“The Jester” by Yu. Vyazemsky vs “The Jester” by A. Eshpai: Specificity of Cinema Interpretation of a Literary Character’s Image

The purpose of the study is to conduct a comparative-contrastive analysis of the understanding of the protagonist’s image and his path in Yu. Vyazemsky’s novella “The Jester” and in its film adaptation of the same name. Scientific originality is determined by the fact that it is the first time that the novella is introduced into scientific use and considered through the lens of an interdisciplinary approach. As a result, it has been found, firstly, that while the literary text continues the tradition of the Bildungsroman (stadiality of the hero’s path, his interaction with “teachers”, gradual internal formation and “purification” in death), the screen narrative is constructed as a psychological drama with an alternative ending compared to the source material; secondly, the image of the protagonist, who does not undergo an internal metamorphosis, remaining cruel, is transformed in the cinema interpretation of “The Jester”.