Representation of “Absolute Beauty” in F. Dostoevskij’s The Idiot and W. Faulkner’s Light in August
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13173/WS.69.2.350Schlagwörter:
Prince Myškin, Lena Grove, Joe Christmas, “Absolute Beauty”, Underground ManAbstract
This article is dedicated to the comparative study of the embodiment of positive characters (Prince Myškin and Lena Grove) in the novels of Dostoevskij and Faulkner. The American writer felt great affinity to Dostoevskij’s works, and it was he who (among others) had a strong influence on Faulkner’s writing. When creating a positive character (representing, in Dostoevskij’s words, “Absolute Beauty”), the Russian did not lose sight of the parallel with the traits of his Underground Man (Notes from Underground); admittedly, the archetypal creation, whose pattern of thinking and behaving found its embodiment in many of Dostoevskij’s characters (including, to some extent, Lëv Myškin); and so did Faulkner — without the associated character of Joe Christmas, who fully followed the “underground” pattern, Lena’s “Absolute Beauty” could not be described.
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