Behind the stage of a literary text. “The style of wise antiquity”

Abstract

Everyday life almost inevitably spills over into fiction written in the late 18th — early 20th centuries. Its role is not limited to useful props around the protagonists, elements of a mise-en-scène, or a means to make fictional situations look more realistic. It is not uncommon for the mundane to have a direct or implicit effect on the plot or the hero’s mental and physical health, or even their life and death. Writers typically assume that contemporaries would be aware of the environmental conditions, conventions of dwelling hygiene, indoor lighting, and the problems of water supply. Not particularly interesting as such, these aspects of everyday life become relevant in their connection to the story and the life and actions of the characters. While their contemporaries remained oblivious of certain risk factors (chemical contamination, the ways infectious diseases are transmitted, etc.), the more observant and perceptive writers (not all of them adherents of Realism) took note of such issues, which facilitated improvements of home hygiene. The article contains a detailed analysis of the most fraught areas of domestic existence through the prism of literary fiction of the 18th — early 20th centuries.