e as a literary direction.) Romanticism involves affirmation exceptional personality, serving alone with the world, suitable to reality from the standpoint of your ideal making exceptional demands on her. The hero is head and shoulders above the people around him, their society is rejected by him. This explains the loneliness that is so typical of the romantic hero, which is most often thought of by him as a natural state, because people do not understand him and do not accept his ideals. The romantic hero finds an equal beginning only in communication with the elements, with the natural world.

Remember the romantic works of Pushkin and Lermontov.

That's why it's so big role plays in romantic works scenery, usually devoid of halftones, based on bright colors, expressing the indomitable power of the elements, its beauty and exclusivity. The landscape, thus, becomes animated and, as it were, emphasizes the originality of the character of the hero. Attempts to bring the romantic hero closer to the real world are most often futile: reality does not accept the romantic ideal of the hero due to its exclusivity .

The relationship between characters and circumstances in romanticism. For the romantic consciousness, the correlation of character with real life circumstances is almost unthinkable - this is how the most important feature of the romantic is formed. art world — the principle of romantic duality. Romantic, and therefore the hero's ideal world contrasts with the real world , contradictory and far from the romantic ideal. The confrontation between romance and reality, romance and the surrounding world is the main feature of this literary direction.

This is exactly how we see the heroes of Gorky’s early romantic stories. Old gypsy Makar Chudra appears before the reader in a romantic landscape: he is surrounded by " haze of autumn night", which "shuddered and, timidly moving away, opened for a moment to the left - boundless steppe, on right - endless sea». Pay attention to the animation of the landscape, to the boundlessness of the sea and steppe, which seem to emphasize the boundlessness of the hero's freedom, his inability and unwillingness to exchange this freedom for anything. A few lines later, Makar Chudra will directly state this position, talking about a person, from his point of view, not free: “Does he know his will? Is the expanse of the steppe clear? Talk sea ​​wave does his heart rejoice? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that’s it!”

On the background romantic landscape the old woman Izergil is also depicted: « The wind flowed in a wide, even wave, but sometimes it seemed to jump over something invisible and, giving rise to a strong gust, blew the women’s hair into fantastic manes that billowed around their heads. It made women strange and fabulous . They moved further and further from us, and night and fantasies dressed them more and more beautifully.».

It is in such a landscape - seaside, night, mysterious and beautiful- Makar Chudra and Old Woman Izergil - the main characters of these stories - can realize themselves. Their consciousness and characters, with their sometimes mysterious contradictions, become the main subject of the image. . For the sake of these heroes, stories were written, and artistic media, used by the author, he needs to show the heroes in all their complexity and inconsistency, in order to explain their strength and weakness. Makar Chudra and Izergil, being at the center of the narrative, they receive the maximum opportunity for self-realization. The writer gives them the right to talk about themselves, to freely express their views. Legends stories told by them, possessing undoubted artistic independence, nevertheless serve, first of all, as a means of revealing the image of the main character, after whom the work is named .

The legends express the ideas of Makar Chudra and the old woman Izergil about the ideal and anti-ideal in man, i.e. presented romantic ideal and anti-ideal . Telling about Danko and Larra, about Radda and Loiko Zobar, Izergil and Chudra talk more about themselves. The author needs these legends so that Izergil and Chudra, in the most accessible form for them, can express your own views on life. Let's try to determine the main qualities of these characters.

Makar Chudra, like any romantic, has in his characterthe only beginning which he considers valuable: maximalist desire for freedom . Izergil is sure that her whole life was subordinated to only one thing - love for people. The same single beginning, brought to maximum degree, are also embodied by the heroes of the legends told by them. For Loiko Zobar highest value is also freedom, openness and kindness: « He loved only horses and nothing else, and even then not for long - he would ride and sell them, and whoever wants the money, take it. He didn’t have what he cherished - you need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good" Radda - the highest, exceptional display of pride, which even love for Loiko Zobar cannot break: “ I have never loved anyone, Loiko, but I love you. And I also love freedom! Will, Loiko, I love you more than you. ...Bow down at my feet in front of the whole camp and kiss me right hand mine - and then I will be your wife».

The insoluble contradiction between two principles in a romantic character - love and pride - is considered by Makar Chudra as completely natural, and it can only be resolved the way it was resolved - by death . The only character trait in its maximum manifestation is carried by Danko and Larra, about whom the old woman Izergil talks. Danko embodies the extreme degree of self-sacrifice in the name of love for people, Larra - extreme individualism .

Romantic character motivation. Larra's exceptional individualism is due to the fact that he is the son of an eagle, who embodies the ideal of strength and will. There is simply no need to talk about the motivation of the characters of Danko, Radda or Zobar - they are so in essence, so they are from the beginning .

The action of the legends takes place in chronologically uncertain ancient times - then, as it were, the time preceding the beginning of history, the era of first creations . However in the present there are traces directly related to that era - these are blue lights, left from Danko’s heart, Larra’s shadow, which Izergil sees ; Handsome Loiko and proud Radda circling smoothly and silently in the darkness of the night.

Composition of romantic stories. Composition of the narrative in romantic stories entirely subordinated to one goal: to most fully show the image of the main character, be it Izergil or Makar Chudra. By forcing them to tell the legends of their people, the author presents a system of values, their understanding of the ideal and anti-ideal in human character, shows which personality traits, from the point of view of his heroes, are worthy of respect or contempt. In other words, the heroes thus seem to set a coordinate system, based on which they themselves can be judged.

