Biblical Symbolism in A. P. Chekhov’s Story “Easter Eve”
The author focuses on A. P. Chekhov’s story “Easter Eve”, though the question of the relevance of the study of this story in a symbolic context is still debatable. At the same time, foreign researchers have already made serious attempts to analyze A. P. Chekhov’s work on the subject of symbolism. In particular, W. C. Axelrod studied the story “Easter Eve” in the context of a common symbol of the liturgical transition from Holy Saturday to Easter. However, Axelrod’s hermeneutic interpretation of symbolism was not applied to all the images of this Chekhov’s story. The article offers a broader view and detailed commentary on the biblical images used by A. P. Chekhov in the story “Easter Eve” and focuses on the hermeneutical analysis of the studied symbols. As a research task, the author attempts to analyze this story of A. P. Chekhov on the subject of biblical symbolism, based on previous studies of the object. The purpose of the article is a comprehensive review of the existing biblical symbols in this story. Special attention is paid to the interpretations and comments of foreign literary critics W. C. Axelrod, D. Rayfield and C. McSweeney. The author of the article considers this story to be an integral system of symbols, built around a single central idea, and therefore, the analysis of the work is based on a systematic methodological approach, with the principles of integrity and structuring. From the point of view of scientific novelty, this study is of special interest as the first attempt of domestic science to thoroughly study Chekhov’s story “Easter Eve” in terms of biblical symbolism, on the basis of foreign sources known to the author. The author of the article concludes that the biblical symbolism allows A. P. Chekhov to show the direct involvement of each of the story character to the biblical events remembered during the Easter service.