Page "Russian literature" Paragraph 29

Another new aspect of literary suicides introduced in the Petersburg texts is that authors have shifted their gazes from individuals and their plot-driving actions to presentations of broad political ideologies, which are common to Greek and Roman heroes — this step was taken in order to establish a connection between Russian male protagonists who take their own lives and Classic tragic heroes, whereas the women of the literature remained as microcosms for the stereotyped idea of the female condition.

The idea of suicide as a mode of protecting one ’ s right to self-sovereignty was seen as legitimate within the sphere of St. Petersburg, a secular and “ Godless …” capital.

Unlike Classic tragic heroes, the deaths of male protagonists, such as in Nikolai Gogol ’ s Nevskii Prospekt and Dmitry Grigorovich ’ s Svistul ’ kin, did not bring about great celebrations in their honor, or even faint remembrances amongst their comrades.

In fact, both protagonists die lonely deaths, suffering quietly and alone in their final hours.

Until the Russian revolution in 1917, such themes remained prominent in literature.