So, a romantic legend is the most important means of creating the image of the main character. Makar Chudra is absolutely sure that pride and love are two wonderful feelings, brought by the romantics to their highest expression, cannot be reconciled, because compromise is generally unthinkable for the romantic consciousness. TO The conflict between the feeling of love and the feeling of pride that Radda and Loiko Zobar experience can only be resolved by the death of both: a romantic cannot sacrifice either love that knows no boundaries or absolute pride. But love presupposes humility and the mutual ability to submit to the beloved. This is something neither Loiko nor Radda can do.

How does Makar Chudra evaluate this position? He believes that this is how he should perceivelife real man worthy of imitation, and that only with such a life position can one preserve one’s own freedom. An interesting conclusion is that he made long ago from the story of Radda and Loiko: “Well, falcon, do you want me to tell you a true story? And you remember it, and as you remember it, you will be a free bird throughout your life.” In other words, true free man This is the only way he could realize himself in love, as the heroes of “Were” did, told by Makar Chudra.

But does the author agree with his hero? What is the author's position and what are the artistic means of expressing it? To answer this question we must turn to such an important compositional feature of the early romantic stories Gorky, like the presencenarrator's image. In fact, this is one of the most invisible images, he hardly shows himself in action. But it is precisely the look of this man, wandering around Russia and meeting on his way many of the most different people, is very important for a writer. IN composition center In any Gorky epic work there will always be a perceiving consciousness - negative, distorting the real picture of life, or positive, filling existence with higher meaning and content. It is this perceiving consciousness that is ultimately the most important subject of the image, the criterion author's assessment reality and a means of expressing the author's position.

In the later cycle of stories “Across Rus',” Gorky will call the hero-narrator not a passer-by, butpassing, emphasizing his caring view of reality. Both in the cycle “Across Rus'” and in the early romantic stories, the fate and worldview of the “passing person” reveal the features of Gorky himself; the fate of his hero largely reflected the fate of the writer, who had known Russia from his youth in his travels. Therefore, many researchers suggest talking about Gorky’s narrator in these stories asautobiographical hero.

It is the close, interested gaze of the autobiographical hero that snatches from the meetings given to him by fate the most interesting and ambiguous characters - they turn out to be the main subject of depiction and research. In them the author sees a manifestation folk character turn of the century, trying to explore his weaknesses and strengths. Author's attitude to them - admiration for their strength and beauty(as in the story “Makar Chudra”), or poetry, a penchant for aesthetic perception of the world(as in “Old Woman Izergil”), but at the same time disagreement with their position, the ability to see contradictions in their characters. This complicated attitude expressed in stories not directly, but indirectly, using a variety of artistic means .

Makar Chudra only skeptically listens to the objection of the autobiographical hero: what, in fact, is their disagreement remains, as it were, behind the scenes of the narrative. But the end of the story, where the narrator, looking into the darkness of the steppe, sees how the handsome gypsy Loiko Zobar and Radda, the daughter of the old soldier Danila, “were spinning in the darkness of the night smoothly and silently, and there was no way the handsome Loiko could compare with the proud Radda,” shows his position. These words convey the author’s admiration for their beauty and uncompromisingness, the strength of their feelings, and an understanding of the impossibility of any other resolution to the conflict for the romantic consciousness. At the same time, this is an awareness of the futility of such an outcome of the matter: after all, even after death, Loiko in his pursuit will not catch up with the proud Radda.

The position of the autobiographical hero in “Old Woman Izergil” is more complexly expressed. Creating the image of the main character, Gorky compositional means gives her the opportunity to imagine a romantic ideal that expresses highest degree love for people (Danko), and an anti-ideal who embodied individualism and contempt for others brought to its apogee (Larra). The ideal and the anti-ideal, the two romantic poles of the narrative, expressed in legends, set the coordinate system within which Izergil herself wants to place herself. The composition of the story is such that two legends seem to frame the narrative of her own life, which constitutes the ideological center of the narrative. Undoubtedly condemning Larra’s individualism, Izergil thinks that her own life and fate tends rather to Danko’s pole, which embodies the highest ideal of love and self-sacrifice. In fact, her life, like Danko’s life, was entirely devoted to love - the heroine is absolutely sure of this. But the reader immediately draws attention to how easily she forgot her former love for the sake of a new one, how simply she left the people she once loved. They ceased to exist for her when the passion passed. The narrator is constantly trying to bring her back to the story about those who just occupied her imagination, and whom she has already forgotten:

“Where did the fisherman go? - I asked.

— Fisherman? And he... here...<...>

— Wait!..Where is the little Turk?

— Boy? He's dead, boy. From homesickness or love...»

Her indifference to her once beloved people amazes the narrator: “I left then. And I never met him again. I was happy about this: never met again those whom I once loved. These are not good meetings, it’s like meeting dead people » .

In everything - in the portrait, in the author's comments - we see a different point of view on the heroine. It is through the eyes of the autobiographical hero that the reader sees Izergil. Her portrait immediately reveals a very significant aesthetic contradiction . A young girl or a young woman full of strength should be talking about beautiful sensual love. Before us is a very old woman, in her portrait anti-aesthetic features are deliberately intensified: « Time had bent her in half, her once black eyes were dull and watery. Her dry voice sounded strange, it crunched, as if the old woman was speaking with bones.». « Her creaky voice sounded as if all forgotten centuries were grumbling, embodied in her chest by the shadows of memories».

