Authors
- Omelyanchuk Svetlana V. Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor
Annotation
The article examines the influence of religious and secular literary works on the perception of women in ancient Russian society. Historiographical analysis of the problem shows that to this day it has not received a final resolution, remaining relevant. After the baptism of Rus, literary creativity developed in a religious vein, which left its mark on the perception of women. The main disadvantage of the fair sex was considered to be instability in the face of devilish temptations. Having fallen under the influence
of the evil one, a woman pushes a man to sin. The vicious essence of a woman found its embodiment in the image of an “evil wife”, which is characterized by licentiousness, cunning, deceit, greed, extravagance, quarrelsomeness, deceit, and many other shortcomings. The image of an “evil wife” found its development in secular literature, both domestic and translated. The popularity of such works contributed to the consolidation of a negative attitude towards women and the strengthening of a man’s power over them. However, a woman, like any other creation of God, could not be a concentration of only vices, therefore, next to the image of the “evil wife” in religious literature, there is also the image of the “good wife”. The latter is characterized by the best, from the point of view of the clergy, qualities: kindness, silence, obedience, humility, hard work. In real life, it was difficult to find such women. The image of the “good wife” in secular literature was more lifelike, sometimes contradicting the Christian ideal. Many qualities considered by the church as vices were presented in secular works as virtues of women (beauty, intelligence, cunning, purposefulness). The image of the “good wife” in secular works contributed to the beginning of a rethinking of the role of women in the family and society.
How to link insert
Omelyanchuk, S. V. (2024). THE INFLUENCE OF LITERARY WORKS ON THE PERCEPTION OF THE IMAGE OF WOMEN IN ANCIENT RUSSIAN SOCIETY OF THE XIth–XVIIth CENTURIES Bulletin of the Moscow City Pedagogical University. Series "Pedagogy and Psychology", № 3 (55),
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