Echoes of A. S. Pushkin's Poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” in the Artistic World of M. Y. Lermontov

Aim. To reveal the influence of Pushkin’s poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” on Lermontov’s artistic world, on his ideas about the female ideal and the essence of love. Methodology . The object of the study is Lermontov’s reception of Pushkin’s poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” in the aspect of the artistic implementation of its plot, imagery, and spiritual content. Through the analysis of such Lermontov’s works as “The Georgian Song”, “Two Slaves”, the poetic message “On secular chains ...”, a holistic study of Lermontov’s dynamic perception of Pushkin’s poem is given. The methodology of the work is connected with the use of biographical, cultural-historical, comparative-historical, aesthetic approaches, which make it possible to identify the creative roll calls of Pushkin and Lermontov, to clarify the features of a personal perception and the specifics of the artistic method of the two poets. Results. Lermontov’s artistic interpretation of Pushkin’s poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” is twostage. If at an early stage of his work he perceives and implements in his poetry its plot and the most striking features of the depicted characters, then in his mature work “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” receives an ontological understanding associated with the understanding of female beauty and the phenomenon of love as a spiritual force that determines the human condition and the fate of history. The poem dedicated to M. A. Shcherbatova “On secular chains…” is the most significant in the assimilation of the Pushkin’s tradition. The female image in Lermontov’s poem is a synthesis of Pushkin’s artistic experience, perceived by Lermontov in the trust of the constant memory of his text, and his personal experience of perceiving the spiritual principle of female beauty. Research implications . The theoretical significance of the study relates to the clarification of the peculiarities of the refraction of the Pushkin’s tradition in Lermontov’s work and the concretization of the meaning of the Pushkin’s text in the formation of Lermontov’s worldview.