We know how famous Chekhov became in countries where English is spoken, so we decided to make an article in this language.
The relevance of the study lies in the fact that myths play an important role in understanding the text. The story was written at the turn of the century and contains many hidden references and subtexts.
The problem arises as to how myth relates to storytelling, what is the point of mythologising texts and how does this affect the meaning of the work.
The object of the study is the story ‘The Bride’ by A.P.Chekhov. This is the last completed story of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, ‘The Bride’, written in 1903 at the turn of the century, on the eve of the first Russian revolution, was a reflection of epochal changes. The old era was dying out, and the outlines of the new remained vague. This uncertainty imprinted on the work, leaving the ending open and the fate of the heroine unclear.
The purpose of the study is to study the story, the influence of myths, religion and era on it. All of these influenced the meaning of the work.
To achieve this goal, let us consider, let us examine the story ‘The Bride’ in several aspects.The symbolic meaning of the title ‘The Bride’
The title of the story is deeply symbolic.
The tabooistic title was meant to protect a woman entering a house foreign to her, the house of her fiancé, from evil spirits...’. This understanding harmonises with Slavic mythology, in which the pre-wedding period was perceived as the bride's break with the past. In Chekhov's story there is a symbolic ‘death’ of the bride Nadia. She dies to her former life, where she was consumed by an idle existence, and is born to a new one associated with an unknown groom. Moreover, the bride is the one destined for the groom, so her new life is inextricably linked to him.
Religious references.
Despite the fact that Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was not a deep believer, religious motifs are traced in the works on a subconscious level. In the story ‘The Bride’ there are references to biblical images. In the Bible, Christ is the bridegroom, and humanity and the soul of each individual person is the bride. This biblical motif complements the symbolic content of the story.
Uncertainty of the finale.
The finale of the story ‘The Bride’ remains open. Nadia is sent to her fiancé, but her fate is uncertain. Chekhov does not give the reader an unambiguous answer to the question of what lies ahead for the heroine: ‘She left the city - as she believed, forever’.This uncertainty reflects the uncertainty of the era itself, which was at the crossroads of two centuries.
However, summing up, it can be said that Chekhov's short story ‘The Bride’ has become a landmark work in Russian literature, reflecting a turning point in the country's history. Its uncertainty and symbolism echo other works of Russian classics such as Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace or Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. These authors also explored themes of spiritual quest, moral dilemmas and uncertainty on the threshold of change. In general, the story ‘The Bride’ by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is a profound and multifaceted work that reflects a critical era, symbolises the most important stages of human life and explores the eternal questions of human purpose and spiritual growth.
© Author of the project At the border of words: Nikolay Ivanov and Daniil Arbekov.
© Text author: Polina Stogova.
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