Research Papers on Russian Literature

Click on any of the term papers to read a brief synopsis of the research paper. The essay synopsis includes the number of pages and sources cited in the paper.

  • Human Isolation in The Country Doctor and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

    A paper which looks at man's isolation from society and Kafka's use of surrealism, with particular reference to Metamorphosis and The Country Doctor.

  • Story of Doctor Zhivago

    A 4 page paper which examines the story of “Doctor Zhivago” and illustrates how everyone, in some way, can relate to him and his struggles. Bibliography lists 1 source.

  • Aspects of Doctor Zhivago

    5 pages in length. Assessing the extent to which the Russian Revolution impacted Pasha Antipov requires one to establish an inherent association between an idealist "whose rage for order overwhelms his moral values" (Doctor Zhivago) and a war that was directly due to the czarist regime collapse from the insurmountable pressure of World War I and a backward economic situation that proved impossible to overcome in the face of Germany's industrialization. Antipov's visionary approach to the social and political world around him was not meant to sustain the weight of revolution; because of the immense internal suffering he endured, he felt life was no longer worth the effort and committed suicide – a painful and final gesture on his part to illustrate just how much he could not tolerate his own failure. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

  • Short Story 'The Death of Ivan Ilych'

    (5 pp.) Confronting Death is the last major task that is asked of us. Although it is no different for Ivan Ilych, if feels that it is, yet the pain is "always the same. Now a spark of hope flashes up, then a sea of despair rages, and always pain: always pain, always despair, and always the same. When alone he had a dreadful and distressing desire to call someone, but he knew beforehand that with others present it would be still worse. Another dose of morphine--to lose consciousness. I will tell him, the doctor, that he must think of something else. It's impossible, impossible, to go on like this." His wife tells him. And yet -still - he must go on. How he even be able to access his life. The writer looks at that and other questions that death brings. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

  • Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Interpretation of a Specific Passage

    A 3 page essay that analyzes a passage from Tolstoy's novel and discusses it in relation to the rest of the book. Tolstoy's epic novel Anna Karenina, after dealing with adultery, disillusionment, being social ostracized and finally with suicide, concludes with a life-affirming declaration by one of the novel's principal characters, Konstantin Dmitrich Levin. Examination of this passage shows that it successfully enforces one of the themes that Tolstoy has stressed throughout the course of the novel, namely the importance of family to happiness and a sense of meaning in life. No additional sources cited.

  • Themes in the Works of Alexei and Ivan, the Brothers Karamazov

    This 4 page paper provides an overview of the central themes of The Brothers Karamazov. This is a story of two brothers, Ivan and Alexei, and their trials in the midst of changes in late 19th century Russia. While these two brothers share common elements including geography and social development, they are significantly different in a number of important ways.

  • Pushkin/Moor of Peter the Great

    A 10 page research paper/essay that examines an incomplete work by Alexandr Sergeyevitch Pushkin (1799-1837), a "founding father" of Russian literature. In 1827, Pushkin began, but never completed, a novel based on the life of his African ancestor and his relationship to Peter the Great entitled "The Moor of Peter the Great." The writer explores Pushkin's portrayal of both the Tsar and his ancestor and relates this to why Pushkin might not have finished this novel. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

  • The Shell Game

    This 3 page paper discusses the narrator, and the psychology of Chekhov’s short story “The Man in a Shell.” Bibliography lists 4 sources.

  • The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

    A 4 page paper that offers a general discussion of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The essay includes discussions on the parallels found in the work as well as the different levels on which the novel can be read. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

  • Alfred de Musset's Confession d'Enfant du Siecle and A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov

    An 11 page paper which compares the autobiographical elements of these novels represented by the protagonists and considers how society’s ills contributed to a youthful loss of innocence in nineteenth-century French and Russian societies. No additional sources are used.

  • Supernatural and Dreams in The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann and The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

    This is a 5 page paper discussing the references of dreams and the supernatural in Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” and Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain”. Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” and Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” both contain references to dream sequences to allow the characters to escape or mask the reality of life which surrounds them. In “The Master and Margarita”, Bulgakov uses dreams sequences and references to supernatural elements to allow the characters to speak about the underground world of the secret police. As characters are taken for questioning, the details of the abductions by “them” are made possible by the unreality and the distance provided by dreams. In addition, references to the supernatural such as “the Devil” also invoke memories of ancient taboos in society which are known to be punished. Mann’s central character Hans in “The Magic Mountain” has various dreams, daydreams and “vision quests” which allow the character to escape the routine and reality of his life. Already escaping somewhat to the sanatorium in the mountains, Hans has drug and fever induced dreams in which he gains more insight into the actions of man and offers him more freedom and confidence in his own decisions in life. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

  • Human Isolation in The Country Doctor and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

    A paper which looks at man's isolation from society and Kafka's use of surrealism, with particular reference to Metamorphosis and The Country Doctor.

  • Vera Figner's Memoirs of a Revolutionist, Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and Radical Russian Intelligentsia Images

    A 4 page overview of the differing presentations of the Russian Revolution found in Ivan Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" and Vera Figner's "Memoirs of a Revolutionist". Interestingly, despite the fact that one book is fictional and the other factual, there are many similarities between the various characters in regard to the motivations and ideologies that shape their lives. No additional sources are listed.

  • The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

    An 8 page research paper that analyzes how Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" reflects the social and political situation in Russia at that time. The writer discusses how Chekhov foresaw the downfall of the aristocracy and the corresponding rise of the commercial/merchant class. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

  • Writer's Impressions of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

    A 25 page essay that records the writer's impressions as this epic novel is read for the first time. The writer while giving a synopsis of the action discusses how the characters and plot are developed by Tolstoy as the novel progresses. No additional sources cited.

  • Napoleon and Kutuzov in War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

    A paper which considers the different types of statecraft employed by Kutuzov and Napoleon in Tolstoy's War and Peace, and outlines the reasons why the Russian's methods were successful where the French general's were not. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

  • Comparing Characters in Ghosts and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

    5 pages in length. Henrik Ibsen's talent for delving deeply into social composition is characteristically synonymous with the level of cultural implication the author incorporates into his works. 'Hedda Gabler' and 'Ghosts' are but two selections of Ibsen's writing that represent how a patriarchal society helps to eat away at the female characters' very existence. Caught within the never-ending web of gender bias, both Hedda and Mrs. Alving are forced to proceed with their lives as though they were merely extensions of other's, uneasily precluded from advancing their own interests. Also intertwined within the frame work of 'Hedda Gabler' and 'Ghosts' stands the issues of self-worth and the deflated value that each woman places upon her own importance as a result of male dominance. The writer compares and contrasts the characters of Hedda and Mrs. Alving. Bibliography lists 4 sources.

  • Envy by Soviet Novelist Yuri Olesha

    A five page paper on this novel by Soviet novelist Yuri Olesha. The paper compares two of the characters, Babichev and Kavalerov, in terms of their political views and their significance to the human condition. Bibliography lists two sources.

 

Most Relevant Research Papers

Click on any of the term papers to read a brief synopsis of the research paper. The essay synopsis includes the number of pages and sources cited in the paper.

 

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