FRANKO’S MODEL OF THE LOVE TRIANGLE (BASED ON THE PLAY "STOLEN HAPPINESS")

Abstract

The article focuses on the exploration of the artistic model of love in Ivan Franko’s play «Stolen Happiness». Artistic creativity can be interpreted as a means of realizing the author’s emancipatory ideas, as art resonates with current sociocultural trends. The plot-character structure is grounded in the model of a love triangle, with a woman placed at its center by the playwright. In the imaginative portrayal of marital life, the semantics of compulsion and the doctrine of duty dominate, rather than being driven by emotional factors. The female subjectivity appears problematized, as the heroine strives to dutifully play the roles of wife and homemaker while enduring the love trauma of the past. In the play, within a patriarchal discourse, the subordination of the female world to the male is explicitly articulated. According to tradition, a woman centers her life around another – first her husband, later her lover. The blocked feminine potential for sensibility is realized outside the family. The behavioral algorithm of male characters is marked by rivalry. Mykola’s life orientation is defined by the victim status, placing him in a weak position under external pressure. The community interferes with the intimate space of the family, influencing behavior and provoking destructive actions. The physical weakness of the man is associated with an incomplete life. In the character of Mykhailo, the semantics of being an outsider, potentially dangerous to the patriarchal world, dominates. The hero asserts his own masculinity through the discourse of power, both as a representative of the state over the community and as a man over the woman. Mykhailo is depicted distinctly healthy, filled with aggressive sexual energy. The play highlights the contradictions of the love triangle, generating different models of love, yet both men use the woman for self-assertion.