Article

Name: The «Penthesilea» triptych and the image of the woman warrior in the works of Sophia Parnok

Authors: Veronika B. Zuseva-Özkan

Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: This paper associates the image of the female warrior in the poetry of Sophia Parnok with her relationship and artistic dialogue with Marina Tsvetaeva for whom the woman warrior was a kind of alter ego. The evolution of this image is traced, it is shown that it arises in Parnok’s poetry in 1914–1916, i. e. in the period of her close relationship with Tsvetaeva, and later appears as its echoes. If initially there are matches and consistencies between their views on the matter, as time goes by, the artistic dialogue takes a polemic form. For Parnok the turning point is «Penthesilea» triptych. This cycle of three poems is thoroughly analysed, so are all the appearances of the woman warrior in Parnok’s works. Curiously, Parnok’s lyrical subject almost never associates itself with this image: even in her early works, it is usually projected not on herself, but mostly on the addressee of her lyric (M. Tsvetaeva), or, at least, on the lyrical subject as a double of the addressee, its reflection. When Parnok’s lyrical subject itself appears as a warrior (as is the case of the «Penthesilea» triptych), it happens only partly (in one of her hypostases Parnok’s heroine is the new Penthesilea, but in another one, she is the new Sappho) and against her will. Parnok’s female warrior is weighed down by her role and even relinquishes her weapons. As analysis demonstrates, the triptych is based on the principle of plot indeterminacy, indicating that there are two equally probable versions of the main event. On the one hand, the death of the heroine may be perceived as being killed in the fair fight (single combat), on the other hand, as a kind of suicide, non-resistance to the adversary. The duel occurs both at the level of the happenings where the heroine is disguised as the new Penthesilea and at the discourse level, which can be labelled as self-reflexive, where heroine appears as the new Sappho. At the level of the happenings, she fights Achilles. At the discourse, there is agon between Sappho and Alcaeus proved by the use of the derivative of Alcaic stanza and by numerous references to Vyacheslav Ivanov’s book «Alcaeus and Sappho» where these poets are shown as opposites in spirit by criteria of gentleness, aptitude for forgiveness vs belligerence, rage. Finally, at the third – metaphorical – level, the dispute of Parnok with Tsvetaeva occurs. In the later poetry of Sophia Parnok, the lyrical subject is invariably and unequivocally opposed to both male and female warriors, whose spirit is deeply alien and hostile for her.

Keywords: Parnok, Tsvetaeva, Sappho, Penthesilea, woman (female) warrior, Achilles, Alcaeus, Amazons

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