Достоевский и мировая культура: Филологический журнал (Mar 2021)
The Function of the Fairy Tale in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Novel Netochka Nezvanova
Abstract
The article analyses the significance of fairy tales and fairy-tale motifs in the description of a particular period of Netochka’s life. Dostoevsky uses fairy-tale attributes to describe the childhood Netochka spent with her mother and stepfather in the attic. Netochka remembers herself from the emergence of her love for Efimov, who had already built a world of fantasies and illusions around himself by that time. Netochka accepts his vision of reality and plunges into an unreal, fairy tale atmosphere. She believes in Efimov’s talent, she hates and fears her poor mother as he does, and she dreams of running away from home. At some moment, the fairy tale collapses: the “evil wife” dies and Efimov cannot triumph over the visiting violinist S-ts. The lost talent suddenly becomes an unquestionable fact for Efimov himself, and for Netochka as well. That is why the girl suddenly begins to be afraid of her father, does not want to leave her mother alone in the room, and is afraid of the journey that she has been dreaming about so much. Waking up from the fairy tale, both Efimov and Netochka begin to see things as they are, begin to realize reality. Life without a fairy tale and faith in his own genius becomes impossible for Efimov. However, the liberation from fantasies and dreams turns out to be an opportunity for Netochka to move on toward a new life. The study of fairytale features in the novel helps to understand how Netochka grew up and how her love for Efimov brought Netochka into the strange and magical atmosphere that characterizes the girl’s childhood. Moreover, allusions to fairy tales, used in the description of this period of life, show how strongly children are influenced by the behavior and thoughts of those they love, and how much a person can distort reality, not wanting to recognize the sadness of life.
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