MINISTERING IN THE WORLD: THE MAIN CHARACTER IN THE NOVELS «THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV» BY F. M. DOSTOEVSKY AND «DANIEL DERONDA» BY GEORGE ELIOT

The paper attempts to prove that in their last novels F. M. Dostoevsky and George Eliot create a specific type of character, accumulating the main ideas of their artistic activity in him. Alyosha Karamazov and Daniel Deronda – the heroes of their time with great ideas and desire for “feat” – assume the function of confessors who can hear and understand surrounding people. Not being clergymen by status, they, in fact, minister in the world, which becomes the main mission of their lives. The investigation reveals not only the typological similarity of Dostoevsky’s and George Eliot’s creative activity, but also common features in their conceptions of the man and world, as well as a common search for a character that would be able to convey Christian truth to people and realize the author’s ideals of “sympathy” and brotherhood