Concepts of BLINDNESS, LOVE, VIRTUE in the Artistic World of A. Zhid (Based on the Material of A. Gide's Novels "The Narrow Gate" and "Pastoral Symphony"

Glazkova Marina Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0003-0518-9896 PhD in Philology Associate Professor, Department "Russian Language and General Educational Disciplines", Tambov State Technical University 392000, Russia, Tambov region, Tambov, Sovetskaya str., 106 rusfilol37@mail.ru Other publications by this author

To understand the concept of A. Zhid's novels that make up his artistic world, the author's interpretations of the concepts of BLINDNESS, LOVE, VIRTUE are key, which perform the function of artistic means in the writer's works, expressing the author's worldview, exposing his spiritual contradictions. The concept refers to a certain number of "basic words" that make up the "basis of the spiritual culture of any society" ^{[1, p. 6]}, a stable concept that reflects the mentality of the people, its history, culture, religion, axiological values.

Considering the stated concepts, it is worth noting that the concept of BLINDNESS and the concepts of LOVE and VIRTUE represent an antinomy. At the same time, the concepts of BLINDNESS and LOVE contain dualism, since they can be represented in both positive and negative senses. The concept of BLINDNESS is one of the basic ones in the cultural and religious consciousness of people, due to the fact that it is the eyes that give everyone an idea of the outside world, serve as a means of nonverbal communication, are perceived as the focus of life force. Lack of sight – blindness – desocializes a person, immersing him in another world. As is known from cultural and historical sources, blindness was used not only as a punishment (material blindness, social aspect), but also had a mythological justification, was elevated to an existential level. Blindness is also associated with death (such semantic content is observed in phraseological units – "The light in the eyes has faded" ^{[2, p. 279]}, in the desire of people to blind the images of enemies on frescoes and icons).

Spiritual BLINDNESS is defined as "the inability of a sinner to correctly perceive information of soul-saving content, including that taught in Supernatural Divine Revelation" ^[3]. Physical blindness can reveal inner vision, the gift of prophecy, and then a narrative is born about the path from the sighted blind man to the blind prophet.

Virtue in the explanatory dictionary of S. I. Ozhegov has the meaning: "positive moral quality, high morality" ^{[4, p. 171]}. In theological dictionaries and encyclopedias, the meaning is more specific, with an emphasis on the active beginning: "doing good" ^[3], "the desire for good, removal from evil" ^{[5, p. 164]}. Undoubtedly, the concept of VIRTUE covers all axiological aspects of spiritual and moral improvement of a person. It is necessary to note the dynamism of the content of this concept associated with the constant development of religious thought, when many theologians presented their vision of the structure of VIRTUE. The New Testament is based on the triad of Christian virtues: "And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the love of them is greater" [1 Corinthians 13:13]. Faith implies a person's patience and perseverance in waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise, forms a person's moral and religious responsibility for their actions. Hope is a confident, calm and joyful expectation of future bliss, based on faith in God: "the communion of human personalities to the Living God" ^[6], "I trust in You, Lord, that I may not be ashamed forever" [Ps. 30:2]. In contrast to the ancient morality that cultivates justice, the New Testament highlights LOVE: "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also love one another" [John 13:34], "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind: <...> love your neighbor as yourself" [Matthew 22:37-39], "love the Lord God yours with all your heart, and with all your soul, ... and your neighbor as yourself" [Luke 10:27]. From the point of view of Gregory the Great, love is greater than faith and hope, since it is she who is able to lift a person's soul to God.

The peculiarity of the view of Western theologians on the concept of VIRTUE concerns the interpretation of the structure of its main components: along with the theological, the four main virtues of ancient ethics (wisdom, courage, temperance, justice) are also considered  ^{[7, p. 780]}, there is also a rethinking of some elements of theological virtues associated with the peculiarities of the interpretation of words in different languages.

Explanatory and theological dictionaries, the Gospel reveal the semantic content of the concepts of BLINDNESS, LOVE, VIRTUE, which in the stories of A. Zhid realize the functions of characterization of heroes, illumination of moral problems of the modern writer of the epoch and expression of the author's concept.

Seven years after the publication of the novel "The Immoralist" (1902), in the title of which is a Nietzschean term denoting a conflict between a life model that excludes religious values and the reverse one that asserts them ^[8], A. Zhid continues to study moral and philosophical problems in the story "The Narrow Gate" (1909). The French writer addresses these issues at a time when they become significant and disturbing in a new way in an atmosphere of world perception where "God has died".

The title of the story "The Narrow Gate" – a maxim from the New Testament, a metaphor for a person's moral choice – represents its main semantic vector in contrast to the Nietzschean concept embodied in the title of the story "Immoralist". If in the latter a life model is proposed that crosses out religious axiology, then in the "Narrow Gate", on the contrary, the Christian paradigm is tested.

 Daniel Mutot in his research on A. Zhid notes: "After the lack of morality in the Immoralist, it is the excess of morality that is criticized in The Narrow Gate. Apparently, the Jew is looking for his way between the two extreme limits of Good and Evil: Christian moralism and Nietzsche's immoralism" ^{[9, p. 133]}.

The protagonist of "The Narrow Gate" Jerome is outside his native country. A. Zhid chooses the form of a personal narrative, referring to the French confessional tradition, significantly transforming it. The story told by Jerome does not have a clear time of events, attention is focused on internal emotional experiences. Descriptions are organized from the point of view of Jerome, then independent, then compatible with the view of one of the characters. Jerome's story is interwoven with character dialogues, letters, diaries of his beloved Alice, the content of the texts intersect and complement each other. The effect of a double confession about the same life trials of Alice and Jerome is created, which, in turn, enhances the tragedy of the work.

The concept of LOVE organizes the plot and creates the main conflict of the work – the love of two sisters, Alice and Juliette, for their cousin Jerome. The story implements a Christian model of behavior, close in its spiritual content to Dostoevsky's heroes, both girls are capable of self-denial, selflessness, each of them abandons a loved one for the happiness of the other: "There is no more love than if someone lays down his soul for his friends" [John 15:13].

The title of the story "The Narrow Gate" evokes interpretations that create mental conditions for the emergence of a new concept of life. As noted above, the "Narrow Gate" – an intertexteme from the Gospel implying an episode of Christ's Sermon on the Mount – is nothing more than the quintessence of the New Testament. The Biblical intertexteme "the narrow gate" is used both in direct and figurative meanings.

