Conflict is in literature - a clash between characters or between characters and the environment, a hero and fate, as well as a contradiction within the consciousness of a character or subject of a lyrical utterance. In the plot, the plot is the beginning, and the denouement is the resolution or statement of the insolubility of the conflict. Its character determines the originality of the aesthetic (heroic, tragic, comic) content of the work. The term "conflict" in literary criticism has supplanted and partially replaced the term "collision", which G.E. Lessing and G.W.F. Hegel used as a designation for sharp collisions, primarily characteristic of drama. The modern theory of literature considers collisions to be either a plot form of manifestation of the conflict, or its most global, historically large-scale variety. Large works, as a rule, are multi-conflict, but a certain main conflict stands out, for example, in “War and Peace” (1863-69) by L.N. Tolstoy - the conflict of the forces of good and unity of people with the forces of evil and separation, according to the writer, positive solvable by life itself, its spontaneous flow. The lyrics are much less conflicting than the epic.A. G. Ibsen's experience prompted B. Shaw to reconsider the classical theory of drama. The main idea of his essay "The Quintessence of Ibsenism" (1891) is that the basis of the modern play should be "discussion" (disputes of characters on issues of politics, morality, religion, art, serving as an indirect expression of the angora's beliefs) and "problem". In the 20th century, philosophy and aesthetics based on the concept of dialogue developed.
In Russia, these are primarily the works of M. M. Bakhtin. They also prove the excessive categoricalness of statements about the universality of the conflict. At the same time, the totalitarian culture in the USSR of the 1940s gave rise to the so-called “conflict-free theory”, according to which the ground for real conflicts disappears in socialist reality and they are replaced by “conflicts between the good and the best.” This had a disastrous effect on post-war literature. But the massive criticism of the "conflict-free theory" inspired by I.V. Stalin in the early 1950s was even more semi-official. The latest theory of literature the concept of conflict seems to be one of the discredited. The opinion is expressed that the concepts of exposition, plot, development of action, climax, denouement, related to it, are fully applicable only to criminal literature and only partially to drama, while at the heart of the epic is not a conflict, but a situation (in Hegel, the situation develops into a collision) . However, there are different types of conflicts. Along with those that are expressed in collisions and arise from random situations, literature reproduces a stable conflict of being, often not manifested in direct clashes of characters. From the Russian classics, A.P. Chekhov constantly brought out this conflict - not only in plays, but also in stories and novels.
In literature? How does it manifest itself? Is it always possible to notice it even to an inexperienced reader? Conflicts in works of literature are an obligatory and necessary phenomenon for the development of the storyline. Not a single high-quality book that can claim the title of eternal classic can do without it. Another thing is that we are not always able to see a clear contradiction in the views of the character being described, to deeply consider the system of his values and inner convictions.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand true literary masterpieces. This occupation requires enormous mental stress, as well as the desire to understand the characters, the system of images built by the author. So what is conflict in literature? Let's try to figure it out.
Concept definition
In most cases, people intuitively understand what is at stake when it comes to talking about some kind of ideological clash in a particular book. The conflict in literature is the confrontation of the characters of the heroes with external reality. The struggle in the fictional world can go on for a long time and necessarily leads to a change in the way the hero looks at the surrounding reality. Such tension can form within the character himself and be directed to his own personality. The development of such a move occurs very often. And then they talk about the internal conflict, that is, the struggle with oneself.
Conflicts in Russian literature
Domestic classics deserve special attention. Below are examples of conflicts in literature taken from Russian works. Many of them will be familiar from the time of the school curriculum. What books are worth checking out?
"Anna Karenina"
The greatest monument of Russian literature, which does not lose its relevance today. Almost everyone knows the plot of Anna Karenina. But not every person can immediately determine what the main experiences of the heroine are. Thinking about what conflict is in literature, one can recall this wonderful work.
