The subject of the research is the opposition of nature and culture in Chekhov's play as an expression of the conflict of aestheticism and panaesthetism. The object of the research was one of the most famous works of the writer, namely the play “The Seagull”. The author of the article shows the involvement of the conflict of the play in the aesthetic concepts relevant at the turn of the XIX—XX centuries. Special attention is paid to the similarities and differences
of Chekhov's artistic method in its simultaneous attraction-repulsion from the concepts of modernism gaining popularity. The key direction of the research is the analysis of the antithesis of the images of Trigorin and Treplev in the context of the concept of fate creatively proposed by the writer in the play. The novelty of the research lies in the proposed idea of the inevitable repetition of fate due to the inevitability of the culture dominant in the life path of the heroes. The article for the first time raises the question of the conceptual impact of the creative dominant on the biography of the characters of the play as a negative triumph of aestheticism and the only possible way to overcome it. The figurative and motivic aspects were analyzed in detail, which allow for the revealing the dynamics of changing the panaesthetic prerequisites of fate to their realization in the spirit of aestheticism as the destruction of the harmonious relationship of natural and cultural principles. Special attention is paid to the creative component of the characters, actualizing the meta-textual level of the play.
For citation:
Proshchin E.E. The aesthetic context of the opposition “nature” — “culture” in the play “The Seagull” by A.P. Chekhov, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2023, iss. 4, pp. 31—37.