Reception of Goethe's tragedy "Faust" in Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya"

The article establishes the literary connections of the play by Anton Chekhov “Uncle Vanya” and the tragedy by Goethe “Faust”. In the play by Chekhov, motif and figurative reminiscences from the Goethe’s tragedy are revealed. The images of Uncle Vanya, Dr. Astrov, Professor Serebryakov, Elena Andreevna and Sonya reveal features that refer to Faust, Mephistophilus, Wagner, and various aspects of the image of the Eternal Femininity. The main motives of the play - the motive of disappointment in the life devoted to science, in science itself, unable to solve pressing issues, and the motive of creative work in the name of a happy future for mankind - also lead to recall Goethe's Faust. The parallels found help to better and more fully understand the ideological plan of the Chekhov’s play, in which the ideas of the Goethe’s tragedy find both dialogical development and polemical rethinking.