Anna Karenina shows a twofold conflict. It is he who does not allow the main character to come to her senses and look differently at the circumstances of her own life. In the foreground, an external conflict is depicted: society's rejection of relations on the side. It is he who distances the heroine from people (friends and acquaintances) with whom it was so easy to interact before. But besides him, there is still an internal conflict: Anna is literally crushed by this overwhelming burden that she has to bear. She suffers from separation from her son Seryozha, she has no right to take the child with her to a new life with Vronsky. All these experiences create a strong tension in the heroine's soul, from which she cannot free herself.
"Oblomov"
Another unforgettable work of Russian classical literature, which is worth talking about. Oblomov depicts the solitary life of a landowner who at one time decided to refuse service in the department and devote his life to solitude. The character himself is quite interesting. He does not want to live according to the pattern imposed by society, and at the same time does not find the strength to fight. Staying in inaction and apathy further undermines it from the inside. The hero's conflict with the outside world is manifested in the fact that he sees no point in living the way most people do: going to work every day, performing actions that seem meaningless to him.
The passive way of life is his defensive reaction against the incomprehensible surrounding world. The book shows the conflict of the ideological plan, since it is based on an understanding of the essence and meaning of human existence. Ilya Ilyich does not feel the strength in himself to change his life.
"Idiot"
This work is one of the most famous by F. M. Dostoevsky. The Idiot depicts an ideological conflict. Prince Myshkin is very different from the society in which he has to be. He is laconic, has extreme sensitivity, which is why he is acutely experiencing any events.
The rest of the characters are opposed to him by their behavior and outlook on life. The values of Prince Myshkin are based on the Christian understanding of good and evil, on his desire to help people.
Conflicts in foreign literature
Foreign classics are no less entertaining than domestic ones. Conflicts in foreign literature are sometimes presented in such a broad way that one can only admire these masterfully written works. What examples can be given here?
"Romeo and Juliet"
A unique play by William Shakespeare, which every self-respecting person must have met at one time or another. The book shows a love conflict, gradually turning into a tragedy. Two families - the Montagues and the Capulets - have been at war with each other for many years.
Romeo and Juliet resist the pressure of their parents, trying to defend their right to love and happiness.
"Steppenwolf"
This is one of the most memorable novels by Hermann Hesse. The main character - Harry Galler - cut off from society. He chose for himself the life of an impregnable and proud loner, because he cannot find a suitable place in it for himself. The character calls himself a "steppe wolf", who accidentally wandered into the city to people. Haller's conflict of an ideological plan lies in the inability to accept the rules and attitudes of society. The surrounding reality appears to him as a picture devoid of meaning.
Thus, when answering the question of what a conflict is in literature, one should definitely take into account the inner world of the protagonist. The worldview of one character is very often opposed to the surrounding society.
The meaning of the word CONFLICT in the Dictionary of Literary Terms
CONFLICT
- (from lat. conflictus - clash) - a sharp clash of characters and circumstances, views and life principles, which is the basis for the action of a work of art. K. is expressed in confrontation, contradiction, clash between heroes, groups of heroes, the hero and society, or in the internal struggle of the hero with himself. The development of K. sets the plot action in motion. K. can be resolvable or insoluble (tragic K.), explicit or hidden, external (direct clashes of characters) or internal (confrontation in the soul of the hero). As an element of the plot, it is of particular importance in dramatic works (see drama).