Izergil is sure that her life, full of love, passed completely differently from the life of the individualist Larra; she cannot even imagine anything in common with him, but the gaze of the autobiographical hero finds this commonality, paradoxically bringing their portraits closer together. “He has now become like a shadow—it’s time! He lives for thousands of years, the sun dried his body, blood and bones, and the wind scattered them. This is what God can do to a man for pride!..” says Izergil about Larra. But the narrator sees almost the same features in the ancient old woman Izergil: “ Ilooked into her face. Her black eyes were still dull, they were not revived by the memory. The moon illuminated her dry, cracked lips, her pointed chin with gray hair on it, and her wrinkled nose, curved like an owl's beak. In place of her cheeks there were black pits, and in one of them lay a strand of ash-gray hair that had escaped from under the red rag that was wrapped around her head. The skin on the face, neck and hands is all cut up with wrinkles, and with every movement of old Izergil one could expect that this dry skin would rip all apart, fall apart in pieces and a naked skeleton with dull black eyes would stand in front of me».

Everything in the image of Izergil reminds the narrator of Larra - first of all, of course, her individualism, taken to the extreme, almost approaching Larra’s individualism, her antiquity, her stories about people who have long ago passed their circle of life: “And all of them are just pale shadow, and the one they kissed sits next to me, alive, but withered by time, without a body, without blood, with a heart without desires, with eyes without fire—also almost a shadow,” remember that Larra turned into a shadow.

The fundamental distance between the position of the heroine and the narrator forms the ideological center of the story and determines its problematics. The romantic position, for all its beauty and sublimity, is denied by the autobiographical hero. He shows its futility and affirms the relevance of a more sober, realistic position.

Indeed, the autobiographical hero is the only realistic image in Gorky’s early romantic stories . His realism is manifested in the fact that his character and fate reflected the typical circumstances of Russian life in the 1890s. The development of Russia along the capitalist path led to the fact that millions of people were torn from their places, forming an army of tramps, vagabonds, who seemed to have “broken out” of the previous social framework and did not find new strong social ties. Gorky's autobiographical hero belongs to precisely this layer of people. Researcher of M. Gorky’s work B.V. Mikhailovsky called such a character “broke out” from the traditional circle of social relations.

Despite all the drama of this process, it was positive: the outlook and worldview of the people who set off on a journey through Russia was incomparably deeper and richer than that of previous generations; completely new aspects of national life were revealed to them. Russia seemed to be getting to know itself through these people. That is why the view of the autobiographical hero is realistic, he can understand the limitations of a purely romantic worldview, which dooms Makar Chudra to loneliness and leads Izergil to complete exhaustion.

What features of romanticism were reflected in “Song of the Falcon” (1895, second edition - 1899)? How can you determine the genre of this work? What is an allegory? How is the conflict embodied? What is the role of landscape? What are the artistic means of creating images? How is the author's position expressed?

Sergey VOLKOV

“Inscribed” portrait

Speaking about the skill of creating a portrait in literary work, we should not forget about one of its types, which can conditionally be called “inscribed”. A person is not only “described”, but also “fits in”, is included in a broader background, becoming its constructive part. And at the same time, this background environment casts its light on a person, makes him look different, reveals essential features in his appearance that are hidden from the eye without such inclusion.

And we find interesting examples of “inscribed” portraits in the prose of the turn of the century. M. Gorky uses it in his first story “Makar Chudra”: “A humid wind blew from the sea, spreading across the steppe the pensive melody of the splash of a wave running onto the shore and the rustling of coastal bushes. Occasionally, his gusts brought with them wrinkled, yellow leaves and threw them into the fire, fanning the flames; the darkness of the autumn night that surrounded us trembled and, timidly moving away, revealed for a moment on the left - a boundless steppe, on the right - an endless sea and directly opposite me - the figure of Makar Chudra, an old gypsy...” The hero of the story is presented against the backdrop of nature, powerful, elemental; The position of Makar Chudra in this almost mise-en-scène is interesting - he is exactly in the center, the “boundless” steppe and the “endless” sea are like two wings behind his back (the dash sign helps to read this fragment of text, making pauses and gestures after words indicating directions: “left”, “right”, “directly opposite me”). The next sentence of the story is again arranged symmetrically, but now the main attention is given to the character. The element surrounding him has already been named and characterized (in the sentence it is “removed” into participial phrases), now it is important to emphasize that the hero is not only similar to her, but also higher, stronger than her (the symmetry of the negative particles accompanying the hero’s actions in relation to the elements is indicative): “ Not paying attentionattention to the fact that the cold waves of the wind, having opened the checkmen, exposed his hairy chest and beat it mercilessly, he reclined in beautiful, strong pose, facing me, methodically sipped from his huge pipe... and... talked to me, without stopping And without making a single move to protection from sharp wind blows” (italics hereinafter are ours. - S.V.).

