"The Miserly Knight" was created in the genre of a small tragedy, consisting of three scenes. In it, in the dialogues, the characters of the main characters of the play are revealed - the Jew, the son of Albert and the old baron, the collector and keeper of gold.
scene one
Albert has a tournament ahead of him and is worried that he has nothing to buy armor and a dress with. Albert scolds a certain Count Delorge, who pierced his helmet. You can understand and feel how hard financial situation Albert, if he says that it would be better if the Count had struck his head, and not his helmet.
He tries to send his servant Ivan to a moneylender, a Jew, to borrow some money. But Ivan says old jew Solomon had already denied his debt. Then it turned out that it was necessary to buy not only a helmet and a dress, but also a horse, until the wounded horse of the knight Albert got to his feet.
At that moment there was a knock on the door, and the person who came was a Jew. Albert does not stand on ceremony with Solomon, calling him almost to the face a damned Jew. An interesting dialogue took place between Solomon and Albert. Solomon began to complain that he had no extra money, that he kind soul, helps the knights, and they are in no hurry to repay his debts.
Albert asks for money with the expectation of a future inheritance, to which the Jew quite reasonably remarked that he was not sure that Albert would live to receive the inheritance. He can fall in battle at any moment.
The Jew gives Albert a treacherous piece of advice - to poison his father. This advice infuriates the knight. He kicks out the Jew. Fleeing from an enraged Albert, Solomon confesses that he brought him the money. The young knight sends Ivan after Solomon, and he decides to turn to the duke to reason with his father, and demanded that his father allocate maintenance to his son.
scene two
The second scene shows the basement of the old baron, where "Tsar Kashchei languishes over gold." For some reason, after reading this scene, this line from the introduction to Ruslan and Lyudmila comes to mind. The old knight is alone in his basement. This is the holy of holies of the old man, he never lets anyone in here. Even my own son.
There are 6 chests of gold in the basement. They replace the old man with all human attachments. The way the baron talks about money, how he is attached to it, the conclusion suggests itself that he has become a slave to money. The old man understands that with such money he could fulfill any of his desires, achieve any power, any respect, force anyone to serve him. And his vanity is satisfied with the realization own strength and power. But he is not ready to use his money. He derives pleasure and satisfaction from the glitter of gold.
If it were his will, he would take all six chests of gold to the grave. He is saddened by the thought that his son will spend all the accumulated gold on fun, pleasure, on women.
Oh, if I could from the eyes of the unworthy
I hide the basement! oh, if only from the grave
I could come, guard shadow
Sit on the chest and away from the living
Keep my treasures, as now! ..
scene three
This scene takes place in the castle of the duke, whom Albert serves, and to whom he turned to rebuke him. own father. At the moment when Albert was talking to the duke, the old knight also came to him. The duke invited Albert to hide in the next room, and he himself received with all cordiality the old knight, who still served his grandfather.
The duke showed diplomacy and tact in his conversation with the old warrior. He tried to find out why his son was not at court. But the baron began to dodge. At first he said that the son of his "wild and gloomy disposition." The duke again repeated his request to send his son to him, the duke, to serve and appoint a salary corresponding to his rank. To assign a salary to his son meant to open his chests. The Baron couldn't accept it. Passion for money, serving the "golden calf" was higher than his love for his son. And then he decided to slander Albert. The baron told the duke that Albert wanted to rob and kill the old man. Albert could no longer bear such slander, he ran out of the room and accused his father of black lies and slander. In response, the father threw down the glove as a challenge to a duel. Albert lifted his glove and said, “Thank you. Here is the first gift of the father.
The duke took the glove from Albert and forced him to leave the palace until he summoned him. His highness understood true reason slander and reproached the baron: “You, unfortunate old man, aren’t you ashamed of yourself ...”
But the old man felt unwell and died, remembering not about his son, but about the keys to the treasured chests. In conclusion, the Duke utters a phrase that has become winged: “ Terrible age, terrible hearts."
"Stingy Knight" - dramatic work(play), conceived in 1826 (the plan refers to the beginning of January 1826); Created in the Boldino autumn of 1830, it is part of Pushkin's cycle of small tragedies. The play has been filmed.
The Miserly Knight shows the corrupting, dehumanizing, devastating power of gold. Pushkin was the first in Russian literature to notice the terrible power of money.
The result in the play is the words of the Duke:
... Terrible age - Terrible hearts ...
With amazing depth, the author reveals the psychology of stinginess, but most importantly - the sources that feed it. The type of a miserly knight is revealed as a product of a certain historical era. At the same time, in the tragedy the poet rises to a broad generalization of the inhumanity of the power of gold.