Dictionary of literary terms. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is CONFLICT in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- CONFLICT in the Dictionary of Analytical Psychology:
(Conflict; Konflikt) - a state of indecision, uncertainty, accompanied by internal tension. (See also opposites and transcendental function) - CONFLICT in the Newest Philosophical Dictionary:
(lat. conflictus - collision) - in a broad sense, a collision, confrontation of the parties. The philosophical tradition considers K. as a special case of contradiction, his ... - CONFLICT
INTERESTS - a situation where a person or company acts simultaneously in several persons, whose goals do not coincide, for example, when ... - CONFLICT in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
(lat. conflictus - clash) - a clash of opposing interests, a contradiction in views and in ... - CONFLICT in the Basic terms used in A.S. Akhiezer's book Criticism of historical experience:
- the inevitable manifestation of the inconsistency of the life of society, the result of different attitudes of groups to entropic processes, to disorganization, to the challenge of history. K. can ... - CONFLICT in the Literary Encyclopedia:
[literally "collision"]. - In a broad sense, K. should be called that system of contradictions, which organizes a work of art into a certain unity, that ... - CONFLICT in the Pedagogical Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(lat. conflictus - clash), an extremely aggravated contradiction associated with acute emotional experiences. K. are divided into internal (intrapersonal) and external (interpersonal ... - CONFLICT in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(from lat. conflictus - clash) clash of parties, opinions, ... - CONFLICT in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
(from lat. conflictus - clash), clash of opposing interests, views, aspirations; a serious disagreement, a sharp dispute leading to ... - CONFLICT
[from Latin conflictus clash] clash of opposing interests, views, aspirations; strife, disagreement, dispute, threatening ... - CONFLICT in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
a, m. 1. Collision, serious disagreement, dispute. Enter the family k. k. on the border. Conflict - characterized by conflict, relating to ... - CONFLICT in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -a, m. Collision, serious disagreement, dispute. Enter into the family k. Armed k. on the border. II adj. conflict, -th, ... - CONFLICT in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
ARTISTIC CONFLICT (artistic conflict), confrontation, contradiction between those depicted in the production. operating forces: characters, character and circumstances, decomp. sides of character. Directly… - CONFLICT in the Full accentuated paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, conflict"ct, ... - CONFLICT in the Dictionary of Epithets:
Uncompromising, fruitless, meaningless, absurd, lengthy, long-term, dramatic, lingering, eternal, bloody, bloody, large, petty, ridiculous, unreasonable, incessant (usually pl.), frivolous, never-ending, ... - CONFLICT in the Popular Explanatory-Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
-a, m. Collision of opposing interests, opinions, views; serious disagreement, dispute. Family conflict. Military conflict. Come into conflict with the law. Settle… - CONFLICT in the Thesaurus of Russian business vocabulary:
- CONFLICT in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
(lat. confl ictus clash) clash of opposing interests, views; serious disagreement, acute ... - CONFLICT in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
[ clash of opposing interests, views; serious disagreement, acute ... - CONFLICT in the Russian Thesaurus:
Syn: collision, clash, contradiction, contradiction, duality, discrepancy, inconsistency, mutual exclusion Ant: agreement, ... - CONFLICT in the Dictionary of synonyms of Abramov:
cm. … - CONFLICT in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language:
Syn: collision, clash, contradiction, contradiction, duality, discrepancy, inconsistency, mutual exclusion Ant: agreement, ...
Today in literary criticism there are many works devoted to the theory of conflict (V.Ya. Propp, N.D. Tamarchenko, V.I. Tyupa, Vl.A. Lukov, etc.). In a broad sense, conflict can be understood as "that system of contradictions that organizes a work of art into a certain unity, that struggle of images, social characters, ideas that unfolds in every work - in epic and dramatic ones widely and completely, in lyrical ones - in primary forms."
There are conflicts in which the opposition of characters takes place on an external level. For example, Hamlet and his opponents; Hamlet and Laertes. The same should be said about the internal conflict that arises within the character, as the struggle of his internal contradictions, such a conflict is transferred to the sphere of feelings (Hamlet).
Such an understanding of the conflict seems to be an integral part in every plot work (and often in non-plot work).
Any work is based on conflict, to a greater or lesser degree of its manifestation. In a lyrical work, the conflict is not as vividly presented as in an epic or dramatic work.
