Good and evil in the poetry of A. Fet and the ethical ideal of V. Solovyov
Publication Title:
Good and evil in the poetry of A. Fet and the ethical ideal of V. Solovyov
Abstract:
This article identifies and analyzes еhe philosophical problem of good and evil in the works of A.A. Fet. Although the poet is traditionally perceived as a representative of the “pure art” trend, it is now important to study the ideological dimension of his writing; nevertheless, his ethical views remain under-researched. The article examines them through an analysis of his lyric poetry from the 1850s to the 1880s. The central object of the study is the poem “Good and Evil” (1884), unique in its attempt to express the essence of the main ethical categories by means of lyrics. The historical and cultural analysis of the text allows to conclude that through the process of assimilating and critically reworking the philosophical trends of his era (Schopenhauer's ethics and German idealism, L. Tolstoy's moral quest, V. Solovyov's ethical concept), the poet-thinker developув his own unique position on good and evil. Based on the analysis of the artistic images of the poem, it is suggested that the addressee of Fet's message bears a resemblance to the young Solovyov. The study concludes by highlighting the significance of ethical issues for Fet and about a profound harmony between his and Solovyov's approaches to good and evil.
References:
(Sources)
Collected Works
1. Fet, A.A. Dobro i zlo [Good and evil], in Fet, A.A. Polnoe sobranie stikhotvoreniy [Complete Сollection of Poems]. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1959, pp. 101–104.
2. Fet, A.A. Nichtozhestvo [Nothingness], in Fet, A.A. Polnoe sobranie stikhotvoreniy [Complete Collection of Poems]. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1959, p. 101.
3. Fet, A.A. «V poru mechty, lyubvi, svobody…» [“In the time of dreams, love, freedom...”], in Fet, A.A. Polnoe sobranie stikhotvoreniy [Complete Collection of Poems]. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1959, p. 268.
4. Fet, A.A. V al'bom [To the Album], in Fet, A.A. Polnoe sobranie stikhotvoreniy [Complete Collection of Poems]. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel', 1959, p. 473.
5. Fet, A.A. Vechernie ogni [Evening Lights], in Fet, A.A. Sochineniya i pis'ma v 20 t., t. 5, kn. 1 [Works and Letters in 20 vols., vol. 5, book 1]. Moscow; Saint-Petersburg: Al'yans-Arkheo, 2014, pp. 154–158.
6. Pis'ma Vladimira Sergeevicha Solov'eva v 4 t., t. 1 [Letters of Vladimir Sergeevich Solovjov in 4 vols., vol. 1]. Saint-Petersburg: Tipografiya tovarishchestva «Obshchestvennaya pol'za», 1908–1923, 1908. 294 p.
7. Shopengauer, A. Mir kak volya i predstavlenie [The World as Will and Representation], in Shopengauer, A. Sobranie sochineniy v 5 t., t. 1 [Collected works in 5 vols., vol. 1]. Moscow: Moskovskiy klub, 1992. 395 p.
8. Solov'ev, V.S. Pamyati A.A. Feta [In Memory of A.A. Fet], in Solov'ev, V.S. Polnoe sobranie stikhotvoreniy [Complete Collection of Poems]. Moscow: Kniga po trebovaniyu, 2021, p. 107.
9. Solov'ev, V.S. Tri razgovora o voyne, progresse i kontse vsemirnoy istorii [Three Conversations about War, Progress, and the End of World History], in Solov'ev, V.S. Sochineniya v 2 t., t. 2 [Works in 2 vols., vol. 2]. Moscow: Mysl', 1990, pp. 635–762.
10. Solov'ev, V.S. Opravdanie dobra. Nravstvennaya filosofiya [Justification of Goodness. Moral Philosophy], in Solov'ev, V.S. Sochineniya v 2 t., t. 1 [Works in 2 vols., vol. 1]. Moscow: Mysl', 1990, pp. 47–580.
Individual Works
11. Fet, A.A. Posleslovie A. Feta k ego perevodu Shopengauera [A. Fet's Afterword to his Translation of Schopenhauer], in A.A. Fet: pro et contra, antologiya [A.A. Fet: Pro et Contra, Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2022 (Russkiy Put'), pp. 79–84.
