JEALOUSY AND LOVE IN L.N. TOLSTOY’S THE KREUTZER SONATA

The paper focuses on the issue of love and jealousy, which is central to a 19th century literary text. When analyzing The Kreutzer Sonata, the author looks at how Leo Tolstoy employs phonetic tools including similar phonetic structure of words like marriage vs. failure (brak – brakovannost), jealousy vs. beast (revnost – zver), vision vs date (videnie – svidaniye) to unveil V. Pozdnyshev’s vision of marriage. The research demonstrates how some fundamental perceptions are reinvented in the text through the use of detail and word generation. Another avenue of research is aimed at uncovering motives embedded in the novella. The author considers the scope of research focusing on Leo Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata as there is much controversy around this novella. Without looking at the historical perspective, the author argues that the text is multidimensional. It is a clear fact that the male-to-female relationship is all-important at all times. Alongside with the man vs. woman conflict and the musical theme which are central to The Kreutzer Sonata, there are words with similar phonetic structure which make the focus of our research. The research methods employed add a new dimension to the analysis of the text, as we reveal that the phonetic structure of words instills a certain rhythm and tone in the text as well as new symbols (see marriage vs. failure (brak – brakovannost), jealousy vs. beast (revnost – zver), vision vs date (videnie – svidaniye), etc.). The motives featured in this text and the semantic undertone to the phonetic structure of words merge to convey the underlying meanings which are infusing the novella. On the other hand, the analysis reveals the author’s standing in the story which is not that transparent, even though L. Tolstoy’s late works seem to be rather didactic. The research reveals the novelist’s complex and conflicting vision of love in view of changing motives prompted by jealousy. The family story outlined in the novella prompts rethinking of the murder motives. The story ends in V. Pozdnyshev crying out and falling silent which aim to reveal this transformation. This way the changing outlook of the protagonist is uncovered through linguistic and poetic tools and discoursive techniques.