Pushkin does not resort to any moralizing teachings, reasoning on this topic, but with the whole content of the play he illuminates the immorality and criminality of such relations between people, in which everything is determined by the power of gold.
Obviously, in order to avoid possible biographical rapprochements (everyone knew the stinginess of the poet's father, S.L. Pushkin, and his difficult relationship with his son), Pushkin passed off this completely original play as a translation from a non-existent English original.
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See what the "Miserly Knight" is in other dictionaries:
The hero of the dramatic scenes of the same name (1830) by A. S. Pushkin (1799 1837), miser and miser. The name is common noun for people of this type (iron.). encyclopedic Dictionary winged words and expressions. Moscow: Locky Press. Vadim Serov. 2003 ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions
- "MEAN KNIGHT", Russia, Moscow theater "Vernissage" / Culture, 1999, color, 52 min. TV show, tragicomedy. Based on the drama of the same name by A. S. Pushkin from the cycle "Little Tragedies". Cast: Georgy Menglet (see MENGLET Georgy Pavlovich), Igor ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia
Exist., Number of synonyms: 1 miser (70) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary
Miserly knight- Werkdaten Title: Der geizige Ritter Originaltitel: The Miserly Knight (Skupoi ryzar) Form: durchkomponiert Originalsprache: russisch Musik … Deutsch Wikipedia
(stingy) knight- Iron. About a miserly person. The sensualist, on the contrary, proceeds from the ideal of physiological fullness, he is a stingy knight of pleasures, who puts his gold of caresses, kisses, favors bestowed on him, everything that he managed to snatch from ... Dictionary of oxymorons of the Russian language
The young knight Albert is about to appear at the tournament and asks his servant Ivan to show him the helmet. The helmet was pierced through in the last duel with the knight Delorge. It's impossible to put it on. The servant comforts Albert with the fact that he repaid Delorge in full, knocking him out of the saddle with a powerful blow, from which Albert's offender lay dead for a day and has hardly recovered so far. Albert says that the reason for his courage and strength was fury over the damaged helmet. The guilt of heroism is stinginess. Albert complains about poverty, embarrassment, which prevented him from taking off his helmet from a defeated enemy, says that he needs a new dress, that he alone is forced to sit at the ducal table in armor, while other knights flaunt in satin and velvet. But there is no money for clothes and weapons, and Albert's father - the old baron - is a miser. There is no money to buy a new horse, and Alber's permanent creditor, the Jew Solomon, according to Ivan, refuses to continue to believe in a debt without a mortgage. But the knight has nothing to pawn. The usurer does not give in to any persuasion, and even the argument that Albert's father is old, will die soon and leave his son all his vast fortune, does not convince the lender.
At this time, Solomon himself appears. Albert tries to borrow money from him, but Solomon, although gently, nevertheless resolutely refuses to give money, even honestly. word of chivalry. Albert, upset, does not believe that his father can survive him, Solomon says that everything happens in life, that “our days are not numbered by us”, and the baron is strong and can live another thirty years. In desperation, Albert says that in thirty years he will be already fifty, and then he will hardly need money. Solomon objects that money is needed at any age, only "the young man looks for nimble servants in them", "the old man sees reliable friends in them." Albert claims that his father himself serves the money, like an Algerian slave, "like a chain dog." He denies himself everything and lives worse than a beggar, and "the gold lies quietly in the chests." Albert still hopes that someday it will serve him, Albert. Seeing Albert's despair and his willingness to do anything, Solomon gives him hints that the death of his father can be brought closer with the help of poison. At first, Albert does not understand these hints. But, having clarified the matter, he wants to immediately hang Solomon on the gates of the castle. Solomon, realizing that the knight is not joking, wants to pay off, but Albert drives him out. When he comes to his senses, he intends to send a servant for the moneylender to accept the offered money, but changes his mind, because it seems to him that they will smell of poison. He demands wine, but it turns out that there is not a drop of wine in the house. Cursing such a life, Albert decides to seek justice for his father from the duke, who must force the old man to support his son, as befits a knight.
