Target: To familiarize students with the compositional features of the story “Old Woman Izergil” as a means of revealing ideological content; find out the meaning of the contrast between the heroes of the story; draw a parallel between biblical legend about Moses and the legend about Danko, note the similarities and differences; develop analysis skills literary text; bring students to the idea of ​​uniqueness human life, about responsibility for your life choice, about the need for careful and careful attitude to the people around you.

Equipment: Textbook, text of the story, portrait of M. Gorky;

Form: Lesson-research.

DURING THE CLASSES

I . Organizational stage

II. Setting the goal of the lesson objectives.

Teacher. One of the main problems of M. Gorky’s creativity was the search for a new human ideal, harmony in this world. Time itself - the turn of the century, the clash of eras - makes such questions relevant, puts a person before moral choice. It is typical for the writer’s romantic stories that among people with strong characters, the writer distinguishes between a force that acts in the name of good and a force that brings evil. One of the most striking early works of M. Gorky is story “Old Woman Izergil” (1894). The story was written using the writer’s favorite form of framing: the legend of Larra, the story of the life of Izergil, the legend of Danko. What makes the three parts of the story a single whole is the main idea - the desire to reveal true value human personality.

“I saw these stories near Akkerman, in Bessarabia, on seashore..." - this is how Maxim Gorky begins, one of his best stories, which reflected the author’s unforgettable impressions of his wanderings around southern Bessarabia in the early spring of 1891. The story belongs to the early works of M. Gorky and continues the romantic line (the stories “Makar Chudra” and “Chel-Kash”), which most strongly reflected the author’s admiration for a whole and strong human personality.

The most important issue constituting ideological content the story “Old Woman Izergil” is the meaning of human life. The theme of a person with a strong, extraordinary personality is directly related to the idea of ​​the work - serving people as great meaning life, highest purpose. the plot and composition of the work, as well as a special, heroic pathos, serve to reveal the idea.

III. Working on the lesson topic

1. Analytical conversation

♦ So, we found out that the story “Old Woman Izergil” has romantic character. Let's remember the features of romanticism. (The hero has two worlds - ideal and real, brightness of images, unusual events, exaggeration of qualities, pathos, mysterious landscape)

♦ At what time of day do the events in the story take place? Why?

♦ What natural images could you highlight?

♦ Which artistic media did the author use in depicting nature?

♦ Why is the landscape shown in nature this way?

♦ What are your impressions of the story? How is it built and what is the meaning of the compositional form depicted by the author?

2. Retelling the legend of Larra to pre-prepared students. Conversation

♦ What external event gave birth to the legend? (The shadow floating across the sky is Larra’s shadow)

Why does he behave this way, what is his motivation? ( He was born this way, he is the son of an eagle)

His tribe sentenced him to loneliness, and this is the most terrible “beast” on earth. Was this decision fair? Support your opinion with quotes from the story.

What can you say about such a quality of a person as pride?

There is such a word - “pride”. Think about the difference between the words “pride” and “arrogance.”

Recording the interpretation of words

Pride - self-esteem, self-respect.Pride - excessively high opinion of oneself, exorbitant pride.

Did Izergil understand Larra’s true essence? Support your opinion with quotes from the story.

3. Retelling by pre-prepared students the legend of Danko and biblical history about Moses

BIBLE STORY ABOUT MOSES

God commanded Moses to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. Jews have lived in Egypt for hundreds of years, and they are very sad to leave their homes. The convoys were formed, and the Jews set off. Suddenly the Egyptian king regretted letting his slaves go. The Jews approached the sea when they saw the chariots of the Egyptian troops behind them. The Jews were horrified: in front of them was the sea, and behind them armed army. But the merciful Lord saved the Jews from death. He told Moses to strike the sea with a stick. And the waters of the sea parted and became walls, and the middle became dry. The Jews rushed along the dry bottom, and Moses again hit the water with a stick, and it closed again behind the backs of the Israelites. Further, the path of the Jews ran through the desert, and the Lord constantly took care of them, showed them many mercies, but they were ungrateful. God punished the Jews: for forty years they wandered in the desert in search of a way to the land promised by God. Finally, the Lord took pity on them and brought them to this land. But at this time their leader Moses died.

4. Comparison of Biblical history and the legend of Danko

What are the similarities between the biblical story and the legend of Danko?

How does the plot of the legend about Danko differ from the biblical story?

(Moses receives God's help because he does his will. Danko feels love for people, he volunteers to save And x, no one is helping him.)

How is Danko portrayed in Izergil’s story? How is the relationship between Danko and the crowd?

5. Teamwork on compilation reference diagram“The concept of life of Larra and Danko”

Teacher. So, we found out that main feature heroes - pride. But we also proved that heroes are different. The legends of Larra and Danko reveal two concepts of life. Let's depict this in a diagram ( Writing on the board and in notebooks):

The concept of life of Larra and Danko

6. general conversation

Why do you think the story ends with the legend of Danko?

What moral principles does M. Gorky affirm in the legend of Danko?