The semantic content of the title is dynamic: its interpretation changes as the narrative develops. The religious and philosophical sound of the "narrow gate" intertexteme is enhanced by an epigraph from the New Testament:  "Strive to enter through the narrow gate." [Luke 13:24]. It is important that in the Gospel the metaphor of "the narrow gate" is used by several evangelists, but in different contexts: "Enter by the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way leading to destruction is wide, and many go by it" [Matthew 7:13]; "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for, I tell you, many will seek to enter, and will not be able [Luke 13:24].

The evangelist Luke uses instead of "enter", used in the Gospel of Matthew, "strive to enter", which implies a huge human effort, the presence of will, dedication, absolute Faith, Hope, Love. In the story, the biblical quote "the narrow gate", repeating, transforming, defines the conceptual embodiment of the work.

In this regard, Pastor Vauthier's reading of a sermon in the church about the "narrow gate" seems to be significant: "Enter by the narrow gate; because the gate is wide and the path leading to destruction is wide, and many go by it; because the gate is narrow and the path leading to life is narrow, and few find them" ^{[10, p. 18]}. The pastor, combining the sayings of the evangelist Matthew and the evangelist Luke in one sermon, has a strong influence on the teenager Jerome, who takes these words literally: "The pastor returned to the initial lines, and now I saw a narrow gate that I should have entered" ^{[10, p. 18]}. Jerome's subjective vision of the "narrow gate" is conveyed through subtle irony, which emphasizes the worldview associated with childhood: "In my then state, they seemed to me somewhat like a machine for rolling steel sheets, I squeezed through there, straining all my strength and feeling terrible pain, to which, however, a taste of unearthly bliss was added" ^{[10, p. 18]}. The effect of perception of religious institutions as an integral part of human life is enhanced, the influential significance of these invectives for the still undeveloped souls of adolescents. Jerome, under the influence of a strong emotional shock caused by Vauthier's sermon, determines for himself the only goal in life: dedication of himself, his thoughts, actions, forces, aspirations, life in general – love for Alice. The repeated lexemes "efforts", "tension", become conceptually significant.

Jerome at the very beginning of his confession focuses on the death of his father, mentioning this event three times. He begins with the words: "I was not even twelve years old when I lost my father" ^{[10, p. 7]}. After a few pages, he returns to this fact: "I do not intend to write memories of my childhood and will only tell about what is relevant to this story. And it began, I can say quite definitely, in the year of my father's death" ^{[10, p. 9]}. He confirms once again, definitively: "Yes, it was exactly in the year of his father's death" ^{[10, p. 9]}. Here the author nonverbally introduces the concept of BLINDNESS (death) as a characteristic of the hero's state of confusion before choosing a life path, searching for a behavior model. The age of the hero ("it was not yet 12 years old" in total gives the number 3, which in this case also speaks of Jerome's spiritual imperfection. "... the number three establishes that which is firm, real, substantial, complete and whole – divine perfection" ^{[11, p. 15]}.

Using a subtext, symbolic trace elements, A. Zhid connects the "incongruous": the trace element "death of the father" is not combined with the biblical maxim about "narrow gates". At different levels of the narrative, two concepts collide: Christian and Nietzschean. Through numerical symbolism, through subtext, through the introduction of the concept of BLINDNESS, the increase in internal tension associated with the "death of God" is transmitted.

There are eight chapters in the story, Alice's diary is introduced separately. The number "8" symbolizes immortality in Christianity ^{[11, p. 39]}, which correlates with the meaning of the epigraph "enter the narrow gate", and you will be granted eternal life, but diverges from the finale. Alice, strictly observing the Christian commandments, dies alone and in despair.

The plot of the story is created by combining and changing the scenes-descriptions: Fongezmar Garden (Bucolen estate, Alice's family), Alice's room, cemetery.

Each meeting of Jerome with Alice is a separate section of the story, which reveals the stages of the development of the relationship between the two lovers until Alice's death. The plot is built around the emotional experiences, feelings, emotions, introspection of the characters. Real events become only a driving force for identifying the reasons for the reflection of the main characters – Jerome and Alice.

Alice, brought up in a conservative environment of a religious community, cannot realize the contradiction between the strictness of morality, which she was instilled from childhood, and the freedom of action of her mother Lucille Bucolin, who runs away with a young officer. The news of Lucille Bucolin's escape with her lover becomes the first stage of the heroes' growing up. Attention is not focused on this event, details and details are not described, but a kind of halo is created around this fact. The author emphasizes the significant impact of this event on the children's minds of Alice and Jerome, turning the vector of their worldview in a religious direction. As noted above, one of the main virtues is love, love for God and people. In this sense, the concepts of VIRTUE, LOVE, SUFFERING, COMPASSION, PATIENCE, HUMILITY are in one semantic field. The virtue of suffering, as "... one of the sweetest and noblest fruits of the Christian faith" ^{[12, p. 65]}, becomes a key guideline in the search for the "narrow gates" of Alice and Jerome: "These harsh instructions found fertile ground in the soul, initially ready to serve duty and – under the influence of the example of the father and mother, combined with the puritanical discipline to which they subdued the first impulses of my heart, which almost made the final choice, which I could express in one word – virtue" ^{[10, p. 19]}. The sermon on the "narrow gate" points to one of the leading themes of the work – understanding what virtue is; choosing a path, self-sacrifice, suffering, achieving a religious ideal.

