Współczesny moralitet, czyli komedia Четыре человека, два ангела Wiktora Szenderowicza

Abstract

The subject of the article is the analysis of Four People and Two Angels, a play by Russian satirist Victor Shenderovich (2001). The main conclusion of this analysis is that this play refers to psychomachia as one of the oldest literary motifs. However, the difference between classical realisation of the psychomachic motif and its realisation in Shenderovich’s play is noticeable: while the classical psychomachia reveals through seriousness and sublimity, Four People and Two Angels is an example of the realisation of this motif in a comedic convention. It becomes possible mainly due to how the author creates the mysterious figures of angel Stroncylov and the sinner Ivan Pashkin. References to the literary works of Lev Tolstoy, Nikolai Erdman or Mikhail Bulgakov provide additional justification for the claim that the play written by the Russian satirist raises existential problems, but the way it does so is definitely far from the classical literary depictions of the motif of struggle for the human soul.