Two Images of Shakespeare in Anthony Burgess's Novel “Nothing Like the Sun” and in Jurij Dombrovskij's Stories

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to compare images of Shakespeare in the novel “Nothing like the Sun. A Story of Shakespeare’s Love Life” (1964) by the English writer Anthony Burgess and in the stories “The Dark Lady”, “The Second Quality Bed” and “The Royal Rescript” (1969) by the Russian writer Jurij Dombrovskij. Distinctions of the images are explained, first of all, by the different literary tradition and poetics of realism and modernism accordingly. Similarities speak of the commonality of the tendencies in the European historical and literary process of the 20th century, and also of the creative biography of writers, their aversion of totalitarianism and aspiration to create an image of a free person. The fundamental complexity is to create the image of the historic figure in general and Shakespeare in particular. It is as though shrouded by the foggy veil through which we can rather see the features of Burgess and Dombrovskij themselves than of the Stratford playwright that remains a riddle for readers.