The story "The Narrow Gate" begins with the creation of a kind of scenery in which the drama will unfold. The description of the Byukolen house in Fongezmar and its garden occupies several pages of the work. First, the garden in Fongezmar reproduces the happy events of childhood, the birth of love between Alice and Jerome, then it turns into a place of repentance and revelation of the main characters. The image of the garden acquires an allusive connection with the biblical Eden, which corresponds to the general tone of the whole story. According to D.S. Likhachev, a garden always expresses a certain philosophy, an idea of the world, a person's attitude to nature, it is a microcosm in its ideal expression ^[13]. At the same time, the etymology of the name "Fongezmar" carries a negative semantic load, which is not combined with the image that emerges in the story. The French "Fangueusemare" – "l a mare fangeuse" translates as "dirty, swampy". Semantic content becomes ambiguous, creating semantic complexity, and distorts the sacred essence. The Nietzschean theme of the devaluation of the concept of VIRTUE sounds: "Virtue means sitting still in a swamp. We do not bite anyone and avoid those who want to bite; and in everything we adhere to the opinion imposed on us" ^{[14, p. 68]}. Jerome and Alice are trying to create their own way of life by following Christian commandments. What Nietzsche criticized: "Some want to learn and get on the right path and call it a virtue; while others want to give up everything – and call it a virtue as well" ^{[14, p. 68]}. In the drafts to the "Narrow Gate", A. Zhid first gives the name of the estate "La Mivoie" ("mi – half, middle, voie – way, road") ^{[15, p. 474]}, which also expands the context, leading to the main idea. The heroes walk only half the way together, then their destinies diverge. Alice chooses an ascetic lifestyle, going deeper and deeper into religious teaching, abandoning worldly life. Jerome, on the contrary, goes on a trip to different countries in search of new knowledge.

It is here, in this garden, that the hidden doors are described, which acquire a metaphorical meaning. The garden "is depicted as an enclosed space enclosed by a wall or fence, inside which there is complete abundance" ^{[16, p. 491]}. A gate, a gate, a small door from the garden symbolize an exit to the outside world full of temptations.

The gate becomes one of the key symbols of the story: it is not by chance that the word of the semantic series "doors" is used in the text more than 30 times. The metaphorical nature of the "door" image increases more and more as the action develops, and, consequently, with each mention of "closed doors" in the story, a premonition of disaster increases more and more. The two meanings of the word "gate" (direct and figurative) in the work are closely fused, on the pages of the work this token always appears in both meanings at once. The image of a closed door that appears in a choice situation – a sign of the closeness of space and a symbol of the impossibility of exit – stands out vividly in Jerome's last meeting with Alice in the Fongezmar garden: "The door was locked, but the bolt on the inside barely held, so if I pushed harder with my shoulder..." ^{[10, p. 102]}. "Open door", on the contrary, is a metaphor for "enlightenment", liberation, which was nearby, but no one took advantage of the "open door". The words of Alice and Jerome acquire symbolic meaning: "Wow! Turns out the door wasn't locked? – I knocked, you didn't answer, Alice ..." ^{[10, p. 36]}. The image of locked doors also implements the concept of BLINDNESS: Alice and Jerome's ignorance of Truth and life. The specificity of the artistic language of A. Zhid helps to reveal the deep meaning of the story, to discover additional meanings.

Alice's space is extremely narrowed, closed: the heroine is within the estate throughout the work, leaves it only at the end, which creates a symbolic load (after leaving the house, having seen the light, Alice dies). Jerome's external space appears to be already more expanded, he is constantly on the move, staying not only within his country, but also abroad: in Italy, Greece, Palestine. The choice of countries, on the one hand, resembles a pilgrimage path, a journey to holy places for worship, in the hope of receiving supernatural help. On the other hand, Italy and Greece are countries with a history of the ancient world, with their own pantheon of Gods.

The very name of the main character hides his symbolic attitude, which allusively correlates with the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah – Fr. Jerome, Jeremie, Jeremias). Jeremiah was the second of the four great prophets of the Old Testament, known for his work "The Lamentation of Jeremiah". Its content is presented in the form of a funeral lament, or a complaint. Jeremiah mourns the tragic death of the city of Jerusalem, from which he had to leave. This episode correlates with the story of Jerome, who is forced to leave his beloved, and "mourns" his tragic love, and then Alice's death.

The concept of BLINDNESS is represented in the narratives associated with Lucille Bucolin and Pastor Vauthier.  Lucille Bucolin destroys the idealistic world of Fongezmar. The action goes beyond the estate, which is assessed as going beyond the limits of morality, interfaced with the immoral behavior of the characters. Lucille's origin (Creole, dark skin) emphasizes her alienation from French society, her otherness. The contrast is complemented by the fact that she is an orphan (initially without a father), but, very importantly, Pastor Vauthier takes her into his family. Here, for the first time, A. Zhid introduces the figure of a priest, whose role is insignificant, but the inconsistency of the ministers of the Church is already being traced. Jerome characterizes him as a kind, compliant and cautious person, but trusting and powerless before human machinations and any manifestation of evil. Seeing in him a noble soul, Jerome notes with regret the fact of the priest's complete persecution. In one position, at the lexico-semantic level, the complexity of the problem of the collision of the "human" and spiritual worlds is conveyed (a wonderful, kind man, "completely disarmed against evil", hunted). Whereas the role of a pastor, a Protestant priest, is precisely to save souls, to help the unfortunate and destitute.

In this context, the pastor's surname, Vautier, also becomes significant. The surname Vauthier in French consists of two lexemes – "veau" (calf) and "tiers" (third part, third person). The third part ("tiers") is subtextually connected with the Holy Trinity (Trinit?), which is consonant with his kind of activity – the pastor as a spiritual mentor. But at the phonetic level, the word "tier", which is close in sound to the verb "tuer" – to kill, to slaughter (if we are talking about livestock), that is, veau ai tu? – a slaughtered calf, correlates with the phrase "the pastor was hunted." In addition, slaughtered calves, "slaughtered lamb" – "an ancient sign of sacrifice" ^{[7, p. 56]}.

A completely different attitude to priests in Dostoevsky's novels, for whom "the ideal Christian is not an abstract matter, but figuratively real, possible, personally forthcoming ..." ^{[17, p. 68]}. Elder Zosima in the novel "The Brothers Karamazov" is Alyosha's spiritual mentor, teacher, preacher who experiences human suffering and understands it.

The psychological portrait of Lucille is also supplemented by her name. If we take into account the position of P. Florensky that "... the name is a whole spectrum of moral self–determination and a bundle of different life paths" ^{[18, p. 225]}, then the name Lucille contains both "light" (lucide - clear, bright) and "darkness" (blindness), being associated with the root of the word "Lucifer" (banished from paradise). At the same time, the surname Byukolen, associated with the bucolic genre (an idealized depiction of pastoral life and rural life against the background of nature), is also indirectly related to the Christian tradition of sacrifice (Jesus is the "lamb"). After Lucille's escape, no information is given about her (choosing a "wide path of pleasure") related to her future fate. But the life of her daughter Alice is described in detail, who chooses the path of suffering leading to virtue. Without manifesting itself openly, the theme of doubt about the value of asceticism, the indestructibility of Christian self-sacrifice sounds implicitly.

