Three Sisters: Tripling the Archetipal Image in the Works of Feodor Dostoevsky, Feodor Sologub and Anton Chekhov

The object of study is the archetypal image of three sisters in Feodor Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot", Feodor Sologub's novel "The Minor Demon" and Anton Chekhov's drama "The Three Sisters". Each of the three novels has undoubtedly attracted the attention of researchers many times, but the archetypal approach makes it possible to see familiar characters from the point of view of the manifestation of images of the collective unconscious in them. Special attention is paid to the technique of tripling the archetype, which was used in works of oral folk art, and evolved in literary texts, adapting to specific artistic tasks. Using the example of the image of three sisters in myths, fairy tales and literary texts, one can trace how the features of the archetypal sister are absolutized, and the image itself goes beyond formal kinship relations, acquiring truly supernatural power. The research is based on Carl-Gustav Jung's theory of archetypes and a mythopoetic approach to literary text. Author of the article conjectures that in Feodor Dostoevsky's novel, the three sisters are the most attractive of the "beginnings" of existence; in Feodor Sologub's novel they are depicted as seductive and sensual, in Anton Chekhov's drama they are ephemeral and pathetically unsuited to a rough life. But in all three novels we see common features: firstly, the three sisters always have an influence on the behavior of other characters.; secondly, they certainly fit into their environment as a harmonious part of it, they do not seem repulsive to others, although they may arouse suspicion, fear, even horror, but these feelings do not turn them into outcasts; thirdly, they are not only an instrument of fate, but also victims of it, they are not above fate and from they are not free.