Image of “Successful Woman” in M. Metlitskaya’s Novel “A Woman’s Day”

Abstract

The article examines the representation of the “successful woman” archetype in contemporary Russian women’s fiction, using Maria Metlitskaya’s novel Women’s Day as a case study. The analysis is grounded in John G. Cawelti’s concept of the formulaic nature of romance fiction. The authors advance a thesis on the convergence of characteristics defining a successful woman in literature and media discourse, which is predicated on the repetition of specific narrative formulas.

The study identifies plot formulas that structure the portrayal of the successful woman in Metlitskaya’s novel across three domains: family, romantic relationships, and career. It is demonstrated that the heroines’ family histories are constructed according to formulas of problematic mother-daughter dynamics, the motif of female obligation, and childhood trauma. Romantic relationships are represented through formulas of disillusionment resulting from infidelity and involvement with emotionally unavailable or traumatized men. The authors conclude that the professional trajectory of the successful woman is largely predetermined by her formative familial and amorous scenarios. Distinct compositional and psychological elements of the genre are identified, including heroines’ self-reflection, escapism, and professed exclusivity contrasted with ordinariness. The image of the “successful woman” is shown to be portrayed ambivalently and paradoxically within the novel, positioned in opposition to the collective archetype of the “ordinary woman”.