The article is devoted to the study of the novel written by one of the most significant but scantily known representatives of the Russian artistic naturalism – Pyotr Boborykin. The main aim of the article is to examine the system of images from the standpoint of the overall basic idea of the novel and to determine the major character’s composition and plotline role. Besides being independently artistically relevant, the author found the character’s function as a representative of the social forces moulding the image of the post-reform Russia in the XIXth century.

system of characters, novel, society, nobility, Russia

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