The writer, student and friend of A. Zhid, Henri Geon, who was brought up a devout man, but was disappointed in the faith already in adolescence, due to the fact that religion was taught separately from life, noted: "We find at the heart of the "Narrow Gate" the idea of satire: satire of self-sacrifice" ^[17]. The original idea of A. Zhid's title of his story is "An attempt to die well". Undoubtedly, this version of the title would logically match with the finale of the work. But in this case, the main theme of the story would be distorted. The supposed title appealed to theological texts, to books of the medieval period (since 1415) "The Art of Dying", which convinced that death is a blessing, and urged not to be afraid of death, not to succumb to temptations, to remember the feat of Christ's love and follow his commandments. Replacing the lexeme "art" with the lexeme "attempt" achieves a change in the semantic content of the content of the artistic text.

The title "The Narrow Gate" reflects the main storyline of the story, which consists in the decision of the main character to renounce happiness with a loved one, since the benefits in mortal life are connected with the physical, material sphere, and to live in the name of LOVE overcoming BLINDNESS – but, composing the antinomy of the tragic finale, focuses on it. As a result, Alice is disappointed, determination and a frantic desire to get closer to God, a blissful feeling of realizing the truth of the path she has chosen leave the girl.  On the threshold of death, the self-denying Alice is not with God, but on earth, exhausted by illness and already doubting. "Trying to die well" leads to tragedy.  

It is worth noting that in "experiments, attempts" the influence of the writer and philosopher M. Montaigne on A. Zhid is observed. His work "Experiments", comprehensively depicting the history of the French people, is a critical analysis of the main dogmas of the church, including those aimed at denying worldly life. Andre Gide, being an admirer of Montaigne, took ideas from him and "... a skeptical, sarcastic, ironic attitude ..." ^[20].

As already noted, the narration is conducted in the first person, but the dialogues of the characters are also introduced into the fabric of the story. The replicas of the main characters are dominated by words with the semes "humility", "virtue", which are included in the semantic field of the concepts of VIRTUE and LOVE, but the author creates an opposition, simultaneously introducing the lexemes of the concept of BLINDNESS. Alice strives to embody her love for Jerome in her love for God, which literally blinds the girl, not allowing her to see the real suffering of her loved ones and relatives. The motive of "blind" faith sounds here, when the commandment "love your neighbor" is subconsciously ignored, "blindness" does not allow compassion and mercy to manifest, and self-denial, in fact, turns out to be false. Both Jerome and Alice, remaining internally blind, are in captivity of self–deception: self-admiration for their God-participation is a consequence of selfishness. Alice motivates the decision to break off relations with Jerome by the fact that love for him, which raised her to a high spiritual and moral level, brought her closer to God, suddenly stood between her and God. The motive of blindness unfolds with the help of a recurring image of blindness associated mainly with Alice. Blindness becomes an integral part of Jerome. He does not see, does not feel Juliette's love, does not notice Alice's torments, not only mental, but also bodily, physical. His strong, boundless love for Alice blinds him. Gradually, Jerome is the first to begin to "see clearly", to realize the sorrowful reality. "Shroud", "blindness" – images reflecting the false perception of reality by the heroes, their personal experiences: "Oh, what a blind man I was, looking for my sins" ^{[10, p. 36]}. Virtue becomes a heavy burden for finding the happiness of two lovers. Against the trap of virtue, the hero remains defenseless: any heroism that blinds him, Jerome does not distinguish from love. Gradually "seeing through", Jerome approaches the Nietzschean worldview: "Ah, what a senseless chimera this very virtue suddenly appeared before me, requiring constant exertion of all forces, without which I could not connect with it in the sky-high heights, where it was ascended exclusively by my efforts!" ^{[10, p. 101]}.

Alice's gradual "epiphany" is presented in her diary, which is woven into the canvas of the story and highlights her image in a slightly different halo. Her sometimes strange behavior is explained by a sincere delusion, misunderstanding of what is happening. Changing the angle of view of the girl shows all her pain and suffering. She herself becomes a victim of her beliefs. The last days of her life, described in her diary, are the torments of an internal struggle associated with the suppression of an ever-increasing hatred of God. A. Zhid shows a complex process of epiphany as a way to get rid of blindness, despondency. Alice's illness is perceived not so much in the real aspect as in the allegorical one. The story does not say specifically what Alice is sick with, there are only symptoms that complement her inner experiences. This is clearly seen on the last day of life, recorded by Alice: "Jerome, I would like to teach you the highest joy. This morning – severe vomiting attack. Immediately after it, I felt so weak that I had a glimpse of hope to die right away" ^{[10, p. 127]}. In one semantic field, "perfect joy" and "vomiting" are used. A vocabulary with a direct meaning correlates with a symbolic plan. Vomiting is a symbol of rejection and rejection, rejection. Vomiting can symbolize what always gets in the way, what you want to get rid of forever. Alice recreates in detail the picture of the last minutes of life: "...then both the flesh and the soul seemed to tremble in unspeakable anguish, and suddenly a flash – a merciless clarification of my whole life" ^{[10, p. 127]}. The word "clarification" emphasizes the tragic "blindness" of the heroine, who could have lived a happy life with her lover. Her "clarification" reveals the reality to which she aspired so much: "It was as if for the first time I saw the unbearably bare walls of my room. I was scared. I'm still writing now just to come to my senses, to calm down. Oh, my God! If only I could reach the end, avoiding blasphemy" ^{[10, p. 127]}.

Alice's diary reveals another aspect of the semantic fullness of the name "Narrow Gate", associated with the moral and philosophical searches of A. Zhid, embodied in the concepts of BLINDNESS, LOVE, VIRTUE. The recordings of the main character represent her self-promotion.  Alice's last prayer is the culmination of the story: "Envious God, who has deprived me of everything, take away my heart. Nothing glows in him anymore and nothing will entice him anymore" ^{[10, p. 124]}. Alice was in faith with her mind – not with her heart, her faith had a character separate from life, which determined the blindness of the heroine. A purely idealistic approach to devoting oneself to a virtuous life caused the development of selfishness in Alice, because, carried away by the idea of God's participation and purity, Alice neglected an important component of LOVE – the need to love one's neighbor. Not realizing the fact of her spiritual blindness and, accordingly, its prerequisites, Alice experiences a state of confusion, internal conflict, a sense of injustice being done to her.

