The evolution of E. Zamyatin’s ideological complex: From the story “The Islanders” to the play “The Society of Honorary Bell Ringers”

Abstract

The article deals with the theme of E. Zamyatin’s auto-interpretation and creative style, his intertextual connections and artistic evolution based on the story “The Islanders” and the play “The Society of Honorary Bell Ringers”. The article, using a thorough textual comparison, shows that the play has similarities with the story, but there are also differences in the plot, in the character images and in the artistic methods he used. Inheriting the essence of the story, the play intensifies the psychological depth of the characters and their symbolic potential, and more vividly reveals the dilemma of individual freedom in the conditions of collectivism. A comparative analysis shows that the play, through its multidimensional reconstruction of characters, recurring stage lines and metaphors of human puppets, more clearly expresses the warning about the alienation and mechanization of human nature in the name of ‘rationality’. The article concludes that, thanks to the author’s artistic search, the play “The Society of Honorary Bell Ringers” is a work of art that has its independent value in terms of conveying the main idea, describing the characters and the artistic techniques. The analysis of intertextual connections of the play and the story “The Islanders” demonstrates the consistent development of Zamyatin’s creative thinking and deepens the understanding of the writer’s dystopian concepts and their creative evolution.