Full and diminutive name of the heroine in A.S. Pushkin’s prose

Abstract

We consider which principle is guided by A.S. Pushkin, choosing to name the heroines of his prose works, the diminutive form of the name or the name and patronymic. Due to changes in etiquette standards and canons, the modern reader no longer grasps the meanings associated for readers of the Pushkin era with one form or another of the name. For this reason, this study is preceded by a voluminous introductory part devoted to etiquette standards of the first half of the 19th century; when working on it, we relied both on the works of historians and on literary works. The subjects of this study are the stories of A.S. Pushkin “The Squire’s Daughter” and “The Blizzard” (included in the cycle of “The Belkin Tales”) and the novel “Dubrovsky”. During the study, we conclude that the author’s choice of the form of the heroine’s name is not accidental and depends on a number of reasons, which include: the speech situation depicted in a particular episode of the work; the psychological state of the character, as well as his relationship with other heroes of the work; the perception of the hero through the eyes of the author or another character.