“THE CAVE” BY E.I. ZAMYATIN – A SHORT STORY AND A PLAY OF THE SAME NAME: AN AUTO-INTERPRETATION OR AN ORIGINAL WORK?

Abstract

The article examines features of the author’s style of E.I. Zamyatin based on the material of the short story “The Cave” and the play of the same name, written based on the story. The article examines the peculiarities of the language of the works, due to the peculiarities of the genre, the specifics of constructing an image in a story and a play. The play repeats the plot of the story “The Cave,” however, it has some differences both in the plot and in the images of the characters, in the ways of organizing the artistic space, and in the choice of means of artistic expression. These differences are due to both the conditions of the genre and the historical and cultural context, which their creator could not ignore. The basis for the creation of the image in both works is the cross-cutting “cave” metaphor, which acquires a symbolic meaning. In the play, the artistic detail has a broader semantic meaning than in the story; each detail acquires a deep symbolic meaning.