Psychological motives of creativity of A.S. Pushkin and A.P. Chekhov in the period of epidemics

This article traces the mutual penetration of the psychological motives of the epidemic, illness - healing, death - immortality, despondency and selflessness on the example of the works and letters of world-famous writers, representatives of the "golden" age of Russian literature - Pushkin and Chekhov. It is shown how the artistic and psychological assessment of the epidemic and diseases differs in the works of Pushkin and Chekhov. Alexander Sergeevich did not completely abandon the ancient Greek interpretation of the psychological perception of the epidemic as God's punishment, but he already suggested the observance of rational anti-epidemic sanitary measures. In "A Feast in the Time of the Plague" an appeal is analyzed for the mobilization of spiritual forces to fight both cholera and psychological despondency - "dangerous fear". The semantic load of the works, first of all, “Sakhalin Islands”, “Wards N6”, etc., has an underlined pathographic nature of the narration and a pronounced medical documentation of the text, which reflects the professional interests of the author. In Chekhov's letters of the "Sakhalin" time, the psychological motives of awareness of one's own fatal illness and the psychological motive of medical duty during the struggle against the smallpox epidemic in Sakhalin, cholera in Melikhovo are intertwined. The psychological motive of awareness of the danger of infection for one's own life and self-sacrifice in order to save people from the epidemic is touched upon. The theme of the psychology of writing duty is covered with the aim of completing the book "Sakhalin Island" and the work of a "cholera doctor", which takes away all physical and spiritual strength.