DISEASE AS METAPHOR: THE MOTIF OF MENTAL ILLNESS IN M.A. BULGAKOV’S EARLY STORIES

Abstract

The article deals with a study of manifestations of mental illness, acting as an extended metaphor in M.A. Bulgakov’s short stories with medical themes. By analyzing the stories “Notes of a Young Doctor”, “The Red Crown”, “The Doctor’s Extraordinary Adventures”, “Morphius”, “I Killed”, it is revealed that Bulgakov, one of the most prominent representatives of medical writers, refers to the motif of mental illness. Mental illness can be seen as a symbol of “transition” and “boundary”, the writer closely links the symptoms of his characters’ illnesses with their psychological state, reveals the inner contradictions of character, traces their psychological maturation. Bulgakov also uses the state of “madness” not only as a manifestation of mental disorder, but also as a metaphorical reflection of the moral choice of the individual, the reaction to absurd conditions of existence, which plays an important role in the creation of Bulgakov’s artistic world. Bulgakov’s characters face situations in which their psyche is on the verge of disintegration, and it is in these moments that their inner essence is most vividly revealed.