Alice's dying words reveal despair and fear of the unknown: "My careless heart desired too much human joy <...> Did you, Lord, deprive me of all hope ...?" ^{[10, p. 125]}. The function of the "narrow gate" in the religious understanding turns out to be untenable in the Messianic sense. Instead of salvation, faith brings destruction to the heroine, and following Christian postulates, the girl dies and darkens the lives of people who love her.

The work leads us to the idea that Christian teaching does not justify itself in the world of people who desire "too human joy." If you follow through life, blindly obeying religious texts, then the only way to salvation is death, on the threshold of which the main character is waiting for disappointment and fear. Accusations appear in Alice's words: "I realized: my whole life is in vain if there is no happiness at the end of it <...> But you promised him, Lord, you promised a selfless and pure soul" ^{[10, p. 126]}. The last days of Alice's life do not meet the requirements of the church canon. She is not at all happy about the lot of the happy, dying in God. Broken by physical suffering, she cannot withstand the temptations of despair, pride (Alice challenges God, accusing him of injustice towards her). This means that he doubts faith and refuses it. A believer should hope for God's help, be confident in it and, despite any trials, remain in a state of firm conviction, in the truth and salvation of the gospel teaching, and feel Divine grace. Alice admits that her faith is "shaken", although she appeals to God with a plea to quench "... the thirst of my heart" ^{[10, p. 126]}.

The text of the story "The Narrow Gate" leads to the idea expressed by A. Zhid in lectures about Dostoevsky: "Eternal life is not the destiny of the future (or at least not only the destiny of the future), and if we do not achieve it here, then there is very little hope of ever achieving it" ^{[21, p. 324]}.

The problems associated with the philosophical and religious considerations of A. Zhid are reflected in the story "Pastoral Symphony", published in 1919. The views of A. Zhid, captured by both Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, are of particular interest in the analysis of the work. The French writer hesitates about Dostoevsky, for whom the gospel truths remain indisputable, and Nietzsche, who destroys the established biblical canons that do not justify themselves in the modern author's society, where "God died". Using various artistic techniques, A. Zhid continues to conduct a kind of dialogue with both Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, radically opposite thinkers who significantly influenced his work.

The story "Pastoral Symphony" is written in the form of a diary kept by the pastor of a small village. He tells the story of a blind girl he took into his family's care.

The concept of BLINDNESS is introduced from the very beginning of the story both on the physical level and on the spiritual level. BLINDNESS is associated not only with the main character Gertrude, blind from birth, but also with the pastor.

As in "The Narrow Gate", in the story "Pastoral Symphony" the diary of the protagonist also represents his self-reflection.  

The complexity and ambivalence of the work are reflected already in the title, suggesting different semantic content, different interpretations. The work refers to Beethoven's famous "Pastoral Symphony No. 6". In Beethoven's work, this symphony is unique from the point of view of composition: only each part is titled in it, and a thunderstorm is placed between the episodes of a fervent village dance and a carefree finale. The names of the parts of the symphony, which are reflected in the "Pastoral Symphony" of the Jew, are very significant for the analysis of the story. Beethoven distinguishes five parts in his work: "The awakening of joyful feelings from arriving in the village", the second part is "The Scene by the stream", the third part is "A merry gathering of peasants", the fourth part is "A thunderstorm. The Storm", the finale – "Shepherd's Song. Thanksgiving after the storm."  

Gertrude, born blind, is adopted into the family of a pastor who surrounds her with love and care and becomes the guardian and spiritual mentor of the girl, which corresponds to the serenity, peace of Beethoven's work, glorifying human kindness. We can talk about the allusive connection between the story of the Jew and Beethoven's symphony: the main characters constantly listen to the symphony, the depicted events of the story coincide with the plot of the musical work. The picture of a thunderstorm in the story reflects the situation of Gertrude's epiphany. Having regained her eyesight as a result of the operation, she sees the real pain and suffering of the family that sheltered her. The difference is that Beethoven's symphony ends with joyful and grateful shepherd songs after the storm, and A. Zhid's story ends with the death of the heroine.

The lexeme "pastoral" also refers to a well–known literary genre - the pastoral novel, which poetizes peaceful and simple rural life. "Pastoral Symphony" has some similarities with the works of this genre, where all the events, as well as the experiences of the characters, unfold against the background of descriptions of nature. As E. M. Meletinsky notes: "In the pastoral novel, the life background opposing the hero is actually removed ..." ^{[22, p. 165]}. The dialogues of the pastor and Gertrude at the Jew, according to the attributes of this genre, mainly take place during long walks in the mountains, where they listen to the singing of birds, talk about love and faith. "The main subject of the novel – "private life" – appears in the pastoral novel in complete isolation from any "epism", in an absolutely artificial and conditional context, love relationships turn out to be the only kind of relationships and manifestations of personality" ^{[22, p. 165]}.

The diary of the hero of the story "Pastoral Symphony" is distinguished by biblical quotation, a lot of allusions, idealization of his relationship with Gertrude. From this point of view, the title of the story can be interpreted as "the pastor's symphony", which is justified in the context of the story, because the author of the diary is a Protestant pastor. The image of the shepherd A. Zhid is an allusion to the biblical texts, in which a parallel is drawn: shepherds (shepherds) are nurses, defenders and guides of the flock, as a result of which religious leaders are depicted as shepherds, and the people are sheep. In the Bible, God is depicted as a shepherd as a guide, protector, and collector of the people. The pastor becomes Gertrude's teacher and spiritual father, with the goal of saving her life and soul. He repeatedly refers to the parable of the "lost sheep", which more clearly denotes the symbolism of the word "shepherd". The lexeme "symphony" has several meanings: on the one hand, the word is of Greek origin and in the exact sense means "consonance", that is, a piece of music written for orchestra ^{[22, p. 953]}, which correlates with Beethoven's symphony, on the other hand, symphonies are also called concordations, from the Latin concordia – "concord", that is, a collection of all the words that can be found in the Holy Scriptures in alphabetical order, indicating the place where they are. The pastor's diary is replete with biblical quotes commenting on this or that life event in his family. This theme is clearly indicated in the artistic fabric of the work in a peculiar interpretation of several gospel plots, to which there are both direct and allusive references of the author.

