Olʹha Kobyli︠a︡nsʹka

povistʹ, opovidanni︠a︡

Zemli︠a︡

University of Alberta. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies

Olha Kobylianska

The novel is based on the traditional Ukrainian folk song "Oi, ne khody Hrytsiu". The tragic story of a young man torn between two women and poisoned by one of them lends itself readily to literary interpretations. But in Kobylianska's interpretation, this is far more than a melodramatic love story with a predictable ending. It is not merely the love story of Tetiana and Hryts: it is a story of the eternal conflict between passion and reason, between personal happiness and social constraints, between freedom and its practical limitations. Kobylianska turns the love story into a feminist exploration of the psychology of two strong women, Tetiana and her mentor (and Hryts's mother) Mavra. Like figures in a classical Greek tragedy, Kobylianska's characters move in a graceful, stylized narrative ballet toward their inevitable fate, leading the reader into an ever-deepening thematic exploration of human emotions and social conventions.

Olʹha Kobyli︠a︡nsʹka

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