. "Masquerade" - romantic drama. 2. Arbenin’s character, his relationship with society and with his wife. 3. What did M. Yu. Lermontov want to say by developing the main storyline? 4. The climax of the drama. 5. The work of M. Yu. Lermontov as a mirror dark sides human nature. M. Yu. Lermontov's drama “Masquerade” occupies a special place both in the poet’s work and in all Russian drama. This socio-psychological romantic drama, the main storyline of which is conflict lyrical hero with society, conventions environment, and also with yourself. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Arbenin - main character works. He is a player - both by nature and by the way he gets rich. The hero himself characterizes his life, most of which I played card games, as follows: I have known you here for a long time; and often here, I watched with dumb excitement as the wheel of happiness turned. One was exalted, the other was crushed by him, I did not envy, but also did not know the fate: I saw many young men, hopes And the feelings of complete, happy ignoramuses In the science of life... fiery in soul, Whose former goal was only love... They died quickly in front of me... Arbenin regrets that no one could save him from such a life. He does not hide his sadness and bitterness in his conversation with Zvezdich: ...I was once inexperienced and younger, Like you, arrogant, reckless too, And if only... (stops) someone stopped me... For society At that time it was a fall. At the beginning of the drama, Arbenin saves Zvezdich from collapse, helping him win back. However, having become rich with the help of cards, Arbenin decides to stop gambling, get married and become a respectable family man. Having wooed, first of all, “out of mature reflection,” he managed to fall in love, and very strongly, with his young wife. Here Lermontov reveals one of the main ideas, which is indicated in many works. This is the transformation of human nature due to love, which ennobles the hero. Arbenin, without hiding his feelings, says the following about his wife: A weak creature, but an angel of beauty: Your love, smile, gaze, breath... I am a man: while they are mine, Without them there is no happiness, no soul, No feelings, no existence! It is at the masquerade that the beginning of the main storyline. Is this a coincidence? For Lermontov, the masquerade is not only a symbol of the fight against surrounding reality, but a hidden confrontation, taking place under a mask, someone else’s guise. This is where the different social statuses(“Under the mask, all ranks are equal...”), spiritual characteristics are swept aside (“The mask has neither a soul nor a rank, it has a body”). A person who wears a mask becomes more decisive and frank. Arbenin notes: And if the features are hidden with a mask, then the mask from the feelings is boldly removed. Masquerade is a demonstration of frankness, real feelings and reality, not limited by etiquette and morality. But, on the other hand, a mask hides a person’s identity and gives him the opportunity to act not on his own behalf, but incognito. The main character Arbenin appears at the masquerade together with Zvezdich. He's clearly a stranger here. Lermontov, to emphasize this, does not even put a mask on the hero. But Arbenin is also involuntarily drawn into the cycle of masquerade. It was from this evening that his discord with Nina began, a painful feeling of jealousy appeared, which subsequently led to misfortune. It is here that the Unknown first appears - a mysterious character who predicts misfortune for Arbenin on the holiday. winter night. Zvezdich, on the contrary, falls into love affair. The stranger gives him a bracelet as a sign of her deep spiritual affection.
The play “Masquerade”, written by M.Yu. Lermontov in poetic form in the 19th century, is relevant even in our 21st century. Because the work acutely highlights the topical problems of the noble caste of society. All parts of the drama are imbued with a romantic spirit, but in fact the author clearly intersects it with the tragedy of the bad deeds of noble people.
At the beginning of the play, gambling is shown in detail. card game. The deception that players use so that they get all the bets is simply disgusting. The pretense of communicating with a friend and trying to show your upbringing, in fact, this is only the top layer, under which only the theatricality of communication and benefit is visible. The poet carefully tries to convey all the agony of the union of people who are only held together by the enthusiasm to win money. In these events, the reader sees for the first time someone who came simply to watch the game - the main character Evgeniy Arbenin. Lermontov portrayed him as a calm, persistent, self-confident and rich man. But when further reading says that in the past he was a swindler who used fraudulent tricks in gambling amassed a decent fortune for himself, it is already clear that a masquerade is described here, only without costumes, but with living masks of people, as they say, from the very color of society.