Is it always possible and necessary to look for exploits in life? What is the difference between duty and heroism?

7. " brainstorm» (in groups)

Complete the task and tell which of the heroes of M. Gorky’s story is close to Old Woman Izergil: Danko or Larra (write on the board).

Assignment for the 1st group. Read portrait characteristics old women Izergil in youth and old age. Which character is she like? Support your opinion by referring to the text. ( The old woman Izergil and Larra were beautiful in their youth, but only a shadow remained of both. They lived their lives leaving nothing behind. The individualism of the ancient old woman makes her similar to the hero of the legend.)

Assignment for group 2. Tell us about the life of old woman Izergil. What did she devote her life to? ( Her life, just like Danko’s life, is dedicated to love. But she loved only for herself. She easily forgot old love For the sake of a new one, I left my loved ones. Indifference makes her similar to Larra.)

8. teacher's generalization

The story “Old Woman Izergil” is unusual primarily from a compositional point of view: a realistic frame, that is, a conversation between the author-narrator and Izergil includes romantic plot. It, in turn, has a three-member structure and represents two legends, about Larra and about Danko, opposed to each other and united by the story of old Izergil about her life. Legends telling about feelings, passions, strong people, attract attention - without them it would be impossible to understand the author's idea. They are based on biblical stories. Larra, like Agasfer, the Eternal Jew, is doomed to eternal suffering, and Danko, like Moses, who led his people out of Egypt, saves the people of his tribe. Ahasfer, by refusing to help Christ on his way to Golgotha, commits a crime against God, Larra - against man. Moses fulfills the will of the Lord, and Danko himself decides to sacrifice himself to people. So, according to Gorky, a person becomes equal to God, which means that humanity is called to earth to fulfill some higher mission. This reflects the God-seeking philosophy of the writer, who develops essentially the Nietzschean idea of ​​the God-man. Larra, the son of an eagle, and Danko, the leader, “the best of all,” are precisely such “supermen” - proud, strong and beautiful people. But their pride is not the same. In Larra, “the first on earth,” pride speaks, he despises people, considers them slaves. Danko is proud of the title of a person; he truly believes in people. As a result, Larra, who “sees nothing but himself,” violates the moral law, kills a beautiful young girl, and Danko accomplishes the feat of giving his heart to people at the moment when they, overcome with anger and fear, are about to kill him. Danko dies, but he remains a hero in the memory of his descendants, and his heart becomes blue sparks, “tongues of fire” in the dark steppe distance. Larra turns into an eternal restless shadow - “he has no life, and death does not smile on him.”

Thus, from the story “Old Woman Izergil”, the theme of the originality of sin and heroism, the original morality of humanity, grows.

9. “Learning to discuss”: mini-discussion: “What is the meaning of life - in unlimited personal freedom or in the heroic struggle for people’s happiness?”

IV. Reflection. Summing up the lesson

♦ many of M. Gorky’s stories are built on the “story within a story” principle, so it is important compositional role the image of the narrator plays in them. the old woman Izergil, Rahim, and Makar Chudra are typologically close to each other. What are the similarities between their characters and life philosophy? Select as evidence for your opinion quotation material to answer this question.

V. Homework

1. Creative task. Write an argumentative essay (miniature) “Danko of our time. Who is he?".

Gorky's early work is striking, first of all, because it is unusual for young writer artistic diversity, the bold confidence with which he creates works of different colors and poetic intonation. The enormous talent of the artist of the rising class - the proletariat, drawing powerful strength from the “movement of the masses themselves”, was revealed already at the very beginning literary work Maxim Gorky.
By acting as a herald of the coming storm, Gorky fell in line with the public mood. In 1920, he wrote: “I began my work as a stirrer of revolutionary sentiment with glory to the madness of the brave.” Exam questions and answers. Literature. 9 and 11 graduating classes. Tutorial. - M.: AST-PRESS, 2000. - P.214. This applies, first of all, to Gorky’s early romantic works. In the 1890s. he wrote the stories “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Khan and His Son”, “Mute”, “Return of the Normans from England”, “Blindness of Love”, fairy tales “The Girl and Death”, “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd” ”, “Song of the Falcon”, “Song of the Petrel”, “Legend of Marco”, etc. All of them are distinguished by one feature, which can be defined in the words of L. Andreev: “the taste of freedom, something free, broad, bold.” Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.614. In all of them there is a motif of rejection of reality, confrontation with fate, and a daring challenge to the elements. In the center of these works is the figure of a strong, proud, courageous person, not submitting to anyone, unbending. And all these works, like living gems, shimmer with unprecedented colors, spreading a romantic glow around.