12. Fet, A.A. Predislovie A.A. Feta (Gete I.V. Faust. Ch. 2) [Preface by A.A. Fet (Goethe I.V. Faust. Part 2)], in A.A. Fet: pro et contra, antologiya [A.A. Fet: Pro et Contra, Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2022 (Russkiy Put'), pp. 94–112.
(Articles from Scientific Journals)
13. Dushin, O.E. Shelling i Solov'ev o probleme zla [Schelling and Solovyov on the Problem of Evil], in Solov'evskie issledovaniya, 2015, issue 1(45), pp. 15–30.
14. Kokovina, N.Z., Silakova, D.V. “Fetovskiy” mir v pis'makh Vladimira Solov'eva [The “Fetovian” World in the Letters of Vladimir Solovyov], in Teoriya yazyka i mezhkul'turnaya kommunikatsiya, 2023, issue 4(51), pp. 117–129.
15. Nenashev, M.I. Pozdniy Solov'ev: peremena v ponimanii prirody zla i bezuslovnoy dostovernosti [The Late Solovyov: a Change in the Understanding of the Nature of Evil and Unconditional Certainty], in Solov'evskie issledovaniya, 2008, issue 18, pp. 95–112.
16. Tsepeleva, N.V. «Dobro i zlo kak prakh mogil'nyy…»: obraz khudozhestvennoy real'nosti v stikhotvorenii A.A. Feta [“Good and Evil as the Dust of the Grave... ”: the Image of Artistic Reality in the Poem by A.A. Fet], in Gumanitarnyy vektor, 2022, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 47–54.
(Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)
17. A.A. Fet: pro et contra, antologiya [A.A. Fet: Pro et Contra, Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2022 (Russkiy Put'). 960 p.
18. Darskiy, D.S. «Radost' zemli». Issledovanie liriki Feta [“The Joy of the Earth”. A Study of Fet's Lyrics], in A.A. Fet: pro et contra, antologiya [A.A. Fet: Pro et Contra, Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2022 (Russkiy Put'), pp. 856–857.
19. Kalinnikov, L.A. A. Shopengauer i I. Kant v filosofsko-poeticheskom mirovozzrenii A.A. Feta [Schopenhauer and I. Kant in the Philosophical and Poetic Worldview of A.A. Fet], in A.A. Fet: pro et contra, antologiya [A.A. Fet: Pro et Contra, Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2022 (Russkiy Put'), pp. 858–860.
20. Nikol'skiy, B.V. Osnovnye elementy liriki Feta [The Main Elements of Fet's Lyrics], in A.A. Fet: pro et contra, antologiya [A.A. Fet: Pro et Contra, Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg: RKhGA, 2022 (Russkiy Put'), pp. 855–856.
21. Perepiska s N.N. Strakhovym. 1877–1892 [Correspondence with N.N. Strakhov. 1877–1892], in A.A. Fet i ego literaturnoe okruzhenie. Kniga 2 [Fet and his Literary Entourage. Book 2]. Moscow: IMLI RAN, 2011, pp. 233–550.
22. Perepiska Feta s Vl.S. Solov'evym (1881–1892) [Fet’s Correspondence with V.S. Solovyov (1881–1892)], in A.A. Fet: Materialy i issledovaniya, issue 2 [A.A. Fet: Materials and Research, Issue 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Kontrast, 2013, pp. 359–428.
(Monographs)
23. Bristol, E. History of Russian Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. 372 p.
24. Losev, A.F. Vladimir Solov'ev i ego vremya [Solovyov and his Time]. Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya, 2009, pp.180–183.
25. Svyatopolk-Mirskiy, D.P. Fet, in Istoriya russkoy literatury s drevneyshikh vremen po 1925 god [The History of Russian Literature from Ancient Times to 1925]. Novosibirsk: Svin'in i synov'ya, 2014, pp. 357–362.
26. Wachtel, M. The Cambridge Introduction to Russian Poetry. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 166 p.
Key words:
Russian philosophical poetry, philosophical poetry of Fet, motives of Good and Evil in Russian poetry, philosophy of A. Schopenhauer, ethics of V. Solovyov, the idea of justification of goodness
The DOI index:
10.17588/2076-9210.2025.4.108-121
Publication file:
