FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF IVAN TURGENEV’S CHARACTER IN THE DRAMATIC TRILOGY ‟THE COAST OF UTOPIA” BY ТОM STOPPARD

Abstract

Key figures in realising the idea of the play «The Coast of Utopia» by Tom Stoppard appear to be Alexander Herzen and Vissarion Belinsky in the opinion of many researchers. This article attempts to determine the functional significance of the image of Ivan Turgenev in Tom Stoppard’s play in the light of postmodern tendencies. The author of the article proves that the image of Ivan Turgenev is not central in Tom Stoppard’s book, but the said writer is of particular importance in the realisation of the idea of the work. It emphasises the colour of the era, immerses the reader in the past, allows one drawing parallels between the time of the writer’s life and the present. The opinion of the hero Ivan Turgenev, in which Tom Stoppard tried to convey the features and characteristics of the prototype as much as possible, becomes an alternative in political discussions and literary disputes about the role of literature and the appointment of the writer in society, about the role of the individual in history. Special attention is paid to historical facts in the play by Tom Stoppard, to the love story between Ivan Turgenev and Pauline Viardot.