Leskov's Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uezda: Composition and Symbolic Framework

Author: Aizlewood, Robin

Source: The Slavonic and East European Review, Volume 85, Number 3, 1 July 2007 , pp. 401-440(40)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

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Abstract:

This article examines the distinctive Leskovian composition of recurrent, linking and overlapping detail and motifs — and the density and open-ended character of the meanings they generate — in his classic story Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uezda (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, 1865). The analysis begins by showing motif in a metapoetic function and then considers at length the three main overarching and archetypal motifs — water, life and death; the house and imprisonment; the garden and sensuality; it concludes by moving to a consideration of the architectonics of the text's composition, its key themes and symbolic framework. Study of this aspect of his poetics has a key role to play in Leskov studies; at the same time it contributes to the conceptualization of his characteristic heterogeneity and to an understanding of his overall worldview.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: The School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London

Publication date: 2007-07-01

More about this publication?

The Review is the oldest British journal in the field, having been in existence since 1922. Edited and managed by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, it covers not only the modern and medieval languages and literatures of the Slavonic and East European area, but also history, culture, and political studies.