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The purpose of the lesson: to introduce students to the milestones of Gorky's biography and work; show the features of Gorky's romanticism. To trace how the writer's intention is revealed in the composition of the stories.
Methodical techniques: abstract, lecture, analytical conversation, expressive reading.
Lesson equipment: portrait and photographs of A.M. Gorky of different years.
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During the classes.
- The water word of the teacher.
The name of Alexei Maksimovich Gorky (Peshkov) is known to everyone in our country. Several generations have studied his work with school bench. Certain ideas have developed about Gorky: he is the founder of the literature of socialist realism, the "petrel of the revolution", a literary critic and publicist, the initiator of the creation and the first chairman of the Union of Writers of the USSR.
- Abstract on the biography of Gorky.
- Characteristics of the early stage of the writer's work.
Gorky's early stories are of a romantic nature.
Romanticism is a special type of creativity, a characteristic feature of which is the display and reproduction of life outside the real-concrete connections of a person with the surrounding reality, the image of an exceptional personality, often lonely and not satisfied with the present, striving for a distant ideal and therefore in sharp conflict with society, with people .
In the center of Gorky's narrative, there is usually a romantic hero - a proud, strong, freedom-loving, lonely person, a destroyer of the sleepy vegetation of the majority. The action takes place in an unusual, often exotic setting: in a gypsy camp, in communion with the elements, with the natural world - the sea, mountains, coastal rocks. Often the action is transferred to legendary times.
Distinctive features of Gorky's romantic images are proud disobedience to fate and impudent love of freedom, integrity of nature and heroism of character. The romantic hero strives for unrestricted freedom, without which there is no true happiness for him and which is often dearer to him than life itself. Romantic stories embody the writer's observations of the contradictions of the human soul and the dream of beauty.
For a romantic consciousness, the correlation of character with real life circumstances is almost unthinkable - this is how the most important feature of the romantic world is formed: the principle of romantic duality. The ideal world of the hero is opposed to the real, contradictory and far from the romantic ideal. The confrontation between the romantic and the world around him is a fundamental feature of this literary movement.
Such are the heroes of Gorky's early romantic stories.
The old gypsy Makar Chudra appears before the reader in a romantic landscape.
Give examples to prove this.
The hero is surrounded by “cold waves of the wind”, “the darkness of the autumn night”, which “shuddered and, timidly moving away, opened for a moment on the left - the boundless steppe, on the right - the endless sea”. Let's pay attention to the animation of the landscape, to its breadth, which symbolizes the boundlessness of the hero's freedom, his inability and unwillingness to exchange this freedom for anything.
The main character of the story “Old Woman Izergil” (1894) also appears in a romantic landscape: “The wind flowed in a wide, even wave, but sometimes it seemed to jump over something invisible and, giving rise to strong impulses, fluttered the women’s hair into fantastic manes that billowed around them. heads. It made women strange and fabulous. They moved farther and farther away from us, and night and fantasy dressed them more and more beautifully.
In the story "Chelkash" (1894), the seascape is described several times. In the light of the hot sun: “The waves of the sea, clad in granite, are suppressed by huge weights sliding along their ridges, they beat against the sides of ships, against the shores, they beat and grumble, foamed, polluted with various rubbish.” And on a dark night: “thick layers of shaggy clouds were moving across the sky, the sea was calm, black and thick as butter. It breathed a damp, salty aroma and sounded kindly, splashing on the sides of the ships, on the shore, slightly rocking Chelkash's boat. Dark hulls of ships rose from the sea to a distant expanse from the shore, thrusting sharp dreams into the sky with multi-colored lanterns on top. The sea reflected the lights of the lanterns and was dotted with a mass of yellow spots. They fluttered beautifully on his velvet, soft, matte black. The sea slept with a healthy, sound sleep of a worker who was very tired during the day.
Let us pay attention to the detailed metaphorical nature of Gorky's style, to the bright sound writing.
It is in such a landscape - seaside, night, mysterious and beautiful - that Gorky's heroes can realize themselves. It is said about Chelkash: “On the sea, a wide, warm feeling always rose in him, covering his whole soul, it cleansed him a little from worldly filth. He appreciated this and liked to see himself as the best here, among water and air, where thoughts about life and life itself always lose - the first - sharpness, the second - the price. At night it rushes over the sea soft noise his sleepy breath, this immense sound pours calmness into the soul of a person and, gently taming her evil impulses, will give birth to mighty dreams in her ... "
- A conversation on the romantic stage of M. Gorky's work.
What are the main character traits of Gorky's romantic heroes?
(Makar Chudra carries in his character the only principle that he considers most valuable: the desire for freedom. The same principle is in the character of Chelkash with “his ebullient, nervous nature, greedy for impressions.” The author introduces Chelkash to the reader as follows: “old poisoned wolf, well familiar to the people of Havana, an inveterate drunkard and a clever, bold thief. hallmark Izergil is her confidence that all life was subordinated to love for people, but freedom was above all for her.
The heroes of legends, the old women Izergil - Danko and Larra - also embody a single trait: Larra is extreme individualism, Danko is an extreme degree of self-sacrifice in the name of love for people.)
What is the motivation of the characters?
(Danko, Rada, Zobar, Chelkash are in their essence, they are from the very beginning.
Larra is the son of an eagle, embodying the ideal of strength and will. Let's pay attention to the unusualness and sonority of the names of the characters.
The action of the legends takes place in ancient times - it is as if the time that preceded the beginning of history, the era of first creations. Therefore, in the present there are traces directly related to that era - these are the blue lights left from Danko's heart, the shadow of Lara, which Izergil sees, the images of Rada and Loiko Zobar, woven before the narrator's gaze in the darkness of the night.)
What is the meaning of opposing Danko and Lara?
(Larra is likened to a mighty beast: “He was dexterous, predatory, strong, cruel and did not meet people face to face”; “he had no tribe, no mother, no livestock, no wife, and he did not want any of this” Over the years, it turns out that this son of an eagle and a woman was deprived of a heart: "Larra wanted to plunge a knife into himself, but the knife broke - they hit him like a stone. The punishment that befell him is terrible and natural - to be a shadow:" He does not understand a single word people, not their actions – nothing.” The image of Lara embodies an anti-human essence.
Danko carries inexhaustible love for those who were like animals, like wolves that surrounded him, so that it would be easier for them to capture and kill Danko. One desire possessed them - to displace darkness, cruelty, fear of the dark forest from their consciousness, from there "something terrible, dark and cold looked at the walking ones." Danko's heart caught fire and burned to dispel the darkness not only of the forest, but also of the soul. The saved people did not pay attention to the proud heart that fell nearby, and one cautious person noticed this and, being afraid of something, stepped on the proud heart with his foot.
Let's think about what a cautious person was afraid of.
Let's note the symbolic parallels: light and darkness, sun and marsh cold, fiery heart and stone flesh.
Selfless service to people is opposed to Lara's individualism and expresses the ideal of the writer himself.)
V. Conversation.
The composition (construction of a work of art) is subordinated to one goal - to most fully reveal the image of the protagonist, who is the spokesman for the author's idea.
How are the images of the characters revealed in the composition?
(The composition of “Makar Chudra” and “Old Woman Izergil” is a story within a story. This technique is often found in literature. Telling the legends of their people, the heroes of the stories express their ideas about people, about what they consider valuable and important in life. They seem to create coordinates by which one can judge them.
Portrait characteristics play an important role in the composition. The portrait of Rada is given indirectly. We learn about her extraordinary beauty from the reaction of the people she struck. (Description of Rada.) The proud Rada rejected both the money and the proposal to marry the magnate. Pride and beauty are equal in this heroine.
But the portrait of Loiko is drawn in detail. (Description of Loiko.)
- What is the conflict in the work and how is it resolved?
(Telling about the love of Rada and Loiko, Makar Chudra believes that this is the only way a real person should perceive life, the only way to save their own freedom. The conflict between love and pride is resolved by the death of both -
no one wanted to submit to a loved one.)
(The image of the narrator is one of the most inconspicuous, he usually remains in the shadows. But the look of this person, traveling around Russia, meeting different people, is very important. The perceiving consciousness (the hero-narrator) is the most important subject of the image, the author's criterion expressions of the author's position. The interested look of the narrator selects the most striking characters, the most significant, from his point of view, episodes and talks about them. This is the author's assessment - admiration for strength, beauty, poetry, pride.)
(In “Old Woman Izergil”, the author collides in the legends the ideal expressing love for people, and self-sacrifice, and the anti-ideal, individualism taken to the extreme. These two legends, as it were, frame the story of the life of the old woman Izergil herself. Condemning Lara, the heroine thinks that her fate is closer to Danko - she is also dedicated to love. But from the stories about herself, the heroine appears rather cruel: she easily forgot her former love for the sake of a new one, left the people she once loved. Her indifference is striking.)
What role does the portrait of the Old Woman Izergil play in the composition?
(The portrait of the heroine is contradictory. From her stories, one can imagine how good she was in her youth. But the portrait of the old woman is almost disgusting, anti-aesthetic features are deliberately forced. (Description of the Old Woman.) The features of the portrait of Lara bring these heroes together. (Description of Lara.).)
What is the relationship between romanticism and realism in the story?
(The autobiographical hero is the only realistic image in Gorky's early romantic stories. His realism lies in the fact that the typical circumstances of Russian life in the 1890s were reflected in his character and fate. The development of capitalism led to the fact that millions of people, many of which they made up an army of tramps, vagabonds, torn off from their past life and unable to find a place for themselves in the new conditions Gorky's autobiographical hero belongs to such people.)
How does the composition reveal the image of a romantic hero in the story "Chelkash"?
(Formally, the story consists of a prologue and three parts. The prologue outlines the scene - the port: “The ringing of anchor chains, the rumble of the clutches of wagons carrying cargo, the metallic shriek of iron sheets falling from somewhere on the pavement stone, the dull thud of wood, the rattling of cab carts, the whistles of steamships, now dull roaring, the screams of loaders, sailors and customs soldiers - all these the sounds merge into the deafening music of a working day…”.Let us note the techniques by which this picture is created: first of all, sound writing (assonances and alliterations) and non-union, which gives dynamism to the description.)
What is the role of the portrait of the characters in the story?
(The portrait of the hero in the first part reveals his character: “dry and angular brushes covered with brown skin”; “tousled black hair with gray hair”; “crumpled, sharp, predatory face”; “long, bony, slightly stooped”; with “humped , predatory
nose" and "cold gray eyes". The author directly writes about his resemblance “to the steppe hawk with his predatory thinness and this aiming gait, smooth and calm in appearance, but internally excited and vigilant, like the years of that bird of prey that he resembled.”)
What is the meaning of the word "predator"?
(Let's pay attention to how many times the epithet "predatory" was encountered. Obviously, it reveals the essence of the hero. Let's recall how often Gorky likens his heroes to birds - an eagle, a falcon, a hawk.)
What is the role of Gabriel in the story?
(Chelkash is contrasted with Gavrila, a rustic rustic guy. The portrait of Gavrila is built in contrast with the portrait of Chelkash himself: “childish Blue eyes"look" trustingly and good-naturedly ", the movements are clumsy, the mouth is now wide open, then" slaps its lips. Chelkash feels himself the master of the life of Gavrila, who has fallen into his wolf paws, and paternal feeling is mixed in with this. Looking at Gavrila, Chelkash recalls his village past: "He felt lonely, torn out and thrown out forever from the order of life in which the blood that flows in his veins was developed.")
When does the denouement of the story "Chelkash" take place?
(In the third part, in the dialogue between Chelkash and Gavrila, it finally becomes clear how much this different people. For the sake of profit, the cowardly and greedy Gavrila is ready for humiliation, for crime, for murder: he almost killed Chelkash. Gavril causes contempt, disgust in Chelkash.Finally, the author breeds the characters as follows: Gavrila “took off his wet cap, crossed himself, looked at the money clutched in his palm, breathed freely and deeply, hid it in his bosom and with wide, firm steps walked along the coast in the direction opposite to the one where Chelkash disappeared”.)
VI Questions on the early romantic stories of M. Gorky.
- How do you understand the principle of "romantic duality" in Gorky's work?
- What are the features of the landscape in Gorky's early romantic stories? What is the role of the landscape?
- How do you understand the words of the heroine of Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil": "And I see that people do not live, but everyone tries on"?
- What was the “cautious man” from the story “Old Woman Izergil” afraid of, stepping foot on Danko’s “proud heart”?
- What literary characters can be compared with this "cautious person"?
- What is the ideal of a person in Gorky's early romantic stories?
- What, in your opinion, is the meaning of the opposition of Gorky's heroes - Chelkash and Gavrila?
- What do you see as the features of Gorky's romanticism?
Pystina Lidia Mitrofanovna
teacher of Russian language and literature
school-gymnasium No. 9
The work of A. M. Gorky in the 11th grade begins with the study of the early romantic works of the writer. It is more expedient to start the educational process by checking the knowledge of the text of the stories included in this cycle. This test will help you.
Test
Early romantic works of A. M. Gorky
Name a piece that starts like this
A. "Old Woman Izergil"
V. "Makar Chudra"
S. "Song of the Falcon"
D. "Song of the Petrel" -
1. “Wet blew from the sea, cold wind, spreading across the steppe the thoughtful melody of the splash of a wave running ashore ... "
2. "I heard these stories near Akkerman, in Bessarabia, on the seashore."
3. "The sea - huge, sighing lazily near the shore - fell asleep and motionless in the distance, bathed in the blue glow of the moon"
4. "Over the gray plain of the sea, the wind gathers clouds."
II. Distribute heroes by works
Gavrila
Danko
radda
Loiko Zobar
Larra
stupid penguin
A. Chelkash
V. "Makar Chudra"
S. "Song of the Falcon"
D. "Old Woman Izergil"
E. "Song of the Petrel"
III. Recognize the hero by his portrait
1. "His eyes were cold and proud ... he answered if he wanted to, or was silent ..."
2. “The kid was daring! Hey! Who was he afraid of?
3. "Proudly flies ... similar to black lightning"
4. "One of those people, a handsome young man"
5. “He is this man with the clear eyes of a child…”
6. "... an old Crimean shepherd, tall, gray-haired, burned by the sun, dry and wise ..."
A. "Konovalov"
V. "Makar Chudra"
S. "Song of the Falcon"
D. "Old Woman Izergil"
E. "Song of the Petrel"
IV. Determine which character the words belong to
1. “You are going, well, go your own way, without turning to the side. Go straight ahead."
2. "I have the courage to lead, that's why I led you"
3. “Brother! Forgive me! .. the devil is me ... "
4. "Every person is his own master, and no one is to blame if I'm a scoundrel"
5. “I see that each person has only speech, arms and legs ... and he owns animals, women, the earth ...”
6. "I was never a slave, no one"
7. “What else do you want? You did your job… go!”
8. “I also love freedom! Will ... I love ... more ... "
A. Rudda
V. Danko
S. Chelkash
D. Makar Chudra
E. Gavrila
I. Konovalov
K. Old woman Izergil
N. Larra
V. Indicate the hero who in the "Song of the Petrel" pronounces these words: "Let the storm break more strongly!"
A. Seagulls
V. Gagary
C. Prophet of Victory
D. Penguin
VI. Indicate the hero of which work is Nadyr - Rahim - ogly
A. "Song of the Petrel"
V. "Chelkash"
S. "Konovalov"
D. "Song of the Falcon".
VII. Distribute quotes characterizing life philosophy
A. Uzha
V. Falcon
1. "Born to crawl - can't fly! .."
2. "I lived a good life! .. I know happiness! .. I fought bravely! ..."
3. "Oh the happiness of the battle! .."
4. "Earth of creation - I live on the earth"
5. "... in the song of the brave and strong in spirit, you will always be a living example"
6. “Fly or crawl, the end is known: everything will fall into the ground, everything will be dust ...”
VIII. Indicate which character is not in the "Song of the Petrel"
A. Stupid penguin
B. Proud swallow
C. rushing seagulls
D. Proud Petrel
IX. Find a piece that ends like this.
A. “And on the deserted seashore there was nothing left in the memory of the little drama that played out between people”
V. “... and they will drag the soul high into the dark blue abyss, from where the quivering patterns of the stars will also sound towards it with the wondrous music of revelation ...”
S. “And they both circled in the darkness of the night smoothly and silently, the handsome man could not ... catch up with the proud one ...”
D. "Let the storm come on!"
E. “But we both parted with the certainty that we would meet. Didn't have to…”
K. “It was quiet and dark in the steppe. Clouds were crawling across the sky, slowly, boringly ... The sea was noisy and muffled.
one . "Makar Chudra"
2. "Song of the Falcon"
3 . "Old Isergil"
four . "Song of the Petrel"
5 . "Chelkash"
6. "Konovalov"
X. Match the characters according to the principle of antithesis
A. Chelkash 1. Already
V. Danko 2. Penguin
S. Falcon 3. Larra
D. Burevestnik 4. Gavrila
XI. Indicate which hero in the "Song of the Petrel" A. Gorky calls the "black demon"
A. Seagulls
V. Gagary
S. Burevestnik
XII. Name a hero who was "the son of an eagle and a woman"
A. Chelkash
V. Gavrila
S. Danko
D. Larra
XIII. Name the work in which the characters read "Stenka's Revolt"
A. "Spouses Orlov"
V. "Chelkash"
S. "Konovalov"
D. "Grandfather Arkhip and Lyonka"
XIV. Indicate the hero about whom it is said: “This is how a man was struck for pride!”
A. Konovalov
V. Chelkash
S. Loiko Zobar
D. Larra
E. Danko
XV. Indicate the work that A. M. Gorky attributed to the genre of the poem
A. "Konovalov"
V. "Makar Chudra"
S. "Song of the Falcon"
D. "Twenty-six and one"
E. "Old Woman Izergil".
Keys
A - 2
IN 1
C - 3
D - 4
1 - A
2 - D
3 - B
4 - B
5 - D
6 - C
7 - E
1 - D
2 - B
3 - E
4 - D
5 - A
6 - B
1 - D
2 - B
3 - E
4 - And
5 - H
6 - K
7 - C
8 - A
A - 1 4 6
B - 2 3 5
A - 5
IN 2
C - 1
D - 4
E - 6
K - 3
A - 4
AT 3
C - 1
D 2
List of used literature
Gorky M. Stories. Moscow: "Fiction". 1983 - 448s.
The work of the early Gorky should not be reduced only to romanticism: in the 1890s. he created both romantic and realistic works in style (among the latter, for example, the stories "Beggar", "Chelkash", "Konovalov" and many others). Nevertheless, it was precisely the group of romantic stories that was perceived as a kind of calling card of the young writer, it was they that testified to the arrival in literature of a writer who stood out sharply against the background of his predecessors.
First of all, the type of hero was new. Much in Gorky's heroes made us recall the romantic literary tradition. This is the brightness, the exclusivity of their characters, which distinguished them from those around them, and the drama of their relationship with the world of everyday reality, and the fundamental loneliness, rejection, mystery for others. The Gorky romantics make too strict demands on the world and the human environment, and in their behavior they are guided by principles that are "insane" from the point of view of "normal" people.
Two qualities are especially noticeable in Gorky's romantic heroes: this is pride and strength, forcing them to contradict fate, to boldly strive for unlimited freedom, even if one has to sacrifice one's life for freedom. It is the problem of freedom that becomes the central problem of the writer's early stories.
Such are the stories "Makar Chudra" and "Old Woman Izergil". In itself, the poeticization of freedom-loving is a feature that is quite traditional for the literature of romanticism. It was not fundamentally new for Russian literature and the appeal to the conventional forms of legends. What is the meaning of the conflict in Gorky's early romantic stories, what are the specific Gorky signs of its artistic embodiment? The originality of these stories is already in the fact that the source of conflict in them is not the traditional confrontation between "good" and "evil", but the clash of two positive values. Such is the conflict between freedom and love in Makar Chudra, a conflict that can only be resolved tragically. Loving each other, Radda and Loiko Zobar value their freedom so much that they do not allow the thought of voluntary submission to a loved one.
Each of the heroes will never agree to be led: the only role worthy of these heroes is to dominate, even if we are talking about mutual feeling. “Will, Loiko, I love you more than you,” says Radda. The exclusivity of the conflict lies in the complete equality of equally proud heroes. Not being able to conquer his beloved, Loiko at the same time cannot give up on her. Therefore, he decides to kill - a wild, "crazy" act, although he knows that by doing so he sacrifices pride and his own life.
The heroine of the story “Old Woman Izergil” behaves in a similar way in the sphere of love: feelings of pity or even regret recede before the desire to remain independent. “I was happy ... I never met after those whom I once loved,” she tells the interlocutor. “These are not good meetings, it’s all the same with the dead.” However, the heroes of this story are involved not only and not so much in love conflicts: it is about price, meaning and various options for freedom.
The first option is represented by the fate of Larra. This is another “proud” person (such a characterization in the mouth of the narrator is more of a praise than a negative assessment). The story of his "crime and punishment" receives an ambiguous interpretation: Izergil refrains from a direct assessment, the tone of her story is epicly calm. The verdict is entrusted to the nameless "wise man":
«– Stop! There is a punishment. This is a terrible punishment; you won't invent something like that in a thousand years! His punishment is in himself! Let him go, let him be free. Here is his punishment!
So, the individualistic freedom of Larra, not enlightened by the mind, is the freedom of exclusion, which turns into its opposite - the punishment of eternal loneliness. The opposite "mode" of freedom is revealed by the legend of Danko. With his position “above the crowd”, his proud exclusivity, and finally, his thirst for freedom, at first glance, he resembles Larra. However, the elements of similarity only emphasize the fundamental difference between the two "freedoms". Danko's freedom is the freedom to take responsibility for the team, the freedom to selflessly serve people, the ability to overcome the instincts of self-preservation and subordinate life to a consciously defined goal. The formula “in life there is always a place for a feat” is an aphoristic definition of this freedom. True, the ending of the story about the fate of Danko is devoid of unambiguity: the people saved by the hero are assessed by Izergil in no way complimentary. Admiring the daredevil Danko is complicated here by a note of tragedy.
The central place in the story is occupied by the story of Izergil herself. The framing legends about Larra and Danko are deliberately conditional: their action is devoid of specific chronological or spatial signs, attributed to indefinite antiquity. On the contrary, the story of Izergil unfolds against a more or less specific historical background (in the course of the story, well-known historical episodes are mentioned, real toponyms are used). However, this dose of reality does not change the principles of character development - they remain romantic. The life story of the old woman Izergil is the story of meetings and partings. None of the heroes of her story is awarded a detailed description - the characterization of the characters is dominated by the metonymic principle (“a part instead of the whole”, one expressive detail instead of a detailed portrait). Izergil is endowed with character traits that bring her closer to the heroes of legends: pride, rebelliousness, disobedience.
Like Danko, she lives among people, for the sake of love she is capable of a heroic deed. However, in her image there is no integrity that is present in the image of Danko. After all, a series of her love interests and the ease with which she parted with them evokes associations with the antipode of Danko - Larra. For Izergil herself (namely, she is the narrator), these contradictions are invisible, she tends to bring her life closer to the model of behavior that makes up the essence of the final legend. It is no coincidence that, starting with a story about Larra, her story rushes to the "pole" of Danko.
However, in addition to Izergil's point of view, the story also expresses another point of view, which belongs to that young Russian who listens to Izergil, occasionally asking her questions. This persistent character in Gorky's early prose, sometimes referred to as "passing", is endowed with some autobiographical signs. Age, range of interests, wandering around Russia bring him closer to the biographical Alexei Peshkov, therefore, in literary criticism, the term “autobiographical hero” is often used in relation to him. There is also another version of the terminological designation - "author-narrator". You can use any of these designations, although from the point of view of terminological rigor, the concept of "the image of the narrator" is preferable.
Often, the analysis of Gorky's romantic stories comes down to a conversation about conditional romantic heroes. Indeed, the figures of Radtsa and Loiko Zobar, Larra and Danko are important for understanding Gorky's position. However, the content of his stories is wider: the romantic plots themselves are not independent, they are included in a more voluminous narrative structure. Both in "Makar Chudra" and "Old Woman Izergil" legends are presented as stories of old people who have seen the life of old people. The listener of these stories is the narrator. From a quantitative point of view, this image occupies little space in the texts of stories. But for understanding the author's position, its significance is very high.
Let us return to the analysis of the central plot of the story "Old Woman Izergil". This segment of the narrative - the story of the heroine's life - is in a double frame. The inner frame is made up of legends about Larra and Danko, told by Izergil herself. External - landscape fragments and portrait characteristics of the heroine, reported to the reader by the narrator himself, and his short remarks. The outer frame determines the spatio-temporal coordinates of the "speech event" itself and shows the narrator's reaction to the essence of what he heard. Internal - gives an idea of the ethical standards of the world in which Izergil lives. While Izergil's story is directed towards the Danko pole, the narrator's mean statements make important adjustments to the reader's perception.
Those short remarks with which he occasionally interrupts the old woman's speech, at first glance, are purely official, formal in nature: they either fill in the pauses or contain harmless "clarifying" questions. But the direction of the questions itself is revealing. The narrator asks about the fate of the “others”, the life companions of the heroine: “Where did the fisherman go?” or “Wait! .. Where is the little Turk?”. Izergil is inclined to talk primarily about herself. Her additions, provoked by the narrator, indicate a lack of interest, even indifference to other people ("Boy? He died, boy. From homesickness or from love ...").
It is even more important that in the portrait description of the heroine given by the narrator, features are constantly recorded that associatively bring her closer not only to Danko, but also to Larra. Speaking of portraits. Note that both Izergil and the narrator act as "portrait painters" in the story. The latter seems to deliberately use in his descriptions of the old woman certain signs that she endowed the legendary heroes, as if “quoting” her.
The portrait of Izergil is given in the story in some detail (“time bent her in half, her once black eyes were dull and watery”, “the skin on the neck and arms is all wrinkled”, etc.). Appearance of the legendary heroes is presented through characteristics snatched out separately: Danko - "a handsome young man", "a lot of strength and living fire shone in his eyes", Larra - "a handsome and strong young man", "only his eyes were cold and proud".