Vl.A. Lukov in his article proposes to understand the conflict as "a contradiction that forms the plot, forms the system of images, the concept of the world, man and art, the features of the genre, expressed in the composition, imprinting the speech and ways of describing the characters, which can determine the specific impact of the work on a person -- catharsis".
Further in the same article "Conflict (in a literary work)" the researcher talks about a conflict that is characterized not by a system of characters, but by a system of ideas, and subsequently it becomes philosophical, ideological and forms a philosophical and ideological generalization.
The conflict unfolds through the plot. There are two types of plot conflict: Local transitory plot, Stable conflict situation (state).
A local transient plot is a plot in which the conflict has its beginning and its resolution within the framework of a specific plot. The type of such a plot conflict is well described in literary criticism. The local transient plot is the so-called traditional, archetypal plot (because it goes back to historically early literature).
The beginning of the study of the local transient plot was laid by V. Ya. Propp. The scientist in the work "Morphology of a (fairy) fairy tale" (1928) considered the structure of the plot of a fairy tale. According to Propp, a fairy tale consists of three parts. In the first part of the fairy tale, a “shortage” is discovered (the abduction of the princess, the hero’s desire to find something without which the hero cannot have a full-blooded life: the merchant’s daughter wants a scarlet flower). In the second part of the fairy tale, there is a confrontation between the hero and the enemy, the victory of the hero over the enemy (Ivan Tsarevich defeats Koshchei the Immortal). In the third part, the hero of a fairy tale receives what he is looking for ("liquidation of the shortage"). He marries, while inheriting the throne ("accession"; see also: Function).
French structuralist scholars, relying on the work of Propp, tried to build universal models of event series in folklore and literature.
A stable conflict situation (state) is a type of conflict that has no resolution within a specific plot. A stable conflict situation (state) became widespread at the end of the 19th century in the New Drama.
Conflict (in literary criticism), or artistic conflict, is one of the main categories that characterize the content of a literary work (primarily dramas or works with vividly presented dramatic features).
As Vl.A. Lukov wrote, "the origin of the term is connected with the Latin word conflictus - clash, blow, struggle, battle (found in Cicero)".
Often in the works several conflicts develop at once, forming a system of conflicts.
There are different types of conflicts that lay different principles at the basis of their division.
They can be open and hidden, external and internal, acute and lingering, resolvable and insoluble, etc.
By the nature of pathos, conflicts are: tragic, comic, dramatic, lyrical, satirical, humorous, etc.
They also distinguish military, interethnic, religious (interconfessional), intergenerational, family conflicts based on the development of the plot action, which form the sphere of social conflicts (for example, Homer's Iliad; novels by W. Scott, W. Hugo, "War and Peace" LN Tolstoy, social novel in the works of O. Balzac, C. Dickens, ME Saltykov-Shchedrin, novels about generations: "Fathers and Sons" by IS Turgenev, "Teenager" by FM Dostoevsky; "family chronicles": "Buddenbrooks" by T. Mann, "The Saga of the Forsytes" by D. Galsworthy, "The Thibault Family" by R. Martin du Gard; the genre of "production novel" in Soviet literature, etc.). As mentioned above, the conflict can be transferred to the sensual sphere and determine the psychological genre generalization ("The Suffering of Young Werther" by I.V., Goethe). Conflicts that form philosophical, ideological genre generalizations ("What to do?" N.G. Chernyshevsky).
Some artistic movements are associated with the creation of a cross-cutting (main) conflict. A striking example confirming this idea is the conflict that became the most productive in classicism - the conflict between duty and feeling. In romanticism, such a conflict was the conflict between the ideal and reality.
In its most striking manifestation, the conflict is presented in the drama. W. Shakespeare has an open conflict, while A.P. Chekhov - hidden, which can be explained by the time during which both famous playwrights worked.
