Equivalence of characters in N. S. Leskov’s fairy tale
The article is devoted to analyzing N. S. Leskov’s late prose poetics. The material for the article is the last tale written by the author in this genre - the story The Rabbit Warren (Zayachii remiz). Decreasing importance of the plot characteristic of tale narration in general leads to the weakening of temporal and causal links in narrative motives and strengthening of equivalent links. The equivalent characters in the story are the bishop and the “enlightened” girl. The correlation of the characters can be observed at different levels: plot, composition, motive and intertextual. The bishop’s paradoxical and travesty image is created by Leskov in terms of folk humour culture. However, the funny side disguises what is really important for the writer: being on the top of the church hierarchy and following the “letter” of Orthodoxy, the bishop turns out to be completely alien not only to spiritual, but also to moral principles of this religion. Contrasted to him is the positive ideal of specific rational ethics shown by Leskov in the character of a young teacher. The comparison of the two characters reflects the writer’s estrangement of Orthodox practice on the one hand, and his acquaintance with Protestant culture and L. Tolstoy’s doctrine, on the other.