Heroines of Russian classics as female role models in the literary criticism of “Zhenskiy vestnik”

The magazine “Zhenskiy vestnik” (1904-1917) was one of the periodicals which made a significant contribution to the development of the women’s movement and the process of women’s emancipation. Literature, both literary texts and literary-critical articles, constantly appeared on the pages of the magazine. The present paper discusses the evolution of female role models, which were considered on the example of the heroines of Russian classical literature. In the course of the work, the observation was made that the classic authors were perceived by critics of “Zhenskiy vestnik” as authoritative sources that helped them influence the readership. The most favorite authors in the magazine were Ivan Turgenev and Anton Chekhov, while the first was considered as a writer who embodied the model of the “idealist woman”, and the second as a defender of the interests of women, depicting the injustice of the unequal status of women and men. An analysis of the literary criticism of the journal showed that in the articles of 1904-1905, the position of women in the family, the relationship of men to women, reproduced in literature, mostly in Chekhov’s works, were emphasized, and by the end of the 1900s the “Turgenev” type of “idealist woman” becomes dominant, who devotes herself to social activities, and perceives the relationship with the chosen one as a union created for the sake of achieving the public good. In the 1910s there is a role model of a woman who sacrifices everything, home and family for the public good. For the first time in the literary criticism of this decade, the theme of social inequality appears, and not only heroines-noblewomen, but also peasant women were discussed.