Image of a whore in the feminist's fiction of the early 20th century

The article examines the plot “Saviour and whore” tracing back to the gospel histories is popular in the Russian classic literature, which is characterized by the regard to the heroine as to suffering creature and by the author's tendency to her salvation. During the research it appears that the feminist's fiction (magazine “Zhenskiy Vestnik” - “Women' Gerald” (1904-1917), stories by M.I. Pokrovskaya) inheriting the tradition, at the same time proposes certain peculiarities. The heroine (frequently, a wretched girl who would prefer suicide to prostitution) becomes the subject of narration instead of a hero. The gospel plot is ruining: the figure of the saviour is absent or parodied, the heroine appears in a conflict with society. The wishful salvation was unfeasible at all in the historical situation when the women were violated in rights.