The structure of the story is defined conceptually: the author represents the collision of two philosophical concepts – Dostoevsky and Nietzsche.  

The entries of the first notebook are distinguished by pathos, they reproduce the events that have occurred over the past two and a half years. In the second – recent tragic events. The artistic style of the diary entries of the first notebook coincides with the composition of the Protestant sermon, which is aimed at moral imperatives. In his notes, the pastor formulates the main message that reflects the main idea of the sermon: he feels like a shepherd (shepherd), called to preserve and heal Gertrude's body and soul, to bring her out of a state of blindness "for reverence and love" ^{[10, p. 133]}. The lexical content of the pastor's diary entries is characterized by a church-biblical character: "... the Lord put the right words into my mouth ...", "At the first words of her (the pastor's wife) sermon, gospel words came to my lips from the depths of my soul ..." ^{[10, p. 139]}. The pastor himself writes that his notes are more like a sermon: "However, it seems that I am starting to write down things here that could perfectly serve as a topic for a sermon" ^{[10, p. 157]}. The pastor also introduces an interpretation of the biblical parable of the lost sheep, believing that even true Christians do not understand, do not realize this parable.

The parable of the lost sheep acquires the status of a conceptual dominant, which comes into conflict with the reality of human misunderstanding. The pastor draws a conclusion based on observations of parishioners about their fundamental disagreement, formed by material life, with the idea of the parable, it is necessary to return to the lost sheep for its salvation, abandoning the whole flock at the same time.  

The comparison of the pastor with Pygmalion, who created his Galatea, is implicitly conveyed. Enthusiastically and with restraint, the pastor writes about the blissful, truly gracious joy he experienced from Gertrude's smile at the moment she realized what the priest taught her "... the smile that dawned on the face of this statue (Gertrude)" ^{[10, p. 147]}. The morning itself, as a "symbol of awakening, liberation from the burden of yesterday," becomes the beginning of Gertrude's new life. The pastor describes in detail the difficulties he had to face while teaching a blind girl through the use of various techniques. The result is Gertrude's spiritual insight, her understanding, comprehension of the gospel truths: "Suddenly all her features became spiritualized; it was a sudden illumination, resembling the purple glow of the high Alps, from which the snow peak begins to tremble before dawn, thereby already marked and snatched out of the darkness" ^{[10, p. 147]}. The author's use of the verb "to revive" emphasizes the transformation of the girl's soul. Morning, dawn, illumination, glow – symbols of "enlightenment, hope". For the pastor, Gertrude's change becomes a kind of confirmation of the existence of God, his blessing, and in a fit of gratitude, the priest, kissing Gertrude, offers this kiss to God. In the first notebook, events are reproduced and the pastor's judgments are imprinted, confirming the biblical truths, proving their inviolability in the human world.

The second notebook, written in other, tragic colors, creates a strong contrast to the first. The pastor explicates his gradual "illumination", precisely realizing his own "blindness".

The concept of BLINDNESS is directly related to the original idea of the title of the story "Blind", on which A. Zhid worked back in 1893. The lexeme "blind" contains a double meaning. The noun "blind" in French has the same form for both feminine and masculine, which allows you to translate either "blind" or "blind", which in context more accurately conveys the main theme of the work – the "blindness" of the pastor.

The original idea of the title correlates with the biblical parable of the blind man who was healed by Jesus Christ. "Blindness" in this parable becomes synonymous with error. The antinomies blindness – epiphany, darkness – light permeate the entire work both on a real level and on a symbolic one. From the very beginning, the pastor's confidence in his election is manifested: "... this meek soul, which I apparently brought out of darkness only for reverence and love" ^{[10, p. 133]}. The words and actions of the pastor, who projects the girl's external blindness onto her inner world, are undoubtedly connected with the parable of the blind man. The pastor emphasizes the facelessness, the inner emptiness of the blind. His main postulate is that without religious education, a person does not have an inner world, his own value. This is evidenced by the pastor's prayer: "The inhabitant of her unenlightened body – the soul must be waiting, immured, for the ray of Your grace to finally touch her, Lord! Let my love take away from her, if possible, this terrible darkness!" ^{[10, p. 136]}.

The scene of the pastor returning home with a blind girl has several allusive connections with the biblical theme. The pastor is taking home a girl who is sleeping on her knees at his feet. This scene is a reminiscence of an episode of the famous Rembrandt painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son", where the father hugs his son, kneeling at his feet. The pastor himself will repeatedly relate the blind girl to the hero of this parable. However, the ironic subtext manifests itself in a situation when it turns out that the girl is infected with lice, seeing which the pastor is disgusted, immediately distastefully withdrawing from her. This scene demonstrates a certain alienation of the pastor from the real world, his unwillingness to perceive reality as it really is.

The first notebook, written in an upbeat and emotional tone, corresponds to the idyllic picture of the pastoral novel and Beethoven's symphony and is plot-complete. Gertrude has an education and upbringing, the "prodigal sheep" has returned to its origins, the blind-born one seemed to "see clearly" by accepting God's word, which the pastor preached. But if the first notebook shows the pastor's love for a blind girl as a gifted student, whom he "brings out of the darkness" by teaching her, then the second one already sounds the theme of a man's love for a woman.

The second notebook opens with the pastor's introspection, his awareness of his own "blindness": "... only tonight, rereading everything I wrote, I finally understood correctly ..." ^{[10, p. 173]}. Love for Gertrude changes his worldview, illuminating more and more self-deception of the pastor, even in relation to himself. He insists on justifying his attraction to Gertrude. The pastor justifies his new view of the Gospel with the conclusions that appeared to him, as a result of his spiritual activity, about the doubtfulness of the truth, and therefore the absoluteness, of Christian postulates, which are only an interpretation of the words of Christ by the apostle, and not the actual words of the Savior.   "Gertrude's religious upbringing made me read the Gospel in a completely new way. The appeal to the Apostle Paul, to his "Epistles" are persistently repeated in the work.

