The Echo of N.V. Gogol and A.P. Chekhov in Fyodor Sologub's "The Little Devil": the Narrative of Marriage

Kikhney Lyubov Gennad'evna Doctor of Philology Professor of the Department of History of Journalism and Literature, Moscow University name after A. S. Griboyedov Office 321, Shosse Entuziastov str., Moscow, 107207, Russia lgkihney@yandex.ru

Danilina Ol'ga Vyacheslavovna Senior Lecturer; Department of Russian Language and Literature; Lomonosov Moscow State University Postgraduate student; Faculty of Journalism; Griboyedov Moscow University 66a Zeleny ave., office 311, Moscow, 111396, Russia olgadanilina@mail.ru

Fyodor Sologub's novel "The Little Devil" bears the unspoken title of a work that completes classical Russian literature. Numerous sources of intertext in it include "The Queen of Spades" by A.S. Pushkin ^[1], other texts by A.S. Pushkin ^{[2; 3]}, in particular, "Eugene Onegin" ^[4] "Demons" and "The Brothers Karamazov" by F.M. Dostoevsky, explicitly mentioned in the text "The Man in the Case" ^[5]. The "Dante code" of the novel is also analyzed separately ^[6], the ancient novel about Daphnis and Chloe is named as sources ^[7], and elements of auto-intertext are identified ^[8].

Among the numerous sources of the text of the "Little Demon", works of classical Russian literature prevail – Chekhov, Pushkin, Dostoevsky. At the same time, the text of classical Russian literature, which seems to be directly related to the "Small Demon" and significantly influenced its content, has not been reflected in Russian literary criticism as the source of the text of the "Small Demon". This is N.V. Gogol's play "Marriage".

The main character of "The Little Demon", Ardalion Peredonov, a literature teacher at a provincial gymnasium, pathologically obsessed with getting an inspector's job, resembles other significant literary characters. As M.M. Pavlova noted in this regard, "the name Ardalion comes from the Latin – ardalio – a fussy person, a troublemaker, according to another assumption – a loafer. The main meaning of the name allows us to consider the hero as another mutation of the classic image of the "little man": Peredonov's "inspector's place" is akin to Akaki Bashmachkin's "overcoat" or Pushkin's Hermann's "three cards" ^{[4, p. 720]}. Embedding Peredonov in the context of "little people", one should take into account not only Bashmachkin and Hermann, who are obsessed with one passion, but also Podkolesin and Chekhov Belikov, who are indecisive and unable to take any radical action in their lives. The homology of the "Hermann–Bashmachkin–Peredonov" series is discussed in detail in ^[1], but in this study we note that Peredonov closes two lines of "little people" of Russian literature. The first line linking Peredonov with Hermann and Bashmachkin should be considered destructive.: these characters are obsessed with a passion inextricably linked to material goods (to buy an overcoat, win at cards, get an inspector position), they are indirectly or directly responsible for the death of other people or their mental shock (Hermann drives the Countess to death, Bashmachkin after death takes revenge on the owners of rich overcoats, Peredonov kills his friend Volodin). This line of characters belongs to the world of fiction – in "The Queen of Spades" Hermann is haunted by an old woman, in "The Overcoat" Akaky Akakievich becomes a ghost himself, Peredonov is haunted by a mysterious nedotyk.

This "mystically destructive" line of "little people" merges with another, "passive-inert" one, which unites Peredonov with the main character of Gogol's "Marriage", as well as Chekhov's "Man in a Case". Let's consider the general elements of the plot, the character system, and the subject world of "Marriage" and "The Little Demon."

First of all, the parallelism of situations attracts attention: the main character – Podkolesin in Gogol and Peredonov in Sologub – is going to get married from the very first lines of the text, but delays the issue, hesitates with the final decision. The text of "Marriage" begins with a discussion of Peredonov's marriage, and his lively and energetic comrade Routilov suggests marrying one of his sisters.: "You'll get a place, and then hang out with whoever you want. You'd better take three of my sisters, choose any one. The young ladies are educated, intelligent, and, without flattery, no match for Varvara. She is no match for them" ^{[9, p. 5]}. The text of "Marriage" also contains a scene at the beginning where the energetic Kochkarev is going to marry the indecisive Podkolesin:

"Kochkarev. Well, brother, this matter cannot be postponed. Go.

