Identification of the specifics of teaching a dramatic work on the material of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Dowry". Consultation on literature (grade 11) on the topic: Analysis of a dramatic work

1. The ideological and artistic meaning of the title of the play. The title is introduced into the work of any genre. What is its peculiarity in dramaturgy? The title of the play does not aspire to complete coverage of vital material, as in an epic work, where the title sometimes seems to muffle, absorbs its main idea in order to emphasize the importance of depicting reality in its entirety.

The title in dramaturgy does not give, like lyrics, an extremely generalized and personal title (up to the frequent rejection of the title in poetry). In the play, the title more frankly, purposefully leads to the very core of the central conflict, thickens the meaning of the work, often concentrating it down to an aphorism, a proverb, a maxim. The poetics of the title also refracts the general feature of the drama - its duality, its symbolism.

In the play, the title "Forest" deliberately sets the stage for an assessment of the main conflict in the perspective of ontological values ​​- this impulse is then realized in the course of the play in the through motif of the purchase and sale of the forest as an everyday situation, as a social collision of the replacement of noble dominance by merchants, as a philosophical understanding of the "ecology of the soul" .

2. The most specific feature of the drama genre is the originality of the action in it: in the play, all replicas, monologues, dialogues, polylogues, details, facts, events in separate scenes, phenomena and acts are mated into a single holistic conflict, into a through "stage action".

In the very first appearance of the play “The Forest”, in the very first dialogue, the ward, the dowry Aksyusha, called by the lady for a conversation, asks the servant Karp about the sale of the forest by the lady: she timidly hopes for a dowry - that is, the very first remarks associated only with a specific local situation, but also with the general, prepared collision of the purchase and sale of the forest. Bulanov, a half-educated high school student, is ready to marry for profit, coveting a possible dowry. On the other hand, the merchant Vosmibratov connects the matchmaking of his son with Aksyusha with the purchase of timber, hoping to snatch the timber as a dowry.

3. An expressive means of characterizing a hero in a dramatic work can be indirect ways of presenting him - such is the letter of Neschastlivtsev in act 1, his comments by all the heroes of the play. Reading the nephew's letter, which depicts his chivalrous idealization of the "loving aunt" and comments to it, in which the sentimental self-assessment of oneself as a benefactor of a poor relative-pupil is refuted by the fact of the robbery of the heir, creates another contrasting correlation that ties another main plot line of the play: the collision of Gurmyzhskaya and Neschastlivtsev.

4. Already in act 1, not only is the situation in the Penki estate recreated, not only is the acquaintance with its inhabitants and guests, but the conflict of the play as a whole is being prepared: each cue, each detail turns out to be a projection of the general conflict of the play. The specificity of the "stage action" in the drama lies in the fact that although the actions in it appear at the moment of their accomplishment, in the very course of them - but at the same time they refract the conflict of the play as a whole: the drama is distinguished by a more abbreviated, more purposeful path of each scene to its central collisions.

5. If in an epic work the main fabric of the narrative language is the author's speech, then in figurative system drama is always dominated by a speech characteristic: in dramaturgy “for the writer, the artistic word is the main and even the only means of development dramatic action. In the play, everything is accomplished through the word...” (V. Uspensky).

This feature of the drama found a classic embodiment in the "magician of the word" (M. Gorky) Ostrovsky. He is the creator of the “speech theater”, in which “any other action, any stage performance, facial expressions should serve only as a light seasoning for literary performance, action in the word ...” (I. A. Goncharov). Ostrovsky's plays are not intrigue plays, but plays of socio-psychological characters, and therefore the characters' speeches usually reveal not only some of the vicissitudes of the conflict, but are also a means of their auto-characteristics, revealing their hidden essence, the deep processes of their consciousness, their peculiarities. thinking, emotions and feelings.

6. One of the most important ways of analysis dramatic genre is to consider the placement of characters in it: the ratio of actors is one of the most effective means of embodying the author's position.

Let us comprehend the correlation of images in 1 and 2 phenomena - these first scenes of the play are clearly built on the principle of parallelism: here the servant Karp enters in turn into a dialogue with Aksyusha and Bulanov, while showing a fundamentally different attitude to their requests.

Through unambiguous situations, the contrast of the characters of young heroes is clearly manifested: the disinterested, pure appearance of Aksyusha and the selfish, cynical type of Bulanov. These dialogues show in a visual correlation the plot lines of the play: Aksyusha's desire for happiness, Bulanov's pursuit of wealth.

But not only this is intended to show the beginning of the play with this “rhyme” of situations: Aksyusha asks Karp to pass a note to someone, Bulanov orders the servant to stuff cigarettes; Karp fulfills the first request, although he understands that it is contrary to the interests of the mistress, he refuses to fulfill the second request, despite the threat to complain to the mistress.

This parallelism of unambiguous situations makes it possible to clearly show the author's position: the property status of the characters, the omnipotence of the masters of life and complete dependence on them are closely related to moral problems: Karp helps Aksyusha not because she is poor; - after all, Bulanov is also poor, and not because Aksyusha is closer to the servants than Bulanov, who is eager to join the circle of the rich, - after all, Julitta is also a servant, and Karp pokes her like that. It is not the social and property status that determines who and how Karp serves, but the moral, popular precepts of morality - and this “key” to the upcoming conflict is given by the method of parallelism in the arrangement of characters.

Cohesion, correlation, arrangement of characters, their mutual illumination, on which one act of the drama is built, becomes one of the most important ways of revealing the idea of ​​the play in subsequent acts.

7. “Stage action” in a play is expressed not only in external action, not only in utterance, but also in silence, in a meaningful look, eloquent gesture, secret motivation - hence the importance of analyzing in a dramatic work “non-verbal means of artistic expression”, pauses, replicas to the side, involuntary gestures, etc., expressed by stage directions.

The emotional and semantic load of remarks of the 7th phenomenon of the 1st action, in the dialogue between Gurmyzhskaya and Aksyusha, is extremely effective.

Aksyusha says "downcast eyes", "quietly"; Gurmyzhskaya pronounces her lines, twice accompanying them with the author's note: "with laughter"; Aksyusha, unbroken and accepting the challenge of Gurmyzhskaya, says the last remark before her departure, "looking into her eyes."

Although in this phenomenon the heroines do not yet manifest themselves in actions, it is saturated with “stage action” - and the essence of the characters of its participants and the conflict knots are extremely clearly manifested in remarks.

Instruction

Define the boundaries of the analyzed episode. Sometimes it is already determined by the structure of the work (for example, a chapter in a prose work, a phenomenon in a dramatic work). But more often it is necessary to delimit the episode, using information about the place, time of action and the participation of the characters in the work. Title the episode.

Name the characters of the work participating in the episode. Explain who they are, what place they occupy in the system of images (main, capital, extraplot). Find within an episode quote material, relating to the portrait and speech characteristics of the characters, expressing the author's assessment of the characters and their actions. Tell us about your personal relationship with the characters.

Formulate the problem posed by the author in the episode. To do this, first determine the theme of the fragment (what?), And then the conflict (between the characters, the internal conflict of one character). Follow how the relations of the participants in this conflict develop, what goal they pursue and how to achieve them. Pay attention to whether the episode is the result of their actions and what it consists of.

Consider compositional construction episodes: beginning, development of action, finale. Determine how the episode relates to the subsequent piece of text. Find out if the tension between the characters is growing in the episode or the emotional background remains even, unchanged.

Determine the role of auxiliary artistic techniques: lyrical digressions, descriptions of nature, figurative parallelism, etc.

Analyze the plot, figurative and ideological connection of the episode with other scenes, determine its place in the context of the work.

Analysis works is a synthetic process. In it, you need to fix your feelings and at the same time subordinate their presentation to strict logic. In addition, you will need to decompose a poem or story into its component parts, without ceasing to perceive it as a whole. An analysis plan will help to cope with these tasks. works.

Instruction

Starting to analyze any artistic works, collect information about the time and conditions of its creation. This applies to the social and political events of that time, as well as the stage of development as a whole. Mention how the book was received by readers and critics of that era.

Regardless of the type works the theme needs to be determined. This is the subject of the story. Also formulate the main problem that the author is considering - a question or situation that does not have an unambiguous solution. In the context of one theme in the work, several problems can be considered.

Analyze the content and form of the book. If you have a poetic work in front of you, stop at the image of a lyrical hero. Tell us how it is created and described, what thoughts and feelings it expresses. Guess how far this one is from a real, biographical author. Note the shape works. Determine what size it is written, what rhyme and rhythm the author uses, for what purpose. Describe the paths and figures found in the text, and give for each of the names.

If you are analyzing an epic work, after identifying the themes and issues, name all the storylines that are in the book. Then, for each of them, write out the plot scheme (exposition, plot, development of the action, climax, denouement).

When talking about composition, pay attention to how all the pieces fit together. works whether they are accompanied by the author's reasoning (lyrical digressions), additional images and pictures, inserts of additional plots ("in the story").

Describe the main characters works, see how they interact, how conflicts develop.

Next, determine the literary direction to which the book belongs, and the genre works. List the signs that indicate this. If the author violated the "canons" somewhat, tell us how and why he did it.

The ability to analyze a work of art is an indicator of the reader's culture. At the same time, academic analysis should be distinguished from reader's analysis. In order to perceive the work not in the format educational process, one should try to delve not so much into the ideological and artistic originality, but into the motivation of the characters' actions.

Instruction

In the process of reading a work of art, it is necessary to single out the main characters, determine the role of secondary characters and try to understand what role they are called upon to play in the fate of the main characters. It is necessary to highlight the author's position towards the characters and what is happening - this is not difficult. The attitude of the author can be expressed in a certain emotional coloring of the description, sometimes the author acts as a full-fledged character. A classic example of the author's presence is "Eugene Onegin".

Giving an assessment of the actions of the heroes of the work, it is necessary from the idea that this is a work of art and to analyze the actions of the hero as a real person. Studying the “image of Pechorin”, a girl can ask herself a question - would she marry him if such an opportunity presented itself? The answer to this question will reveal the positive and negative aspects of the character's personality. With this approach to assessing the personality of a character, contradictions may arise with the traditional literary interpretation of the work, but this is a real opportunity to apply the skills of psychological analysis in reality.

Analyzing the storyline, it is interesting to dream up and imagine the life of the characters before they appear on the stage. Alexander Andreyich Chatsky is traditionally considered goodie, not understood by the "famus society". But if the released episodes are restored, the question of his "positivity" will be called into question. The hero was brought up in the Famusov family, was friends with Sophia, and then disappeared for several years. With his return, the play "Woe from Wit" begins, and what does the reader see? Smart man begins to impose his vision of the world, demand an immediate revision key positions Famus society, and most importantly - demands former love from Sophia and considers himself sincerely offended, without receiving a response. Is it possible that it was Chatsky's incomprehensible absence that killed Sophia's love?

The level of perception of a work of art is not limited to its analysis. It is possible to talk about full-fledged perception if the reader can identify himself with the heroes of the work, which means through the prism of his own experience, modeling the situation and finding solutions to problems. It is interesting to try to continue the work. How could it turn out further fate heroes? What would have happened to the characters if it hadn't happened then, author? How would the characters behave, based on the characteristics that were identified during the analysis? What would have happened if Karandyshev had not killed Larisa, but only wounded her? Answers to such questions not only expand the understanding of the work, but also refer to the study of additional sources. Here we can already talk about the influence of reading culture on common culture personality.

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Introduction

Literature is one of the arts along with painting, sculpture, music, etc. At the same time, the place of literature among other arts is especially significant, in particular because it exists not only in the form of stories, novels, novels, poems, poems , plays intended for reading, but also forms the basis of theatrical performances, screenplays, and television films.

From literary works you can learn a lot of new and interesting things about the life of people in modern and previous eras. Therefore, the need for reading for many arises very early and continues throughout life. Of course, works of art can be perceived in different ways. In some cases, getting acquainted with other people's destinies reproduced by the writer, readers actively experience what is happening, but do not seek to understand and even more so explain to themselves why they have certain emotions, and in addition, they perceive the characters as living people, and not as a result of fiction. In other cases, there is a need to realize what is the source of emotions and aesthetic impact of a particular work. V school age when the basic moral principles are formed and the ability to think, reflect, understand the subject being studied - be it literature, physics, biology - a thoughtful attitude to what is read is especially important.

The concept of "literature" in school practice means both the subject itself and the way it is studied. In this work, under the term literature only the subject itself is understood, that is, the totality of works of verbal art to be read and studied. The scientific discipline that helps to understand them and suggests ways to comprehend them is called literary criticism.

Fiction as a whole is a very broad concept, including works written at different times and in different languages: Russian, English, French, Chinese, etc. Many ancient languages ​​​​are known thanks to the preserved monuments of verbal art, although not always highly artistic. To comprehend and know all world literature is beyond the power of any scientist. Therefore, the study of literature at school begins with the study of native literature, in our case, Russian, very often in relationship with other national literatures.

Russian literature began to develop in the 10th century. This means that it has existed for more than ten centuries. During this time she experienced different stages, the first of which, the longest in time (X-XVII centuries), is called Old Russian literature, then the literature of the 18th century stands out, after which, of course, the 19th century follows, whose literature is especially rich, diverse and accessible to the perception of any reader. Therefore, a serious acquaintance with Russian literature in high school begins with reading the poems of V. L. Zhukovsky, plays by A.S. Griboyedov, and then various works of our brilliant poet A.S. Pushkin.

It follows from what has been said that the existence of Russian literature is a literary process that has been developing from the 10th century to the present. This process involves writers who create works of art and readers who "consume" them. The school curriculum offers works that are called classics due to the fact that they are highly artistic and, as a rule, give readers aesthetic pleasure. Since the duty of schoolchildren is to learn, to comprehend the meaning of what you learn, the study of literature, as well as physics, for example, presupposes knowledge of certain scientific approaches and provisions used in the comprehension of works of art.

This manual does not aim to once again present certain facts from the history of Russian literature in their connection with each other (there are special textbooks for this), it explains and demonstrates the principles and approaches to the study individual works, sets out a system of concepts that are useful and necessary in the analysis of a work of art, which helps in preparing for an essay and an oral exam in literature. The concepts introduced are explained with the involvement of specific literary material, and the examples illustrating the theses and provisions are taken in the vast majority of cases from program works, so they unfold to the extent necessary to clarify a particular provision.

Ways to analyze a work of art

Which way is the most productive in considering a work of art and mastering the principles of its analysis? When choosing a methodology for such consideration, the first thing to keep in mind is that in the vast world of literary works, there are three types - epic, dramatic and lyrical. These types of literary works are called kinds of literature.