The Apostle Paul wrote the famous words about love in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "Love is long-suffering, merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt itself, is not proud, does not commit outrages, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; covers everything, believes everything, he hopes for everything, endures everything" [Cor. 13:4-7].  In the words of the Apostle Paul, the essence of the meaning of the concept of LOVE is revealed. This understanding of love acts as an exculpatory foundation for the pastor in his quest for Gertrude. In this, the pastor is very close to Dostoevsky's heroes, for whom love is "the sources of life for the heart of another" ^{[24, p. 421]}. As the philosopher S. Zemlyanoi notes, Dostoevsky "highly valued the Apostle Paul" ^{[25, p. 126]}.

In the dialogue between the pastor and his son Jacques, the "blind consciousness" of the pastor in love is demonstrated. A. Zhid stylistically modifies the dialogue, where there are no clearly distinguished replicas of the characters, it is written in the form of a monologue: "He reproached me that I choose "only what I like" from Christian teaching. But I do not pick up the words of Christ at random," the pastor justifies himself. In this spiritual dispute between father and son, two points of view of the interpretation of the Gospel collide, where the pastor sees no doubts, hesitations of his son Jacques. The priest continues to confidently defend a point of view that is convenient for him. He outwardly preserves the face of the righteous, speaking about his fear of opposing them, but, in essence, he has already opposed them, choosing the side of Christ, whose thoughts, according to the pastor, are reflected incorrectly in the Gospel. Jacques' remarks "break into" the pastor's statements, the pastor's thoughts are "intertwined" with Jacques' speech – at first glance, a kind of confusion is created. This technique was noted by M. M. Bakhtin, referring to the problems of Dostoevsky's creativity, considering his novels as polyphonic: "... two replicas of the most intense dialogue, a word and a contradiction, instead of following each other and being pronounced by two different mouths, leaned on each other and merged into one utterance in one mouth" [26. p. 233]. In the pastor's remarks, there is a noticeable inability to hear another and rejection of a different idea of the Christian faith than his own: "The more Jacques argues, the more he convinces me that he is absolutely immune to the inexplicably divine sound of the slightest word of Christ" ^{[10, p. 174]}. Jacques sees internal contradictions in the biblical texts, but still does not give up his perception of Christ and the Apostle Paul as a monolith of Christian doctrine: "I search throughout the Gospel, I search in vain for commandments, threats, prohibitions... All this comes only from the Apostle Paul. And it is precisely the fact that he does not find this anywhere in the words of Christ himself that torments Jacques the most" ^{[10, p. 174]}. The clash of divergent cues merges into a "sharp interruption of contradictory voices" ^{[26, p. 233]}, thus demonstrating the ambivalence of the pastor's own judgments. There is a confrontation between two different worldview positions. Using biblical vocabulary, A. Zhid skillfully conveys not only an ideological clash, but also a dispute between two men in love with one woman.

At the same time, the words of the pastor are in tune with Nietzsche, who accused it was the Apostle Paul of distorting Christian teaching: "... he (Paul), mercilessly raping the truth, put into the mouth of the "Savior" of his invention those representations of the Chandala religions with which consciousness was obscured ..." ^{[14, p. 688]}. This point of view is shared by Andre Zhid himself, who noted in his diary entries: "I am surprised that Protestantism, rejecting the church hierarchies, at the same time did not exclude the oppressive institutions of St. Paul, the dogmatism of his references in order to refer only to the one Gospel" ^{[27, p. 260]}. In fact, the dispute is about the content and hierarchy of the concepts of BLINDNESS, LOVE, VIRTUE, which determine a person's moral and religious outlook.

In this dialogue, the pastor behaves not just as a participant in an argument, not as a father arguing with his son, but as a rival in love. He accuses Jacques of "traditionalism", "dogmatism", "doctrinaire dryness" and emphasizes his superiority. "It often seems to me that I am much younger than him, <...> I repeat to myself the words of Scripture: "If you are not like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" ^{[10, p. 175]}. Thus, the pastor stubbornly ignores his son's remarks about choosing "only what he likes" in Christian teaching. This is connected with the words of the Apostle Paul: "Everything is permissible to me, but not everything is useful; everything is permissible to me, but nothing should possess me" [1 Cor. 6:12].

The pastor continues to justify his attraction to Gertrude, in his reflections there is a gravitation more to Nietzscheanism than to gospel truths: "Does it really mean to betray Christ, belittle and profane the Gospel, if I see in it first of all the way to achieve bliss?" ^{[10, p. 175]}. The pastor's judgment becomes diametrically opposed to the biblical maxims: "seek happiness in suffering," "strive to enter through a narrow gate." The state of joy, according to the pastor, should be obligatory for every Christian, everyone should strive for happiness here in the worldly life: "The joy of the spirit, which is hindered by our doubts and hardness of heart, is something obligatory for a Christian. Every being is more or less capable of joy. Every being is obliged to strive for it" ^{[10, p. 175]}. There is a philosophical subtext in this, which echoes Nietzsche's aphorism about the "Source of Joy": "Life is a spring of joy; but wherever the trash drinks, all the springs are poisoned... Oh, I have found him, my brothers! Here, at the very height, there is a spring of joy for me! And there is a life from which the scum does not drink with me!" ^{[14, pp. 69-70]}.

The pastor's one-sidedness, his "blindness" with love for Gertrude are more clearly indicated in the presentation of his thoughts in the second diary, where the pastor's deliberate distortion of reality regarding the blind girl is traced: "I refuse, however, to give her the epistle of Paul, for if she, like a blind woman, does not know sin at all, then why bother her and let her read: "Sin becomes extremely sinful through the commandment" (Rom. VII, 13) and all further dialectics, despite all its brilliance?" ^{[10, p. 176]}. The pastor tries to convince himself that he is right by the fact that he is by right close to Christ, brings Gertrude closer to him, calling the only sin is the creation of pripyatstvo on the way to happiness for others and himself. They justify the Nietzschean maxim about the clergy: "Angrily, with a shout, they drove their flock along their path, as if only one path leads to the future! Truly, even these shepherds still belonged to the sheep!" ^{[14, p. 65]}. The parable "About the Lost Sheep" is transformed in the opposite direction – in fact, it is the pastor who is the "lost sheep".

As already noted, in the story "Pastoral Symphony", the concept of BLINDNESS refers to both Gertrude and the pastor, who, blinded by his love, does not see the suffering of loved ones around him. In this context, the "Parable of the Blind" is interpreted, which is vividly depicted in the famous painting by Pieter Brueghel "The Blind Leads the Blind". The main idea of this gospel parable is: "... if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit" [Matthew 15:14]. This concept will manifest itself in the dramatic finale of the work, when the spiritual "blindness" of the pastor will lead to the tragic death of Gertrude.

