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Andrei М. Ranchin

Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE AUTHOR’S POSITION IN THE TALE OF DRACULA: THE SEMANTICS OF THE CHARACTER’S NAME AND THE EPITHET ZLOMUDR

The author’s position in the Tale of Dracula is the subject of a debate that has been going on for about 200 years. Along with the interpretation of the author’s attitude towards the hero as certainly negative, there is a widespread interpretation of Dracula’s assessment as ambiguous and even as positive. The article examines the nickname of the hero of the Tale, Dracula, interpreted as the devil, and his epithet zlomudr. It is proved that the actions of the character in the Tale fully correspond to his name, and the definition zlomudr correlates him with heretics. Without expressing any strictly heretical views, the Walash ruler actually proceeds in his actions from non-recognition of God’s judgment, afterlife retribution and Christian ethics. The author’s assessment of his hero is definitely negative.

Keywords: The Tale of Dracula, author’s position, character’s name, epithet zlomudr, heresy

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