SEXUAL DISSATISFACTION AS A FACTOR IN HYSTERICAL BEHAVIOUR OF LITERARY HEROINES

This article investigates the link between sexual dissatisfaction and hysterical behaviour in female characters from classical literature. The examples of the heroines of L. Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”, G. Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary”, M. Sholokhov’s “And Quiet Flows the Don”, and G. Yakhina’s “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” reveal unconscious mechanisms of desire repression, manifestation of anxiety, physical symptoms and emotional dependence. The study is based on the concepts of S. Freud, K. Horney, E. Fromm and C. Jung and demonstrates how artistic images reflect universal forms of female experience in the context of a repressive culture and gender inequality.