Confident in his unshakable love, the pastor protects Gertrude from the outside world. Even the offer of his friend, Dr. Martin, to perform an operation to restore Gertrude's vision becomes a kind of threat for the pastor: "Why arouse hope in Gertrude, which would soon have to be extinguished? And besides, isn't she quite happy now?" ^{[10, p. 176]}.

Gertrude's kiss inspires the pastor to new hopes. Moral boundaries are erased in his mind: neither marital status nor pastoral duties no longer become an obstacle on his path to happiness. The Holy Father tramples on the VIRTUE based on LOVE, the essence of which is to follow the Ten Commandments. He strives for freedom, without any moral restrictions, more Nietzschean than Christian.

Before Gertrude's operation, in the prayer of the pastor in love, the image of the "night" acquires a sublime emotionality: "Is it not for us, Lord, that you created this deep wondrous night? Or is it for me? The air is warm, the moon comes to me through the open window, and I listen to the immeasurable silence of the heavens" ^{[10, p. 185]}. "Night", "moon", "silence of heaven" are poetic images that deepen the joyful experiences of the pastor, included in the semantic field of the concept of LOVE, but his love is not a virtue due to his spiritual blindness. The prayers of the pastor seeking support during Gertrude's operation are conveyed in an extremely tense tone. His agitated, suffering exclamation addressed to God, however, is based on the statement that all the limitations existing in love are only from people – not from God. The pastor begs the Almighty to recognize the sanctity of their love with Gertrude in spite of the human world that humiliates her and does not plunge her into sin. In fact, the pastor realizes and recognizes the criminality of his passion, which is alien to virtue.

Gertrude's return to the pastor's house after a successful operation, already with acquired vision, turns into a tragedy. Her "epiphany" occurs not only on the physical level. She realizes that she did not love the pastor, but his son Jacques, whom she refused, that the pastor's wife is very unhappy because she sees her husband's love passion for Gertrude. Having seen the light, she decides to commit suicide, which becomes a kind of rebellion against the religion that the pastor taught her, since suicide is the worst sin in Christianity.

After Gertrude's suicide attempt, in the pastor's prayer, there is a change in the emotional fullness of the image of the night, which becomes synonymous with grief, sadness. Now for him the night is "pitch black", "hostile". The word "have mercy" repeated in a prayer to the Lord is filled with anguish, sorrow, and fear for the girl's life. He prays to God for the miracle of Gertrude's salvation, ready, if necessary, to give up his love for her. The author fills the last pages of the story with maximum tragedy.

In the pastor's conversation with the dying Gertrude, the lexeme "sin" is repeated many times, revealing the girl's "epiphany" in material and spiritual terms: "You remember what Christ said: "If you were blind, you would not see sin." But now, alas, I see..." ^{[10, p. 190]}. With the return of sight, Gertrude, unlike the pastor, realizes all the pain and suffering that her love for the pastor brought to his family. The third time the appeal to the Apostle Paul in the work is connected with the culmination point in the experiences of Gertrude, who refers to a verse from the Apostle Paul that she remembered: "I once lived without the law; but when the commandment came, sin revived" [Rom. 7:9].

At this most dramatic moment of the story, the pastor learns that the girl and his son Jacques have converted to Catholicism. There is a clash of two Christian denominations – Protestant and Catholic. Jacques, accepting Catholicism, goes to a monastery. Several motivations are read here. On the one hand, by renouncing worldly life and taking a vow of celibacy, he thus preserves his love and devotion to Gertrude. On the other hand, by switching to another denomination, Jacques continues to argue with his father, thereby proving the inconsistency of the pastor's Protestant faith.

Gertrude comes to repentance through conversion to the Catholic faith. In Protestantism, confession before a clergyman is not obligatory and there is no absolution of sins by the latter. In Catholicism, a believer, performing ablution and confessing, receives absolution. Gertrude tries to commit suicide by throwing herself into the river, thus performing a "penitential ablution" and accepting absolution.

There is a subtle allusive connection with Dostoevsky's story "Meek", whose heroine is thrown out of the window with an icon on her chest. Discretely, the main lines of the characters also echo: "Blind, blind! Dead, can't hear! You don't know what kind of paradise I would protect you with" ^{[28, p. 35]}, the hero of Dostoevsky exclaims. In this work, driven to the last limit, desperate, the heroine finds the only way out, a kind of liberation – in suicide. A. Zhid has a different kind of drama – the unbearability of the moral burden, the inner rejection of oneself as a source of unhappiness for the pastor's family.

The pastor does not fully realize his guilt even after Gertrude's death. In his latest recordings, there is annoyance, regret, but not remorse.: "Thus, both these souls immediately left me; it seemed that separated by me in this life, they decided to leave me and unite in God. I am inclined to think that Jacques' conversion was dictated to him by rational arguments, and not by love" ^{[10, p. 192]}.

After the departure of his son, the pastor realizes his "blindness", begins to doubt his faith. Feeling the inadequacy of his faith, the pastor approaches the Nietzschean idea of a "world without God." The pastor kneels before his wife, not before God: "I wanted to cry, but I felt that my heart was as barren as a desert" ^{[10, pp. 73-74]}. The pastor's "barren heart" becomes a sign of the "death of God."

The hero of the Jew, on the one hand, is a hero endowed with "human, too human" qualities, who polemics with the Christian faith in his desire for love, for happiness, which brings him in a distant sense closer to the Nietzschean superman. On the other hand, by placing his hero in a real, concrete situation, the author leads him to an inner emptiness, to tragedy.

So, through the interpretation of the concepts of BLINDNESS, LOVE, VIRTUE through their semantic content based on their lexical representations, based on cultural and religious postulates inherent in the main confessions, Andre Zhid in the stories "The Narrow Gate" and "Pastoral Symphony" designates the moral problems of society, creating a tragic content of the narrative. The Jew creates his own unique picture of the world, in which the question of human essence is fundamental, relevant for the artistic modeling of reality. The dialogue between the two thinkers, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, and with them the dialogue of Andre Zhid himself, remains unfinished.