Another function is performed by the landscape environment in the description of Princess Vera from “ Garnet bracelet» Kuprina. The heroine appears against a background of autumn flowers: “...she walked around the garden and carefully cut flowers with scissors for the dining table. The flower beds were empty and looked disorganized. Multi-colored double carnations were blooming, as well as gillyflower - half in flowers, and half in thin green pods that smelled like cabbage, rose bushes they still gave - for the third time this summer - buds and roses, but they were already shredded, sparse, as if degenerated. But dahlias, peonies and asters bloomed magnificently with their cold, arrogant beauty, spreading an autumnal, grassy, ​​sad smell in the sensitive air. The rest of the flowers after yours luxurious love and excessive motherhood quietly sprinkled countless seeds on the ground future life" The heroine, it seems, does not exist yet - we have a description of the flowers that she cuts. Let's take a closer look at it: from all the flowers, dahlias, peonies and asters are highlighted (and again placed in the center of the fragment) - the union “but” contrasts them with left-handed flowers and roses, which bloom not so “lush”, “coldly” and “arrogantly”, the word “ the rest” at the beginning of the next sentence again distinguishes them from the series - this time by the attribute sterility. All the other flowers not only bloomed, but also gave seeds, they knew the love and joy of motherhood, autumn for them is not only the time of dying, but also the time of the beginning of the “future life”.

“Human” motives in the description of flowers prepare the characterization of the heroine herself. On the same page we read: “...Vera took after her mother, beauty Englishwoman, my highly flexible figure, gentle, but cold And proud face..." The definitions we have highlighted connect in the reader’s mind Vera, who has no children and whose passion for her husband has long passed, with beautiful but barren flowers. She's not just among them - it seems that she is alone from them. Thus, the image of the heroine, who has entered the time of her autumn, is again integrated into a broader landscape context, which enriches this image with additional meanings.

The role of landscape in early romantic stories

Maxim Gorky.

In his early works, Maxim Gorky appears as a romantic. Romanticism presupposes the affirmation of an exceptional personality, confronting the world one on one, approaching reality from the standpoint of his ideal, making exceptional demands on others. The hero is head and shoulders above other people who find themselves next to him; he rejects their company. This is the reason for the loneliness so typical of the romantic, which he most often thinks of as a natural state, because people do not understand it and reject his ideal. Therefore, the romantic hero finds an equal beginning only in communication with the elements, with the world of nature, the ocean, sea, mountains, coastal rocks. “A damp, cold wind blew from the sea, carrying across the steppe the thoughtful melody of the splash of a wave running onto the shore and the rustling of coastal bushes. Occasionally his impulses brought with them wrinkled, yellow leaves and threw them into the fire, fanning the flames; the darkness of the autumn night that surrounded us shuddered and, timidly moving away, revealed for a moment the boundless steppe on the left, the endless sea on the right, and directly opposite me - the figure of Makar Chudra, an old gypsy...” (Gorky M. Favorite Stories, essays, plays. - M., 1983.) Therefore, it is so great importance receives in romantic works a landscape devoid of halftones, based on bright colors, expressing the most indomitable essence of the element and its beauty and exclusivity. The landscape is thus animated and, as it were, expresses the originality of the hero’s character. “The sea continued to whisper with the shore, and the wind still carried its whisper across the steppe”; “The sea quietly echoed the beginning of one of the ancient legends that may have been created on its shores”; “The sea sounded dull and sad.” (Gorky M. Selected Stories, Essays, Plays. - M., 1983.) For the romantic consciousness, the correlation of character with real life circumstances is almost unthinkable - this is how the most important feature of the romantic artistic world is formed: the principle of romantic duality. The romantic, and therefore ideal, world of the hero is opposed to the real world, contradictory and far from the romantic ideal. The contrast between romance and reality, romance and the surrounding world is a fundamental feature of this literary movement.

This is exactly how we see the heroes of Gorky’s early romantic stories: “Old Woman Izergil”, “Makar Chudra”. The old gypsy Makar Chudra appears before the reader precisely in a romantic landscape: he is surrounded by “the darkness of the autumn night,” which “shuddered and, timidly moving away, revealed for a moment the boundless steppe on the left, the endless sea on the right.”

So, the landscape is animated, the sea and the steppe are endless, they emphasize the boundlessness of the heroes’ freedom, their inability and unwillingness to exchange this freedom for anything. A little later, Makar Chudra will directly state this position, speaking about a person who, from his point of view, is not free: “Does he know his will? Is the expanse of the steppe clear? Does the sound of the sea wave make his heart happy? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that’s it!” (Gorky M. Selected Stories, Essays, Plays. - M., 1983.) In the romantic landscape, the heroine of another story appears before us - the old woman Izergil: “The wind flowed in a wide, even wave, but sometimes it seemed to jump over something invisible , and, giving rise to a strong impulse, fluttering the women's hair into fantastic manes that rose around their heads. This made women strange and fabulous. They moved further and further from us, and night and fantasy dressed them more and more beautifully.” (Gorky M. Selected Stories, Essays, Plays. - M., 1983.) It is in such a landscape - seaside, night, mysterious and beautiful - that Makar Chudra and the old woman Izergil - the main characters of these stories - can realize themselves. Their consciousness, their character, its sometimes mysterious contradictions turn out to be the main subject of the image. The landscape is introduced to explore the complex and contradictory characters of the heroes, their strengths and weaknesses.

Oh I'm like a brother

I would be glad to embrace the storm!

