”, was the play by A. P. Sumarokov “The Hermit”. It was written and staged in 1757, when the drama genre was just beginning to form as an independent genre in the European literary system. According to researchers (P. N. Berkov, M. Levitt), the term “drama”, borrowed by Sumarokov, initially referred to Baroque spiritual performances. This idea is confirmed by the religious theme of the play, which is not typical of classical literature. The plot of “The Hermit” is based on the departure of the central character Eumenius from the world to the hermitage. Friends and family at first try to hinder Eumenius, but then, at his prayer, they change their position and accept the hermit's choice. Such a plot sequence reproduces a characteristic cluster of typical hagiographic motifs. These are such motifs as the hero's leaving home and his relatives’ attempts to stop him. They are accompanied by a final motif of the relative’s conversion to monasticism, infused by the main character. In “The Hermit”, it happens to the hero’s wife Parthenia. Moreover, Parthenia, trying to keep her husband from leaving, demonstrates a willingness to commit suicide. The two motifs, an attempted suicide and conversion to monasticism, point to the prototype of the Sumarokov play. It is not a hagiography in general, but a specific text – the Life of Theodosius Pechersky. It was created by Nestor as a paradigmatic text for the further hagiography in the 11th century. It concentrated the maximum number of typical Eastern hagiographic motifs and was to become a model for subsequent Russian lives of the reverend. The combination of these motifs allows us to see the Life of Theodosius of the Caves as a hagiographic model for the drama “The Hermit”. Sumarokov’s use of the hagiographic source is explained by the historical way of Russian literature. Having borrowed a new literary system in the 18th century, Russian literature modified it to express the figurative and semantic potential formed by the medieval tradition.

Keywords: A. P. Sumarokov, “The Hermit”, drama, school drama, The Life of Feodosiy Pechersky, motive composition

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