Typology of female characters in the stories of I.S. Turgenev from the 1850s and 1860s

The article attempts to clarify the typology of female images in the stories of I.S. Turgenev of the 1850-1860s using the material of such works as "The Calm" (1854), "Correspondence" (1856), "Faust" (1856), "Asya" (1857), "First Love" (1860), "Unhappy" (1868), "Ghosts" (1864), "Strange Story" (1869), which are the most representative from the point of view of solving the problem posed. The relevance of the article is determined, firstly, by the fact that literary scholars still primarily focus on the writer’s novels, while his stories remain somewhat on the periphery; secondly, the need for a more in-depth and comprehensive study of the stories of the period in question; thirdly, the importance of a detailed development of female characters and an attempt to classify them. The purpose of the article: to identify the unique typology of female images in the stories of I.S. Turgenev of the 1850-1860s. Research objectives: 1) to determine how the facts of the writer’s biography, the changing position of women in the socio-cultural life of Russia in the second half of the 19th century, and the features of the structure of female characters in Russian literature of the period influenced the system of female heroines in Turgenev’s works; 2) identify different types of female images and their characteristic features, methods of creation; 3) study the significance of the system of female images in the writer’s stories. To achieve the stated goals and objectives, a specific historical research method is used, which allows us to correlate the nature of female images in Turgenev's works with the rethinking of the role of women in society and the associated transformation of female images in the literature of the period under study. The study identified the following types of female characters: a pure, sublime, spiritual "Turgenev girl", socially active, independently thinking, striving to determine the place of women in the society of her time, a "new woman", a unique, lonely, "strange girl" who stands out from her surroundings, a strong-willed, powerful, conquering men's hearts, possessing an irrational nature, a "demonic woman". Turgenev creates a whole palette of female images, a detailed study of which contribute to a better understanding of the characteristics of female characters, their place in the poetics of the writer and in the literary process of the era.