In literary criticism, several versions of the origin of the genres of literature have been put forward. Two of them seem to be the most convincing. One version belongs to the Russian scientist A.N. Veselovsky (1838-1906), who believed that the epic, lyrics and drama had one common source - a folklore ritual choreic song. Its example could be Russian ritual songs, which were used in calendar and wedding ceremonies, round dances, etc. and were performed by the choir.

According to modern researchers, “the choir was an active participant in the rites, it acted as if in the role of a director ... The choir turned to one of the participants in the rite, and as a result of such an appeal, a dramatic situation was created: there was a lively dialogue between the choir and other participants in the rite, necessary ritual actions. The rites combined the song or recitative of the singer (leader, luminary) and the choir as a whole, which entered into a dialogue with the singer with some mimic actions or lyrical refrain. As the singer’s part was separated from the choir, it became possible to narrate events or heroes, which gradually led to the formation of an epic; from the refrains of the choir the lyric grew just as gradually; and moments of dialogue and action evolved over time into a dramatic performance.

According to another version, the possibility of the origin of the epic and lyrics in an independent way is allowed, without the participation of choreic songs in this process. Prose tales about animals or the simplest labor songs discovered by scientists and not related to ritual songs can serve as proof of this.

But no matter how the origin of the epic, lyrics and drama is explained, they have been known since very ancient times. Already in ancient Greece, and then in all European countries, we find works of both epic, and dramatic, and lyrical types, which even then had many varieties and have survived to our time. The reason for the inclination of works to one or another kind of literature lies in the need to express a different type of content, which predetermines a different way of expression. Let's start the conversation by thinking about the first two types of works, that is, epic and dramatic.

I

Epic and dramatic works

From this paragraph, the reader will learn what are the specifics of epic and dramatic works, get acquainted with the concepts used in the analysis of such works: the protagonist, hero, character, off-stage character, narrator, character, type, typification.

In epic and dramatic works, the reader or viewer encounters actors, which are also called heroes, or characters. There may be only a few of them in a story (for example, L.N. Tolstoy has four characters in the story “After the Ball”, and about 600 characters in the novel “War and Peace”). Characters are people who take part in the action, even if only occasionally. There are also so-called offstage characters, which are only mentioned in the statements of the characters or the narrator. These characters include those mentioned by the heroes pieces A-C. Griboedova "Woe from Wit" Princess Marya Aleksevna, Praskovya Feodorovna, Kuzma Petrovich, Maxim Petrovich. Distinguished from a character or hero narrator which can simultaneously be an actor, main or secondary, and thus a participant in the action. This role is played by Petr Andreevich Grinev in the story by A.S. Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter" or Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin in that part of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time", where his diary is given. In other cases, the narrator is not a character and does not take part in the action, as, for example, in the novels of I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons", F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace" and many others. In these cases, the narrator seems to be very close to the writer, but not identical with him and cannot be identified with the biographical author. Sometimes the narrator reports that he is familiar with the characters and is somehow involved in their fate, but his main mission is to tell about the events and circumstances that have occurred. We meet such an option in the story of A.P. Chekhov's "The Man in the Case", where the teacher Burkin tells the story of the marriage of another teacher, Belikov, and thereby recreates the atmosphere of a provincial gymnasium, in which both of them taught.

When reading an epic work or perceiving a stage performance, it is impossible not to notice that the characters, or characters, may somehow resemble the people around us or ourselves. This happens because the heroes of a literary work are associated in our minds with certain characters or types. Therefore, we will try to understand what meaning and what meaning are contained in the concepts of "characteristic" and "typical".

Using concepts characteristic and specificity, we, realizing it or not, pay attention to the presence of a common, repetitive and, therefore, essential in a concrete, individual, unique. We apply the concept of characteristic to the assessment of a particular landscape reproduced by an artist or photographer, if their drawings or photographs show a certain type of trees and plants characteristic of different parts of the area. For example, the diverse landscapes of Levitan convey the landscape of Central Russia and this is characteristic, and seascapes Aivazovsky - appearance sea ​​element in its various manifestations and states. Various temples and cathedrals, such as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square, the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, with all the originality of each of them, contain in their design something in common, characteristic of Orthodox church buildings, in contrast to Catholic or Muslim. Thus, specificity takes place when the general is seen in something specific (landscape, cathedral, house).

As for people, each person is unique and individual. But in his appearance, manner of speaking, gesticulating, moving, as a rule, something general, constant, inherent in him and found in different situations, is manifested. Such features can be due to natural data, a special warehouse of the psyche, but they can also be acquired, developed under the influence of circumstances, the social status of a person and, thus, socially significant. They are found not only in the way of thinking, judging others, but even in the manner of speaking, walking, sitting, looking. We can say about some people: he doesn’t walk, but walks; he doesn’t talk, but broadcasts; he doesn’t sit, but sits. Such actions, statements, gestures, postures are characteristic.

The concepts of type and typicality, apparently, are very close in meaning to the concepts of "character" and "characteristic", but they emphasize a greater degree of generalization, concentration and nakedness of one or another quality in a person or hero. For example, there are plenty of phlegmatic, passive, non-initiative people around us, but in the behavior of people like Ilya Ilyich Oblomov from the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov", these qualities appear with such force and nakedness that they speak of his inherent way of life as Oblomovism, giving this phenomenon a generalizing meaning.

The identification of the characteristic, typical, that is, the general through the individual, in the depiction of heroes is the essence of art itself. Many writers are quite clearly aware of this circumstance, therefore, in their statements, the concepts of "character" and "type" occur quite often. By referring to these concepts, they clearly emphasize the need to generalize life phenomena in art, “In life you rarely meet pure, unalloyed types,” I.S. Turgenev. "Writers for the most part they try to take the types of society and represent them figuratively and artistically - types that are extremely rare in reality in their entirety, ”F.M. Dostoevsky, adding, “in reality, the typicality of faces is, as it were, diluted with water ...” And at the same time, “the whole depth, the whole content of a work of art lies only in types and characters.” And here are two more judgments by A.N. Ostrovsky: "Fiction gives separate types and characters with their national characteristics, it draws various types and classes of society ... Fiction works, with their truthful and strongly posed characters, give correct abstractions and generalizations."

From the word "type" the concept is formed typing, meaning the process of creating such a picture of the world or its individual fragments, which will be unique and at the same time generalized. Recognizing typification as an internal need and law of art, both writers and researchers argue that the typical in itself is rarely present in life in the form in which art needs it. Therefore, the writer needs observation and the ability to analyze and generalize. But the most important thing is that the artist can not only observe and generalize, he is able to create a new world, recreate various situations in which the characters act with all their features. Because of this, most of the characters are fictional faces created by the creative imagination of the artist. Being similar to real persons, they more clearly demonstrate general and significant tendencies in their appearance and behavior. If, when creating this or that character, the writer focuses on some real person, then this person is called prototype. Let's remember the image historical figures, in particular Kutuzov or Napoleon in "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy.

Peering into the characters' characters and trying to understand them, we thereby embark on the path of analyzing a literary work, that is, in the field of literary criticism. But this is only the first step in the research. Continuing and deepening the analysis, we will inevitably come to the formulation of the question of the content and form of a work of art, their connection and correlation.

The content of epic and dramatic works

This paragraph substantiates and explains the concepts: content, themes, problems, idea, contradiction, conflict, emotional attitude to reality and its types - dramatic, tragic, heroic, romance, comic, humor, satire, irony, sarcasm.

Content and form- these are concepts borrowed from philosophy and used in literary criticism to designate two sides of a work: semantic, meaningful, and formal, pictorial. Of course, in the real existence of a work, content and form do not exist separately and independently of each other, but constitute an inseparable unity. This means that each element of the work is a two-sided entity: being a component of the form, it simultaneously carries a semantic load. So, for example, the message about Sobakevich's clumsiness is both a detail of his portrait and evidence of his mental sluggishness. Because of this, scientists prefer to talk not just about the content and form as such, but about the content of the form, or content form.

However, with a research approach to a work, it is practically impossible to consider both at the same time. This implies the need for a logical distinction and selection of two levels (or two planes) in the product. - content plan and expression plan. We continue our reasoning by referring to the content.

Arguing about the characters of the characters depicted in the work, we are in the sphere of content. The two most important aspects of the content are the theme and the problem, or rather, themes and problems.

The analysis of the subject includes consideration of the time of action, the place of action, the breadth or narrowness of the life material depicted, the specificity of the characters themselves and the situations in which they are placed by the author. In some works, for example, in the story "Asya", the stories "Khor and Kalinich", "Biryuk" by I.S. Turgenev, the action is limited in time to two or three weeks and even days and is localized in space by the meeting of heroes in the village, in the estate, at the resort. In others, for example, in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace", the action itself lasts about fifteen years, and the scene of action extends quite widely: the characters meet in various places - in Moscow, St. Petersburg, on estates, on the battlefields, in foreign trips. In addition, sometimes the action affects the personal-family sphere, sometimes it is wider, but in all cases the situations depicted are characteristic of both individuals and entire social circles.

Let us pay attention to those cases when the characters of literary works are not people, but animals, fish, birds or plants that act in fantastic situations. Fables and fairy tales are works of this type. Apparently, the theme here should be considered characteristics people's lives recreated with the help of fantastic characters and situations. In the fable of I.A. Krylov's “The Monkey and Glasses” is easily recognizable as a certain person who, having acquired something new that she does not understand or that she does not need, is ready to destroy her acquisition out of anger and stupidity, instead of asking or figure out how to use it. In another fable - "The Donkey and the Nightingale" - a life situation is guessed, in which a talented person (nightingale) and a fool who, after listening to his penis, could not understand what his charm is, are guessed, and advised to learn from someone who sings something does not know how at all - at the rooster.

A problematic is often called a set of questions posed in a work. Using this understanding as a starting point, it is important to realize and take into account that usually the writer does not declare thoughts and does not formulate questions, but reproduces life based on his understanding and vision, only hinting at what excites him, by drawing attention to certain features in the characters of the characters or the whole environment.

What is a problem in relation to current life? A problem is, first of all, what we stop and fix our attention on at one time or another, since our consciousness works very selectively. For example, when we walk down the street, we note far from everything, but only some of the facts that caught our eye. Thinking about relatives and friends, we remember and analyze their actions that occupy us now. It is easy to assume that similar operations take place in the minds of writers.

Reflecting on what brings together and separates such personalities as Bezukhov and Bolkonsky, what are the similarities and differences between the lifestyles of Moscow and St. Petersburg noble society, what is Natasha's attraction for Pierre and Andrei, what is the difference between commanders Kutuzov, Napoleon and Barclay de Tolly, L.N. Tolstoy thus forces readers to think about these circumstances, without being distracted from the life of specific characters. The word “thinking” should be put in quotation marks, because Tolstoy probably thinks to himself, and in the novel he shows, for example, by reproducing the actions and dialogues of Prince Andrei and Pierre, how they are close and how far from each other. He writes out in particular detail and carefully, that is, he depicts the atmosphere and life, on the one hand, of the St. incompatibility of the Moscow and St. Petersburg noble circles. Depicting the life of the Rostov family, the writer draws attention to the simplicity, naturalness, goodwill of the relations of members of this family to each other, to acquaintances (recall how Countess Rostova gives money to Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya) and completely strangers (Count Rostov and Natasha readily give carts for rescuing wounded soldiers). Petersburg, where everything is subject to ritual, where people are accepted only from the highest society, where words and smiles are strictly dosed, and opinions change depending on the political situation (Prince Vasily Kuragin changes his attitude towards Kutuzov during the day in connection with his appointment as commander in chief summer of 1812),

From what has been said, it follows that a problem is not a question, but one or another feature of the life of an individual, an entire environment, or even a people, leading to some generalizing thoughts.

When analyzing a work, along with the concepts of "theme" and "problematics", the concept is also used. idea, which most often means the answer to a question allegedly posed by the author. However, as already mentioned, the writer does not pose questions, and therefore does not give answers, as if urging us to think about the important, from his point of view, features of life, for example, about the poverty of such families as the Raskolnikov family, about the humiliation of poverty, about a false way out of the existing situation, which was invented by Rodion Romanovich in the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment".

A peculiar answer, which the reader often wants to find, can be considered author's emotional attitude to the characters of the characters portrayed and to the type of their behavior. Indeed, a writer can sometimes reveal his likes and dislikes for a particular type of personality, while not always unambiguously assessing him. So, F.M. Dostoevsky, condemning what Raskolnikov invented, at the same time sympathizes with him. I.S. Turgenev examines Bazarov through the lips of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, but at the same time appreciates him, emphasizing his mind, knowledge, will: “Bazarov is smart and knowledgeable,” says Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov with conviction.

Summing up what has been said, we emphasize that the writer does not speak to the reader in a rational language, he does not formulate ideas and problems, but presents us with a picture of life and thereby prompts thoughts that researchers call ideas or problems. And since researchers use these concepts in the course of the analysis of works of art, it is necessary to understand what their meaning is.

How many problems can there be in a work? As many as important and essential facets and aspects of life are depicted in it and attracted our attention, as much as our consciousness catches. So, for example, if we talk about Russian literature of the 19th century as a whole, then we can say that one of the leading problems of Russian literature throughout the last century was the image of the inner world and the spiritual potential of the Russian intelligentsia, the ratio of different types of thinking, in particular, the study and identification the most diverse kinds of contradictions in the mind of one hero (Onegin, Pechorin, Bazarov, Raskolnikov), in the fate similar people(Onegin - Lensky, Bezukhov - Bolkonsky).

Inconsistency and inconsistency in Onegin's behavior are manifested, in particular, "by the fact that he, having fallen in love with Tatyana after meeting in St. Petersburg and not finding a place for himself from an excess of feelings and emotions, persistently and importunately seeks a meeting with her, although he sees that Tatyana does not want to respond on his messages, in one of which he writes: “If only you knew how terrible it is to languish with a thirst for love,” he writes this to a woman who has been suffering from unrequited love for several years. Contradictions are present in the thoughts and behavior of Rodion Raskolnikov. Being an educated person and quite insightful in assessing the world around him and wanting not only to test himself, but also to help his neighbors, Raskolnikov creates an absolutely false theory and tries to put it into practice by killing two women. The difference between Onegin and Lensky in the novel "Eugene Onegin" is well known, but these are the differences between people who are close in spirit in many ways: they are both well-read, they have something to think about and argue about, so it's a shame that their relationship ended tragically. Bolkonsky and Bezukhov, with all the difference in age, are real friends (Prince Andrey only trusts Pierre with his thoughts, only singles him out of the men of the secular circle and entrusts the fate of the bride to him, leaving for a year abroad), but they are not close in everything and not agree on everything in assessing many of the circumstances of that time.

Comparison (sometimes called antithesis) different characters and types of behavior, as well as different circles of society (Moscow and metropolitan nobility Pushkin and Tolstoy), different social strata (people and nobles in Nekrasov's poems and poems) clearly helps to identify similarities and differences in the moral world, family structure, in the social state of certain characters or social groups. Based on these and many other examples and facts, we can say that the source of problems, and therefore the subject of attention of many artists, is very often trouble, disharmony, that is, contradictions of a different plan and different strength.

To denote the contradictions that arise in life and reproduced in the literature, the concept is used conflict. For the most part, they talk about conflict in the presence of sharp contradictions, manifested in the clash and struggle of heroes, as, for example, in the tragedies of W. Shakespeare or the novels of A. Dumas. If we consider the play by A.S. Griboyedov's "Woe to the Mind", it is easy to see that the development of the action here clearly depends on the conflict that lurks in Famusov's house and lies in the fact that Sophia is in love with Molchalin and hides this from daddy. Chatsky, in love with Sophia, having arrived in Moscow, notices her dislike for himself and, trying to understand the reason, keeps an eye on everyone present in the house. Sofya is unhappy with this and, defending herself, throws a remark about his madness at the ball. Guests who do not sympathize with him gladly pick up this version, because they see in Chatsky a person with views and principles other than theirs, and then not just a family conflict is very clearly exposed (Sophia's secret love for Molchalin, Molchalin's real indifference to Sofya, ignorance Famusov about what is happening in the house), but also the conflict between Chatsky and society. The outcome of the action (denouement) is determined not so much by Chatsky's relations with society, but by the relations of Sophia, Molchalin and Lisa, having learned about which Famusov controls their fate, and Chatsky leaves their home.

We note that, although in Russian literature we do not often meet with a direct depiction of outwardly conflicting relations between heroes, their struggle for some kind of rights, etc., the atmosphere of life of the heroes of most of the works is filled and permeated with disharmony, disorder and contradictions. For example, there is no struggle between Tatyana Larina and her family, between Tatyana and Onegin, but their relationship is disharmonious. The relationship of A. Bolkonsky with his entourage and his own wife is colored by a well-recognized conflict. Elena's secret marriage in I.S. Turgenev's novel "On the Eve" is also a consequence of contradictions in her family, and the number of such examples can easily be multiplied.

At the same time, contradictions can be not only of different strength, but also of different content and nature. It is on the essence and content of the contradictions exposed in a work of art that its emotional tonality depends. To indicate an emotional orientation (some modern researchers, continuing the traditions of V.T. Belinsky, in this case speak of pathos), a number of concepts that have long been established in science are used, such as drama, tragedy, heroism, romance, humor, satire.

The prevailing tonality in the content of the overwhelming number of works of art, undoubtedly, dramatic. Trouble, disorder, dissatisfaction of a person in the spiritual sphere, in personal relationships. public position- these are the real signs of drama in life and literature. The failed love of Tatyana Larina, Princess Mary, Katerina Kabanova, Rostov's niece Sonya, Lisa Kalitina and other heroines of famous works testifies to the dramatic moments of their lives.

Moral and intellectual dissatisfaction and unfulfillment of the personal potential of Chatsky, Onegin, Bazarov, Bolkonsky and others; social humiliation of Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkyan from the story of N.V. Gogol's "The Overcoat", as well as the Marmeladov family from the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment", many of the heroines from NA Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Russia", almost all the characters in M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" - all this serves as a source and at the same time an indicator of dramatic contradictions and dramatic tone in the content one work or another.

Closest to dramatic is tragic key. As a rule, it is visible and present where there is an internal conflict, that is, a clash of opposite principles in the mind of one hero. Among such conflicts are the contradictions between personal impulses and superpersonal restrictions - caste, class, moral. Such contradictions gave rise to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, who loved each other, but belonged to different clans of the Italian society of their time (“Romeo and Juliet” by W. Shakespeare); Katerina Kabanova, who fell in love with Boris and understood the sinfulness of her love for him (“Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky); Anna Karenina, tormented by the consciousness of the duality of her position and the presence of an abyss between her, society and her son (“Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy).

A tragic situation can also develop in the presence of a contradiction between the desire for happiness, freedom and the hero's awareness of his weakness and impotence in achieving them, which entails motives of skepticism and doom. For example, such motives are heard in the speech of Mtsyri, pouring out his soul to an old monk and trying to explain to him how he dreamed of living in his village "and was forced to spend his whole life, except for three days, in a monastery, internally

alien to him (“Mtsyri” by M.Yu. Lermontov). Tragic moods erupt from Pechorin, who tells himself "that he feels like a guest at someone else's ball, who did not leave just because they did not give him a carriage. Naturally, he thinks about the impossibility of realizing his spiritual impulses - his phrase from his diary is indicative: “My ambition is suppressed by circumstances” (“A Hero of Our Time” by M.Yu. Lermontov). The fate of Elena Stakhova from the novel by I.S. Turgenev "On the Eve", who lost her husband immediately after the wedding and went with his coffin to a foreign country.

In a literary work, both tragic and dramatic beginnings can be combined with heroic. Heroism arises and is felt there and then when people take or take active actions for the benefit of others, in the name of protecting the interests of a tribe, clan, state, or simply a group of people in need of help. Most often, such situations occur during periods of national liberation wars or movements. For example, moments of heroics are reflected in the Tale of Igor's Campaign in Prince Igor's decision to join the fight against the Polovtsians. The presence of a heroic tone is undoubtedly in the last two books of War and Peace by L.N. Tolstoy. Such pathos also permeates many works of both domestic and Western European literature devoted to the depiction of the life of different peoples during the period of the struggle against Hitlerism. In these cases, heroism is especially often intertwined with tragedy. An example of such a connection is the story of V.V. Bykov (“Alpine Ballad”, “Sotnikov”, “Wolf Pack”, “In the Fog”) and B.L. Vasiliev (“The Dawns Here Are Quiet”). At the same time, heroic-tragic situations can also take place in peacetime, at moments natural Disasters arising due to the "fault" of nature (floods, earthquakes) or the person himself (the infamous Chernobyl, various kinds of transport disasters).

In addition, heroic can be combined with romance. Romance is called an enthusiastic state of personality, caused by the desire for something high, beautiful, morally significant. The sources of romance are the ability to feel the beauty of nature, to feel like a part of the world, the need to respond to someone else's pain and someone else's joy. The behavior of Natasha Rostova often gives reason to perceive it as romantic, because of all the heroes of the novel "War and Peace" she alone has a lively nature, a positive emotional charge, and dissimilarity to secular young ladies, which was immediately noticed by the rational Andrei Bolkonsky.

It is no coincidence that Pierre Bezukhov repeatedly calls his love for her romantic love.

For the most part, romance manifests itself in the sphere of personal life, revealing itself in moments of expectation or the onset of happiness. Since happiness in the minds of people is primarily associated with love, then the romantic worldview most likely makes itself felt at the moment of approaching love or hope for it. We meet the image of romantically inclined heroes in the works of I.S. Turgenev, for example, in his story "Asya", where the characters (Asya and Mr. N.), close to each other in spirit and culture, experience joy, emotional upsurge, which is expressed in their enthusiastic perception of nature, art and themselves, in joy communication with each other. However, in the end, although quite unexpectedly, they part, which leaves a dramatic mark on the soul and fate of each. And this once again proves that the dramatic tonality rarely bypasses the fate of people and therefore very often makes itself felt in works of art.

A combination of heroism and romance is possible in those cases when the hero accomplishes or wants to accomplish a feat, and this is perceived by him as something sublime, noble, elevating him in his eyes, causing impulse and inspiration. Such an interweaving of heroism and romance is observed in "War and Peace" in the behavior of Petya Rostov, who was obsessed with the desire to personally take part in the fight against the French, which led to his death. Another example is the novel by A.A. Fadeev's "Young Guard", in which the writer tried to show how spiritually his heroes treated life - high school students who assessed their fight against the Nazis not as a sacrifice, but as a natural feat.

Emphasizing romantic, dramatic, tragic and, of course, heroic moments in the lives of heroes and their moods in most cases becomes form of expression of sympathy for the characters, the way they are supported and protected by their author. Undoubtedly, W. Shakespeare is going through with Romeo and Juliet about the circumstances that prevent their love, A.S. Pushkin pities Tatyana, who is not understood by Onegin, F.M. Dostoevsky mourns the fate of such girls as Dunya and Sonya, A.P. Chekhov sympathizes with the suffering of Gurov and Anna Sergeevna, who fell in love with each other very deeply and seriously, but they have no hope of uniting their destinies.

However, it happens that the image of romantic moods becomes way to debunk the hero, sometimes even his condemnation. So, for example, Lensky's vague verses evoke light irony A.S. Pushkin, Grushnik's romantic vine - a caustic mockery of M.Yu. Lermontov. Image by F.M. Dostoevsky's dramatic experiences of Raskolnikov are in many ways a form of condemnation of the hero, who conceived a monstrous version of correcting his life and became entangled in his thoughts and feelings. The tragic collision of Boris Godunov, shown by A.S. Pushkin in the tragedy "Boris Godunov", also aims to condemn the hero - smart, talented, but unjustly received the royal throne.

Much more often, humor and satire play a discrediting role. Under humor and satire in this case, another variant of emotional orientation or type of problem is implied. Both in life and in art, humor and satire are generated by such characters and situations that are called comic. The essence of the comic is to detect and reveal the discrepancy between the real capabilities of people (and, accordingly, the characters) and their claims, or the discrepancy between their essence and appearance.

Imagine a student who has no knowledge of literature or mathematics, and he behaves as if he knows them best. This cannot but arouse a mocking attitude towards him, because the desire to appear knowledgeable has no real basis. Or another example. Let us imagine a public figure who has neither intelligence nor ability, but claims to be in charge of society. This behavior is likely to generate a bitter smile. A mockingly evaluative attitude to comic characters and situations is called irony. Irony can be light, non-malicious, but it can become unkind, judgmental. Deep irony, which causes not a smile and laughter in the usual sense of the word, but a bitter experience, is called sarcasm.

The reproduction of comic characters and situations, accompanied by an ironic assessment, leads to the appearance of humorous or satirical works of art. Moreover, not only works of verbal art (parodies, anecdotes, fables, novels, stories, plays) can be humorous and satirical, but also drawings, sculptural images, mimic representations. Let's consider a few examples.

The performances of circus clowns are mostly humorous in nature, causing a good laugh from the audience, because they, as a rule, imitate the numbers of professional acrobats, jugglers, trainers and deliberately emphasize the difference in the performance of these numbers by masters and clowns. In the story of S.Ya. Marshak about how "the absent-minded man from Basseinaya Street" got into the wrong carriage and could not get to Moscow in any way, the comical situation of the mistake "calculated for a good laugh" is also depicted. In the examples given, irony is not a means of condemning someone, but reveals the nature of comic phenomena, which, as already mentioned, are based on the discrepancy between what is and what should be.

In the story A.P. Chekhov's "The Death of an Official" is comically manifested in the absurd behavior of Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov, who, while in the theater, accidentally sneezed on the general's bald head and was so frightened that he began to pester him with his apologies and pursued him until he aroused the general's real anger, which and led the official to death. The absurdity of the discrepancy between the perfect act (sneezed) and the reaction caused by it (repeated attempts to explain to the general that he, Chervyakov, did not want to offend him). In this story, sadness is mixed with the funny, since such a fear of a high face is a sign of the dramatic position of a small official in the system of official relations.

Fear can generate unnaturalness in human behavior. This situation was reproduced by N.V. Gogol in the comedy "The Inspector General", which shows how the Governor and other "owners of the city" out of fear of the auditor commit such acts that cannot but cause laughter from the audience. The emphasis on absurdities in this work is evidence of no sympathy for the characters, as in the AP story. Chekhov, but by the way of their condemnation. The fact is that in the person of Gorodnichiy and his entourage appear significant persons who are called to be responsible for the life of the city, but do not correspond to their position and therefore are afraid of exposing their sins - bribery, greed, indifference to the fate of subjects. The identification of serious contradictions in the behavior of the characters, giving rise to a clearly negative attitude towards them, becomes a hallmark of satire.

Classical examples of satire are given by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, in whose works - fairy tales and stories - there is an image of stupid landowners who would like to get rid of the peasants, but, being unsuited to any occupation, run wild (" wild landlord»); stupid generals who, like the aforementioned landowners, can do nothing, thinking that buns grow on trees, and therefore are capable of starving to death, if not for the peasant who fed them (“How a peasant fed two generals”); cowardly intellectuals who are afraid of everything, hide from life and thereby cease to be intellectuals (“The Wise Gudgeon”); thoughtless city governors, whose mission is to take care of the city and the people, but none of those shown in the story is capable of fulfilling this mission due to their stupidity, limitations (“The History of a City”) - in a word, characters who deserve evil irony and harsh condemnation. An example of satire in Russian literature of the 20th century is the work of M.A. Bulgakov, where the subject of ridicule and exposure are various aspects of Russian life in the 1920s and 1930s, including the bureaucratic orders of Soviet institutions, depicted in the story "Diaboliad"; or atmosphere literary life in Moscow, where mediocre writers and critics are ready to persecute talented artists, and their own interests are focused exclusively on money, apartments and all sorts of benefits that membership in MASSOLIT gives (“Master and Margarita”), the narrow-mindedness and aggressiveness of people like Sharikov, who become dangerous when they get power ("Heart of a Dog").

Of course, the distinction between humor and satire is not absolute. Very often they are intertwined, complementing each other and supporting the ironic coloring of the depicted. So, for example, when, speaking of Manilov, N.V. Gogol draws attention to the ridiculous position of his house, the wonderful names of his children (Alkid and Themistoclus), the cloyingly polite form of his communication with his wife and guest, this causes a good-natured smile from readers. But when it is reported that neither Manilov nor his manager knows how many peasants died on the estate, or how the same Manilov, amazed at Chichikov’s undertaking, nevertheless agrees to enter into a deal and sell the “dead”, the smile ceases to be good-natured: humor develops into satire.

The desire to comprehend the shortcomings and absurdities of life does not always lead to the creation of large literary and artistic works, it can also be expressed in other forms, for example, in satirical miniatures that are very common at the present time, sounding from the stage, an example of which can be the speeches of M. Zhvanetsky, M. Zadorny and some other authors. The audience actively reacts to the humorous and satirical meaning of their performances, because they recognize in their characters and situations the absurd, sometimes ugly and therefore comical features of our everyday life.

Satirical works may include elements of fantasy, that is, implausibility in the depiction of the world. We meet fantastic characters and situations not only in fairy tales. A fantastic beginning is present, for example, in the famous novel by the English writer D. Swift "Gulliver's Travels" and even in the comedy by N.V. Gogol's "Inspector General": it's hard to believe that every one of the officials were deceived and believed in Khlestakov as an auditor. In literature and art in general, the special shape fiction, where life proportions are especially strongly violated, and the image is based on sharp contrasts and exaggerations, is called grotesque. An example of the grotesque in painting is the canvases of the Spanish artist Goya, many paintings of the modern avant-garde, in literature - the works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and in particular "The History of a City".