M. Yu. Lermontov

A great master of words, A. M. Gorky creates beautiful romantic works, who from the very beginning announced the emergence of a bright talent and an extraordinary personality. Gorky the writer was interested in unusual heroic characters, sharply contrasting with the gray mass dominating around.

The heroes of the stories “Makar Chudra” and “Old Woman Izergil” are rebellious and strong individuals seeking meaning in the reality around them. The setting around them matches the characters: a “damp, cold wind” blew from the sea, “fanning the flames of the fire.” The narrator is the old gypsy Makar Chudra - a rather unusual and colorful figure. He speaks almost in aphorisms, weightily and categorically expresses his view of life: “So are you walking? This is good! You have chosen a glorious fate, falcon. That’s how it should be: go and look, you’ve seen enough, lie down and die - that’s all!”

In the legend he told about Loiko Zobar and Radda, Chudra’s main position in life is revealed: he values ​​​​freedom above all else. Even a person's life has no meaning if the sol is lost. Chudra speaks poetically and beautifully about freedom, which few can appreciate. This is the lot of only a select few, and the majority do not have time to think about it. “Does he know his will? Is the expanse of the steppe clear? Does the sound of the sea wave make his heart happy? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that’s it! What can he do to you? Only he’ll hang himself if he gets a little wiser.”

Makar advises his young interlocutor not to think about life, so as not to stop loving it. The beauty of the surrounding world acts as a contrast between the majesty created by nature and people who are unable or unwilling to appreciate this gift and be content with it. The restless spirit of the story's heroes is emphasized by the magnificent expanse that surrounds them.

The author paints powerful elements: the sea and the steppe. Everything here is full-voiced, there are no halftones. Gorky is looking for a worthy hero who embodies the author’s idea of strong personality. These searches continued in the story “Old Woman Izergil”. From the antihero Larra, through the fate of Izergil, the author tries to lead the reader to an understanding of the ideal hero - Danko. The harsh landscape of an inaccessible forest and fetid swamps do not frighten the hero. Danko is full of love for people, for their sake he is able to sacrifice his life.

But the people cannot appreciate this feat. Weak and timid, people fear the hero himself. That’s why they step on Danko’s burning heart, so that it doesn’t start a fire. What can he bring? Whatever. Fear controls the masses. And the author does not hide this from his readers. Nature is eternal and majestic. She indifferently looks at the pettiness of human concerns and interests, emphasizing the transient human life and the thoughts of people.

The author is delighted with the splendor of the surrounding world. He sees its cosmic scale. From here, human vanity seems almost ridiculous and pitiful, and only a select few, like Danko, are able to rise above the crowd and die for the sake of life, misunderstood and unappreciated: “The proud daredevil Danko cast his gaze forward to the expanse of the steppe,” he cast a joyful glance at the free land and laughed proudly. And then he fell and died. People, joyful and full of hope, did not notice his death and did not see that his brave heart was still burning next to the lifeless Danko. Only one cautious person noticed this and, fearing something, stepped on the proud heart with his foot... And now it, scattered into sparks, faded away... - That’s where they come from, the blue sparks of the steppe that appear before a thunderstorm!”

Pictures of nature in M. Gorky's early romantic stories not only frame the content and are the background, they are an integral and essential part of the content. Descriptions of nature allow the author to move, as if on a bridge, from topic to topic, decorate the narrative, give scope to the artist’s imagination, and emphasize the beauty of the author’s speech. “It was quiet and dark in the steppe. The clouds kept crawling across the sky, slowly, boringly... The sea rustled dully and sadly.”

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials from the site http://ilib.ru/ were used

• The originality of M. Gorky's early romantic stories (“Song of the Falcon”, “Old Woman Izergil”).
• Romantic characters and their motivation in the stories “Makar Chudra”, “Khan and his son”.

Lesson objectives:

1. Educational: to uncover ideological content early romantic stories of M. Gorky, to show by what means the author achieves artistic perfection in romantic works.
2. Educational: contribute to the formation of a sense of beauty, help students “feel” the artistic word.
3. Developmental: develop skills logical thinking, analysis of such literary concepts, like romanticism, romantic hero.

Lesson on the topic “The originality of M. Gorky’s early romantic stories” (“Song of the Falcon”, “Old Woman Izergil”)

Homework for the lesson:

a) Name the main features of romanticism as a literary movement.

b) What are the features of romanticism in M. Gorky’s “Song of the Falcon”?

Works to study and repeat:

1. "Song of the Falcon".
2. "Old Isergil".

Lesson type: acquiring new knowledge with a repetition stage.

Basic method: heuristic conversation.

During the classes

1. Checking homework.

A) Exercise. Name the main features of romanticism as a literary movement.

Answer. Romanticism – special kind worldview; simultaneously - artistic direction. Romanticism arose as a kind of reaction to the rationalism and unmotivated optimism of classicism.

In his early works, Maxim Gorky appears as a romantic. Romanticism presupposes the affirmation of an exceptional personality, confronting the world one on one, approaching reality from the standpoint of his ideal, making exceptional demands on others. The hero is head and shoulders above other people who find themselves next to him; he rejects their company. This is the reason for the loneliness so typical of the romantic, which he most often thinks of as a natural state, because people do not understand it and reject his ideal. Therefore, the romantic hero finds an equal beginning only in communication with the elements, with the world of nature, the ocean, sea, mountains, coastal rocks.

