CODE OF THE TEMPLE IN THE DRAMATIC POEM OF LESYA UKRAINKA «IN THE DENSE FOREST»

Abstract

The article is devoted to the comprehension of one of the aspects of the religious discourse in Lesya Ukrainka’s
original culturosophical conception. On the example of the dramatic poem «In the Dense Forest» the cross-sectional
and multi-faceted code of the temple has been analyzed in the artistic text. The researchers express different views on
the peculiarity of the faith phenomenon of Lesya Ukrainka (atheism, Christianity, hertism, gnosticism, Manichaeism).
The archetype of the temple appears in a number of works by the writer that relate to the religious specifi cs of various
spatial and temporal loci: Egypt, Ancient Greece, medieval Europe, and others like that. The code of the temple
in the drama «In the Dense Forest» testifi es the writer’s world-view refl ections during the period of the formation of
her creative personality. The work focuses on the triple spiritual confl ict: between Protestantism, Catholicism and the
«religion of beauty», which is confessed by the protagonist of the work, sculptor Richard Iron.
With the help of the structural-semiotic method, the article proposes a multilayered interpretation of the concept
«temple». Particular attention is paid to the obstruction of art by the Puritans, which is convincingly illustrated by the
discussion around a copy of the menorah commissioned for the sculptor’s worship. The infl uence of religious art on
non-cult creative searchers was demonstrated by the similarity of the wax portrait of Ayron’s mother with the image
Mater dolorosa.
It is proved that the sculptor Richard Iron brings art to the level of sacred art, and sees his appointment as the
ministry of the «beauty temple». The Church’s repression of creative imagination of the artist, or its imitation under
the presoning of the canon are unacceptable for Richard. In general, the code of the temple in Lesya Ukrainka’s drama
represents an ecumenical idea, the expediency of harmonizing cultures and culture, and the humanization of art and
society.