The concepts discussed above - drama, tragedy, heroism, romance, humor, satire - do not cover all variations of the problem-emotional orientation of literary works. In addition, many types of emotional orientation can be intertwined, superimposed on one another, forming a kind of alloy. As a result, the problematic of the work is often very rich and multifaceted.

And now let us turn to the consideration of what constitutes the form, that is, the pictorial and expressive side of the work. Taking into account the certain closeness of the epic and dramatic works, which could be felt when analyzing the content, we will not separate them in principle in this case, although we will show the differences in their artistic organization.

Content form of epic and dramatic works

In this paragraph, the reader will get acquainted with the concepts: portrait, interior, plot, landscape, lyrical digressions, composition, plot, denouement, climax, episode, scene, dialogue, monologue.

Heroes participating in an epic work usually appear somehow outlined. The description of their appearance, including clothing, manners, postures, gestures, facial expressions, given by the narrator or the characters themselves, is portrait. So, for example, in the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov’s “A Hero of Our Time”, the portrait of Bela is given by Maxim Maksimych (“And she was as if she was good: tall, thin, her eyes are black, like those of a mountain chamois, they looked into your soul”), Pechorin’s portrait is given by the words of the narrator (“He was an average growth; his slender, thin frame and broad shoulders proved a strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate change, not defeated by either the depravity of metropolitan life or spiritual storms ... "), and Grushnitsky and Princess Mary - Pechorin ("Grushnitsky - Junker ... He is well-built, dark-skinned and black-haired; he looks to be twenty-five years old, although he is hardly twenty-one years old ... "; "This Princess Mary is very pretty ... She has such velvet eyes ... the lower and upper eyelashes are so long that the rays of the sun are not reflected in her pupils).

A certain place, more or less, depending on the nature of the characters and the situation, is occupied by interior, i.e., a description of life, which includes the appearance of the house, furnishings, furniture, in a word, its decoration. As an example, let's give a description of Onegin's office: “I will depict in a true picture // A secluded office, // Where is the exemplary pupil // Dressed, undressed and dressed again? // Amber on the pipes of Tsaregrad, // Porcelain and bronze on the table, // And, the feelings of pampered joy, // Perfume in faceted crystal; // Combs, steel nail files, // Straight scissors, curved, // And thirty kinds of brushes // Both for nails and teeth.

The interior of N.V. is written out in particular detail. Gogol in the poem “Dead Souls”: “Peace was of a certain kind; for the hotel was also of a well-known kind, that is, just like hotels in provincial cities, where for two rubles a day, travelers get a quiet room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners, and a door to the next room, always lined with a chest of drawers where the neighbor settles down, a silent and calm person, but extremely curious” or: “Looking around the room, Chichikov threw two casual glances: the room was hung with old striped wallpaper; between the windows there are small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves; behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old pack of cards, or a stocking; a wall clock with a painted clock on the dial…”; Continuing to inspect the interior of Korobochka’s house, “Chichikov noticed that not all of the paintings were birds: between them hung a portrait of Kutuzov and an old man painted in oils with beautiful cuffs on his uniform, as they embroidered under Pavel Petrovich.”

Concerning landscape, then it can perform the function of an interior, a scene of action, or it can be an object of observation or emotional experiences of the characters. Giving a picture of the night at the beginning of the story "Taman" and including here some details of life, M.Yu. Lermontov helps to imagine the circumstances in which Pechorin had to find himself in this city: “A full month shone on the reed roof and white walls of my new dwelling; ... in the yard, surrounded by cobblestone comfort, another shack stood sideways, less and older than the first. The shore fell like a cliff to the sea almost at its very walls, and below, with an incessant murmur, dark blue waves splashed. The moon quietly looked at the restless, but submissive element, and I could distinguish by its light, far from the coast, two ships.

And “Princess Mary” begins with a description of the view from the window of Pechorin’s house in Pyatigorsk, giving the opportunity to see the setting in which the action will take place: “I have a wonderful view from three sides. To the west, the five-headed Beshtu turns blue, like "the last cloud of a scattered storm"; Masha rises to the north, like a Persian hat, and closes this entire part of the sky; it’s more fun to look to the east: down below, a clean, brand new town is full of colors in front of me, healing springs rustle, a multilingual crowd rustles. On the pages of the same story, a little later, "Pechorin (here he is the narrator) resorts to landscape moments to convey his state:" Returning home, I sat on horseback and galloped into the steppe; I love to ride a hot horse through tall grass against the desert wind; I greedily swallow the fragrant air and fix my eyes on the blue distance... No matter how bitter my heart is, no matter how uneasy the thought torments, everything will dissipate in a minute; the soul will become light, the fatigue of the body will overcome the anxiety of the mind. There is no woman's gaze that I would not forget at the sight of curly mountains illuminated by the southern sun, at the sight of a blue sky, or listening to the noise of a stream falling from cliff to cliff.

In a dramatic work, portrait details, interior or landscape are outlined in the author's remarks that precede the beginning of the action, or the characters' replicas, and are realized by actors, make-up artists, decorators, directors. At the same time, you can learn about the appearance of the heroes from the replicas of other heroes or themselves.

The necessary principle of depicting heroes in epic and dramatic works is the reproduction of events that are made up of the actions of the characters, which is plot. The plot is made up of events, and the events are made up of the actions of the characters.

concept deed includes both outwardly tangible actions, transmitted, in particular, by verbs (came, entered, sat down, met, spoke, went), and internal intentions, thoughts, experiences. It is from the actions of individuals or groups that events of personal or historical plans grow. So, the recreated L.N. Tolstoy, the war of 1812 is an event consisting of thousands of deeds and, accordingly, micro-actions of its participants - soldiers, generals, marshals, civilians. The totality of actions in their movement and development forms a chain of episodes, or plot, of a literary work.

The designation of actions as a certain chain may seem insufficiently precise, since in some cases the so-called single line plot, that is, a plot that can be represented graphically in the form of successively interconnected links of one chain, in others - multiline, that is, one that should be represented as a complex network and intersecting lines. At the same time, episodes can be of a different plan or volume, that is, with the participation of a different number of characters and a different amount of time allotted to this episode. Therefore, sometimes they distinguish episode and scene, which is a more detailed episode.

The first, that is, one-line, version of the plot is easier to imagine, remembering some short story, for example, “The Snowstorm” by A.S. Pushkin, The plot begins with a message that the noble girl Marya Gavrilovna and the army ensign Vladimir Nikolaevich, who lived in neighboring estates, are in love. Because of the prohibition of their parents, they secretly corresponded, swore eternal love for each other, and eventually came to the idea of ​​secretly getting married. The wedding was scheduled in a small church on a winter day in 1812. The story recreates in detail all the actions of one and the other hero, that is, how someone got ready and got to the church. Marya Gavrilovna arrived on time, Vladimir was prevented by a snowstorm. While he was getting there, a “daring” officer drove by, who happened to be next to the bride in dark church, and the priest, not noticing the substitution, married Marya Gavrilovna with him. Understanding at once what had happened, Marya Gavrilovna fell ill. Vladimir went to the army and participated in the Battle of Borodino. After a while Mary

Gavrilovna and the strange officer met by chance (they lived in the same county), fell in love with each other and each shared their secret. A happy ending has come.

To reproduce the plot, it is necessary to recreate all the episodes that follow one after the other. In each episode there is some kind of action, whether it is receiving a letter, deciding to get married, coming to church, etc. Therefore, when listing some of them, we used words denoting some kind of action, that is, verbs. V this story these episodes are brief, undeveloped, but they make up event row works, that is, the plot. At the same time, it is the plot that occupies a very large place in this story, as in other Belkin Tales.

Let us consider a more complicated case using the example of the novel by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin".

The very first words with which the novel begins and which belong to Onegin (“My uncle of the most honest rules, // When he seriously fell ill, // He forced himself to respect // And he couldn’t invent better”) actually indicate the beginning of the action that will unfold later . After the hero's words, instead of a story about his arrival in the village, the author tells about his father, about his upbringing and, in great detail, about the type of life of an 18-year-old young man in St. Petersburg society. Almost one day of such a life is reproduced, about which it is said: “Wakes up in the afternoon, and again // Until the morning his life is ready. / / Monotonous and motley. // And tomorrow is the same as yesterday. At the same time, his external portrait is sketched out, the costume, the manner of dressing, and the decoration of the office are outlined. In the 52nd stanza of the first chapter, the message appears again: “Suddenly he really received // From the steward a report, // That his uncle was dying in bed // And I would be glad to say goodbye to him.” This information precedes the quoted words of the hero in time. She forces him to go to the village, where, after burying his uncle, Onegin remains to live, accidentally meets Lensky, then periodically meets with him; thanks to Lensky, he gets into the Larin family, arouses general interest and Tatyana's emotions, as a result of which he receives a letter and after a while calls in to explain himself to Tatyana. The next big episode, more precisely, the scene: Tatyana's name day - with a quarrel, a challenge to a duel. Then a duel, Onegin's departure from the village and his disappearance before appearing in St. Petersburg. These events take several months - from summer to winter, more precisely, until the end of January, when Tatyana's day is celebrated. The Larins continue to live in the village, marry off Olga, hopelessly try to extradite Tatyana, and go to Moscow the following winter. After marriage, Tatyana moved to St. Petersburg, settling in one of the aristocratic houses of the capital. At the moment Onegin appears in this house, it turns out that she has been married for about two years. After their new meeting, another half a year passes. Thus, more than four years have passed since the beginning of the action.

We paid attention to this example to show that the action (plot) here develops and moves in one direction, making up a kind of chain of episodes and scenes. Naturally, not all the episodes that make up this chain were named here, but it was shown what exactly constitutes the event, that is, the plot sphere of the novel structure.

Recording of events is accompanied by a description of various attributes of St. Petersburg, provincial and Moscow life, everyday lifestyle, portraits of heroes, as well as nature. The time of action can be calculated precisely by the change of landscapes, that is, the seasons. In addition, in this novel there are a lot of direct statements of the author, which are called lyrical digressions. Lyrical digressions sometimes they seem to follow from the story or description. Reporting on Onegin’s visit to the theatre, the poet cannot but include in the text his thoughts about this “magic land”, where “Fonvizin, the friend of freedom, shone”, plays by Knyazhnin, Ozerov, Katenin, Shakhovsky were staged, where Semenova danced, the famous ballet director gained fame Didlo. Describing the atmosphere of the St. Petersburg ball, Pushkin cannot but exclaim: "In the days of fun and desires / I was crazy about balls." And so in most cases. Very often, descriptions of nature, without which this novel is unthinkable, because outside of nature (arable land, fields, meadows, forests) the life of a Russian landowner family is unthinkable, they turn into his own reflections: “Flowers, love, village, idleness, // Fields! I am devoted to you in soul. The abundance of such digressions is a feature of this novel, in which the poet wanted to directly express many of his thoughts, and the poetic form of speech greatly contributed to this.

Discussing the different components of the text (plot, landscape, portrait), we have entered the field compositions, which may include different elements, but in an epic work, the integrity of the building, which we call a work of art, rests on the plot. The plot is the main bonding principle that cements the text of the work.

In plot episodes and scenes, a different number of characters may take part, there may be different forms of realization and interaction of characters: reflections to oneself or aloud, alone or in the presence of listeners (monologue) or conversations between two dialog) or more (polylogue) of heroes, as well as meetings of a different kind, including fights, duels, clashes in battles, in everyday life, etc. At the same time, verbal communication and self-expression of heroes belongs to the most important place in both epic and dramatic works, and therefore dialogues and monologues, being one of the most important ways of presenting characters, are mostly included in the plot as its components.

Let's try to present another version of the plot-compositional organization of the epic work based on the material of the story by A.S. Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter"

This story, like The Snowstorm, is extremely saturated with event elements, i.e., the actions and deeds of the characters that make up the plot. This includes episodes from the personal lives of the characters and historical events of which they are members. Landscape sketches are mostly woven into the story of events: let's remember how a snowstorm in the steppe caused the meeting of the main characters - Grinev and Pugachev.

The plot recreates a life situation, revealing the characters of the characters involved in it and their understanding by the author. The life situation of The Captain's Daughter includes many actors, and the plot action, despite the small amount of text, covers a large period of time. The events presented here take place from the winter of 1772-1773, when Grinev first met Pugachev, until the autumn of 1774, when, after a trip to St. Marya Ivanovna returns to Grinev's parents. The story ends with the publisher's message that after his release, Grinev married Marya Ivanovna and “their offspring prosper in the Simbirsk province. Thirty versts from *** there is a village belonging to ten landowners. - In one of the lordly outbuildings, a handwritten letter from Catherine II is shown behind glass and in a frame. It is written to the father of Pyotr Andreevich and contains an excuse for his son and praise for the mind and heart of Captain Mironov's daughter "This is the epilogue of the story, in which the characters no longer participate, but it is said about one of the grandchildren who delivered the manuscript of his grandfather to the publisher

Pyotr Andreevich Grinev. Such an epilogue, in essence, is not included in the plot.

What is the peculiarity of this type of plot?

Fate young nobleman was a common theme of novels and short stories in Russian literature of the 20-30s of the 19th century. The depiction of historical events, such as the peasant movement, was unusual and new. The inclusion of heroes in the historical situation made it possible to take a different look at traditional heroes, such as Grinev, and introduce people like Pugachev and his associates. If by official version Pugachev is a villain and a traitor, then for A.S. Pushkin is a more complex figure. But how to show it? And S. Pushkin found such an opportunity by presenting his essay in witness notes– P.A. Grinev, an honest and truthful, sincere and moral person.

Already in the first chapters, we learn that Grinev is decent (relationship with Zurin), noble (duel in defense of Masha Mironova), sensitive and attentive to to a stranger, even of a non-noble rank (thanks to the counselor), and also very observant. Starting from Chapter VI, he appears as a participant in "strange," in his words, incidents that began in the autumn of 1773, when the Cossacks revolted.

Being a participant in all the incidents, officer Grinev, who swore allegiance to the empress, tries to be objective and tries to understand Pugachev, penetrate his thoughts, evaluate his actions. Thanks to Grinev's observation, it turns out that the villain Pugachev is smart, that he is supported by a huge part of the Cossack population, that he is characterized by a desire for justice, a sober understanding of the situation and a natural desire to feel at least for a while a free man. Other characters also emerge from Grinev's story - Pugachev's associates, captain Mironov, Marya Ivanovna, Shvabrin, the general commander of the tsarist troops in Orenburg. The totality of all the actions and deeds of the characters in their connection and sequence constitutes the plot, the beginning and end of which was mentioned above. Within the designated time, the course of the action is not broken chronologically.

At the same time, the narrator realizes and emphasizes the distance between the time of the events that happened and the time of their description. Therefore, he leads the story in the past tense and supplements it with comments that are the result of his personal analysis of those events. These comments are not numerous, but important, for example, in the part where the hero recalls that he “was engaged in literature; his experiments, for that time, were pretty good, and Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, a few years later, praised them very much. Especially important are Grinev's considerations at the beginning of Chapter VI, which says that the beginning of the Pugachev uprising and the appearance of the Cossacks at the walls of the Belogorsk fortress was preceded by the indignation of the Cossacks in their main town. “The reason for this was the strict measures taken by General Traubenberg in order to bring the army to due obedience. The result was the barbarous murder of Traubenberg, a willful change in management, and finally the pacification of the rebellion with buckshot and cruel punishments. Evidence of cruelty on the part of the authorities is also torture, which was then widely used in contrast to “the meek reign of Emperor Alexander,” in connection with which Grinev writes: “Young man! If my notes fall into your hands, remember that the best and most lasting changes are those that come from the improvement of morals, without any violent upheavals.

Thus, the originality of both the content and the form of presentation in this work depends not only on the material itself, but also on the choice of the narrator. In addition to an objective presentation of events, the hero-narrator includes letters and notes of various characters in the narrative in order to show the manner of written communication at that time. And here everyone writes in Russian, although the correspondence in noble society of that time was often conducted in French. All fourteen chapters are provided with epigraphs. The meaning of epigraphs is in the addition, in enriching the author's text with proverbs, sayings, fragments of songs famous poets of that time and folk.

As already mentioned, the details of the plot, portrait, interior, landscape, etc. are arranged in a certain way, arranged, connected, forming composition works. The direct "culprit" of a particular composition is the narrator. He should not be identified with the author, who is the initiator and creator of everything that happens, but in the text we are dealing with a narrator who in some cases is very close or identical to the author ("Eugene Onegin"), in others - differs from him ("The Brothers Karamazov "). It is the author who entrusts the role of the narrator to Grinev (in " Captain's daughter”), two heroes (Varenka and Makar in Poor People), several heroes (a passing officer, Maxim Maksimych, Pechorin in A Hero of Our Time) or a special person who does not participate in the action, but watches the heroes or hears them history (a passing official in The Station Agent).

The role of the narrator is determined by the fact that he reports about the actions of the characters, about their meetings, about the events that took place between the meetings, etc. For example, in "Eugene Onegin" the narrator informs about Onegin's arrival in the village, about his friendship with Lensky, about their visit to the Larins, about the duel, about the Larins' trip to Moscow, etc. In the same novel, the narrator recreates Onegin's background, describing his life in St. Petersburg before arriving in the village. In his own words, the situation of the action is conveyed, the appearance of most of the heroes is outlined, and judgments are made in the course of the narrative, which are called lyrical digressions.

Concerning dramatic works, then they have no narrators, there is practically no connecting text, except for those cases when there are remarks about the characters and the place of action. Here, all the information comes from the characters themselves, uttering monologues, dialogues and individual remarks. The lack of a narrator and his speech is made up for by stage opportunities, in the choice of which the director plays a decisive role. Therefore, the literary text, which makes up the verbal fabric of the future performance, is supplemented in the process of staging by the gestures and movements of the actors (facial expressions and pantomime), their costumes and appearance, scenery performed by the graphic designer, sound effects and some other factors, often predetermined by the playwright's plan, but implemented by the director of the play. Consequently, the analysis of a stage performance is the domain of not only a literary critic, but also a theater critic. but plot structure dramatic work gives us the right to analyze it, as in the epic work.

So, if the reader of an epic work is faced with an author-narrator who presents the characters and events from his own point of view, then there is no such mediator in the drama. In the drama, the characters act independently on the stage, and the viewer himself draws conclusions that follow from their actions and experiences. The time of the action depicted in the drama must coincide with the time of the stage performance. A performance, as a rule, lasts no more than three or four hours. This affects the length of the dramatic text and the plot. The plots of the plays should be compact and the conflicts more or less naked. Unlike the epic, in dramatic representations of plots, that is, of action, no one tells. Actions are presented by the characters themselves in dialogues and monologues. Therefore, speech acquires “special significance for the drama, and the main dramatic text is a chain of dialogic replicas and monologues of the characters themselves.

We will try to consider the structure of the plot of a dramatic work, I mean character of dialogues and monologues, from which the plot is formed, referring to the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm". In some cases, such as the dialogue between Katerina and Varvara in the first act of the play and Katerina's monologue "with a key", they should be recognized as dynamic or driving components of the plot, because they become a certain moment in the development of the action. Another variant of the relationship between word and action can be seen in the scenes of Boris confessing to himself that he is in love with Katerina or Katerina Varvara confessing her love for Boris, where the monologues reveal the inner state of the characters and thus do not reveal any obvious dynamics. Episodes like those where Boris tells Kuligin and Katerina Varvara about her past life, turn out to be important primarily from the point of view of understanding the characters of the characters, being the prehistory of events, and serve as an exposition of the action.

Continuing the conversation about the plot, it is necessary to add that in some literary works, in particular in the play under discussion by A.N. Ostrovsky, we meet with a plot in which the beginning (the message about the love of Katerina and Boris) and the horses (the death of Katerina) of the action are quite clearly marked. Such points, or moments, in the plot are called eyeball and denouement. Of course, in the plot of any work there is a beginning and horses of action, but it is not always advisable to designate them with the indicated terms. It is necessary to talk about the plot when the contradictions and conflicts that are the source of the course of events, a kind of plot engine, are outlined and tied up before the eyes of the reader. For example, in The Thunderstorm, such a source is the love of Katerina and Boris and the circumstances that prevent it.

Consider again from this angle the comedy of A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit". Chatsky, who arrived from abroad, unexpectedly notices that Sophia is not happy with him, that she has some kind of secret that determines her actions. Trying to understand the reasons for her behavior and finding himself in Famusov's house, he meets with his household and guests, resulting in a chain of episodes. The denouement comes when both Chatsky and Famusov find out what is Sophia's secret and what kind of relationship has developed in the house.

There is another contradiction in this play - antipathy towards Chatsky not only from Sophia, but also from other characters and Chatsky's dislike for them not for personal, but for ideological and moral reasons, which intensifies and accelerates the clash between Sophia and Chatsky, allowing her to attract watchful attention of his guests and call him crazy. However, this contradiction, unlike the one above, does not have a resolution in the play, it only provokes a deterioration in the relations of the characters. The denouement lies in the exposure of the personal relationships of Sophia, Famusov, Molchalin and Lisa, opening up to the eyes of Chatsky, who hears last conversation Lisa, Molchalin and Sophia, delivers the final monologue and leaves Famusov's house.

Let's take the third case and find that the beginning and end of the action do not always become the beginning and end. So, in the play by A.P. Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, the expectation of Ranevskaya's arrival and even Lopakhin's notification of the sale of her estate should hardly be called a plot. According to Ranevskaya herself, she returned to Russia due to failures in her personal life, longing for her daughter and a bad mood. She is unable to take a real part even in saving the estate, and is not very concerned about this. The greatest changes in the event of the sale of the estate threaten Varya and Firs, who live in a manor house. The rest, as can be assumed, will leave the house without experiencing a drastic change in their fate and without experiencing particularly negative emotions from parting with each other. The denouement can be considered the general emotional mood associated with the fact that the face of the earth is disappearing - the cherry orchard as a kind of historical and cultural value that there is no one to save now. It is possible that the spectators or readers feel this even more strongly than the participants in the stage action themselves.

So, in each of the considered works, some kind of life situation is presented, which unfolds and changes before the eyes of readers. But the nature of the changes is different depending on the problem, that is, on the author's understanding of the situation, which determines plot type. As could be seen, the plots of "Thunderstorm" and "Woe from Wit" have something in common in the principle of the development of the action, namely the presence of a plot, a causal relationship between episodes and a denouement. Here the action revolves around the relationship of several characters, and the relationship itself is built under the influence of an internal push, which is the complex relationship between the characters.

In other cases, in particular in The Cherry Orchard, there is no concentration of action on two or three heroes; the action involves several actually equal characters, in the fate of which, as a rule, there are no noticeable changes. As a result, there is no obvious connection here, the temporal connection between the episodes prevails, that is, they do not follow one from the other, but, as it were, adjoin one another on the basis of a chronological sequence.

These patterns in the organization of the plot and the relationship between words and actions are also traced in epic works. Among the stories and stories (the novel will be discussed below) there are those that, by the type of plot, resemble “Woe from Wit” or “Thunderstorm”, and those that are closer to “The Cherry Orchard”.

An example of stories with a fairly clear plot can be Belkin's Tales by A.S. Pushkin and in particular "The Shot", where the plot is a meeting in the regiment of Silvio and the Count, which marked the beginning of their rivalry, and then a duel, during which only one shot was fired, and the second - Silvio - remained behind him. The denouement is a new meeting of the heroes, which took place six years later ”when Silvio, having arrived at the count’s house, finally fired his shot, saw the owner’s confusion and left, having carried out his plan. In that short story there is short message about the subsequent fate of Silvio, which constitutes the epilogue.

A plot of a different type - with the absence of a pronounced plot, with weakened causal relationships between episodes, with a predominance of temporal motivations in the development of the action - is presented in many stories by A.P. Chekhov, I.A. Bunin and other writers. Let us give as an example the story of I.A. Bunin "Cold Autumn", where only two and a half pages of text reproduce the life of the heroine for thirty years. Several episodes can be distinguished in the plot of the story - the scene of the engagement of the heroes, the scene of their farewell the day after the engagement on a cold autumn evening, the departure of the groom to the front ( we are talking about the First World War) and receiving news of his death; then, on behalf of the heroine, only the main moments of her life are named and listed - marriage, the death of her husband, departure from Russia and, as a result, a lonely existence in Nice. Here, the chronicle principle in the organization of the action clearly prevails, and a sense of the integrity of the narrative is created by a dramatic tone that colors the fate of the heroine from the loss of her fiancé to the loss of Russia and all relatives.

A.P. Chekhov developed a fundamentally new for that time and very productive principle of organizing action, which can be seen in many novels and short stories of the writer. One of the most characteristic and perfect of its kind is his story "Ionych". Judging by the title, in the center of the story is the fate of the protagonist Dmitry Ionych Startsev, which is shown for about ten years, although the story about this story takes only 18 pages. However, in addition to the story about the fate of the hero, during which it is recorded how from a doctor dedicated to the treatment of patients in a zemstvo, that is, a free hospital "he turns into a practicing doctor who already owns three houses and continues to acquire new ones, here much attention is paid to the characterization of mental - the moral atmosphere in the city of S., which largely determined the nature of the hero's evolution, but which is important in itself as a symptom of the general state of Russian provincial life at the end of the last century.

The atmosphere of the city is clarified primarily on the example of the “most educated and talented” Turkin family, which includes father Ivan Petrovich, mother Vera Iosifovna and daughter Katenka, and then on the example of other residents, who are called the townsfolk by both the hero and the author. The daughter's talent consisted in the ability to play the piano loudly (which she was embarrassed to remember in a few years), the mother's giftedness consisted in writing mediocre and uninteresting novels; and the indispensability of papa as the owner of an interesting and cultured house lies in the “ability” to entertain guests with stupid anecdotes, pretentiously ridiculous jokes and catchphrases like the following: “Hello, please”; "Bonjourte"; "You don't have any Roman law... It's very perpendicular of you," repeated year after year.

As for the other inhabitants of the city, their level was below any criticism. “Startsev visited different houses and met many people ... The inhabitants irritated him with their conversations, views on life, and even their appearance. Experience taught him little by little that as long as you play cards with a layman or have a snack with him, he is a peaceful, good-natured and even intelligent person, but you just need to talk to him about something inedible, for example, about politics or science, as he gets into a dead end or leads to such a stupid and evil philosophy that it remains only to wave one's hand and move away. When Startsev tried to talk even with a liberal layman, for example, that mankind, thank God, is advancing and that in time it will do without passports and without the death penalty, the layman looked at him sideways and incredulously and asked: “So, then anyone can slaughter anyone in the street?” And Startsev avoided talking.

The need to convey the atmosphere of a provincial town, as it were, obscures the romantic events in the life of Startsev, who, in the first year of his stay in the city, fell in love with Katenka and proposed to her, but her conviction in her talent and desire to go to the conservatory forced her to refuse the offer, and that ended them. novel. After her return a few years later, the proposal was not repeated. Outwardly noticeable events and changes in the life of the hero were limited to this.

Therefore, a significant part of the plot episodes, both before and after Startsev’s romantic explanations with Katenka, are those that, in the form of everyday meetings, conversations, and evenings in the Turkins’ house, demonstrate the established, well-established structure of life in the city of S. with its inertia, mental limitations, and a real lack of culture. Dr. Startsev understands perfectly well what this life is worth, he continues to treat the sick, but does not communicate with anyone and is limited to receiving banknotes, although he is hardly satisfied with this, but he cannot imagine any other way of life, because for this it would be necessary to change the whole way of life in the city. life. The emphasis on the image of everyday life, or rather the way of life, creates a feeling of static and the absence of noticeable dynamics in the development of the action. But the tension of the narration does not weaken from this, it "feeds" on the mood that arises in the reader, the mood, mostly painted in dramatic tones, however, sometimes with an admixture of humor.

Similar life situations are reproduced in other works of Chekhov, for example, in the story "Teacher of Literature". There is also love story, the main person of which is the teacher of the gymnasium Sergey Vasilyevich Nikitin. He falls in love with Masha, the youngest daughter in the Shelestov family, which is considered one of the most intelligent, open, and hospitable in the city. The beginning of the described events refers to May, when lilac and acacia bloom, and the end - to March of the next year. Nikitin, like Startsev, is happy to communicate with this family, fascinated by Masha-Manusey - Maria Godefroy. And although the author-narrator constantly draws his attention to the oddities of life in this house, Nikitin does not yet perceive them critically. And there are many oddities.

Firstly, the house is full of cats and dogs that annoy guests, for example, by soiling their trousers or hitting their legs with a tail as hard as a stick. Daddy constantly says: “This is rudeness! Rudeness and nothing else! Sister Varya starts an argument for any reason, even when it comes to the weather, finds fault with any words and makes comments to everyone, repeating: “This is old!”; "It's flat!"; "Army sharpness!" Other inhabitants of the city are also very peculiar. The gymnasium teacher, Ippolit Ippolitich, can only think in common truths. But the director of the credit society, a certain Shebaldin, wanting to demonstrate his erudition, having learned that Nikitin had not read the Hamburg Drama of the German Scientist Lessing, was in indescribable horror: “He waved his hands, as if he had burned his fingers, and backed away from Nikitin.” Beloved Manyusya has got three cows, but does not give her husband a glass of milk at his request.

Therefore, it took Nikitin several months to understand that his happiness in marriage with Manyusya was not only ephemeral, but simply impossible, and he wanted to run away, but where? seemed very uncomfortable.

The plot episodes also differ in the degree of tension of the action. The action can develop energetically and dynamically, as in the play by A.S. Griboyedov; maybe much calmer, as in the plays of A.P. Chekhov. A similar picture takes place in narrative works. For example, in the novels of F.M. Dostoevsky's action is tense, dramatic, often mysterious, almost detective; at L.N. Tolstoy - outwardly calm and smooth. New in all cases in the course of action arise climax, i.e. points of especially strong manifestation of contradictions and a possible turn of events. So, the duel of Lensky and Onegin could lead not only to the departure of Onegin, but also to the end of the action. But it turned out to be one of the culminations, after which, according to the author's intention, the action continued to develop until new emotionally intense meetings between Onegin and Tatiana took place, which determined the denouement of their relationship and the end of the action, that is, the completion of the plot. This concludes our reflections on the plot and compositions of epic and dramatic works, proposing to think about the features of artistic speech in such works.

Artistic speech in epic and dramatic works

This paragraph clarifies the concepts: dialogue, monologue, replica, narrator's speech, and then characterizes the linguistic features that are used in artistic speech, giving it one or another appearance: emotionally colored words (neologisms, historicisms, Slavicisms, dialectisms); types of verbal allegory (metaphors, metonymy, epithets, hyperbolas, litotes); various syntactic constructions (inversions, repetitions, rhetorical questions, exclamations, appeals, etc.).

In the previous section, it was already said that dialogues and monologues, being statements of characters and at the same time episodes in the life of heroes, as a rule, are included in the plot as its components. At the same time, in the epic, the statements of the characters are accompanied by the speech of the author-narrator, and in the drama they represent a continuous dialogic-monologic chain. Therefore, in the epic we observe a complex speech structure, in which there are statements of characters that reflect the character of each of them, and the speech of the narrator, whoever he may be. It follows from this that speech itself can and should also be an object of analysis.

The speech of the characters mostly appears in the form of a dialogue, expanded, extensive or in the form of replicas. The functions of the dialogues can be different: these are messages about what is happening, and the exchange of opinions, and ways of self-expression of the characters. If the words of one character in communication with another or even other actors clearly grow, they seem to grow into a monologue. Such, for example, are Raskolnikov's statements in Crime and Punishment by F.M. Dostoevsky" when he finds himself alone with Porfiry Petrovich or Sonya. In such cases, Raskolnikov has a listener whose presence influences his speech, giving it an emotionally persuasive character:

“I need you, that’s why I came to you.

“I don’t understand,” Sonya whispered.

“Then you will understand. Didn't you do the same? You, too, stepped over ... you were able to step over. You laid hands on yourself, you ruined your life ... (it's all the same!). You could live in spirit and mind, but you will end up on the Haymarket ... But you cannot stand it, and if you are left alone, you will go crazy, like I am. You are already like a lunatic; Therefore, we should go together, on the same road. Let's go to!"

A large place is occupied in the same novel by Raskolnikov's monologues, which he utters to himself or aloud, but alone with himself: lying in a closet, wandering around St. Petersburg and comprehending his thoughts and actions. Such monologues are more emotional and less logically organized. Here is just one example of his reflections after the scene on the bridge where he witnessed the suicide of a woman. “Well, this is the outcome! he thought as he walked quietly and listlessly along the embankment of the ditch. - Still, I will finish, because I want to ... Is it the outcome, however? But still! Arshin of space will be, - heh! But what an end! Is it the end? Will I tell them or won't I? Eh… damn! Yes, and I'm tired: somewhere to lie down or sit down as soon as possible! Just ashamed, which is very stupid. Don't care about that either. Fu, what nonsense come to mind ... "

The monologic type of speech is typical for the heroes of "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy, especially for Bolkonsky and Bezukhov. Their monologues are different, depending on the situation, but, as a rule, they are not so emotional: “No, life is not over at thirty-one,” Prince Andrei suddenly decided, completely, without change. Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary that everyone knows this: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly into the sky, it is necessary that everyone knows me, so that my life goes not for me alone so that they do not live like this girl, regardless of my life, so that it is reflected in everyone and so that they all live with me together!

The heroes of Gogol's "Dead Blows" are busy with completely different problems, and their conversations are typical for the environment of the provincial nobility, about which A.S. Pushkin wrote in his novel: “Their prudent conversation // About haymaking, about wine, // About the kennel, about their relatives, // Of course, did not shine with either feeling, // Neither poetic fire, // Neither sharpness, nor mind, //No hostel art. There are such heroes in "Eugene Onegin". But there are also those in whose souls there are some impulses for the better. And these impulses pour out in Lensky into vague verses (“The world will forget me; but you // Will you come, virgin of beauty, // Shed a tear over an early urn // And think: he loved me, // He dedicated me alone // Dawn sad stormy life!..”), and Tatyana has a letter full of romantic emotions to her beloved, where she, in particular, says: “Another one! .. No, no one in the world // I would not give my heart! // That in the highest council is destined ... / Until the will of heaven: I am yours; // My whole life was a pledge // Faithful Goodbye with you; // I know you are sent to me by God; // Until the grave, you are my keeper ... ".

So, the speech of the heroes is very diverse, but its main task is to present the hero with his character and mindset. The narrator's speech is more multifaceted. As mentioned above, it is the narrator who announces everything that happens, he very often introduces himself to the situation of the action, to the appearance of the characters, he also conveys the thoughts of the characters sometimes in direct speech, quoting their dialogues and monologues, and sometimes in the form of improperly direct speech, coloring the speech of the characters with his intonation, sometimes he shares his own thoughts. Depending on the meaning of the depicted and the attitude of the author-narrator towards him, his speech can be different - more or less neutral and expressive. In most cases, the emotionality of the narrator is implicit, hidden, noticed only with careful reading. And the reason for this is the specificity of the works epic kind, which consists in recreating a figurative picture of life, that is, an objective world that consists of the external appearance of the characters, their relationships, that is, actions, deeds, the nature around them or the environment they created. The expressiveness of the narrator's speech should not obscure the expressiveness of the depicted world itself. The reader follows how the characters live, how they look, what they think, etc. The words of the author - narrator-narrator should help to achieve this particular task. But the works are different and the tasks and the writer too. Here are some examples that allow us to present different types of speech of the narrator and at the same time illustrate ways of interacting subject details different emotional significance and their verbal designation.

“Princess Helen smiled; she got up with the same unchanging smile beautiful woman with which she entered the living room. Slightly noisy with her shiny robe, trimmed with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of captivity, with the gloss of her hair and diamonds, she passed between the parted men.(“War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy). The portrait of the heroine is recreated here with the help of figurative details, in the designation of which epithets play a significant role, performing a descriptive function and devoid of additional expressiveness, including allegoricalness.

“Olga Ivanovna hung all the walls entirely with her own and other people’s sketches, framed and without frames, and near the piano and furniture she arranged a beautiful crowd of Chinese umbrellas, easels, multi-colored rags, daggers, busts ... In the dining room… hung up bast shoes and sickles, put scythes and rakes in the corner "("Jumping Girl" by A.P. Chekhov). The ironic coloring of this picture is created, firstly, by a special kind of details that are unusual for an urban living room, and secondly, by the use of expressive vocabulary (rags, busts, beautiful tightness).

“While all people were jumping from one service to another, Comrade Korotkov served in the Glavtsentrbazspimat (Main Central Base of Match Materials) as a clerk. Having warmed himself in the bed, the gentle, quiet blond Korotkov completely erased from his soul the idea that there are vicissitudes of fate in the world, and instilled in her place the confidence that he, Korotkov, would serve at the base until the end of his life on the globe.(“The Devil” by M.A. Bulgakov). The ironic intonation that prevails in this passage also arises, in particular, due to the then fashionable abbreviations (Glavtsentrbazpimat), peculiar metaphors (people jumped, etched out a thought, instilled confidence), then familiar phraseology (until the end of life on the globe).

“They are fading from memory, those years that have flown by like a roaring waterfall. Having brought down their foamy whirlpool on us, they carried us into a quiet lake, and on its sleepy surface we gradually forget the songs of the storm. Memory drops links of memories, events float away into oblivion, like water poured into a sieve."("Count Puzyrkin" B.A. Lavrenev). Sad-romantic tonality arises here, mainly due to the metaphorical nature of speech. The first one and a half phrases are a detailed metaphor, where the main concept is “years”. They are accompanied by other metaphors (songs of the storm, memory drops the links of memories, events float away), epithets (roaring waterfall, foamy whirlpool, sleepy surface), comparison. The impression is complemented by syntactic features - a kind of repetition, where the manner of speech of the narrator emerges.

So, artistic speech, whether it is the speech of characters in epic and drama or the speech of the narrator in epic works, manifests itself in a variety of forms and variations. This presupposes and determines the consideration of certain linguistic features that form one or another character of speech. These features include: the choice of words that can be neutral and emotional, their use in direct and figurative meanings, giving them different sound colors, as well as the ability to create certain syntactic constructions. Let's consider some cases, using examples from different types of works.

I. Words used in the literal sense are neutral (child, house, eyes, fingers) and emotionally colored (child, dwelling, eyes, fingers). Emotional coloring is achieved in different ways:

a) the use of words with diminutive and augmentative suffixes: soldier, bride, house (“By the way: Larina is simple, // But a very sweet old woman” - A.S. Pushkin);

b) attracting slavicisms, i.e. words, phraseological units and individual elements in the composition of the word of Old Slavonic origin, an indicator of which is the use of non-vowel forms (“Show off, hail Petrov, and stop // Unshakable, like Russia”; “Where, where have you gone, // My spring golden days" - A.S. Pushkin; "You coldly you press to my lips // Your silver rings”; “Now follow me, my reader, / To the sick capital of the north, / To a distant Finnish shore"- A.A. Block);

d) use dialectisms, in other words, linguistic features characteristic of territorial dialects (" Dozhzhok now for the greens - the first thing "; "She rushed run"- I.A. Bunin);

e) the inclusion of obsolete words, i.e. words that have gone out of active use, exist in a passive stock and are mostly understandable to native speakers, among which there are different historicisms, which have fallen into disuse due to the loss of the concepts they denoted, and archaisms, or words that name existing realities, but for some reason forced out of active use by synonyms (“At that time, it seemed to

road noisy and brilliant cavalcade: ladies in black and blue Amazons, gentlemen in costumes that make up a mixture of Circassian and Nizhny Novgorod” - M.Yu. Lermontov; “Well, have you finally decided on something? cavalry guard will you be or a diplomat? – L.N. Tolstoy; "The organ grinder accompanied ... a girl, about fifteen" dressed as young lady, v crinoline, v mantle, in gloves "- F.M. Dostoevsky; " fingers light as a dream // My zenitz he touched. // opened up prophetic apples, // Like a frightened eagle" - A.S. Pushkin);

f) the use and inclusion in the text of borrowed words, colloquial words and expressions (put, sentence, kilometer, radiculitis, delov), jargon (vidak, cool, party) etc.

2 When using words and figurative meaning, various forms of allegorism arise, among which the main ones are:

a) metaphor, or a word in a figurative sense. It occurs when in the mind of a poet or any person there is an assimilation, a correlation of different, but somewhat similar objects, phenomena, states, and, due to their similarity, the replacement of the name of one with the name of another. In a line from a poem by A.S. Pushkin “A bee from a wax cell flies for tribute in the field”) the honeycomb is called a cell, and the collection of pollen is a tribute. One type of metaphor is personification, where inanimate phenomena are likened to living ones (“October has already come”, “Already the sky was breathing in autumn” - A.S. Pushkin);

b) metonymy. It arises as a result of replacing something with something, but, unlike a metaphor, not on the basis of similarity, but on the basis of connection, dependence, adjacency of objects, their parts, as well as phenomena, states. Let us give examples from the works of A.S. Pushkin, "All flags will visit us" means all countries and ships. Or: “And the brilliance, and the noise, and the talk of balls, and at the hour of the idle feast, the hiss of foamy glasses and punch, the blue flame,” - of course, the noise and talk of people and the hiss of wine are implied;

v) hyperbola, i.e., an exaggeration (“A rare bird will fly to the middle of the Dnieper” - N.V. Gogol;

G) litotes, i.e., an understatement (“A man with a marigold” - NA. Nekrasov);

e) irony, i.e., the use of a word or expression in the opposite sense (“There was, however, the color of the capital; // Both to know and fashion samples, // Faces encountered everywhere, // Necessary fools” - A.S. Pushkin) and etc.

3. Syntactic constructions also contain a number of expressive possibilities. Among them:

a) inversion, i.e., a violation of the usual word order (“At that time, Eugene came home from the guests young"; "The dawn rises in the darkness cold" - A.S. Pushkin);

b) repeats of one and the same word, a group of words, or entire syntactic periods (“I love mad youth, // Both tightness, and brilliance, and joy, // And I will give a thoughtful outfit”; With a firm, quiet, even gait // Four passed steps, // Four mortal steps "- A.S. Pushkin);

v) rhetorical questions, appeals, exclamations(“Dreams, dreams! Where is your sweetness ?; “Enemies! How long have they been apart // Their bloodlust divorced?” - A.S. Pushkin).

4. Expressive role is played by epithets, i.e. artistic definitions. They differ from logical ones, denoting the necessary quality that separates one object or phenomenon from another (“Who is there in a raspberry beret talking to the Spanish ambassador?”) In that they single out and emphasize some kind of sign with an emotional purpose (“And before younger the capital faded old Moscow"; " humble sinner, Dmitry Larin).

Narrative and dramatic works can be written in verse, that is, in rhythmically organized speech (Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, Woe from Wit, Shakespeare's tragedies), but this does not happen often.

Artistic image

In this paragraph, the concept of "artistic image" is substantiated in relation to the concepts of "hero", "character" and "character", it is shown that its specificity is in it.

At the end of the conversation about epic and dramatic works, let's try to introduce one more concept - artistic image- and explain what it means and in what case it is used in the analysis of works. It is advisable to consider this concept, putting it on a par with the concepts of character (hero) - character (type) - image. These three words really denote different facets of the same phenomenon, therefore, in the scientific and teaching practice they are often used as synonyms, which is not always justified. The character can walk, talk, fall in love - it's quite natural. But in relation to the image, such word usage is unacceptable. As for character, it is often replaced by the concept of an image when they say, for example, “the image of Pechorin”, meaning the character of Pechorin or some other hero. Such a replacement is more reasonable, since the use of both the image and character emphasizes the generalization inherent in the hero or artistic character. However, such a substitution of concepts is by no means always justified, and here is why.

The concepts of "character" and "characteristics", as mentioned above, are intended to denote and fix the presence of some common, recurring features in the appearance of both people and heroes that appear or are exposed in their appearance, behavior, manner of speaking and thinking. The presence in the literary dictionary of the concept of “image” implies that this or that hero (character), be it Pechorin, Bezukhov, Oblomov, Raskolnikov or Melekhov, being a generalized and at the same time a specific person that can be imagined and imagined, was created by an artist with using artistic media. For a painter, such means are pencil, watercolor, gouache, oil, canvas, paper, cardboard, etc.; for a sculptor, plaster, stone, marble, wood, cut, hammer, etc.; for a writer, the word. In this case, the word appears as if in three functions. First, the word, as we have already seen, is a component of dialogues and monologues, that is, the statements of the characters; secondly, a means of recreating the external and internal appearance of the characters, their behavior, portrait, domestic environment, landscape; thirdly, the method of transferring the author's comments and remarks.

The concept of the image refers primarily to the characters of epic and dramatic works (lyric will be discussed in the next chapter). It should not be forgotten that the characters are not real faces, and similar to them or very close (if we are talking about historical and memoir literature), they have developed in the mind and imagination of the artist and are depicted in the work with the help of artistic means available to literature, which were discussed in the section on the specifics of the meaningful form of epic and dramatic works .

If animals, birds, plants appear as characters, then they, as a rule, personify people and their individual properties. Therefore, as already mentioned, the habits of animals are taken into account in Krylov's fables (the cunning of foxes, the curiosity of monkeys, the habit of wolves to attack lambs, etc.), but the characteristic human relations and thereby creates an allegorical-figurative picture of human weaknesses.

Often they talk about collective images: the image of Russia, the image of the people, the image of the city, etc. This is possible, but it must be borne in mind that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba city, country, etc. is made up of impressions that are born as a result of the perception of individual characters , as well as the situation, the atmosphere that is created by the same characters by the narrator. Consequently, an artistic image is a concrete and at the same time generalized person or the whole picture having emotional meaning and reproduced with the help of words.

Security questions

name literary genera and tell how their origin is explained.

What is characteristic and how does it differ from typical?

What are the differences and, conversely, how do topics, problems and ideas come together?

What are the types of emotional orientation? Give a description of the categories: dramatic, tragic, heroic, romantic, comic and irony.

What is the specificity of humor and satire?

What is an artistic image? What are the signs of an artistic image in epic and dramatic works?

What is a content form?

What concepts are used to refer to different aspects of the artistic form of a literary work?

Describe the plot, portrait, interior, landscape.

What forms of characters' statements do you know?

What is the relationship between dialogues, monologues and plot action?

What is the composition of an epic work?

Who can be the narrator in an epic work?

What is the difference between the structure of narrative and dramatic works?

What is the difference between the literary text of a dramatic work and a play?

What verbal devices determine the specifics of the speaker's speech?

How do the objective world and verbal fabric correlate in an epic work?

II

Lyric work

This paragraph substantiates the specifics of a lyrical work, in connection with which the following concepts are introduced: the subjective world, the lyrical hero, the lyrical experience, the lyrical motive, the types of lyrical works.

Another (third) type of literature is lyrical works, which are often identified with poems, while poetry is only one of the signs of a lyrical work. In addition, the poetic type of speech is found both in epic and dramatic works, and lyrics can exist in the form of prose (for example, I.S. Turgenev's "Russian Language").

Lyrical works differ from epic and dramatic works in volume and structural appearance. The main person with whom we meet in lyrical works is called lyrical hero. The lyrical hero also has character, but his character is revealed not in actions and deeds, as in an epic work, but in thoughts and emotions. The main purpose and originality of the lyrics is that it conveys to us thoughts, feelings, emotions, moods, thoughts, experiences, in a word, the internal, subjective state of the individual, which, using a generalized concept, is often called lyrical experience.

The inner, subjective state of the lyrical hero can manifest itself in different ways. In some cases (let's call it conditionally the first type of lyrics) a stream of emotions or reflections of a lyrical hero passes directly in front of the reader, which is close to the author or adequate to him, as in the poems “The Thought” or “Both Boring and Sad” by M.Yu. Lermontov, “Love, hopes of quiet glory” or “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands” by A.S. Pushkin, “I had a voice” or “I am not with those who left the earth” by A.A. Akhmatova. In these poems there are no visible or imaginary pictures, there are almost no reports of the facts of personal or social life. The lyrical hero of "Duma" shares his emotionally colored reflections, which follow each other, obeying the logic of thought. He is concerned about the mental and moral appearance of his generation, and at the same time, it is clearly the best part of it, to which, apparently, the poet ranks himself:

So I pray for your liturgy

After so many agonizing days.

To cloud over dark Russia

Became a cloud in the glory of rays.

The generality of this with the previous poem by Lermontov lies in the fact that here the statement of the lyrical hero is a monologue, a description of the state of mind, and not external facts or events.

Let's remember the poems second type, such as "Village", "Liberty", "Prophet", "Autumn" AS. Pushkin, "Sail", "On the Death of a Poet", "Dagger" by M.Yu. Lermontov, “On valor, on exploits, on glory” by A.A. Blok, “Letter to Mother” by S.A. Yesenin and many others. Each of them contains some facts, events, descriptions of nature. Let us first pay attention to the “Sail” by M.Yu. Lermontov, in which the first two lines of each stanza reproduce some kind of picture (“The sail is whitening ...”, “Waves are playing - the wind is whistling ...”, “Under it a stream is brighter than azure ...”), and the second two convey a state of mind (“What is looking for is he in a distant country?", "Alas! He is not looking for happiness...", "But he, rebellious, asks for a storm..."). Here, the pictorial and lyrical beginnings are rhythmically combined. In other cases, the relationship between these principles is more complex.

In the poem "To the Death of a Poet" are called and mentioned different facts associated with the death of the poet (evil slander, a murderer thrown into Russia by the will of fate, a poet praised by Pushkin and smitten, like him, by a society that does not tolerate other people's glory and freedom), but all these facts do not constitute a complete picture, then there is a plot, they appear as if torn, fragmentary and are, in essence, an occasion, a stimulus, material for lyrical reflection and experience. "The poet is dead!" - exclaims M.Yu. Lermontov, and after a few lines repeats: “He was killed, why sobs now,” - in neither case detailing the circumstances of Pushkin’s death, but seeing his goal in conveying the emotional and mental state that arose in connection with the death of the poet.

Third type lyrical works, which include "Borodino" by M.Yu. Lermontov, "Anchar" A.S. Pushkin, "Reflections at the front door" N.A. Nekrasov, “To Comrade Netta, a steamboat and a man” by V.V. Mayakovsky, arises when a more or less complete picture is recreated in a poem. However, even here, the main emotional charge is not the facts themselves, but the thoughts and moods they give rise to, and therefore it is hardly worth seeing in the soldiers having a conversation before the Borodino battle, in the slave sent for poison, in the peasants standing at the entrance of the St. nobles, in Theodor Nett, whose name the ship is named after, the characters and try to comprehend their characters as such. Therefore, it must be borne in mind that the lyrical hero should be considered not the person about whom it is said, but the one who, as it were, speaks, thinks (remembers). Let's take another example - a poem by N.A. Nekrasov "In Memory of Dobrolyubov", which recreates the image of an ascetic, patriot, devoted to his work, a pure and honest worker - Dobrolyubov and expresses the attitude of the poet himself towards him. The lyrical hero here is not Dobrolyubov Nekrasov, who, through admiration for the life of his friend and colleague, managed to convey the worldview and mindset of the democratic intelligentsia of his time.

And here is an example from the work of A. A. Akhmatova - the poem "About poetry":

In this text, there are no external hints of the emotional state of the lyrical heroine, but behind everything that has been said, there is an extreme mental and spiritual tension that occurs at the moment of poetic creativity.

So, in the lyrics one must see thoughts, feelings, emotions, moods, experiences, thoughts, in a word, the internal state of a person. Such a person is most often a poet who shares his experiences that arose in connection with some circumstances of his life. It is no coincidence that researchers-biographers strive to find out or guess these circumstances. But even when the experience was born on the basis of the vicissitudes of the poet's personal life, it can turn out to be close and understandable to other people. For example, a feeling of joy and at the same time sorrow in a poem by A.S. Pushkin “My first friend, my priceless friend”, dedicated to the arrival of his friend I. Pushchin in Mikhailovskoye, as well as memories of past love in the poems “I loved you”, “I remember a wonderful moment” by A.S. Pushkin or "I met you" by F.I. Tyutchev are in tune with many people. And this means that in poetic experiences there is a generalization, that is, a characteristic.

Let us give another example from A.A. Akhmatova "My husband whipped me patterned", proving that the lyrical hero and the author are not necessarily identical.

Husband whipped me patterned

Double folded belt.

For you in the casement window

I sit with fire all night.

The content of the lyrical work

This paragraph clarifies the idea of ​​the essence of a lyrical work by explaining the structure of the lyrical content, in particular the meaning of the motive as a source of lyrical experience; the main provisions are confirmed by the analysis of individual poems different poets, in particular N.A. Nekrasov.

Consideration of a lyrical work, as well as an epic one, implies an analytical approach and a conditional allocation of content and form. The state of mind recreated in the lyrics is always generated by something, provoked or conditioned. In other words, emotional reflection or mood has some reason or source, indicated in the work itself or hidden in the mind of the poet. After reading a poem by A.S. Pushkin's "Flower?", one can imagine the mechanism of the emergence of lyrical experience. Recall his first lines:

As for the essence of topics and motives, they include a variety of thoughts and aspects of people's lives, nature, and society as a whole. For example, historical events (“Borodino” by M.Yu. Lermontov), ​​the state of the country (“Motherland” by M.Yu. Lermontov, “Russia” by A.A. Blok, “Love, Hope, Quiet Glory” by A.S. Pushkin) , the fate of poetry (“Prophet” by A.S. Pushkin, “Prophet” by M.Yu. Lermontov, “Poet and Citizen” by N.A. Nekrasov, “Muse” by A.A. Akhmatova), departed or true love (“I loved you", "I remember a wonderful moment" by A. S. Pushkin, "I'm sad because I love you" by M. Yu. Lermontov, "About valor, about deeds, about glory" by A. A. Blok), friendship (“My first friend, my priceless friend”, “In the depths of Siberian ores” by A.S. Pushkin, “In memory of A.I. Odoevsky” by M.Yu. Lermontov), ​​the life of nature (“Autumn” by A.S. Pushkin, "Autumn" by S.A. Yesenin), etc.

But themes and motifs always give rise to one or another emotional state or reflection. Due to this, the lyrical content is an alloy of motives with the emotional reflection, reflection, mood generated by them.

Of course, motives can intertwine and cause complex, ambiguous thoughts and moods. So, in the poem mentioned above by M.Yu. Lermontov's "On the Death of a Poet" we catch both the pain and suffering caused by the death of the poet, and frank hatred for the murderer, who did not see a national genius in Pushkin, and admiration for the talent of the great poet, and anger at the reaction to this death of the conservative part of society. Let us give another example - a poem by S.A. Yesenin "Letter to mother"; where the poet remembers his mother, imagines her appearance (“That you often go on the road // In an old-fashioned shushun”), understands the reason for her sadness, anxiety, anxiety, inspires a sense of calm, recalls his tenderness and love for her (“I still as gentle"), speaks of his desire to return to native home, but he realizes that this is only a dream, that he himself has become different - changed, disillusioned, lonely and hoping only for "help and joy" of maternal love. Naturally, when reading a poem, an emotional state of bitterness, longing, disappointment arises, combined with warmth, tenderness, a feeling of inner concern for a loved one.

Let's try to imagine the originality of the lyrical hero and the motives and moods characteristic of him on the material of N.A. Nekrasov.

A feature of the poetry of N.A. Nekrasov is her ultimate depiction. People and pictures that have become the subject of lyrical experiences appear before the reader very visibly, clearly, almost like in epic works. Therefore, when analyzing Nekrasov's poetry, the question often arises: what is more important and essential - the reproduction of various pictures and situations, similar to those given in "Reflections at the front door" and "Railway", or the experiences of a lyrical hero? Both the facts described here and the emotional reaction to them turn out to be significant. However, it is no coincidence that N.A. Nekrasov calls the poem not "At the front door", but "Reflections at the front door", thereby aiming the reader's attention at the lyrical type of content.

What worries the lyrical hero N.A. Nekrasov? Firstly, the life of the author himself, his personal suffering and thoughts about a difficult childhood, the death of his mother (“Motherland”), a difficult poetic fate (“My poems, living witnesses”), loneliness in his declining years (“I will die soon”) , self-doubt ("Knight for an hour").

But in most other works, the poet's lyrical hero is preoccupied with thoughts not about himself, but about the people around him. At the same time, he focuses on the poor, destitute, unfortunate of his contemporaries, whose fate becomes the subject of his constant thoughts. Among them are disenfranchised peasants, railroad builders, a poor mother who has nothing to bury her child (“Am I driving down a dark street at night”); a village grandfather who is destined for a bleak fate ("Troika"), a sick peasant who is not able to clean his field ("Uncompressed strip").

Feelings for the humiliated and sympathy for them turned his gaze to those of his contemporaries whom he called people's intercessors and who devoted their lives to caring for the welfare of the people. So there are verses in which N.A. Nekrasov recalls the fate of Belinsky, admiring his virtues (“A naive and passionate soul, / In whom beautiful thoughts boiled”) and suffering from the oblivion of his memory; expresses his respect for Chernyshevsky, who, in his words, "sees the impossibility of serving the good without sacrificing himself." He also dedicates deeply tender lines to Dobrolyubov (“Mother nature, if only such people // You sometimes did not send the world, // The field of life would die out”). The poet considered it possible to include himself among the people's intercessors: “I dedicated the lyre to my people. // Perhaps I will die, unknown to him. // But I served him and my heart is calm.”

Did not disregard N.A. Nekrasov and the theme of poetry ("The Poet and the Citizen", "Yesterday at one o'clock" and others). Recreating the image of the Muse, he compares her with the peasant woman who was tortured by the executioners: “And I said to the Muse: look! // Your own sister.

Reflecting on the motives of N.A. Nekrasov, it should be said that along with civil lyrics, he also has poems dedicated to friends, women whom he met and loved (“We are stupid people”, “I don’t like your irony”).

The moods that the lyrical hero shares are rarely joyful and optimistic, his lyrics are full of bitterness and sadness. It is precisely this mood that is evoked by thoughts of a hungry family, of an unharvested field, of unfortunate peasants, of workers tortured on the railroad, of fellow intellectuals who died of illness, like Belinsky and Dobrolyubov, or cut off from normal life, like Chernyshevsky and Shevchenko.