The story “Makar Chudra” is a statement of the ideal of personal freedom
The early works of Maxim Gorky center on exceptional characters, strong-willed and proud people who, in the author’s words, have “the sun in their blood.” This metaphor gives rise to a number of images close to it, associated with the motif of fire, sparks, flame, and torch. These heroes have burning hearts. This feature is characteristic not only of Danko, but also of the characters in Gorky’s first story, “Makar Chudra.” Rogover E.S. Russian literature of the twentieth century. To help school graduates and applicants: Study guide. - St. Petersburg: “Paritet”, 2002. - P.131.
To the brooding melody of the splash of incoming waves, he begins his story. old gypsy Makar Chudra. From the very first lines, the reader is overwhelmed by a feeling of the unusual: the boundless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right, the old gypsy lying in a beautiful strong pose, the rustling of coastal bushes - all this sets the mood for a conversation about something intimate, the most important. Makar Chudra slowly talks about man’s calling and his role on earth. “A person is a slave as soon as he is born, a slave all his life and that’s it,” argues Makar. Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.18. And he contrasts this with his own: “Man will be born to learn what will is, the expanse of the steppe, to hear the conversation sea ​​wave"; “If you live, then you become kings over the whole earth.”
This idea is illustrated by the legend of the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, who did not become slaves to their feelings. Their images are exceptional and romanticized. Loiko Zobar has “eyes like clear stars, and a smile like the whole sun.” Ibid., p.21. When he sits on a horse, it seems as if he was forged from one piece of iron along with the horse. Zobar's strength and beauty are not inferior to his kindness. “You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good.” Ibid., p.20. The beautiful Rada matches. Makar Chudra calls her an eagle. “You can’t say anything about her in words. Perhaps its beauty could be played on a violin, and even those who know this violin like their soul.”
The proud Rada for a long time rejected the feelings of Loiko Zobar, because will was more valuable to her than love. When she decided to become his wife, she set a condition that Loiko could not fulfill without humiliating himself. An insoluble conflict leads to tragic ending: heroes die, but remain free, love and even life are sacrificed to the will. In this story, for the first time, a romantic image of a loving human heart appears: Loiko Zobar, who could tear the heart out of his chest for the happiness of his neighbor, checks whether his beloved has a strong heart and plunges a knife into it. And the same knife, but in the hands of soldier Danila, strikes Zobar’s heart. Love and the thirst for freedom turn out to be evil demons that destroy people's happiness. Together with Makar Chudra, the narrator admires the strength of character of the heroes. And together with him, he cannot answer the question that runs like a leitmotif through the entire story: how to make people happy and what happiness is.
The story “Makar Chudra” formulates two different understandings of happiness. The first is in the words of the “strict man”: “Submit to God, and he will give you everything you ask.” Ibid., p.18. This thesis is immediately debunked: it turns out that God did not even give the “strict man” clothes to cover his naked body. The second thesis is proven by the fate of Loiko Zobar and the Rada: will more valuable than life, happiness is in freedom. The romantic worldview of the young Gorky goes back to the famous Pushkin words: “There is no happiness in the world, but there is peace and will...”

The story “Old Woman Izergil” - awareness of a person’s personality
On the seashore near Akkerman in Bessarabia, the author of the old woman’s legend, Izergil, listens. Everything here is full of atmospheric love: the men are “bronze, with lush black mustaches and thick shoulder-length curls,” the women are “cheerful, flexible, with dark blue eyes, also bronze.” The author's imagination and the night make them irresistibly beautiful. Nature harmonizes with the author’s romantic mood: the foliage sighs and whispers, the wind plays with the silky hair of women.
The old woman Izergil is depicted in contrast: time has bent her in half, a bony body, dull eyes, a creaky voice. Ruthless time takes away beauty and with it love. The old woman Izergil talks about her life, about her lovers: “Her voice crunched, as if the old woman was speaking with bones.” Gorky leads the reader to the idea that love is not eternal, just as man is not eternal. What remains in life for centuries? Gorky put two legends into the mouth of the old woman Izergil: about the eagle’s son Lara, who considered himself the first on earth and wanted happiness only for himself, and about Danko, who gave his heart to people.
The images of Lara and Danko are sharply contrasting, although both of them are brave, strong and proud people. Lara lives according to the laws of the strong, to whom “everything is permitted.” He kills the girl because she did not submit to his will, and steps on her chest with his foot. Lara's cruelty is based on a sense of superiority strong personality above the crowd. Gorky debunks popular theories at the end of the 19th century. ideas of the German philosopher Nietzsche. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche argued that people are divided into strong (eagles) and weak (lambs) who are destined to be slaves. Nietzsche's apology for inequality, the idea of ​​the aristocratic superiority of the chosen over all others were subsequently used in the ideology and practice of fascism. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.”
In the legend of Lara, Gorky shows that a Nietzschean who professes the morality “everything is permitted to the strong” will face loneliness, which worse than death. “His punishment is in himself,” says the wisest of people after Lara commits a crime. And Lara, doomed to eternal life and eternal wandering turns into a black shadow, dried up by the sun and winds. Condemning an egoist who only takes from people without giving anything in return, the old woman Izergil says: “For everything that a person takes, he pays with himself, with his mind and strength, sometimes with his life.”
Danko pays with his life, performing a feat in the name of people's happiness. The blue sparks that flare up at night in the steppe are the sparks of his burning heart, which illuminated the path to freedom. An impenetrable forest, where giant trees stood like a stone wall, the greedy mouth of a swamp, strong and evil enemies gave birth to fear in people. Then Danko appeared: “What will I do for people,” Danko shouted louder than thunder. And suddenly he tore his chest with his hands and tore out his heart from it and raised it high above his head. It burned as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun, and the whole forest fell silent, illuminated by this torch. great love to people, and the darkness was scattered from its light...”
As we have seen, the poetic metaphor of “giving your heart to your loved one” arose both in the story “Makar Chudra” and in the fairy tale about the little fairy. But here it turns into an expanded poetic image, interpreted literally. Gorky puts a new, high meaning into the erased banal phrase that has accompanied declarations of love for centuries: “to give your hand and heart.” Danko's living human heart became a torch illuminating the path to a new life for humanity. And although " careful man“Still stepped on it with his foot, blue sparks in the steppe always remind people of Danko’s feat.
The meaning of the story “Old Woman Izergil” is determined by the phrase “In life there is always a place for exploits.” The daredevil Danko, who “burned his heart for people and died without asking them for anything as a reward for himself,” expresses Gorky’s innermost thought: the happiness and will of one person are unthinkable without the happiness and liberation of the people.

