The myth of Phaedra in Tsvetaeva´s poem «Zanaves»

About the author:

Yaroslava I. Khabarova,

Abstract:

The article comprises the experience of studying characteristics of Tsvetaeva mythopoetics in the context of the ideas of Claude Levi-Strauss on the variation of the myth. The author of the article studies the explicit and implicit forms of presence of the myth of Phaedra in a poem «Zanaves» by Marina Tsvetaeva. The author of the article reveals the relationship of Phaedra myth with the image of the artist-priest and states the reasons for such a correlation. It is revealed that the mythological image of Phaedra is a double lyrical «ego», personifi ed as a poet. The plot of the poem is a chain of successive metamorphoses of the lyrical subject. It is established that Tsvetaeva’s image of the artist goes back to the archaic notion of the poet as a creator and victim. It is proved that the author’s variation of the myth of Phaedra defi nes the essence of theater chronotope of Marina Tsvetaeva, which corresponds to an archaic pre-stage ritual act. Representation of Phaedra myth in the poem has a noticeable divergence with both versions of similar myths in other lyrical texts of Marina Tsvetaeva, and with the archetypal versions of the myth.

References:

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