That is why the landscape, devoid of halftones, based on bright colors, expressing the most indomitable essence of the element and its beauty and exclusivity, receives such great importance in romantic works. The landscape is thus animated and, as it were, expresses the originality of the hero’s character.

For the romantic consciousness, the correlation of character with real life circumstances is almost unthinkable - this is how the most important feature of the romantic artistic world is formed: the principle of romantic duality. The romantic, and therefore ideal, world of the hero is opposed to the real world, contradictory and far from the romantic ideal. The contrast between romance and reality, romance and the surrounding world is a fundamental feature of this literary movement.

Traits of Romanticism:

• proclamation human personality, complex, deep;
• affirmation of the inner infinity of human individuality;
• a look at life “through the prism of the heart”;
• interest in everything exotic, strong, bright, sublime;
• attraction to fantasy, conventional forms, a mixture of low and high, comic and tragic, ordinary and unusual;
• painful experience of discord with reality;
• refusal of the ordinary;
• the individual’s desire for absolute freedom, for spiritual perfection, an unattainable ideal, combined with an understanding of the imperfection of the world.

b) Exercise. What are the features of romanticism in “Song of the Falcon” by M. Gorky?

Answer. In the frame of the "Song of the Falcon" there appears bright image spiritualized nature. Nature is not only the background against which the action unfolds. The narrator and the old man direct their thoughts towards her, her secrets. The beauty of nature, its power is the embodiment of life. It is no coincidence that the motives of God, eternal motion, harmony and mystery appear in the introductory part.

The plot is based on a dispute between Falcon and Snake about the meaning of life. The characters' dialogue shows their incompatibility life positions. This is an ideological conflict.

"Old Isergil" (stage of acquiring new knowledge - heuristic conversation)

Problematic question. What is the purpose of the three-part composition of the story?

The action of the legends described in the story “The Old Woman Izergil” takes place in chronologically indefinite ancient times - this is, as it were, the time preceding the beginning of history, the era of first creations. However, in the present there are traces directly related to that era - these are the blue lights left from Danko’s heart, the shadow of Larra, which Izergil sees.

A) The Legend of Larra.

What motivates Larra's character?

What understanding of freedom does he embody?

How are people depicted in the legend?

What is the meaning of Larra's punishment?

Conclusion. Larra's exceptional individualism is due to the fact that he is the son of an eagle, who embodies the ideal of strength and will. Pride and contempt for others are the two principles that Larra’s image carries. The hero, in splendid isolation, confronts people and is not afraid of their judgment, because he does not accept it and despises judges. They wanted to sentence him to death, but they sentenced him to immortality: “And they left, leaving him. He lay face up and saw powerful eagles swimming high in the sky like black dots. There was so much melancholy in his eyes that it could have poisoned all the people of the world with it. So, from then on he was left alone. Free, awaiting death. And so he walks. He walks everywhere... You see, he has become like a shadow and will be like that forever! He doesn't understand any of the people's speech. Not their actions, nothing. And he keeps searching, walking, walking... he has no life, and death does not smile at him. And there is no place for him among people... That’s how the man was struck for his pride!”

b ) The Legend of Danko.

The legend of Danko ends with the words: “That’s where they come from, the blue sparks of the steppe that appear before a thunderstorm!” What sparks do you mean?

Perhaps the legend was told to explain where they come from "blue sparks" Do you agree with this opinion?

What action would you call a feat?

Who and in the name of what accomplishes the feat in the legend?

Is Danko's action reasonable or not?

How did Danko’s feat make you feel?

In the legend about Danko there are the words: “Only one cautious person noticed this and, fearing something, stepped on the proud heart with his foot.” What were you afraid of? "cautious person"?

Conclusion. Izergil carries in her character the only principle that she considers most valuable: she is sure that her life was subordinated to only one thing - love for people. Also, the only beginning, brought to the maximum extent, is carried by the heroes of the legends told by her. Danko embodies the extreme degree of self-sacrifice in the name of love for people, Larra - extreme individualism.

V) Old woman Izergil's story about her life.

- What role does the romantic landscape play in the legend?

The heroine of the story, the old woman Izergil, appears before us in a romantic landscape: “The wind flowed in a wide, even wave, but sometimes it seemed to jump over something invisible, and, giving birth to a strong gust, fluttering the women’s hair into fantastic manes that billowed around their heads. This made women strange and fabulous. They moved further and further from us, and night and fantasy dressed them more and more beautifully.”
It is in such a landscape - seaside, night, mysterious and beautiful - that the main characters can realize their potential. Their consciousness, their character, its sometimes mysterious contradictions turn out to be the main subject of the image. The landscape is introduced to explore the complex and contradictory characters of the heroes, their strengths and weaknesses.

How does Izergil evaluate the heroes of the legends she tells?

“Do you see how much everything there is in the old days?.. But now there is nothing like that - no deeds, no people, no fairy tales like in the old days... Why?.. Come on, tell me! You won't say... What do you know? What do you all know, young people? Ehe-he!.. If only we could look into the old days with vigilance, all the answers will be found there...<…>I see all sorts of people these days, but there are no strong ones! Where are they?.. And there are fewer and fewer handsome men.”
“In life... there is always room for exploits.”

