The Evangelical Semantics of the Female Images of Martha and Vera in the Novel “The Precipice” by I. A. Goncharov

The article for the first time studies the gospel basis of the images of Marthenka and Vera in I. A. Goncharov’s novel “The Precipice”. Just as Pushkin highlighted an ideal image of Tatyana Larina comparing it to that one of her sister Olga, Goncharov emphasizes the personality of Vera by contrasting her with Martha. The main theme of the novel is a spiritual order of Russia that is on the brink of a “precipice” (i. e. atheism). The meaning of the name of one of the protagonists — Vera, that is Faith, — plays an important semantic role in the novel, symbolizing a possibility of the salvation of Russia, overcoming of the historical “precipices” based on faith in God. The sisters’ images point to two different paths to Holiness: the path of Martha and the path of Mary, described in the gospel. Marthenka hides under the shadow of someone else’s authority and experience, avoiding thus temptation and mistakes. Vera shows herself independent, makes a mistake, but being a strong person finally finds strength to come into repentance and spiritual “resurrection”, repeating the destiny of the grandmother and showing the signs of spiritual similarity with her. Women’s images, hidden, but deeply and consistently correlated with their Evangelical basis, are in “The Precipice” only a private manifestation of systemic changes in the poetics of the late Goncharov, more openly than before, demonstrating the connection not only with the Holy Scripture, but also with the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church about the so-called “spiritual warfare”. The article for the first time reveals the novelist’s attempt, without going beyond realism, to show the struggle in the human soul between the “demons” and the Holy spirit. In Goncharov’s early literary texts there are also Evangelical reminiscences. But in his last novel, the writer manifests himself not only as an expert, but also as a great interpreter of the gospel, which showed the spiritual and psychological reasons of women’s mistakes that is related to the destiny of the Evangelical Mary. The projection on the Evangelical images and the realistic representation of a spiritual battle significantly change the existing ideas about the depth of Goncharov’s spiritual search and the problems of the novel “The Precipice”.