METAMORPHOSIS OF CHEKHOV’S FEMALE IMAGES IN CAO YOU’S DRAMA

Abstract

The article highlights a problem of tradition and transformation of Chekhov’s female characters in the works of Chinese playwright Cao Yu. The female image is considered as an integral part of the world of Chekhov’s dramatic art. Different personal characteristics of Chekhov’s heroines and their female identity is one of the most important aesthetic features of Chekhov’s dramatic text. The researcher sees the peculiarity of the embodiment of the Chekhov idea in the female characters in Cao Yu’s plays. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the fact that for the first time it systematically draws a parallel between Chekhov’s heroines (Nina, Three Sisters, Anya) and Cao Yu’s female characters (Fanyi, Su Fan, Ruizhen). The female world in the plays of the Chinese author, despite the huge cultural divide, has similarities with Chekhovian situations, and its uniqueness, inevitable in such a case, still allows for the possibility of referring to the Chekhovian tradition.