Faustian text of I.S. Turgenev's story "Date" (1850)

The article develops one of the aspects of the problem of I.S. Turgenev's creative perception of Goethe's philosophical drama "Faust". For the first time, the material of the comparative study is the story "Meeting" which was included in the essay book "A Sportsman's Sketches". The content of Turgenev's work reveals a plot and imagery parallel to the last scene of the first part of Faust. The date between Akulina and Viktor, the peasant woman and her valet, created by the writer in a lyrical and dramatic tone, is based on the tragic scene of Goethe's heroes' explanation in prison. In the prose world, Turgenev finds the action of similar passions and experiences, which are strong and significant precisely in the vein of individual manifestation. Akulina, analogous to Gretchen, represents a selfsacrificing emotion (metaphorically expressed by the flower bouquet). She must be convinced of the fickleness of love and experience the bitterness of coldness and neglect, which condemns her to loneliness. She discovers the truth with pain but finds herself capable of protest and just reproach. The perpetrator of the drama is presented in an ironic manner, as evidenced by his portrait, manner of speech, and behavior. His "over" pretensions, reminiscent of Faust, prepare him for a new future where there is no room for former sympathy. An important aspect of the depiction of the maiden drama is the image of nature, which serves as a significant poetic and philosophical tuning device.