PSYCHOLOGISM OF THE «NEW DRAMA» OF H. IBSEN’S «A DOLL’S HOUSE» AND V. VYNNYCHENKO’S «THE LIE»: COMPARATIVE ASPECT

Abstract

The paper deals with the psychic states of the main characters in H. Ibsen’s play «A Doll’s House» and V. Vynnychenko’s play «The Lie» as the key source of creating the psychologism in the «new drama». In these works, writers focus on emotions, which they gradually develop, in particular there is a flow of one emotion into another, leading to a main emotion that eventually begins to dominate, finding a response in the reader/spectator who receives aesthetic pleasure. This is achieved by building the internal conflict of moral and ethical nature, the experience of which leads to certain psychological states, the description of which originates psychologism, and their changes generate the drama. The author fully analyzes the dominant psychological states of Nora, a main character of «A Doll's House», such as irresponsibility and security, anxiety, fear, despair, numbness, and determination. The psychological states of Natalia Pavlivna, a main character of «The Lie», such as joy, indignation, despair, hopelessness, and doom, are examined in detail. The threat of exposing lies, which is the basis of family relations in both the family of Torvald («A Doll’s House») and the family of Andrii Karpovych («The Lie»), is becoming a moral and ethical problem and a borderline situation for both Nora and Natalia Pavlivna. For Ibsen’s heroine, exposing a lie led to self-esteem, then for Vynnychenko’s protagonist, keeping a secret was worth self-sacrifice. The transition from one state to another develops not only the plot line and conflict, but makes the reader feel empathy, which is the great goal for theatrical art. Interpretations of literary works from a psychological perspective open new horizons for literary studies, because immersion in the psychology of the character makes it possible to comprehend the truth in the work, which usually remains on the subtextual level.