At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, a new form of conflict in drama was born - "discussion" ("A Doll's House" by G. Ibsen, dramas by D. B. Shaw, etc.), which is further developed and rethought in existentialist drama (J.-P Sartre, A. Camus, J. Anouilh) and in the "epic theater" of B. Brecht and challenged, brought to the point of absurdity in the modernist anti-drama (E. Ionesco, S. Beckett and others). Often in the literature one can find combinations in the drama of Chekhov's and Shakespeare's conflicts (for example, in the dramaturgy of M. Gorky).
Recently, there has been a tendency to crowd out the conflict with such a category as dialogue (M. Bakhtin). "But here - according to Vl.A. Lukov - one can see temporary fluctuations in relation to the fundamental categories of literary criticism, because behind the category of conflict in literature is the dialectical development of reality, and not just the actual artistic content." So, summing up all of the above, it must be emphasized that conflict is fundamental to almost every work.
Briefly:
conflict (from lat. conflictus - clash) - disagreement, contradiction, clash, embodied in the plot of a literary work.
Distinguish conflicts of life and art. The former include contradictions that reflect social phenomena (for example, in I. Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" a confrontation between two generations is depicted, personifying two social forces - the nobility and democrats-raznochintsy), and artistic conflict - a clash of characters that reveals their character traits, in this sense, the conflict determines the development of the action in the plot (for example, the relationship between Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov and Evgeny Bazarov in the specified work).
Both types of conflict in a work are interrelated: the artistic one is convincing only if it reflects the relationships that exist in reality itself. And life is wealthy if it is embodied in a highly artistic way.
There are also transient conflicts(arising and exhausting themselves as the plot develops, they are often built on ups and downs) and sustainable(unsolvable within the depicted life situations or unsolvable in principle). Examples of the first can be found in the tragedies of W. Shakespeare, detective literature, and the second - in the "new drama", the works of the authors of modernism.
Source: Schoolchildren's Handbook: Grades 5-11. — M.: AST-PRESS, 2000
More:
Artistic conflict - a clash of human wills, worldviews, vital interests - serves as a source of plot dynamics in the work, provoking, at the will of the author, the spiritual self-identification of the characters. Resonating throughout the entire compositional space of the work and in the system of characters, he draws into his spiritual field both the main and secondary participants in the action.
All this, however, is quite obvious. But something else is much less obvious and infinitely more important: the reincarnation of a private life conflict, firmly outlined in the form of an external intrigue, its sublimation into higher spiritual spheres, which is all the more obvious, the more significant the artistic creation. The usual concept of "generalization" here not so much clarifies as confuses the essence of the matter. After all, the essence lies precisely in the fact that in the great works of literature, the conflict often retains its private, sometimes accidental, sometimes exclusively single life shell, rooted in the prosaic thickness of being. From it it is no longer possible to smoothly ascend to the heights where the higher forces of life reign and where, for example, Hamlet's revenge quite specific and spiritually insignificant perpetrators of the death of his father is reincarnated as a battle with the whole world, drowning in dirt and vice. Here, only an instantaneous leap is possible, as it were, into another dimension of being, namely, the reincarnation of a collision, which does not leave a trace of the presence of its carrier in the "former world", at the prosaic foot of life.
Obviously, in the sphere of a quite private and quite specific confrontation, obliging Hamlet to revenge, it proceeds quite successfully, in essence, without hesitation and any signs of reflective relaxation. At spiritual heights, his revenge is overgrown with many doubts precisely because Hamlet initially feels like a warrior, called to fight the "sea of evil", knowing full well that the act of his private revenge is screamingly incommensurable with this higher goal, tragically eluding him. The concept of "generalization" is not suitable for such conflicts precisely because it leaves a feeling of a spiritual "gap" and incommensurability between the external and internal actions of the hero, between his specific and narrow goal, immersed in the empiricism of everyday, social, concrete historical relations, and his a higher purpose, a spiritual "task" that does not fit within the boundaries of an external conflict.
