The psychology of fear, or a man in the face of death in the story “The Seven Who Were Hanged” by L. Andreyev

The purpose of this study is to review the psychological aspects of fear based on the analysis of mental state among the characters of “The Seven Who Were Hanged” by L. Andreyev. The problem of life and death was of great interest to many writers. If it was the basis of the reflection on the reason for the existence for most of them, Leonid Andreyev focused on the borderline (mental) state and showed the transformation of the personality and its perception of the world. L. Andreyev seemed to conduct a laboratory study on the behavior of an abstract person, “a man in general” in the face of imminent death. Panpsychism was a creative method in his dramas. Andreyev’s panpsychism gradually became a comprehensive method in the writer’s works. It can be referred not only to the drama but also to the prose. The novelty of the author’s approach is to review panpsychism based on the prose works of L. Andreyev. It is concluded that in the course of the story, the common agonizing expectation of death by the characters of the novel is followed by the description of the individual dynamics of mental experience. L. Andreev notes the outlines of psychological analysis of human problems in the face of death, identifies the dominant feelings, motives and behavior of each character.