The ‘Hoffmann’s complex’ in the Dramatic Trilogy of A. Blok (A Puppet Show, King on the Square and The Unknown Woman)

Abstract

The article examines the ‘Hoffmann’s complex’ in the lyrical trilogy of A. Blok: pictorial and musical harmony (synesthesia of arts); romantic irony and grotesque; the problem of mechanization of life and a human, which is revealed in the images-symbols of the mask, a doll, a puppet and a double. Synesthesia is an important part of Blok’s style, manifested in the special lyricism of the works, which helps to reveal the subtle soul of the lyrical hero. The problem of mechanization of life and human in the Blok’s dramas is revealed in the images of a mask, a doll, a double, which express one of the sides of the poet’s contradictory soul and appear as a reaction to the imperfection of the modern world. Another embodiment of the mechanization of life and a human is the problem of merging the mask and the actor, as a result of which the actor loses his true face. Important elements of Aleksandr Blok’s lyrical style in the trilogy are rooted in the tradition of Hoffmann’s romantic irony and the grotesque, which get a new semantic content in dramas: the creative irony of Hoffmann transforms in a devastating irony in Blok’s works.