How does Izergil’s life story reveal her aspiration towards the romantic ideal?

How does her portrait relate to the story about the search for high love?

Izergil is a very old woman, in her portrait anti-aesthetic features are deliberately intensified: “Time bent her in half, her once black eyes were dull and watery. Her dry voice sounded strange, it crunched, as if the old woman was speaking with bones.”

What brings Izergil and Larra together?

Izergil is sure that her life, full of love, was completely different from the life of the individualist Larra; she cannot even imagine anything in common with him. Everything in the image of the old woman reminds the narrator of Larra - first of all, her individualism, taken to the extreme, almost approaching Larra’s individualism, her antiquity, her stories about people who have long ago passed their circle of life.

Conclusion. Creating an image main character, Gorky, through compositional means, gives her the opportunity to present both a romantic ideal, expressing the extreme degree of love for people (Danko), and an anti-ideal, embodying individualism and contempt for others brought to its apogee (Larra). The composition of the story is such that two legends frame the narrative of her own life, which constitutes the ideological center of the narrative. Undoubtedly condemning Larra’s individualism, Izergil thinks that her own life and destiny tend more towards Danko’s pole, which embodies the highest ideal of love and self-sacrifice. But the reader immediately draws attention to how easily she forgot her former love for the sake of a new one, how simply she left the people she once loved.

In everything - in the portrait, in the author's comments - we see a different point of view on the heroine. The romantic position, for all its beauty and sublimity, is denied by the autobiographical hero. He shows its futility and affirms the relevance of a more sober, realistic position.

Lesson on the topic “Romantic characters and their motivation in the stories “Makar Chudra”, “Khan and his son”

Homework for the lesson:

A) Problematic question

Works to study:

1. "Makar Chudra".
2. "Khan and his son."

Lesson type: obtaining and consolidating new knowledge.

Basic method: heuristic conversation.

During the classes

“Makar Chudra” (heuristic conversation with the stage of checking homework)

How does Bitter create a romantic character?

Makar Chudra is depicted against the backdrop of a romantic landscape: “A damp, cold wind blew from the sea, carrying across the steppe the thoughtful melody of the splash of an incoming wave and the rustling of coastal bushes. Occasionally his gusts brought with them wrinkled, yellow leaves and threw them into the fire, fanning the flames; the darkness of the autumn night that surrounded us shuddered and, timidly moving away, revealed for a moment the boundless steppe on the left, the endless sea on the right and directly opposite me - the figure of Makar Chudra ... "

The landscape is animated, the sea and the steppe are limitless, emphasizing the boundlessness of the hero’s freedom, his inability and unwillingness to exchange this freedom for anything. The position of the protagonist is already outlined in the exposition; Makar Chudra talks about a person, from his point of view, who is not free: “They are funny, those people of yours. They huddled together and crushed each other. And there’s so much space on earth...”; “Does he know his will? Is the expanse of the steppe clear? Does the sound of the sea wave make his heart happy? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that’s it!”

What are life values heroes of legend?

Loiko Zobar: “Who was he afraid of!”; “He didn’t have what was cherished - you need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only you felt good from him”; “With such a person you become a better person” (words of Makar Chudra about Loiko); “...I am a free person and I will live the way I want!”; “She loves her will more than me, and I love her more than my will...”

Radda: “I’ve never loved anyone, Loiko, but I love you. And I also love freedom! That’s it, Loiko, I love you more than you.”

How does the legend reveal Makar Chudra’s worldview?

Implementation of homework

Exercise. Problematic question. Why does the story telling the story of Loiko and Radda bear the name of the narrator - “Makar Chudra”?

Answer. The consciousness and character of Makar Chudra become the main subject of the image. For the sake of this hero, the story was written, and he needs the artistic means used by the author in order to show the hero in all his complexity and inconsistency, in order to explain his strength and weakness. Makar Chudra is at the center of the story and receives the maximum opportunity for self-realization. The writer gives him the right to talk about himself, freely expressing his views. The legend he told, while possessing undeniable artistic independence, nevertheless serves primarily as a means of revealing the image of the main character, after whom the work is named.

What is the understanding of freedom by the characters in the story?

What conflict lies at the heart of the legend?

How is it resolved?

Makar Chudra (like the old woman Izergil) carries in his character the only principle that he believes to be true: a maximalist desire for freedom. The same single principle, brought to its maximum extent, is embodied by the heroes of the legend told by him. For Loiko Zobar true value is also freedom, openness and kindness. Radda is the highest, exceptional manifestation of pride that even love cannot break.

Makar Chudra is absolutely sure that pride and love, two beautiful feelings brought to their highest expression by romantics, cannot be reconciled, because compromise is unthinkable for the romantic consciousness. The conflict between the feeling of love and the feeling of pride that the heroes experience can only be resolved by the death of both: the romantic cannot sacrifice either love that knows no boundaries or absolute pride.

Does the hero-narrator agree with them?

How is his position expressed?

The image of the narrator is very important in the work. The narrator expresses the author's point of view on the characters and events occurring in the story. The author’s attitude is admiration for the strength and beauty of the heroes of the story “Makar Chudra”, a poetic, aesthetic perception of the world in the story “Old Woman Izergil”.

What is the meaning of the ending of the story?

