The role of the female image in the search for a positive hero: the gender aspect of the story by V. Sleptsov "Hard Time"
The article reveals the role of the female image in Vasily Sleptsov's story «Hard Time». In contrast to the traditional appeal to the images of male heroes as a priority in the analysis of the story that has taken place in literary criticism of the last century, an attempt is made to show that the central female image of Marya Shchetinina was not accidentally inscribed by Sleptsov in the gallery of beautiful Russian women, consistently created by his friend N. Nekrasov. In accordance with the hypothesis put forward, the authors seek to prove that in the story, in fact, only Marya is a full-fledged positive hero, which is set off by the images of both men with whom fate brought her. The authors use the biographical method to comprehend the gender aspects of the story, in connection with the significant role played by Sleptsov in the cause of women's emancipation. The article contains an analysis of the works of K. Chukovsky, written in the 1930s about Sleptsov and his story, including an analysis of the reasons that forced Chukovsky himself over time to radically change his view of Sleptsov as a consistent supporter of revolutionary ideas. Being in Sovremennik, relatively speaking, between Nekrasov and N. Chernyshevsky, Sleptsov was ideologically closer to Nekrasov, the authors of the article believe.