Andrey Mytishchev and Leon Ploshovsky as expressers of the type of hero without dogma in the prose of M. V. Krestovskaya and G. S Sienkiewicz
This article reviews the type of hero typical to the literature of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries and refers to a little-studied storyline from the history of Russian-European ties of this period. In the center of author’s attention are two literary works: the novel by the Polish classic G. Sienkiewicz “Without Dogma” (1890) and the novella “Confessions of Mytishchev” (1901) by almost forgotten Russian writer M. V. Krestovskaya, who was greatly impressed by the book of her contemporary. Both works contain a number of parallels on compositional level, means of narration and the plot itself, but the root of their correlation is attention to a new type of European person, born at the end of the century, and suffering from its “illnesses”. Comparative analysis is conducted on protagonists of the literary works of Sienkiewicz and Krestovskaya – Leon Ploshovsky and Andrey Mytishchev – as representatives of the type of hero-skeptic, hero without dogma, whose appearance in the literature became an organic stage in evolution of the hero-individualist. The time has raised its question, namely on the need to be guided by moral values and follow some dogmas. These works of the Russian and Polish literature of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries are put a single historical and literary context for the first time, and their main characters are viewed as expressers of the European person of that period. Reference of the modern audience to these literary images allows better understanding cultural, historical, philosophical and social prerequisites for the emergence of those who had similar worldview in the late XIX – early XX century. This defines the novelty and relevance of this research.