In Shakespeare's tragedies The "gap" between the external conflict and its spiritual reincarnation is, of course, more tangible than anywhere else; the tragic heroes of Shakespeare: both Lear, and Hamlet, and Othello, and Timon of Athens - are placed in the face of a world that has gone astray (“the connection of times has broken up”). In many works of the classics, this feeling of heroic single combat with the whole world is absent or muffled. But even in them, the conflict, which encloses the will and thoughts of the hero, is directed, as it were, to two spheres at once: to the environment, to society, to modernity, and at the same time to the world of unshakable values, which life, society, and history always encroach on. Sometimes only a glimpse of the eternal shines through in the everyday ups and downs of the confrontation and struggle of the characters. However, even in these cases, the classic is classic because its collisions break through to the timeless foundations of being, to the essence of human nature.
Only in adventure or detective genres or in "comedies of intrigue" this contact of conflicts with higher values and the life of the spirit is completely absent. But that is why the characters here turn into a simple function of the plot and their originality is indicated only by an external set of actions that do not refer to the originality of the soul.
The world of a literary work is almost always (perhaps with the exception of idyllic genres) an emphatically conflicted world. But infinitely stronger than in reality, here the harmonious beginning of being reminds of itself: whether in the sphere of the author's ideal, or in plot-embodied forms of cathartic purification of horror, suffering and pain. The mission of the artist, of course, is not to smooth out the conflicts of reality, neutralizing them with pacifying endings, but only to see the eternal beyond the temporal and awaken the memory of harmony and beauty without weakening their drama and energy. After all, it is in them that the highest truths of the world remind of themselves.
External conflict, expressed in the plot depicted clashes of characters - sometimes only a projection internal conflict that played out in the soul of the hero. The outset of an external collision in this case carries only a provocative moment, falling on spiritual soil, which is already quite ready for a strong dramatic crisis. Loss of the bracelet in Lermontov's drama "Masquerade", of course, instantly pushes the action forward, tying up all the knots of external collisions, feeding the dramatic intrigue with ever-increasing energy, prompting the hero to look for ways to take revenge. But in itself, this situation could be perceived as the collapse of the world only by a soul in which there was no longer peace, a soul that was in latent anxiety, oppressed by the ghosts of past years, having experienced the temptations and deceit of life, knowing the extent of this deceit and therefore eternally ready for defense. Happiness is perceived by Arbenin as an accidental whim of fate, which must certainly be followed by retribution. But most important of all, Arbenin is already beginning to be weighed down by the stormy harmony of peace, which he is not yet ready to admit to himself and which is muffled and almost unconsciously seen in his monologue preceding Nina's return from the masquerade.
That is why the spirit of Arben so quickly breaks away from this unstable point of rest, from this position of shaky balance. In a single moment, the old storms wake up in him, and Arbenin, who has long cherished revenge on the world, is ready to bring down this revenge on those around him, without even trying to doubt the validity of his suspicions, for the whole world has long been under suspicion in his eyes.
As soon as the conflict comes into play, the system of characters immediately polarization of forces: The characters are grouped around the main antagonists. Even the side branches of the plot are somehow drawn into this “infecting” environment of the main collision (such, for example, is the line of Prince Shakhovsky in A. K. Tolstoy’s drama “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”). In general, the clearly and boldly drawn conflict in the composition of the work has a special binding power. In dramatic forms, subject to the law of a steady increase in tension, this binding energy of the conflict is expressed in the most distinct manifestations. Dramatic intrigue with all its "mass" rushes "forward", and a single collision here cuts off everything that could slow down this movement or weaken its pace.
The all-penetrating conflict (the motor "nerve" of the work) not only does not exclude, but also presupposes the existence of small collisions, the scope of which is an episode, a situation, a scene. Sometimes it seems that they are far away from the confrontation between the central forces, as far, for example, at first glance, those “little comedies” that are played out in the compositional space "Woe from the mind" at the moment when a string of guests appears, invited to the ball to Famusov. It seems that all this is just a personified attribute of the social background, carrying a self-contained comedy, not included in the context of a single intrigue. Meanwhile, this whole panopticon of monsters, each of which is nothing more than amusing, in its totality gives rise to an ominous impression: the crack between Chatsky and the world around him grows here to the size of an abyss. From that moment on, Chatsky's loneliness is absolute, and dense tragic shadows begin to fall on the comedic fabric of the conflict.
Outside of social and everyday clashes, where the artist breaks through to the spiritual and moral foundations of being, conflicts sometimes become especially problematic. Particular because their unsolvability is nourished by duality, the hidden antinomy of the opposing forces. Each of them turns out to be ethically heterogeneous, so that the death of one of these forces does not excite only the thought of the unconditional triumph of justice and goodness, but rather instills a feeling of heavy sadness caused by the fall of that which carried the fullness of the forces and possibilities of being, even if broken. fatal damage. Such is the final defeat of the Lermontov Demon, surrounded, as it were, by a cloud of tragic sadness, generated by the death of a powerful and renewing aspiration for harmony and goodness, but fatally broken by the inescapability of demonism and, therefore, carrying tragedy in itself. Such is the defeat and death of Pushkin Evgenia in "The Bronze Horseman", despite all its screaming incommensurability with Lermontov's symbolic character.
Chained to everyday life with strong ties and, it would seem, forever excommunicated from the big History by the ordinaryness of his consciousness, pursuing only small worldly goals, Evgeny, in a moment of “high madness”, when his “thoughts became terribly clear” (the scene of a riot), soars up to such a tragic the height at which he is at least for a moment an antagonist, equal to Peter, a herald of the living pain of the Personality, oppressed by the bulk of the State. And at that moment, his truth is no longer the subjective truth of a private person, but the Truth, equal to the truth of Peter. And these are equally great Truths on the scales of history, tragically irreconcilable, because, equally dual, they contain both sources of good and sources of evil.
That is why the contrasting cohesion of everyday and heroic in the composition and style of Pushkin's poem is not just a sign of confrontation between two non-contiguous spheres of life assigned to opposing forces (Peter I, Eugene). No, these are spheres, like waves, interfering both into the space of Eugene and into the space of Peter. Only for a moment (however, dazzlingly bright, equal in size to a lifetime), Eugene joins the world, where the highest historical elements rule, as if breaking through into the space of Peter 1. But the space of the latter, heroically ascending into the supra-everyday heights of great History, like an ugly shadow, is accompanied by a miserable Yevgeny's living space: after all, this is the second face of the royal city, the brainchild of Petrov. And in a symbolic sense, this is a rebellion that perturbs the elements and awakens it, the result of his state act is the trampling of the personality thrown on the altar of the state idea.
The concern of the artist of the word, which forms the conflict, is not reduced to cutting the Gordian knot without fail, crowning his creation with an act of triumph of some opposing force. Sometimes the vigilance and depth of artistic thinking consists in refraining from the temptation of such a resolution of a conflict, for which reality does not give reasons. The courage of artistic thought is especially irresistible where it refuses to go along with the spiritual fads of the time prevailing at the moment. Great art always goes against the current.
The mission of Russian literature of the 19th century in the most critical moments of historical existence was to shift the interest of society from the historical surface to the depth, and in understanding a person to shift the direction of an indifferent look from a social person to a spiritual person. To bring back to life, for example, the idea of the guilt of the individual, as Herzen did in the novel “Who is to blame?”, at a time when the theory of the all-encompassing guilt of the environment already clearly claimed dominance. To return this notion, not losing sight of the fault of the environment, of course, but trying to understand the dialectics of both — this was the corrective effort of art in the era of the tragic, in essence, captivity of Russian thought by superficial social doctrinairism. The wisdom of Herzen the artist here is all the more obvious because, after all, he himself, as a political thinker, participated in this captivity.