Next, the most disgusting thing that the author dismantles step by step is the main ball - the masquerade. All high society dressed up in unrecognizable costumes, and all this for the convenience of weaving intrigues and gossip, as well as acting disgustingly and basely, playing trickster games with each other. So, Baroness Shtral, because of whom all the main intrigues took place, as a result of her actions under an unrecognizable mask at the ball, Arbenin begins to suspect his wife’s infidelity. Prince Zvezdich, helped by Evgeniy as a professional in card deception in gambling, decides to have some fun at a masquerade with a woman. Because of the ill-fated bracelet lost at the ball by Arbenin’s wife Nina, everything gets confused, and a real intrigue ensues. From which it is simply impossible for Arbenin’s wife to get out. Former fellow gambler Evgenia Kazarin and Prince Zvezdich only worsen the situation without understanding anything, and Baroness Shtral, showing cowardice, does not help Nina refute the accusation of treason.
The main and terrible description is the dialogue clarifying the betrayal between Evgeny and Nina. Before this incident, Arbenin saw in his wife his salvation from the deceitful games of society. She was an outlet for him, an angelic protection from his terrible past. Evgeniy lived by deception, was a reveler and a rake, and did not know anyone else at all. However, Nina became a ray of divine light for him. Arbenin greatly appreciated the significance of her presence in his life. Although how shaky it turned out to be... Real gossip ruined them family bonds. Evgeniy, not fully understanding what is happening, completely accuses his wife of the vileness of betrayal, and aggressively turns away from her arguments, which he does not believe. Arbenin himself does not see how he is turning into the same ruthless player in life, being in the fog of revenge. First, he humiliates Prince Zvezdich in front of everyone, and the vile character Shprikh only contributes to this. After this, Arbenin decides to kill his beloved with poison. A special place in the play is given to this terrible event. Evgeny cynically poisons Nina by mixing poison into ice cream. He crosses out everything good, gentle and pure in his life with this act. He justifies himself in his thoughts about this, and considers only revenge suitable here. Also present here is mysterious hero plays, which after many years brought his revenge into Arbenin’s life. In his stormy past gambling life, Evgeniy beat this unfortunate man to the last thread. His revenge consisted in the untimely telling of the truth about Nina’s innocence and innocence and about the hostile deceptions that drew her into this swamp of lies. Alas, when the truth of what happened was revealed, it was already too late - beloved Nina died. The poison that poisoned her killed an innocent soul and body, but the frank Lermontov demonstrates all the other characters with disgusting little souls, saturated with the poison of life, corroded from the inside, and on the outside covered only with masks that have already been ingrained into the human essence, and they themselves are not see their destructive effect. Arbenin became the suffering party, the victim of the injustice of society, and also a villain with inhuman retribution of revenge.
Consider a work created by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov in 1835. Let us describe its brief content. "Masquerade" by Lermontov (photo of the author is presented below) is a poetic play in 4 acts. At the beginning of the work we meet Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Arbenin. This is not a young man, but a player by occupation and nature. He decides, having become rich at cards, to change his destiny. Arbenin, the hero created by M.Yu. Lermontov ("Masquerade"), wants to get married and become a master. This is what he ultimately accomplishes.
Evgeniy falls in love with his wife
However, life makes a significant amendment to great plan hero, as M. Lermontov notes (“Masquerade”). The author analyzes his motives, saying that Evgeniy wooed “out of mature reflection,” although not out of direct calculation. However, after some time, he unexpectedly falls in love with his young wife. And this, with his lava-like temperament and gloominess, does not promise spiritual comfort. Evgeniy seems to have landed at a quiet family pier, but he feels like he has been thrown back into the stormy open sea by a “broken shuttle.”
Nastasya Pavlovna returns from the ball
Of course, his wife is an angel, but she is both a child in years and at heart. Mikhail Lermontov notes that she childishly adores everything that glitters, and most of all, balls with their noise. Today St. Petersburg is having fun, Nastasya Pavlovna Arbenina (Nina at home) is dancing somewhere. She promised to return before midnight, but it’s already two o’clock. Finally the girl appears. She creeps up on tiptoe and, like a kind uncle, kisses her husband on the forehead. The husband makes a scene for Nina, after which they make up.
Evgeniy helps out Zvezdich
Evgeniy Aleksandrovich, moreover, today is not without sin. He broke the vow he had made: not to play cards anymore. He sat down and won a lot of money. True, there was a plausible pretext for this: it was necessary to rescue Zvezdich, the lost prince, from trouble. He goes with him from the gambling house to Engelhardt's masquerade house. He needs this in order to unwind. However, it is impossible to relax: Arbenin is a stranger in the idle crowd, but the very handsome young guard Zvezdich is in his element. He, of course, dreams of a love adventure.
Love adventure
A dream comes true. Intriguing Zvezdich, a mysterious lady with a mask on her face confesses her passion to him. The guardsman asks for some symbolic object in memory of this meeting. Without risking giving Zvezdich the ring, the masked girl gives him a bracelet that someone had lost. The prince shows Arbenin the masquerade “trophy”. He saw something similar somewhere, but doesn’t remember where exactly. He has no time for Zvezdich now: having spoken insolently, someone unknown has just predicted a misfortune for Evgeny, which should happen precisely on this winter night.
Arbenin discovers the bracelet is missing
Arbenin, you see, after such a stormy day, has every reason to be nervous while waiting for his wife. But the thunderstorm sped away without turning into a storm. So what if his wife loves him differently than he does - playing with feelings, unconsciously? The main thing is that she still loves. In a fit of tenderness, touched Evgeniy kisses his wife’s fingers.
Mikhail Lermontov further talks about how the hero draws attention to the bracelet on her hand. This is exactly what Zvezdich was bragging about a few hours ago. The bracelets are paired, but it is not on the right wrist. Nina says that she lost her bracelet. The whole house, by order of Arbenin, is looking for the loss. Of course, she is not found. It turns out that Nina stayed not at the home ball of one respectable family, but at Engelhardt’s masquerade ball. And it’s shameful for a decent woman to go there without companions.
Struck by his wife’s inexplicable act (is this really just childish curiosity?), Arbenin suspects that she is having an affair with the prince. True, this suspicion has not yet turned into confidence. How is it possible that Nina chose a cute, empty boy over Arbenin, her mature husband?! The prince outrages Nina’s husband so far much more than his wife. He probably would have had no time for amorous pranks if Arbenin had not generously won back his card loss. The couple, half to death tired of sorting out the relationship, go to their rooms in a bad mood.
Nina tells Zvezdich everything
The next day Nina goes to the jewelry store. She believes that her husband will stop being angry if she picks up the same trinket instead of the lost one. Without buying anything (these bracelets are handmade), the girl stops by to visit her socialite friend Baroness Shtral, a young widow. She, having met Zvezdich in the living room, tells him innocently about her troubles. The guardsman, deciding that Nina Arbenina and the lady in the mask are one and the same person, and the “fairy tale” she composed about the lost bracelet is a hint, immediately transforms into an ardent lover. Nina, having cooled his ardor with the “Epiphany cold”, hastily leaves. The prince, in annoyance, tells the baroness the whole story. The widow is horrified, since it was she who gave Zvezdich Nina’s bracelet at the masquerade.
Zvezdich's letter
However, saving her own reputation, the widow leaves Zvezdich astray. He hopes to confuse Nina and thereby achieve his goal. He sends the girl a scornful letter saying that he would rather die than abandon her. The prince first notifies half of secular Petersburg about the contents of the letter. As a result of intrigue, the scandalous message ends up in the hands of Arbenin. Evgeniy is now convinced that he was cruelly deceived. He also sees a prophetic sign in what happened. Anyone who has experienced all the sweets of villainy and vice in his life cannot dream of carelessness and peace. Which player, really, is the husband, the father of the family? However, Arbenin cannot take revenge on the “seducer” in the way that the “genius of villainy” should have done: strangle him while he sleeps. The union with virtue changed something in him.
Mrs. Strahl is trying to tell the truth to Arbenin. Zvezdich's punishment
Baroness Shtral, meanwhile, fearful that the life of the prince she loves is in danger, decides to reveal the truth to Arbenin and thereby prevent what she believes is an inevitable duel. We will not describe her story in detail, compiling summary. Lermontov's "Masquerade" can be briefly summarized without going into detail about the various scenes. Note that Arbenin, scrolling through the options for revenge in his head, does not hear it. Mrs. Strahl is in despair. But she worries in vain: Evgeniy’s plans do not include a duel. He intends to take away from the darling of fate not his life at all, but something more: respect for society and honor. Arbenin is quite successful in this cunning enterprise. Having drawn a spineless prince into a card battle, he finds fault with trifles and publicly accuses him of fraud. Saying that Zvezdich is a scoundrel and a cheater, he slaps him in the face.
Further intrigue
Thus, the offender is punished. However, the intrigue continues, in which the heroes of Lermontov's "Masquerade" find themselves involved. Now it's Nina's turn. However, the girl is not a godless and immoral prince. Superstitious, like all players, Arbenin hesitates, waiting for what fate will tell his faithful and ancient slave. However, fate treats him extremely insidiously. She confuses the intrigue, unraveling it. After a failed attempt to explain herself to her friend’s husband, Mrs. Strahl, realizing that she secular career hopelessly ruined at any turn of events, she decides to go to the village estate. Before leaving, the woman explains to Zvezdich the “solution” to this “charade.”
Already transferred to the Caucasus at his own request, the prince lingers in St. Petersburg in order to return her ill-fated trinket to the real owner and warn Nina, the girl he likes, that her husband is a villain. However, he doesn't find the best way talk to her alone, rather than very carelessly approach a girl at a high-society ball. The prince does not dare to speak frankly, and Nina does not understand his hints. She also has no idea what decision was ripening in the head of Arbenin, who was watching this scene from afar: he decides to kill his wife.
Murder of Nina
The summary continues with the terrible event. Lermontov's "Masquerade" is a play in which Nina's murder occurs in the third act. Nastasya Pavlovna, excited by the dancing and having long forgotten about the funny officer, asks her husband to bring her ice cream. He obediently goes to the pantry and pours poison into it, and then brings the saucer to his wife. This poison was proven and fast-acting, so that same night Nina dies in terrible agony.
Evgeniy is going crazy
Let us describe the fourth action and its brief content. Lermontov's "Masquerade" ends quite spectacularly. Friends and acquaintances come to say goodbye to Nina. Arbenin, having left the servants with visitors, wanders in gloomy solitude through the empty house. Zvezdich, as well as an unknown gentleman, who predicted misfortune for Arbenin at a masquerade a few days ago, find him in one of the rooms. The one who predicted it is his old acquaintance. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich once beat him, ruined him and sent him around the world. Having experienced on personal experience, what this character of Lermontov’s “Masquerade” is capable of, an unknown person under Zvezdich openly declares that Arbenina did not die a natural death. Evgeny is horrified, the shock leaves him speechless for a while. Zvezdich, taking advantage of the pause, sets out in detail real story fatal bracelet. He gives Eugene the Baroness' written testimony as evidence. Evgeniy is going crazy. However, before plunging forever into the darkness of madness, he manages to accuse God of cruelty.
Zvezdich is inconsolable
The unknown triumphs: he is avenged. However, Zvezdich is inconsolable. Given Evgeniy's current condition, a duel is impossible. This means that Zvezdich, a handsome young man full of hope and strength, is forever deprived of both honor and peace. This is how M. Lermontov’s drama “Masquerade” ends - a play telling about St. Petersburg society in the 1830s. Today you can watch a ballet based on this work. The music for Lermontov's drama "Masquerade" (waltz) was written by A. Khachaturian.
We all know Lermontov the poet with his “Prophet”, “Mtsyri” and “Demon”, but not all of us are familiar with Lermontov the playwright. And in vain. His signature psychologism was most fully revealed precisely in the genre of the play, which is still included in the golden collection of theatrical repertoires.
Work on "Masquerade" went on during 1835-1836. By this time, young and recently (in 1834) graduated from the school of guards ensigns and cavalry cadets, Lermontov had already become closely acquainted with social life and in particular with entertainment in Engelhardt's house. The masquerades there served as the basis for the development of the conflict in the play. The censors were amazed at the harshness of the criticism directed at the entertainment and venue that was so popular at the time. This, as well as the originality of the main character and the ambiguous and, obviously, unhappy ending, did a disservice to the work. Mikhail Yuryevich rewrote the play several times, sometimes making significant changes to it (to the ending, to the system of characters; neither the number of acts nor the title were constant), but not a single edition was approved. The reader became acquainted with “Masquerade” only after the death of the author; it was published in 1842.
Couldn't be happier stage fate dramas. “Masquerade” was staged several times in different St. Petersburg theaters, but nowhere did it become part of the permanent repertoire.
The meaning of the drama title
The masquerade is the abode of eternal idleness and the triumph of hypocrisy, the place where the main conflict of the play unfolds, and all the most significant events. The glitter and tinsel of the halls, the carefreeness and ardor of the guests allow those gathered to set sail freely in a sea of unbridled fun, revelry and revelry and hide the vices they endlessly commit and repeat. More importantly, the “masquerade” is the state of affairs in society, the state of mind of every respected member of the community. “And if the features are hidden with a mask, / Then the mask is boldly removed from the feelings” - this is what the main character of the play says about the guests of Engelhardt’s house. Indeed, those gathered were so accustomed to wearing a certain image in Everyday life, to appear before friends as they want to see them, that the only opportunity for them to reveal their true appearance, give free rein to their feelings, talk about their desires, dreams, worries is to hide themselves under a mask. Unrecognized, they have greater courage and are ready to tell others what they would not have dared to think about if they had not been at the masquerade.
The theme of fate and chance
“The world for me is a deck of cards, / Life is a bank; rock strikes, I play / And I apply the rules of the game to people.” This is all “earthly wisdom,” according to Kazarin. The card game at one time was firmly entrenched in Russian literature. This motif not only serves as a plot engine or a means of revealing a character’s character, but also recreates a romantic model of the universe. Impartial rock throws cards of tests, testing with them all those walking along life path. Some people throw themselves headlong into this game, others know how to stop in time, having found their niche, and quietly live out their days without incident. There are people who go with the flow and resign themselves to any turn of fate, rejoice at small offerings from it or accept defeat without complaint. But there is a completely different type of person - a hero-player. This is someone who accepts the rules, but is by no means going to obey the conditions. On the one hand, he is a fighter, on the other, he is a madman, whose inner passion forces him to never agree with his predetermined fate in anything, he last breath will go against, even if he is doomed in advance. Arbenin is such a hero in Masquerade. Many characters in the play note that he has some kind of power, perhaps demonic, that helps him in the unequal struggle with inexorable fate.
Fate pursues the hero. It is difficult to say whether he could have avoided the tragic end of his journey. Of course, he was given a chance, but it is almost impossible to deceive fate. Arbenin was rapidly moving towards his destined end.
Chance played with everyone cruel joke. A minor incident - the loss of a bracelet - led to many fatal consequences. All the people involved in this story turned out to be unhappy, which means that the accidents are not accidental. They are an instrument in the hands of fate, which with their help tests the heroes and punishes them for mistakes.
“Mirrorality” of the image system
IN real life people often have to try on masks, play roles, pretend to be someone they are not, or simply hide some of their qualities that may adversely affect their position in a certain society. The characters in the play do this day and night. It’s as if they are looking into a mirror that smoothes out irregularities and angularities, and are trying to convince others that the one they see in the reflection is real personality. Through the looking glass, each of them becomes what they would like to be, in accordance with their own benefit. Characters in this world create for themselves the right mask, become fused with it and already believe that this is their real face. Only occasionally can you see their true appearance. Surprisingly, this happens when the faces of the heroes are literally hidden - at a masquerade.
There is one person in this distorted world who does not want to pretend and be a hypocrite. He doesn't need it. He doesn't care much public opinion. Natural selfishness and coldness allow him to withdraw completely into himself, look down on those around him, but at the same time be the most honest among them. Evgeny Arbenin does not consider himself part of the society with which he is forced to coexist. He once had comrades and friends here, but they were connected only by the gaming table. Now no one except his wife is allowed into his small, isolated world.
Romantic Conflict
Throughout the work, Arbenin changes literally before our eyes. He appears before us as a calm, settled man. From everything it is clear that he is somewhat tired of the amusements of the world, but is not yet alien to them. Evgeniy, it seems, is quite happy to meet with old acquaintances and is not averse to remembering the old times when he was a young passionate gambler, sought his happiness in cards, “did not envy” his fellow interests, “but also did not know the part” in their fate. He willingly goes with Prince Zvezdich to the masquerade. At the same time, it is there that the hero’s detachment is manifested: “They are all alien to me, and I am a stranger to all of them!” - he says about the society into which he found himself. Early years he has passed away, noisy balls no longer seduce him. Now, standing peacefully on the sidelines, he reads the falseness in all those gathered and no longer wants to be involved in their way of life.
From peace of mind The hero is brought out by a very prosaic incident: he begins to suspect that his wife is cheating on him. Instantly, from a quiet family man, he turns into an ardent lover. Jealousy bubbles up in him, pushing the hero to rash actions. Now he no longer withdraws himself. Eugene partly blames society for what happened, which can easily “swallow” a pure, sinless creature (such as Nina) and vulgarize him, destroy all the good things in him, make him like himself. Arbenin moves from silent condemnation to loud attacks. Now he is alone against everyone. Knowing all the vices of society from the inside, he alone can tear off the masks from those around him.
Image of Evgeny Arbenin
It is the above-mentioned quality that distinguishes Lermontov’s hero from the crowd. Arbenin is an accuser, and thanks to certain events this becomes his main function. Such a hero is destined to go through disappointment in society or satiety with social life. This entails the manifestation of such qualities as dissatisfaction with reality, self-exaltation over others, isolation, and unsociability. A proud person freezes in this state for a while, and then, as a rule, he collides with reality or society. The emerging and developing conflict has a strong effect on the character, he loses the ability to keep emotions and thoughts under control and begins to throw right and left, although justified, but still harsh accusations. This battle is doomed, because it is not worth the slightest effort for society to unite against a foreign element, this destroyer of order and tranquility. It destroys the accuser or simply isolates him from itself.
Many researchers note the continuity of Lermontov’s character in relation to Chatsky. Like the hero of “Woe from Wit,” Arbenin, offended by the cruelty of society, breaks into the usual course of his life, trying to turn his worldview inside out - the side in which he sees the truth. Busy with exposing the vices of those around him, he does not notice that he remains misunderstood, ridiculed, and rejected. Nobody wants to support his truth.
As for the path along which the hero came to the end of his story, it resembles the life of Onegin (they are namesakes for a reason). Pushkinsky Evgeniy for the time being, for the time being, he shone in society, loved social entertainment like no one else, and suddenly, overnight, he abandoned everything, retired to the village, hid from everyone. The difference is that Arbenin was able to find his happiness in this world, although it did not last long. Onegin was so busy condemning morals, actions, and beliefs that he missed his chance and was no longer able to come to terms with reality, to achieve harmony with it.
Nina's image
Nina. A young girl, a sweet, pure, blooming creature, just entering life. How could such a cold, stingy person like Arbenin, obsessed with only one passion, win her heart? He himself called her an angel, sent to him by God to build his happiness. Nina is the only one who can save Evgeny’s soul, but in order to atone for all his past actions, to accomplish this feat, only her feelings are not enough, the main thing is his desire to change. He loves his wife, he feels good in family comfort, he forgets about the game, violent temper it subsides. And yet, abandoning the past does not mean starting new life. The hero freezes in a new image until the first shock. The slightest doubt destroys the newfound harmony, and the spouse finds himself unable to resist the onslaught of former impulses. Nina is a test that he tries to overcome, but cannot. He lacks faith.
The past overtakes Evgeniy, he succumbs to weakness, and wild passion clouds his eyes, preventing him from seeing and hearing even the obvious. Arbenin cannot control his anger, jealousy, and thirst to get back into the game. This time the stakes are prohibitively high - the fate of people is at stake. The player is preparing for the final round, nothing and no one can keep him on the edge of the abyss. He forgets that any money can be returned, won back, earned, but a person’s life cannot be returned. He steps into the abyss, not yet realizing that instead of victory over circumstances or a draw in his battle with society, which he wants to teach a lesson, he is rapidly approaching complete defeat and self-destruction.
The meaning of the ending
Not only the loss of what he could value awaits Arbenin. Fate had prepared a terrible punishment for him. She did not want to leave him in the dark about what she had done. In the final acts of the play, a mysterious Unknown Man appears, sent to reveal all the secrets and tear away the veil hiding the truth from the criminal. Until this moment, the mind helpfully clouded the consciousness of the protagonist in those minutes when the revelation was supposed to take place characters conflict or the circumstances that led to its occurrence. Evgeniy did not believe the words or did not understand their meaning, and sometimes did not even hear what was said to him. Blinded by jealousy, he became obsessed with the thought of revenge and was no longer able to turn away from this path. The unknown person destroyed the wall of deception and speculation erected by the jealous man himself, and he finally saw the whole picture and realized that he had done something terrible and irreparable. It was impossible to live with this any longer; the hero’s mind finally plunged into darkness, from where there was no return for the unfortunate man.
Can madness be considered a punishment for a hero? Could he, years later, find peace and happiness in this world again? Perhaps this was his only salvation. After all, he did not remain completely deaf to the voice of conscience, he experienced terrible pain and torment because of what he had done. The clouding of his mind freed him from the burden of knowledge.
Fate broke him, but having won, she did not take his life, did not give him a second chance. Arbenin is stuck somewhere between earthly existence and heavenly judgment. Whether this was additional punishment or an opportunity to atone and earn forgiveness is impossible to say.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!The play “Masquerade”, written by M.Yu. Lermontov in poetic form in the 19th century, is relevant even in our 21st century. Because the work acutely highlights the topical problems of the noble caste of society. All parts of the drama are imbued with a romantic spirit, but in fact the author clearly intersects it with the tragedy of the bad deeds of noble people.
At the beginning of the play, a gambling card game is shown in detail. The deception that players use so that they get all the bets is simply disgusting. The pretense of communicating with each other and attempts to show their upbringing, in fact, this is only the top layer, under which only the theatricality of communication and benefit is visible. The poet carefully tries to convey all the agony of the union of people who are only held together by the enthusiasm to win money. In these events, the reader sees for the first time someone who came simply to watch the game - the main character Evgeniy Arbenin. Lermontov portrayed him as a calm, persistent, self-confident and rich man. But, when what is read further says that in the past he was a swindler who made a decent fortune for himself through fraudulent tricks in gambling, it is already clear that a masquerade is described here, only without costumes, but with living masks of people, as they say, from the very color of society.
Next, the most disgusting thing that the author examines step by step is the main ball - the masquerade. All high society dressed up in unrecognizable costumes, and all this for the convenience of weaving intrigues and gossip, as well as acting vile and base, playing trickster games with each other. So, Baroness Shtral, because of whom all the main intrigues took place, as a result of her actions under an unrecognizable mask at the ball, Arbenin begins to suspect his wife’s infidelity. Prince Zvezdich, helped by Evgeniy as a professional in card deception in gambling, decides to have some fun at a masquerade with a woman. Because of the ill-fated bracelet lost at the ball by Arbenin’s wife Nina, everything gets confused, and a real intrigue ensues. From which it is simply impossible for Arbenin’s wife to get out. Former fellow gambler Evgenia Kazarin and Prince Zvezdich only worsen the situation without understanding anything, and Baroness Shtral, showing cowardice, does not help Nina refute the accusation of treason.
The main and terrible description is the dialogue clarifying the betrayal between Evgeny and Nina. Before this incident, Arbenin saw in his wife his salvation from the deceitful games of society. She was an outlet for him, an angelic protection from his terrible past. Evgeniy lived by deception, was a reveler and a rake, and knew no other life at all. However, Nina became a ray of divine light for him. Arbenin greatly appreciated the significance of her presence in his life. Although what a shaky happiness it turned out to be... Real gossip ruined their family ties. Evgeniy, not fully understanding what is happening, completely accuses his wife of the vileness of betrayal, and aggressively turns away from her arguments, which he does not believe. Arbenin himself does not see how he is turning into the same ruthless player in life, being in the fog of revenge. First, he humiliates Prince Zvezdich in front of everyone, and the vile character Shprikh only contributes to this. After this, Arbenin decides to kill his beloved with poison. A special place in the play is given to this terrible event. Evgeny cynically poisons Nina by mixing poison into ice cream. He crosses out everything good, gentle and pure in his life with this act. He justifies himself in his thoughts about this, and considers only revenge suitable here. The mysterious hero of the play is also present here, who after many years brought his revenge into Arbenin’s life. In his stormy past gambling life, Evgeniy beat this unfortunate man to the last thread. His revenge consisted in the untimely telling of the truth about Nina’s innocence and innocence and about the hostile deceptions that drew her into this swamp of lies. Alas, when the truth of what happened was revealed, it was too late - beloved Nina died. The poison that poisoned her killed an innocent soul and body, but the frank Lermontov demonstrates all the other characters with disgusting little souls, saturated with the poison of life, corroded from the inside, and on the outside covered only with masks that have already been ingrained into the human essence, and they themselves are not see their destructive effect. Arbenin became the suffering party, the victim of the injustice of society, and also a villain with inhuman retribution of revenge.