“Song of the Falcon” - a hymn to action in the name of freedom and light
“The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life,” Gorky states in “Song of the Falcon.” The main technique by which this thesis is affirmed is a dialogue between two different “truths”, two worldviews, two contrasting images - the Falcon and the Snake. The writer used the same technique in other stories. The free shepherd is the antipode of the blind Mole, the egoist Lara is opposed to the altruist Danko. In “The Song of the Falcon,” a hero and a tradesman appear before the reader. Smug Already convinced of the inviolability of the old order. He feels great in the dark gorge: “warm and damp.” The sky for him is an empty place, and the Falcon, dreaming of flying into the sky, is a real madman. With poisonous irony, Already claims that the beauty of flying is in the fall.
In the soul of the Falcon lives an insane thirst for freedom and light. By his death, he confirms the rightness of the feat in the name of freedom.
The death of the Falcon is at the same time a complete debunking of the “wise” Snake. In “Song of the Falcon” there is a direct echo with the legend of Danko: blue sparks of a burning heart flash in the darkness of the night, forever reminding people of Danko. The death of the Falcon also brings him immortality: “And drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and will ignite many brave hearts with an insane thirst for freedom and light!”
From work to work in Gorky’s early work, the theme of heroism grows and crystallizes. Loiko Zobar, Rada, the little fairy commit crazy things in the name of love. Their actions are extraordinary, but this is not yet a feat. The girl, who comes into conflict with the king, boldly defeats Fear, Fate and Death (“The Girl and Death”). Her courage is also the madness of the brave, although it is aimed at protecting personal happiness. Lara's courage and audacity lead to a crime, for he, like Pushkin's Aleko, “only wants freedom for himself.” And only Danko and Sokol, by their death, affirm the immortality of the feat. So the problem of the will and happiness of an individual person fades into the background, replaced by the problem of happiness for all humanity. “The Madness of the Brave” brings moral satisfaction to the daredevils themselves: “I go to burn as brightly as possible and to illuminate the darkness of life more deeply. And death for me is my reward! - declares Gorky's Man. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.” Early romantic works Gorky was awakened by the consciousness of the inferiority of life, unfair and ugly, and gave birth to the dream of heroes rebelling against the order established over centuries.
The revolutionary romantic idea determined artistic originality Gorky's works: pathetic sublime style, romantic plot, fairy tale genre, legends, songs, allegories, conventionally symbolic background of action. In Gorky's stories it is easy to detect the exceptional character, setting, and language characteristic of romanticism. But at the same time, they contain features characteristic only of Gorky: a contrasting comparison of the hero and the tradesman, the Man and the slave. The action of the work, as a rule, is organized around a dialogue of ideas; the romantic frame of the story creates a background against which the author’s thought appears prominently. Sometimes such a frame is a landscape - a romantic description of the sea, steppe, thunderstorm. Sometimes - a harmonious harmony of the sounds of a song. The importance of sound images in Gorky’s romantic works is difficult to overestimate: the melody of the violin sounds in the story of the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, the whistle of the free wind and the breath of a thunderstorm - in the tale of the little fairy, “wonderful music of revelation” - in the “Song of the Falcon”, a menacing roar storms - in “Song of the Petrel”. The harmony of sounds complements the harmony of allegorical images. The image of an eagle as a symbol of a strong personality arises when characterizing heroes who have Nietzschean traits: the eagle Rada, free as an eagle, the shepherd, the son of the eagle Lara. The image of the Falcon is associated with the idea of ​​an altruistic hero. Makar Chudra calls a falcon a storyteller who dreams of making all people happy. Finally, the Petrel symbolizes the movement of the masses themselves, the image of future retribution.
Gorky generously uses folklore motifs and images, retells Moldavian, Wallachian, Hutsul legends that he overheard while wandering around Rus'. The language of Gorky's romantic works is flowery and patterned, melodiously sonorous.

Conclusion
The early work of Maxim Gorky is remarkable different styles, noted by L. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov and V.G. Korolenko. The work of young Gorky was influenced by many writers: A.S. Pushkin, Pomyalovsky, G. Uspensky, N.S. Leskova, M.Yu. Lermontov, Byron, Schiller.
The writer turned to both realistic and romantic directions arts, which in some cases existed independently, but were often whimsically mixed. However, at first, Gorky’s works were dominated by the romantic style, standing out sharply for their brightness.
Indeed, in early stories Gorky is dominated by the features of romanticism. First of all, because they depict a romantic situation of confrontation strong man(Danko, Lara, Sokol) with the world around him, as well as the problem of man as an individual in general. The action of the stories and legends is transferred to fantastic conditions (“He stood between the boundless steppe and the endless sea”). The world of the works is sharply divided into light and darkness, and these differences are important when assessing the characters: after Lara there remains a shadow, after Danko - sparks.
The gap between the heroic past and the pitiful, colorless life in the present, between the “should” and the “existent”, between the great “dream” and the “gray era” was the soil on which the romanticism of early Gorky was born.
All the heroes of Gorky's early works are morally emotional and experience mental trauma, choosing between love and freedom, but they still choose the latter, bypassing love and preferring only freedom.
People of this type, as the writer foresaw, can turn out to be great in extreme situations, in days of disasters, wars, revolutions, but they are most often unviable in the normal course of human life. Today, the problems posed by the writer M. Gorky in his early work are perceived as relevant and pressing for solving the issues of our time.
Gorky, who openly declared at the end of the 19th century his faith in man, in his mind, in his creative, transformative capabilities, continues to arouse interest among readers to this day.

The beginning of the 90s of the 19th century was a difficult and uncertain time. Chekhov and Bunin, Gorky's senior contemporaries, depict this period in their works with utmost realistic truthfulness. Gorky himself declares the need to search for new paths in literature. In a letter to Pyatnitsky dated July 25, 1900, he writes: “The task of literature is to capture in colors, in words, in sounds, in forms what is best, beautiful, honest, noble in a person. In particular, my task is to awaken a person’s pride in himself, to tell him that he is the best, the most sacred thing in life and that besides him there is nothing worthy of attention. The world is the fruit of his creativity, God is a particle of his mind and heart...” The writer understands that in reality modern life a person is oppressed and powerless, and therefore says: “The time has come for romance...”
Indeed, features of romanticism predominate in Gorky's early stories. First of all, because they depict a romantic situation of confrontation between a strong man (Danko, Larra, Sokol) and the world around him, as well as the problem of man as an individual in general. The action of the stories and legends is transferred to fantastic conditions (“He stood between the boundless steppe and the endless sea”). The world of the works is sharply divided into light and darkness, and these differences are important when assessing the characters: after Larra there remains a shadow, after Danko there are sparks.
Gorky uses elements of folklore. He animates nature (“The darkness of the autumn night shuddered and looked around timidly, revealing the steppe and the sea...”). Man and nature are often identified and can even talk (Rahim's conversation with the wave). Animals and birds acting in the stories become symbols (Uzh and Falcon). Using the genre of legend allows the writer to most clearly express his thoughts and ideas in allegorical form.
Gorky clearly gives preference to people free from the laws of society. His favorite heroes are gypsies, beggars, and thieves. It cannot be said that the writer idealizes thieves, but the same Chelkash, from the point of view of moral qualities, stands disproportionately higher than the peasant. A man obsessed with a dream, a Man with a capital M, is much more interesting for a writer. Central figure Gorky's early romantic creativity is introduced in the poem “Man”. Man is called upon to illuminate the whole world, to unravel the knots of all delusions, he is “tragically beautiful.” Danko is depicted in the same way: “I’m going to burn as brightly as possible and to illuminate the darkness of life more deeply. And death for me is my reward.” Gorky directly contrasts the concepts of “people” and “man”: “I want each of the people to be a “Man”!”
The question of human freedom is also fundamental for Gorky. The theme of a free man - main topic his first story “Makar Chudra”, as well as many other works, including “Songs of the Falcon”. The concept of “freedom” for the writer is associated with the concepts of “truth” and “feat”. If in the story “Makar Chudra” Gorky is interested in freedom “from something,” then in “Old Woman Izergil” he is interested in freedom “in the name of.” Larra, the son of an eagle and a woman, is not human enough to be with people, but also not an eagle enough to do without people. His lack of freedom lies in his selfishness, and therefore he is punished by loneliness and immortality, and after him only a shadow remains. Danko, on the contrary, turns out to be more a free man because he is free from himself and lives for the sake of others. Danko’s act can be called a feat, because a feat for Gorky is the highest degree of freedom from self-love.

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Traditions of Russian literature in the works of early Maxim Gorky

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§2. Gorky's early romantic works

Gorky's early work amazes, first of all, with its artistic diversity, unusual for a young writer, and the bold confidence with which he creates works of different colors and poetic intonation. The enormous talent of the artist of the rising class - the proletariat, drawing powerful strength from the “movement of the masses themselves”, was revealed already in the early stages of Maxim Gorky’s literary work.

By acting as a herald of the coming storm, Gorky fell in line with the public mood. In 1920, he wrote: “I began my work as a stirrer of revolutionary sentiment with the glory of the madness of the brave.” Exam questions and answers. Literature. 9th and 11th grades. Tutorial. - M.: AST-PRESS, 2000. - P.214. This applies primarily to Gorky’s early romantic works. In the 1890s. he wrote the stories “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izer-gil”, “Khan and His Son”, “Mute”, “Return of the Normans from England”, “Blindness of Love”, fairy tales “The Girl and Death”, “About the Little fairy and the young shepherd”, “Song of the Falcon”, “Song of the Petrel”, “Legend of Marco”, etc. All of them are distinguished by one feature, which can be defined in the words of L. Andreev: “the taste of freedom, something free , broad, bold." Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.614. In all of them there is a motif of non-acceptance of reality, confrontation with fate, and a daring challenge to the elements. In the center of these works is the figure of a strong, proud, courageous man, who does not submit to anyone, who does not bend. And all these works, like living gems, shimmer with unprecedented colors, spreading a romantic glow around.

2.1. The story "Makar Chudra" -

affirmation of the ideal of personal freedom

The early works of Maxim Gorky center on exceptional characters, strong-willed and proud people who, in the author’s words, have “the sun in their blood.” This metaphor gives rise to a number of images close to it, associated with the motif of fire, sparks, flame, and torch. These heroes have burning hearts. This feature is characteristic not only of Danko, but also of the characters in Gorky’s first story, “Makar Chudra.” Rogover E.S. Russian literature of the twentieth century. To help school graduates and applicants: Study guide. - St. Petersburg: “Paritet”, 2002. - P.131.

The old gypsy Makar Chudra begins his story to the brooding melody of the splashing of the oncoming waves. From the very first lines, the reader is overwhelmed by a feeling of the unusual: the boundless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right, the old gypsy lying in a beautiful strong pose, the rustling of coastal bushes - all this sets the mood for a conversation about something intimate, the most important. Makar Chudra slowly talks about the calling of man and his role on earth. “A person is a slave as soon as he is born, a slave all his life and that’s it,” argues Makar. Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.18. And he contrasts this with his own: “A man will be born to know what freedom is, the expanse of the steppe, to hear the voice of the sea wave”; “If you live, then you become kings over the whole earth.”

This idea is illustrated by the legend of the love of Loiko Zobar and Radda, who did not become slaves to their feelings. Their images are exceptional and romanticized. Loiko Zobar has “eyes like clear stars, and a smile like the whole sun.” Ibid., p.21. When he sits on a horse, it seems as if he was forged from one piece of iron along with the horse. Zobar's strength and beauty are not inferior to his kindness. “You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good.” Ibid., p.20. The beautiful Radda is also a match. Makar Chudra calls her an eagle. “You can’t say anything about her in words. Perhaps its beauty could be played on a violin, and even those who know this violin like their soul.” Ibid., p.20.

Proud Radda rejected the feelings of Loiko Zobar for a long time, because will was more valuable to her than love. When she decided to become his wife, she set a condition that Loiko could not fulfill without humiliating himself. An insoluble conflict leads to a tragic ending: the heroes die, but remain free, love and even life are sacrificed to the will. In this story, for the first time, a romantic image of a loving human heart appears: Loiko Zobar, who could tear the heart out of his chest for the happiness of his neighbor, checks whether his beloved has a strong heart and plunges a knife into it. And the same knife, but in the hands of soldier Danila, strikes Zobar’s heart. Love and the thirst for freedom turn out to be evil demons that destroy people's happiness. Together with Makar Chudra, the narrator admires the strength of character of the heroes. And together with him, he cannot answer the question that runs like a leitmotif through the entire story: how to make people happy and what happiness is.

In the story “Makar Chudra” two different understandings of happiness are formulated. The first is in the words of the “strict man”: “Submit to God, and he will give you everything you ask.” Ibid., p.18. This thesis is immediately debunked: it turns out that God did not even give the “strict man” clothes to cover his naked body. The second thesis is proven by the fate of Loiko Zobar and Radda: will is more precious than life, happiness is in freedom. The romantic worldview of the young Gorky goes back to the famous Pushkin words: “There is no happiness in the world, but there is peace and will...”

2.2. The fairy tale “About the little fairy and the young shepherd” -

hymn to freedom and delight in the storm

The problem of love develops in Gorky’s romantic fairy tales “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd” and “The Girl and Death”. Gorky defined the theme of one of them as follows: “ New fairy tale on an old topic: about love, which stronger than life" The fairy tale “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd” is built on an antithesis: the opposition of forest and steppe. An old shady forest with mighty beeches and velvet foliage is a world of peace and bourgeois comfort. Here the queen of the forest lives in contentment and bliss with her daughters, here they sympathetically listen to the speeches of an important and stupid mole, confident that happiness lies in wealth.

