F.M. DOSTOEVSKY'S THESIS "THE WORLD WILL BE SAVED BY BEAUTY" AND ITS RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL ORIGINS

Abstract

The article proves that the thesis «the world will be saved by beauty», which is attributed to the protagonist of the novel The Idiot, Prince Myshkin, implies female beauty. Its meaning is associated with the Gnostic concept of mystical marriage, in which a man and a woman, complementing each other, get the opportunity to reveal through themselves the divine principle that can change the world. According to the Gnostic Gospel of Philip, Mary Magdalene was the mystical wife of Jesus Christ; The article substantiates the hypothesis that it is precisely according to this model that Dostoevsky describes the relationship between Prince Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna.