Existentialist ideas in the work "The Life of Basil of Thebes"

The subject of the research is the analysis of existentialist ideas in Leonid Andreev's novella "The Life of Basil of Thebes". The object of the study is the tragic fate of the main character, priest Vasily, whose life is filled with a series of misfortunes that led to a crisis of faith and alienation from the Russian Orthodox Church. The author examines such aspects as the conflict between religious faith and the absurdity of existence, the loss of freedom and subjectivity under the pressure of social and historical circumstances, as well as the symbolic significance of Basil's image for understanding the spiritual crisis of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Special attention is paid to the interpretation of the ideas of J.-P. Sartre, M. Heidegger and S. Kierkegaard, which allows us to reveal the philosophical depth of the text and show how the personal drama of the hero reflects the national contradictions of the era. The research methodology is based on comparative historical, philosophical and literary analysis, including the identification of existentialist motives in the text, their interpretation through the concepts of Sartre, Heidegger and Kierkegaard, as well as a contextual examination of the socio-historical reality of Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main conclusions of the study are the identification of existentialist ideas in the story "The Life of Basil of Thebes" and their concrete manifestation in the fate of the hero – from faith and hope to despair and denial of God. The novelty of the research lies in an integrated approach: the work is considered both as an artistic text and as a philosophical parable that reveals the problem of a crisis of faith in the context of social upheaval. The author's special contribution is to show the relationship between the personal tragedy of the priest and the collective experience of the people, which makes it possible to interpret the work as a symbol of the crisis of the era. It is concluded that the collapse of Basil's faith reflects the existentialist idea of "existence precedes essence" and demonstrates how religious dogmas and social oppression lead to the loss of freedom and subjectivity, leaving a person facing the absurdity and inevitability of fate.