At the end of the story, Makar Chudra skeptically listens to the narrator - an autobiographical hero. At the end of the work, the narrator sees how the handsome Loiko Zobar and Radda, the daughter of the old soldier Danila, “they circled in the darkness of the night smoothly and silently, and the handsome Loiko could not keep up with the proud Radda.” The narrator’s words reveal the author’s position - admiration for the beauty of the heroes and their uncompromisingness, the strength of their feelings, an understanding of the impossibility for the romantic consciousness of the futility of such an outcome: after all, even after death, Loiko in his pursuit will not be equal to the proud Radda.

"Khan and his son"(consolidation and testing of knowledge)

Exercise. Make a table based on your knowledge of the text of M. Gorky’s story “Khan and His Son.”

References

1. V.V. Agenosov Russian literature of the twentieth century. 11th grade: Textbook for general education. Textbook Establishments. – M., 2001.
2. V.V. Agenosov Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11: Lesson developments. – M., 2000.
3. Gorky M. Favorites. – M., 2002.
4. Gorky M. Collection. Op. in 30 volumes. T. 2. – M., 1949.
5. Zolotareva V.I., Anikina S.M. Lesson developments in literature. 7th grade. – M., 2005.
6. Zolotareva V.I., Belomestnykh O.B., Korneeva M.S. Lesson developments in literature. 9th grade. – M., 2002.
7. Turyanskaya B.I., Komissarova E.V., Kholodkova L.A. Literature in 7th grade: Lesson by lesson. – M., 1999.
8. Turyanskaya B.I., Komissarova E.V. Literature in 8th grade: Lesson by lesson. – M., 2001.

The ideological and compositional role of landscape in the early romantic stories of M. Gorky

Oh I'm like a brother

I would be glad to embrace the storm!

M. Yu. Lermontov

A great master of words, A. M. Gorky creates beautiful romantic works, which from the very beginning announced the emergence of a bright talent and an extraordinary personality. Gorky the writer was interested in unusual heroic characters, sharply contrasting with the gray mass dominating around him.

The heroes of the stories “Makar Chudra” and “Old Woman Izergil” are rebellious and strong individuals seeking meaning in the reality around them. The setting around them matches the characters: a “damp, cold wind” blew from the sea, “fanning the flames of the fire.” The narrator is the old gypsy Makar Chudra - a rather unusual and colorful figure. He speaks almost in aphorisms, weightily and categorically expresses his view of life: “So are you walking? This is good! You have chosen a glorious fate, falcon. That’s how it should be: go and look, you’ve seen enough, lie down and die - that’s all!”

In the legend he told about Loiko Zobar and Radda, Chudra’s main position in life is revealed: he values ​​​​freedom above all else. Even a person's life has no meaning if the sol is lost. Chudra speaks poetically and beautifully about freedom, which few can appreciate. This is the lot of only a select few, and the majority do not have time to think about it. “Does he know his will? Is the expanse of the steppe clear? Does the sound of the sea wave make his heart happy? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that’s it! What can he do to you? Only he’ll hang himself if he gets a little wiser.”

Makar advises his young interlocutor not to think about life, so as not to stop loving it. The beauty of the surrounding world acts as a contrast between the majesty created by nature and people who are unable or unwilling to appreciate this gift and be content with it. The restless spirit of the story's heroes is emphasized by the magnificent expanse that surrounds them.

The author paints powerful elements: the sea and the steppe. Everything here is full-voiced, there are no halftones. Gorky is looking for a worthy hero who embodies the author’s idea of ​​a strong personality. These searches continued in the story “Old Woman Izergil”. From the antihero Larra, through the fate of Izergil, the author tries to lead the reader to an understanding of the ideal hero - Danko. The harsh landscape of an inaccessible forest and fetid swamps do not frighten the hero. Danko is full of love for people, for their sake he is able to sacrifice his life.

But the people cannot appreciate this feat. Weak and timid, people fear the hero himself. That’s why they step on Danko’s burning heart, so that it doesn’t start a fire. What can he bring? Whatever. Fear controls the masses. And the author does not hide this from his readers. Nature is eternal and majestic. She indifferently looks at the pettiness of human concerns and interests, emphasizing the transient in human life and people's thoughts.

The author is delighted with the splendor of the surrounding world. He sees its cosmic scale. From here, human vanity seems almost ridiculous and pitiful, and only a select few, like Danko, are able to rise above the crowd and die for the sake of life, misunderstood and unappreciated: “The proud daredevil Danko cast his gaze forward to the expanse of the steppe,” he cast a joyful glance at the free land and laughed proudly. And then he fell and died. People, joyful and full of hope, did not notice his death and did not see that his brave heart was still burning next to the lifeless Danko. Only one cautious person noticed this and, fearing something, stepped on the proud heart with his foot... And now it, scattered into sparks, faded away... - That’s where they come from, the blue sparks of the steppe that appear before a thunderstorm!”

Pictures of nature in M. Gorky's early romantic stories not only frame the content and are the background, they are an integral and essential part of the content. Descriptions of nature allow the author to move, as if on a bridge, from topic to topic, decorate the narrative, give scope to the artist’s imagination, and emphasize the beauty of the author’s speech. “It was quiet and dark in the steppe. The clouds kept crawling across the sky, slowly, boringly... The sea rustled dully and sadly.”

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials from the site http://ilib.ru/ were used