Lermontov's sermon in the poem masquerade lies in the limitlessness of the chain of evil deeds of the shameless and selfish human race.
- < Назад
- Forward >
Essays on Russian literature
"Hero of Our Time" - main characters
The main character of the novel is Grigory Pechorin, an extraordinary personality, the author drew “ modern man, as he understands him, and has met him too often.” Pechorin is full of apparent and real contradictions in relation to love, friendship, seeks the true meaning of life, solves for himself questions of human destiny, choice of path. Sometimes the main character is unattractive to us - he makes us suffer...
"Judushka Golovlev is a one-of-a-kind type
Judushka Golovlev is a brilliant artistic discovery of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. No one else has been able to reveal the image of an idle talker with such accusatory power. The portrait of Judas is revealed “in dynamics.” He first appears as an unsympathetic, mother-fawning, eavesdropping child. At the end of the book, the reader sees before him a shudder-inducing, disgusting creature. The image of Judas...
"Little Man" in Gogol's story "The Overcoat"
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's story "The Overcoat" played big role in the development of Russian literature. “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat,” said F. M. Dostoevsky, assessing its significance for many generations of Russian writers. The story in “The Overcoat” is told in the first person. We notice that the narrator knows the life of officials well. The hero of the story is Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, a small official of one of...
"Little Man" in the works of Gogol
N.V. Gogol revealed in his “ Petersburg stories» true side metropolitan life and the lives of officials. He most clearly showed the possibilities " natural school"in the transformation and change of a person’s view of the world and the destinies of “little people.” In “Petersburg Notes” of 1836, Gogol, from a realistic position, puts forward the idea of social meaningful art, which notices common elements...
"The Fate of Man" main characters
Andrei Sokolov is the main character of the story “The Fate of Man” by Sholokhov. His character is truly Russian. How many troubles he experienced, what torments he endured, only he himself knows. The hero speaks about this on the pages of the story: “Why did you, life, cripple me like that? Why did you distort it like that?” He slowly tells his life from beginning to end to a fellow traveler with whom he sat down to have a cigarette by the road. A lot...
1812 IN THE IMAGE OF L. N. TOLSTOY
Essay "War and Peace" by Tolstoy. L.N. Tolstoy was a participant in the Sevastopol defense. During these tragic months of the shameful defeat of the Russian army, he understood a lot, realized how terrible war is, what suffering it brings to people, how a person behaves in war. He was convinced that true patriotism and heroism does not manifest itself in beautiful phrases or brilliant exploits, but in the honest performance of duty, military and...
Silentium Tyutchev analysis of the poem
This poem by the great poet is entirely dedicated to main problem any creative personality- loneliness. It's philosophical lyric poem filled with the innermost thoughts of the poet himself. Tyutchev touches on the problem of relationships between people and tries to find answers to eternal questions. In the first line of the poem, the fears and fear of the poet himself of being misunderstood are clearly felt. AND...
“TAKE CARE OF THE HONOR OF YOUR YOUTH...” (based on A. S. Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter”, option 2)
“Take care of your dress again, but take care of your honor from a young age,” says the proverb, and its meaning is clear to everyone. But not everyone and not always succeeds in following what has been said. Easier than that who subsequently never begins to think about the life he has lived, about his unworthy actions, will rejoice in the fact that, although not with a clear conscience, he nevertheless avoided responsibility for his shameful act. And not at all...
“FRAGING FRESHNESS OF FEELINGS” IN THE POETRY OF A. A. FET
Essay on literature. Afanasy Fet's lyrics reveal to us a world of amazing beauty, harmony and perfection, the three components of which are nature, love and song. Fet can be called the singer of Russian nature. The approach of spring and autumn wilt, fragrant summer night and a frosty day, a rye field stretching endlessly and a dense shady forest - he writes about all this in his poems. Fet's nature is always...
“GREAT EARTHLY LOVE” IN ANNA AKHMATOVA’S LYRICS
Essay on literature. Akhmatova’s lyrics in her first books (“Evening”, “Rosary”, “White Flock”) are lyrics of love. Her innovation as an artist was manifested in the “romanticism” of her love lyrics- each book of poetry represents, as it were, lyrical novel, consisting of many love stories. This is a story about a gray-eyed girl and a murdered king, and a story about farewell at the gate (the poem “Clenched my hands under the dark...