Podkolesin. But I'm nothing yet. I just thought so...

Kochkarev. It's nothing, it's nothing! Just don't be embarrassed: I'll marry you so that you won't hear. We're going to the bride's house right now, and you'll see how suddenly everything happens" ^{[10, p. 118]}.

In the text of The Marriage, five different suitors claim Agafya Tikhonovna's hand: the sailor Baltazar Baltazarovich Zhevakin, the loud-voiced executioner Ivan Pavlovich Ovichnitsa, the delicate and delicate retired officer Nikanor Ivanovich Anuchkin, the main character Ivan Kuzmich Podkolesin and the merchant Starikov. Fekla, the matchmaker, claims that there are "six people", but in fact five appear on the scene.

In the text of the "Little Demon", the male hero becomes the object of the claims.: "Despite his peculiar character and modest teaching position (which, however, in Russia in the 1890s meant a fairly significant guaranteed income), six heroines, described for the most part in excellent tones, are applying for his hand and heart" ^[5]. These are: Varvara's second cousin, with whom Peredonov cohabits, the three Routilov sisters, Martha ("And you shouldn't take a wife from the Routilovs: they are frivolous, but you need a sedate wife. I wish they had taken my Marta" ^{[9, p. 19]}), Prepolovenskaya's younger sister (Genichka) ("Prepolovenskaya wanted Peredonov to marry her sister, Debela popovna" ^{[9, p. 30]}). "Genichka" does not appear in the text and is only mentioned at the beginning, so Peredonov actually has five brides, and the sixth is mentioned only in passing.

The number of candidates for the main character / protagonist is thus identical, however, in "The Little Demon" three of them are siblings (which refers both to A.P. Chekhov's "Three Sisters" and, in general, to the number "three" sacred to Russian culture). Agafya Tikhonovna's suitors are not related to each other in any way, they compete regardless of family ties.

In "Marriage" there is a scene of Agafya Tikhonovna choosing suitors, ending with her running away from them in embarrassment.:

"Agafya Tikhonovna (softly). I'm ashamed, really ashamed, I'll leave, really I'll leave. Auntie, sit for me.

Thekla. Oh, don't do this to shame, don't go away; you'll be completely ashamed. They won't know what they'll think.

Agafya Tikhonovna (the same way). No, I'm really leaving. I'm leaving, I'm leaving! (He runs away.)" ^{[10, p. 137]}

At the same time, the grooms praise themselves (Kochkarev speaks about Podkolesin), relying on their strengths and mentioning their profession.:

"Scrambled eggs. But what, madam, if you had to choose a subject? Let me know your taste. I'm sorry for being so direct. In which service do you think it would be more decent for a husband to be?

Zhevakin. Would you, madam, like to have a husband who is familiar with sea storms?

Kochkarev. No, no. The best husband, in my opinion, is the man who alone manages almost the entire department.

Anuchkin. Why the prejudice? Why would you want to show disdain to a man who, although, of course, served in the infantry service, but nevertheless knows how to appreciate the treatment of high society" ^{[10, p. 137]}.

Sologub has a symmetrical scene when Routilov proposes to Peredonov to marry one of his sisters, and the sisters praise themselves.:

"Daria said:

- I'll bake delicious pancakes for you, hot, just don't choke.

Lyudmila shouted from behind her shoulder:

- And I'll walk around the city every morning, collect all the gossip, and then tell you. I'm having a lot of fun.

Between the cheerful faces of the two sisters, Valerochka's moody, thin face appeared for a moment, and her fragile voice was heard.:

"And there's no way I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do, so you can guess for yourself" ^{[9, p. 55]}.

Gogol's grooms speak of themselves in the third person: "a man familiar with sea storms," etc. The Routilov sisters speak in the first person: "I... will bake pancakes," "I ... will walk around the city." This refers to a prototypical scene from Alexander Pushkin's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", in which the heroines also refer to themselves in the first person.