In the steppe there are neither lush palaces nor rich underground storerooms. Only the free wind plays with gray feather grass, and the endless sky turns blue, and the steppe expanse plays with multi-colored colors. Gorky depicts the landscape in a romantic way: the steppe at sunset is painted in bright purple, as if a huge velvet curtain had been hung there, and gold was burning in its folds.

The kingdom of strength and freedom -

My mighty steppe, -

the shepherd sings. Unlike the important mole, cha-ban has no property. But he has black curls, dark cheeks, fiery eyes and a brave heart. The sounds of his song are like the cry of an eagle. And the little fairy, who lived so happily and calmly in the palace of the Queen Mother, goes to the shepherd and dies. Maya, writes Gorky, “is like a lonely birch tree, which, loving freedom, moved out of the forest far into the steppe and stood in the wind.” Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.35. The wind and thunderstorm killed her. The death of the fairy is symbolic: “the song of freedom does not go well with the song of love,” love is also slavery, it fetters the will of man. Dying, Maya says to Chaba-nu: “You are free again, like an eagle.”

The love of Maya and the shepherd is as strong as the love of Loiko Zobar and Radda. In her name, Maya gives up the palace, the forest, and her mother, who dies of grief. She tries to overcome even the insane, unbearable fear that grips her during a thunderstorm: after all, after the thunderstorm, Maya still remains with the shepherd. The exclusivity of feelings makes Gorky's heroes similar to the romantic images of Byron and Schiller, Pushkin and Lermontov. In the fairy tale about the little fairy, the image of a noble human heart also appears, rejecting the bourgeois canons established over the centuries. Fear of Fate and Death overcomes the feeling of Love. Maya tries to explain this to the shepherd and adds: “Perhaps I would say more if I could take the heart out of my chest and bring it on my hand to your eyes.”

In the fairy tale “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd” a motif appears for the first time, which, as it grows, will sound more and more insistently in other romantic works of Gorky. This is a hymn to freedom and a delight in the storm. During a thunderstorm, a shepherd stands in the blackened steppe as firmly as a rock, exposing his chest to the arrows of lightning. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.” Early romantic works of M. Gorky // Russian literature. - 1999. - No. 3. - P.51.

The description of the thunderstorm is done in rhythmic prose and is reminiscent of the later “Song of the Petrel”: “Lightning arrows tore the clouds, but they again merged and rushed over the steppe in a gloomy, terrifying flock. And sometimes, with a clap of thunder, something round, like the sun, blinding with blue light, fell from the sky to the ground...” Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. P.84.

But what about the conflict between Love and Freedom? Gorky answers this question with the story “Old Woman Izergil.”

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Early romantic stories by M. Gorky

“I came into the world to disagree,” these words of Gorky can be applied to any of the heroes of his romantic works. Loiko Zobar, Radda, Makar Chudra, Danko, Larra, Izergil - all of them are proud and independent, they are distinguished by personal originality, brightness of nature, exclusivity of passions. Gorky's romanticism was formed in an era seemingly not intended for romanticism - the nineties of the 19th century, however, it was the writer's furious rebellion against the "leaden abominations of life" that gave birth to the concept of a man-doer, the creator of his own destiny: Gorky's romantic heroes do not bow to circumstances, but overcome them. “We need feats, feats!” - Gorky wrote a few months before the creation of the story “Old Woman Izergil” and embodied in his romantic works heroes capable of accomplishing these feats, therefore works with a dramatic, or even tragic ending, reveal a bold, joyful view of the world of the young writer.

"Makar Chudra" (1892)

“Makar Chudra” is the first work that made Gorky famous. The heroes of this story - young gypsies Loiko Zobar and Radda - are exceptional in everything: in appearance, feelings, fate. Radda’s beauty cannot be expressed in words; it “could be played on a violin, and by the one who played the violin. He knows his own soul.” Zobar has “eyes like clear stars, shining,” “a smile like the whole sun, a mustache lay on his shoulders and mixed with his curls.” Makar Chudra cannot hide his admiration for Zobar’s daring, spiritual generosity, and inner strength: “I’ll be damned if I didn’t already love him, before he said a word to me. He was a daring fellow! Was he afraid of anyone? You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good. With such a person you become a better person. There are few such people, my friend!” Beauty in Gorky's romantic works becomes a moral criterion: one is right and worthy of admiration simply because one is beautiful.

She matches Zobar and Radda - and she has the same royal pride, contempt for human weakness, no matter what it is expressed in. The large purse of the Moravian magnate, with which he wanted to seduce the proud gypsy, only deserved to be carelessly thrown into the dirt by Radda. It is no coincidence that Radda compares herself to an eagle - independent, high soaring, lonely, because there are few who can match her. “Look for the dove - those are more pliable,” her father Danila advises the tycoon.