The baron goes down to his basement, where he keeps chests of gold, to pour a handful of coins into the sixth chest, which is not yet full. Looking at his treasures, he recalls the legend of the king who ordered his soldiers to put down handfuls of earth, and as a result, a giant hill grew from which the king could look out over vast expanses. The baron likens his treasures, collected bit by bit, to this hill, which makes him the master of the whole world. He recalls the history of each coin, behind which there are tears and grief of people, poverty and death. It seems to him that if all the tears, blood and sweat shed for this money came out of the bowels of the earth now, then a flood would occur. He pours a handful of money into the chest, and then unlocks all the chests, puts lighted candles in front of them and admires the glitter of gold, feeling like the lord of a mighty power. But the idea that after his death the heir will come here and squander his wealth, infuriates the baron and indignant. He believes that he has no right to this, that if he himself had amassed these treasures bit by bit with the hardest work, then, surely, he would not have thrown gold left and right.
In the palace, Albert complains to the duke about his father, and the duke promises to help the knight, to persuade the baron to support his son, as it should be. He hopes to awaken paternal feelings in the Baron, because the Baron was a friend of his grandfather and played with the Duke when he was still a child.
The baron approaches the palace, and the duke asks Albert to bury himself in the next room while he talks with his father. The baron appears, the duke greets him and tries to evoke in him the memories of his youth. He wants the baron to appear at court, but the baron excuses himself with old age and infirmity, but promises that in case of war he will have the strength to draw his sword for his duke. The duke asks why he does not see the baron's son at court, to which the baron replies that the gloomy disposition of his son is an obstacle. The duke asks the baron to send his son to the palace and promises to accustom him to fun. He demands that the baron assign to his son an allowance befitting a knight. Gloomy, the baron says that his son is not worthy of the duke's care and attention, that "he is vicious", and refuses to comply with the duke's request. He says that he is angry with his son for plotting parricide. The duke threatens to put Albert on trial for this. The Baron reports that his son intends to rob him. Hearing these slanders, Albert bursts into the room and accuses his father of lying. The enraged Baron throws down the glove to his son. With the words "Thank you. Here is the first gift of his father.” Albert accepts the challenge of the baron. This incident plunges the duke into amazement and anger, he takes away the glove of the baron from Albert and drives the father and son away from him. At that moment, with the words about the keys on his lips, the baron dies, and the duke complains about "a terrible age, terrible hearts."
. (The other three are Mozart and Salieri », « stone guest », « Feast in Time of Plague ».)
Pushkin "The Miserly Knight", scene 1 - summary
Pushkin "The Miserly Knight", scene 2 - summary
Albert's father, the baron, meanwhile descends into the cellar, where he stores his gold in order to add a new handful of it to the sixth, still incomplete, chest. With bated breath, the stingy knight surveys the accumulated wealth. He decides today to "arrange a feast for himself": to open all the chests and admire them by candlelight. In a long monologue, the baron talks about the enormous power that money gives. With their help, you can erect luxurious palaces, invite beautiful young nymphs to magnificent gardens, enslave free genius and sleepless labor, put bloodied villainy at your service ... (See. Monologue of the Miserly Knight.)
However, money is almost always generated by evil. The stingy knight admits: he took away many coins from the chests from the poor widows, who had nothing to feed their children. Others, returned as a debt, may have been obtained by robbery in the forests and on high road. Putting the key in the lock of the chest, the stingy knight feels the same as people who “find pleasure in killing” feel when they plunge a knife into the victim.
Stingy knight. Painting by K. Makovsky, 1890s
The baron's joy is overshadowed by only one thought: he himself is already old, and his son Albert is a spendthrift and a reveler. The father accumulated wealth for many years, and the offspring is able to squander them in the blink of an eye. The stingy knight bitterly complains that after death he cannot hide his cellar from the "unworthy eyes", come here from the grave and sit on the chests with a "guard shadow".
Pushkin "The Miserly Knight", scene 3 - summary
Albert complains to the duke in the palace that his father has condemned him to extreme need. The duke promises to talk to the baron about it.
A stingy knight is just arriving at the palace. Albert hides nearby for a while, and the duke tells the baron: his son rarely appears at court. Perhaps the reason is that the young knight has nothing to buy good clothes, a horse and armor? The duke asks the baron to give his son a decent allowance.
The stingy knight frowns in response and assures the duke that Albert is a dishonorable person who is mired in vices and even tried to rob and kill his father. Albert, hearing this conversation, runs into the room and accuses the parent of lying. miserly baron challenges his son to a duel by throwing the glove to him. Albert readily picks it up.
Stunned by the hatred of father and son for each other, the duke loudly reproaches them both. The stingy knight screams in excitement that he is stuffy - and suddenly dies. At the last moment, he is looking for the keys to the chests. The tragedy ends with the Duke's phrase: "A terrible age, terrible hearts!"