Peredonov, like Agafya Tikhonovna, comes to look at potential brides in the company of a matchmaker (Routilov performs her function in Sologub's work), cannot choose from the proposed brides, first chooses Valeria, then Lyudmila, then Daria, eventually does not choose any of the sisters and leaves, practically duplicating the escape scene Agafya Tikhonovna. When choosing a bride, there is also a motive for the urgent organization of the wedding.: Just as Kochkarev suggests to Podkolesin that they get married without delay and prepare a wedding dinner, Routilov suggests that they immediately go to church and get married with one of his sisters.:

"Her hands were shaking. They began to dress her up, and all three sisters fussed over her. She was, as always, coy and slow. Her sisters were hurrying her. Routilov chattered incessantly, happily and excitedly. He liked that he had arranged the whole thing so cleverly.

"Have you got the cabbies ready?" Daria asked worriedly.

Routilov replied with annoyance:

- Is it possible? The whole town would have run away. Varvara would have dragged him to her by the hair.

"So what about us?"

- And so, we'll walk to the square in pairs, and then we'll hire. Very simple. First, you're with the bride, and Larisa is with the groom, and even then it won't be immediately, otherwise someone else in the city will see. Lyudmila and I will pick up Falastov, the two of them will go, and I will also take Volodin" ^{[9, p. 56]}.

Sologub's matchmaking scene is reversed: in Gogol's text, the bride chooses the grooms, in Sologub's the groom chooses the brides. This is consistent with the motive of travesty as one of the leading ones in the novel: Peredonov conflicts with high school student Sasha Pylnikov, explicitly accusing the latter of being a young lady in disguise. As a result, at the end of the novel, Sasha really disguises herself as a geisha young lady, turning the pseudo–travesty into a real act of dressing up ^[8].

In "Marriage," N.V. Gogol ridicules the indecisive Podkolesin, who cannot decide to get married, agrees under pressure from society, but eventually jumps out of the window at the last moment. T.L. Vorobyova, analyzing "Marriage," notes: "In this absurd world, the matchmaking ritual resembled the capture of a criminal, and the newly-made groom himself behaved like a man who was awaiting a long prison sentence" ^{[11, p. 164]}. These words are fully applicable to Peredonov: although the latter, unlike Podkolesin, nevertheless marries Varvara, effectively legalizing long-term cohabitation with her, nevertheless, he perceives this marriage as a burden, a conclusion. He is afraid of living with Varvara, accuses her of witchcraft, hides knives so that she does not stab him, etc. "For some reason, the thought came to his mind and tormented him for several days that he would be stabbed; he was afraid of everything sharp and hid knives and forks.

"Maybe," he thought, "they've been spoken and whispered. You'll just cut yourself with a knife."

"Why the knives?" – He told Varvara. – The Chinese eat with chopsticks.

They didn't roast meat for a whole week because of this, they were content with cabbage soup and porridge" ^{[9, p. 318]}.

Peredonov is afraid that Varvara will steal his money, hides his wallet, believes that she is sending spies on him.:

"At home, Peredonov constantly heard rustling noises, continuous, annoying, mocking. He spoke wistfully to Varvara:

"There's someone tiptoeing around, spies everywhere. Varka, you don't take care of me" ^{[9, p. 332]}.

"Marriage" is a brief sketch from the life of Podkolesin, who wanted to get married and changed his mind at the last moment, "The Little Devil" is precisely the development of the theme, already from the perspective of a man: life "after marriage" turns into one filled with fear and hatred, the official registration of marriage exacerbates Peredonov's paranoia, and he sees his main enemy in his lawful spouse who tricked him into marrying by using a forged letter from Princess Volchanskaya, allegedly promising protection to Varvara's spouse.

