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Ophelia in Russian modernism – A note on A. Blok, A. Akhmatova and M. Tsvetaeva’s Ophelia poems
Cross-Cultural Studies
2015,
40(), pp.61-90
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2015.40..61
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2015.40..61
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
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The imagery of Ophelia appeared in Russian literature in the middle of the 19th century. In contrast with Hamlet, whose name had been always in the center of the most intense debates through centuries, Ophelia had been understood relatively monotonously and simply associated with the images of a chaste maiden, a tragic heroine and a devoted lover. Only after the feminist literary criticism shed new light on the complicated inner world of the young girl, the imagery of Ophelia radically changed, and now it is not difficult to encounter various Ophelias on the contemporary stages and culture. In this paper we study the remarkable changes of the imagery of Ophelia in Russian modernism poetry, analysing A. Blok, A, Akhmatova, M. Tsvetaeva’s Ophelia poems. Ophelia in Russian modernism, on the one hand, succeeding to the traditional view on Ophelia in 19th century, assumes interesting new aspects, sometimes preempting feminist point of view.
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