At the same time, it was Nekrasov who tried to find a reason to inspire joy and hope in his contemporaries. Most often it was when his thoughts turned to children - smart, talented, thirsty for knowledge ("Schoolboy", "Peasant Children"), or to those who gave their strength to art - Gogol, Turgenev, Shevchenko and others.

Content form of a lyrical work

This paragraph shows the specificity of the artistic image in a lyrical work, explains how its specificity, generalization and what artistic means form the structure of a lyrical work. In this regard, the concept of composition, verbal organization is clarified, the concept of rhythmic organization and its components is introduced - the type of verse (tonic, syllabic, syllabo-tonic, free, dolnik), foot, size (trochee, iambic, dactyl, amphibrach, anapaest), rhyme, rhyme, stanza.

Having comprehended the specifics of a lyrical work, in particular the question of what is its meaning and content, let's think about what is the specificity of the image in lyrics and by what means is it created?

In epic and dramatic works, the image is associated with the character, and the necessary qualities of the image are generalization, emotionality and concreteness. Let's see if these qualities are manifested in the lyrics, and if so, how exactly. The specificity, that is, generalization, of lyrical experiences was mentioned above. Here is another fragment from a poem by A. S. Pushkin, which can serve as a model generalizations experiences conveyed in the lyrics, since the emotional statement present here is undoubtedly dear to many people:

Two feelings are wonderfully close to us -

In them finds the heart I write:

In lyrics. As already noted, inner world a person cannot be seen or even imagined. Meanwhile, emotional reflections or states always belong to some person - and in this sense one can speak of concreteness. Therefore, it is no coincidence that when perceiving many poems, there is a feeling of momentary experiences that visited the lyrical hero, as, for example, in the poem by A.A. Fet:

Leaning back in my chair, I look at the ceiling

Where, to the delight of the imagination.

Above the lamp is a quiet hanging circle

Turns like a ghostly shadow.

All of the above indicates that the lyrics also have their own image - image-thinking, image-experience, image-state. By what means is it reproduced?

In a lyrical work, one should not look for the name of the lyrical hero, the place and time of the emergence of thought-experience.

The text of a lyrical poem may contain portrait sketches, as, for example, in the poems of A.S. Pushkin: “You appeared before me, // How fleeting vision, // Like a genius of pure beauty" or "Girlfriend of my harsh days, // My decrepit dove", - but they refer to the person that arose in the memories or momentary thoughts of the lyrical hero and became a source of thought-experience.

As already noted, in lyrical works we rarely find a detailed course of events, here individual facts are more often called, sometimes events that are not always externally connected and often do not form a consistent line. At the same time, certain facts, events, circumstances, actions, memories and impressions mentioned in the text of the poem, as a rule, are interspersed with thoughts and emotions, which we tried to show using the example of the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "Sail". The change of such layers testifies to movement, dynamics, and thus to compositions lyric text. At the heart of the composition, as a rule, is the course of thought or experience of the lyrical hero, a chain of thoughts and emotions, on which facts and impressions are strung.

Let's look at this with one more example, remembering the poem by A.S. Pushkin "Do I Wander Along the Noisy Streets" It consists of eight quatrains. The main thought that permeates the entire text is the thought of the finiteness of life (“We will all descend under the eternal vaults”). She determines the sequence of pictures that replace each other (“I caress the sweet baby”, “I look at the solitary oak”), and then reflections about “where fate will send death”, about what is “closer to the sweet limit // I would like to rest all the same”, and that the departure of one person does not mean the end of life in general (“And let the young life play at the coffin entrance, // And the eternal nature // Shine with eternal beauty).

The composition of a lyrical work is largely determined by verbal moments, such as rhythm, rhyme, syntactic features and strophic organization.

As already mentioned, any speech, including artistic speech, is made up of words in their direct meaning, of words and expressions in a figurative meaning; words are combined into syntactic constructions that have certain features, and if we have poems in front of us - in rhythmically organized periods. Due to the fact that a lyrical work is a reflection of the emotional and mental, internal state of the lyrical hero, his verbal organization is extremely emotional. Let us illustrate this with the example of A.S. Pushkin " Winter evening”, where the sad state of a person living in the wilderness, cut off from the big world and comforting himself with work and communication with his nanny is conveyed. The poem is written in the form appeals to the nanny, which is repeated four times over four stanzas - quatrains. Present here emotionally colored vocabulary(shack, old woman, girlfriend), when describing nature appear personifications(“The storm covers the sky with darkness, // Twisting snow whirlwinds”, “The heart will be merrier”) and personifying comparisons(“Like a beast, she will howl, // Then she will cry like a child, // Then on the dilapidated roof // Suddenly she will rustle with straw, // Like a belated traveler, // She will knock on our window”). In addition, there are epithets, including personifying (poor youth, dilapidated shack, good girlfriend).

The emotional saturation of the text is also created due to syntactic features, which include the use of repetitions of one word("let's pour out") repetitions of the whole structure(“Like a beast, she will howl, // Then she will cry like a child”), repetitions at the beginning of the lines, that is anaphora(“The way a beast ... The way a traveler ... That is on the roof ...”), inversions(“along the dilapidated roof”, “belated traveler”, “snow whirlwinds”, “howling storms”), rhetorical questions and appeals(“What are you, my old woman, silent at the window?” or “Let's drink from grief, where is the mug?”). These questions do not require and do not require an answer, but allow you to strengthen a particular thought or mood.

The emotional nature of speech is intensified and its rhythmic organization: used in this case trochee- two-syllable meter with stress on odd syllables in the stanza:

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It is preferable to start the analysis of the drama with the analysis of a small fragment of it, an episode (phenomena, scenes, etc.). The analysis of an episode of a dramatic work is carried out practically according to the same scheme as the analysis of an episode of an epic work, with the only difference that the reasoning should be supplemented with an analysis of the dynamic and dialogic compositions of the episode.

So,
ANALYSIS OF THE EPISODE OF A DRAMATIC WORK

1. The boundaries of the episode are already defined by the very structure of the drama (the phenomenon is separated from other components of the drama); name the episode.
2. Describe the event underlying the episode: what place does it take in the course of the development of the action? (Is this an exposition, a climax, a denouement, an episode in the development of the action of the whole work?)
3. Name the main (or only) participants in the episode and briefly explain:
   • Who are they?
   • what is their place in the system of characters (main, title, secondary, off-stage)?
4. Reveal the features of the beginning and ending of the episode.
5. Formulate a question, a problem that is in the center of attention:
   • author; characters.
6. Identify and characterize the theme and contradiction (in other words, a mini-conflict) underlying the episode.
7. Describe the characters in the episode:
   • their attitude to the event;
   • to the question (problem);
   • to each other;
   • briefly analyze the speech of the participants in the dialogue;
   • make an analysis of the author's remarks (explanations for speech, gestures, facial expressions, postures of the characters);
   • identify the features of the behavior of characters, the motivation of actions (author's or reader's);
   • determine the alignment of forces, grouping or regrouping of heroes depending on the course of events in the episode.
8. Characterize the dynamic composition of the episode (its exposition, plot, climax, denouement; in other words, according to what scheme the emotional tension develops in the episode).
9. To characterize the dialogical composition of the episode: what is the principle of covering the theme of the dialogue?
10. Understand the author's attitude to the event; correlate it with the climax and the idea of ​​the whole work as a whole; determine the attitude of the author to the problem.
11. Formulate the main idea (author's idea) of the episode.
12. Analyze the plot, figurative and ideological connection of this episode with other episodes of the drama.

Now let's move on to complex analysis of a dramatic work. The success of this work is possible only if you understand the theory of the dramatic kind of literature (see topic number 15).

So,
1. The time of creation of the work, the history of the idea, a brief description of the era.
2. The connection of the play with any literary direction or cultural era (antiquity, renaissance, classicism, Enlightenment, sentimentalism, romanticism, critical realism, symbolism, etc.). How did the features of this trend appear in the work? one
3. Type and genre of a dramatic work: tragedy, comedy (of manners, characters, positions, cloak and sword; satirical, everyday, lyrical, buffoonery, etc.), drama (social, everyday, philosophical, etc.), vaudeville, farce, etc. Specify the meaning of these terms in the reference literature.
4. The specifics of the organization of the action of the drama: division into actions, scenes, acts, phenomena, etc. Author's original components of the drama (for example, "dreams" instead of acts or actions in M. Bulgakov's drama "Running").
5. Playbill of the play (characters). Features of names (for example, "speaking" names). Main, secondary and off-stage characters.
6. Peculiarities dramatic conflict: tragic, comic, dramatic; social, everyday, philosophical, etc.
7. Features of dramatic action: external - internal; "on stage" - "behind the stage", dynamic (actively developing) - static, etc.
8. Features of the composition of the play. The presence and specificity of the main elements: exposition, an increase in emotional tension, a conflict and its resolution, a new increase in emotional tension, culminations, etc. How are all the "sharp points" (especially emotional scenes) works? What is the composition of the individual components of the play (acts, actions, phenomena)? Here it is necessary to name specific episodes that are these "sharp glasses" of action.
9. The specifics of creating dialogue in a play. Features of the sound theme of each character in dialogues and monologues. (A brief analysis of the dialogic composition of one episode of your choice).
10. The theme of the play. Leading themes. Key episodes (scenes, phenomena) that help to reveal the theme of the work.
11. The problem of the work. Leading issues and key episodes(scenes, phenomena), in which the problems are especially acutely stated. The author's vision of solving the problems posed.
12. The specifics of the author's remarks explaining:
    • actions of characters (play of actors);
    • stage setting, costumes and scenery;
    • the mood and idea of ​​a scene or phenomenon.
    • The specificity of the author's position, expressed through remarks.
13. Meaning of the play's title.

Literature. Recommendations
"Analysis of a Dramatic Work".
It is preferable to start the analysis of the drama with the analysis of a small fragment of it, an episode (phenomena, scenes, etc.). The analysis of an episode of a dramatic work is carried out practically according to the same scheme as the analysis of an episode of an epic work, with the only difference that the reasoning should be supplemented with an analysis of the dynamic and dialogic compositions of the episode.
So,
ANALYSIS OF THE EPISODE OF A DRAMATIC WORK
The boundaries of the episode are already defined by the very structure of the drama (the phenomenon is separated from other components of the drama); name the episode.
Describe the event underlying the episode: what place does it take in the course of the development of the action? (Is this an exposition, a climax, a denouement, an episode in the development of the action of the whole work?)
Name the main (or only) participants in the episode and briefly explain:
Who are they?
what is their place in the system of characters (main, title, secondary, off-stage)?
Reveal the features of the beginning and ending of the episode.
Formulate a question, a problem that is in the center of attention:
author; characters.
Identify and characterize the theme and contradiction (in other words, a mini-conflict) underlying the episode.
Describe the characters in the episode:
their attitude to the event;
to the question (problem);
to each other;
briefly analyze the speech of the participants in the dialogue;
make an analysis of the author's remarks (explanations for speech, gestures, facial expressions, postures of the characters);
identify the features of the behavior of characters, the motivation of actions (author's or reader's);
determine the alignment of forces, grouping or regrouping of heroes depending on the course of events in the episode.
Characterize the dynamic composition of the episode (its exposition, plot, climax, denouement; in other words, according to what scheme the emotional tension develops in the episode).
To characterize the dialogical composition of the episode: what is the principle of covering the theme of the dialogue?
Understand the author's attitude to the event; correlate it with the climax and the idea of ​​the whole work as a whole; determine the attitude of the author to the problem.
Formulate the main idea (author's idea) of the episode.
Analyze the plot, figurative and ideological connection of this episode with other episodes of the drama.
Now let's move on to a comprehensive analysis of the dramatic work. The success of this work is possible only if you understand the theory of the dramatic kind of literature (see topic number 15).
So,
The time of creation of the work, the history of the idea, a brief description of the era.
The connection of the play with any literary movement or cultural era (antiquity, Renaissance, classicism, Enlightenment, sentimentalism, romanticism, critical realism, symbolism, etc.). How did the features of this trend appear in the work?
Type and genre of a dramatic work: tragedy, comedy (of manners, characters, positions, cloak and sword; satirical, everyday, lyrical, buffoonery, etc.), drama (social, everyday, philosophical, etc.), vaudeville, farce, etc. Specify the meaning of these terms in the reference literature.
The specifics of the organization of the action of the drama: division into actions, scenes, acts, phenomena, etc. Author's original components of the drama (for example, "dreams" instead of acts or actions in M. Bulgakov's drama "Running").
Playbill of the play (characters). Features of names (for example, "speaking" names). Main, secondary and off-stage characters.
Features of the dramatic conflict: tragic, comic, dramatic; social, everyday, philosophical, etc. Features of dramatic action: external - internal; "on stage" - "behind the stage", dynamic (actively developing) - static, etc. Features of the composition of the play. The presence and specificity of the main elements: exposition, an increase in emotional tension, a conflict and its resolution, a new increase in emotional tension, culminations, etc. How are all the "sharp points" (especially emotional scenes) of the work connected? What is the composition of the individual components of the play (acts, actions, phenomena)? Here it is necessary to name specific episodes that are these "sharp glasses" of action.
The specifics of creating dialogue in a play. Features of the sound theme of each character in dialogues and monologues. (A brief analysis of the dialogic composition of one episode of your choice).
The theme of the play. Leading themes. Key episodes (scenes, phenomena) that help to reveal the theme of the work.
The problem of the work. Leading problems and key episodes (scenes, phenomena), in which the problems are especially acutely stated. The author's vision of solving the problems posed.
The specifics of the author's remarks explaining:
actions of characters (play of actors);
stage setting, costumes and scenery;
the mood and idea of ​​a scene or phenomenon.
The specificity of the author's position, expressed through remarks.
Meaning of the play's title.
1. This point is revealed if such features are clearly expressed in the work (for example, in the classic comedies by D. Fonvizin or in A. Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit", which combined the features of three directions at once: classicism, romanticism and realism).
Recommendations for the topic theory >>
When analyzing a dramatic work, you will need the skills that you received when performing tasks on the analysis of an episode of a work.
Be careful, strictly adhere to the analysis plan.
Topics 15 and 16 are closely related to each other, so the successful completion of the work is possible only with a detailed study of theoretical materials on these topics.
You should read those works of art that can be considered within the framework of this topic, namely:
A.S.Griboyedov. Comedy "Woe from Wit"
N. Gogol. Comedy "Inspector"
A.N. Ostrovsky. Comedy "Own people - let's settle!"; dramas "Thunderstorm", "Dowry"
A.P. Chekhov. The play "The Cherry Orchard"
M. Gorky. The play "At the Bottom"

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