In "The Little Demon", another important feature of N.V. Gogol's "Marriage" is reproduced: repetitions of similar situations, lexical and grammatical constructions ^[12]. Gogol repeats the grooms' arguments several times, and the scene is played twice when Kochkarev leads Podkolesin to the bride despite the latter's resistance. We see the same thing in Sologub: first of all, the matchmaking scene is repeated twice in the novel, and in the second case Peredonov already acts as a matchmaker, introducing his friend Volodin to the young lady Adamenko. The motif of hidden knives is also repeated: the first time Peredonov takes sharp objects from Varvara even before marriage, the second time after.

The motif of the cards is also important for both texts: Agafya Tikhonovna is guessing on the cards: "Again, auntie, the road! Some king of diamonds, tears, or a love letter is interested; on the left side, the king of clubs expresses great concern, but some villainess interferes" ^{[10, p. 121]}. Agafya Tikhonovna sees real people in the maps:

"Arina Panteleimonovna. Who do you think would be the king of clubs?

Agafya Tikhonovna. I don't know.

Arina Panteleimonovna. And I know who it is.

Agafya Tikhonovna. And who?" ^{[10, p. 122]}

Peredonov sees people in the cards in the same way during a card game: "Everywhere in front of Peredonov's eyes there were card figures, as if they were alive – kings, steals, clutter. There were even small cards. These are people with light buttons: high school students, policemen. Ace is fat, with a bulging belly, almost just a belly. Sometimes the cards turned into people they knew. Real people and these strange werewolves mixed up" ^{[9, p. 334]}. The characters of the "Little Devil" play cards, guess on cards, humanize cards (a distraught Peredonov eventually pokes out their eyes so that the cards "don't look" at him).

The motive of waiting for the wedding, its arrangement (and disorder) and the subsequent madness of the groom is also present in the text, which Sologub himself explicitly identified as the source of the "Petty Demon" - in A.P. Chekhov's short story "The Man in the Case." Belikov, Chekhov's hero, is just as indecisive as Podkolesin: "No, marriage is a serious step, we must first weigh the upcoming responsibilities and responsibilities... so that something doesn't happen later. It worries me so much, I don't sleep all night now. And, frankly, I'm afraid: she and her brother have some kind of strange way of thinking, they talk somehow, you know, strangely, and their character is very lively. You'll get married, and then, maybe, you'll get into some kind of trouble" ^{[13, p. 68]}. His bride, like Peredonov's bride, is named Varvara, Belikov, like the heroes of Gogol and Sologub, postpones the proposal, and eventually loses his mind and dies – like Peredonov.

The recurring motif in classical Russian literature of the groom's indecision, his unwillingness to marry and unwillingness to take the plunge refers to the importance of the sacrament of marriage, its sacred status. Podkolesin, Belikov and Peredonov are afraid of changing their status, forming a family, and getting married in the face of God. At the same time, Gogol's Podkolesin and Chekhov's Belikov are bachelors, which is emphasized in the text of the work, they live alone with male servants, and in many ways they are also afraid of the change in everyday aspects of life, the need to live together with a woman, adjust their daily actions in this regard, etc. Peredonov, on the other hand, has been living with Varvara since the very beginning of the text, living in sin, without a wedding, and she is his second cousin. The text of the "Little Demon" opens with a discussion of this fact: "How come you're on Varvara. Are you getting married to Dmitrievna? " What is it ?" asked the red –faced Falastov: "She's your sister, isn't she?" Is there a new law that says you can get married to sisters?" ^{[9, p. 3]}. That is, if Podkolesin and Belikov are bachelors who are unable to decide to change their established way of life, then Peredonov Sologuba is a sinner who tramples on the foundations of both the institution of marriage and common sense. Unlike the heroes of Gogol and Chekhov, he eventually marries Varvara, but marriage does not change anything in his life – on the contrary, it is after the wedding that paranoid motives increase, fear of everything that surrounds him, eventually leading to madness and death. An official marriage "closes", "loops" Peredonov, turning the cohabitation consecrated by the sacrament of marriage into a closed prison, the way out of which is murder. The motive of the inveterate bachelor's unwillingness to marry, which is end–to-end for Russian literature, gets a new reading in the Silver Age - the hero gets married, but marriage becomes a "point of no return", his life deteriorates and ends in a tragic finale.