Conflict becomes the basis of a romantic work romantic hero with generally accepted values, in this case, two passions collide in the souls of Zobar and Radda - freedom and love as affection, responsibility, submission. “And I can’t live without you, just as you can’t live without me... I’ve never loved anyone, Loiko, I love you. And I also love freedom. Will, Loiko, I love more than you.” Gorky's heroes are faced with a choice that can be called tragic, since it is impossible to make - all that remains is the denial of the very necessity of choice, that is, life. “If two stones roll towards each other, you cannot stand between them - they will mutilate you.” Pride and love cannot be reconciled, since compromise is unthinkable for the romantic consciousness.

Compositional framing plays a special role in Gorky's story. A romantic story, in the center of which there are exceptional characters and situations, affirms a special system of values, into which ordinary, everyday human life does not fit. The antithesis of the narrator and Makar Chudra, who told the legend about the love and death of the proud, handsome gypsies, reveals the dual world characteristic of a romantic work - the inconsistency, the opposition of the everyday view of the world and the life philosophy of the romantic hero. Freedom, not constrained by any attachments - neither to a person, nor to a place, nor to work - this in the eyes of Makar Chudra is the highest value. “This is how you need to live: go, go - and that’s it. Don't stand in one place for a long time - what's in it? Just as they run day and night, chasing each other, around the earth, so you run away from thoughts about life, so as not to stop loving it. And if you think about it, you’ll stop loving life, this always happens.”

"Old Woman Izergil" (1895)

The system of images in the story “Old Woman Izergil” is built on the principle of antithesis, which is typical for a romantic work. Larra and Danko are proud and beautiful, but already in the description of their appearance there is a detail that sharply distinguishes them: Danko has eyes in which “a lot of strength and living fire shone,” and Larra’s eyes were “cold and proud.” Light and darkness, fire and shadow - this will distinguish not only the appearance of Larra and Danko, but also their attitude towards people, their destinies, the memory of them. Danko has a fiery heart in his chest, Larra has a heart of stone, Danko will live in blue steppe sparks even after death, and the ever-living Larra will turn into a shadow. Larra sees nothing but herself. The son of Eagle, a lonely predator, he despises the laws of people, lives by his own laws, obeys only his momentary desires. “The punishment of a person is in himself” - this is why eternal lonely life became for Larra a punishment worse than death.

Burning is the ideal of life for another hero of this story - Danko. Danko saves those people who, from weakness, exhaustion and fear, were ready to kill him, those among whom there was one who stepped on his proud heart. It is no coincidence that Gorky introduces this episode into the artistic fabric of the story: people were poisoned not only by the poisonous fumes of the swamp, but also by fear, they were accustomed to being slaves, it is very difficult to free themselves from this “internal slavery”, and even Danko’s feat is not able to wrest fear out in an instant from human souls. People were frightened by everything: both the road back and the road forward; they blamed Danko, a man endowed with “the courage of the West,” for their weakness. And”, that is, the courage to be first. “People began to reproach him for his inability to manage them, they attacked Danko, the man who walked ahead of them, in anger and anger.” Danko gives his life to people, dreaming of awakening light in their souls.

The life of Izergil, the third heroine of the story, was called “rebellious” by Gorky. This life was filled with rapid movement and vivid feelings; extraordinary, brave, strong people often found themselves next to her - especially the red-haired Hutsul and the “lord with the chopped up face.” She left the weak and vile without regret, even if she loved them: “I looked at him from above, and he was floundering there, in the water. I left then. And I never met him again” (about the nun), “Then I gave him kicked him and would have hit him in the face, but he recoiled and jumped up... Then I went too” (about Arcadek).

Izergil was not afraid to sacrifice herself in the name of love, but at the end of her life she was left alone, “without a body, without blood, with a heart without desires, with eyes without fire - also almost a shadow.” Izergil was absolutely free, she stayed with a person as long as she loved him, she always parted without regret and even remembered little of the person with whom she spent part of her life: “Where did the fisherman go? - Fisherman? And he...here... -Wait, where is the little Turk? - Boy? He died...” Izergil put her freedom above attachment to a person, calling it slavery: “I have never been anyone’s slave.”

Another romantic hero of Gorky's stories can be called nature, which in its exclusivity is akin to Zobar, Radda, Danko, Izergil. Only where there was steppe space and free wind could Gorky’s romantic heroes live. Nature in the story “Old Woman Izergil” becomes one of the characters: it is a living creature that takes part in people’s lives. And just like among people, there is good and evil in nature. The Moldavian night, the description of which precedes the events of the first legend, creates an atmosphere of mystery. Before Larra appears, nature dresses in bloody tones and becomes alarming. In the legend of Danko, nature is hostile to people, but its evil energy was defeated by Danko’s love: with his feat, he overcame the darkness not only in the souls of people, but also in nature: “The sun was shining here; the steppe sighed, the grass glittered in the diamonds of the rain, and the river sparkled with gold.”

The exclusivity and colorfulness of their characters, the desire for freedom and the ability to take decisive actions distinguish all the heroes of Gorky’s romantic works. The words given by the writer to the old woman Izergil have already become an aphorism: “In life, do you know, there is always room for exploits.” This reflects the concept of a human doer capable of transforming the world. At the turn of the century, this concept turned out to be in tune with the time when many already felt the approach of global historical changes.