The antithetical nature of the legendary heroes is already set by the portrait; however, the appearance of the old woman combines the individual features of both. "I am like Sunshine, she was alive ”- a clear parallel with Danko; “dry, chapped lips”, “wrinkled nose, curved like an owl’s beak”, “dry ... skin” - details that echo the features of Larra’s appearance (“the sun dried up his body, blood and bones”). Particularly important is the common motif of the “shadow” in the description of Larra and the old woman Izergil: Larra, having become a shadow, “lives for thousands of years”; the old woman - "alive, but dried up by time, without a body, without blood, with a heart without desires, with eyes without fire - is also almost a shadow." Loneliness turns out to be the common fate of Larra and the old woman Izergil.
Thus, the narrator by no means idealizes his interlocutor (or, in another story, Makar Chudra's interlocutor). He shows that the consciousness of a "proud" person is anarchic, not enlightened by a clear idea of the price of freedom, and his love of freedom itself can take on an individualistic character. That is why the final landscape sketch sets the reader up for concentrated reflection, for the oncoming activity of his consciousness. There is no straightforward optimism here, the heroism is muted - the pathos that dominated the final legend: “It was quiet and dark in the steppe. Clouds were all crawling across the sky, slowly, boringly ... The sea rustled muffled and sad. The leading principle of Gorky's style is not spectacular external depiction, as it might seem if only "legends" would fall into the reader's field of vision. The inner dominant of his work is conceptuality, the tension of thought, although this quality of style in his early work is somewhat “diluted” with stylized folklore imagery and a tendency to external effects.
The appearance of the characters and the details of the landscape background in Gorky's early stories are created by means of romantic hyperbolization: spectacularity, unusualness, "excessiveness" are the qualities of any Gorky image. The very appearance of the characters is depicted in large, expressive strokes. Gorky does not care about the pictorial concreteness of the image. It is important for him to decorate, highlight, enlarge the hero, draw the reader's attention to him. The Gorky landscape is created in a similar way, filled with traditional symbolism, permeated with lyricism.
Its stable attributes are the sea, clouds, moon, wind. The landscape is extremely conditional, it plays the role of a romantic scenery, a kind of screen saver: “... the dark blue patches of the sky, adorned with golden specks of stars, shone affectionately.” Therefore, by the way, within the same description, the same object can be given contradictory, but equally catchy characteristics. So, for example, the initial description of the moonlit night in "Old Woman Izergil" contains color characteristics that contradict each other in one paragraph. At first, the "disk of the moon" is called "blood-red", but soon the narrator notices that the floating clouds are saturated with the "blue glow of the moon."
The steppe and the sea are figurative signs of the infinite space that opens up to the narrator in his wanderings in Russia. The artistic space of a particular story is organized by correlating the boundless world and the “meeting point” of the narrator with the future narrator (the vineyard in “Old Woman Izergil”, the place by the fire in the story “Makar Chudra”) allocated in it. In the landscape painting, the words “strange”, “fantastic” (“fantasy”), “fabulous” (“fairy tale”) are repeated many times. Pictorial accuracy gives way to subjective expressive characteristics. Their function is to represent the "other", "alien", romantic world, to oppose it to a dull reality. Instead of clear outlines, silhouettes or "lace shadow" are given; lighting is based on the play of light and shadow.
The external musicality of speech is also palpable in the stories: the flow of the phrase is leisurely and solemn, replete with a variety of rhythmic repetitions. The romantic "excessiveness" of the style is also manifested in the fact that nouns and verbs are entwined in the stories with "garlands" of adjectives, adverbs, participles - a whole series of definitions. This stylistic manner, by the way, was condemned by A.P. Chekhov, who in a friendly way advised the young writer: “... Cross out, where possible, the definitions of nouns and verbs. You have so many definitions that the reader finds it difficult to understand and gets tired.
In Gorky's early work, "excessive" colorfulness was closely connected with the attitude of the young writer, with his understanding of real life as a free play of unfettered forces, with the desire to bring a new, life-affirming tone to literature. Subsequently, the style of M. Gorky's prose evolved towards greater brevity of descriptions, asceticism and accuracy of portrait characteristics, syntactic balance of the phrase
Tale of M. Gorky "About the siskin who lied, and about the woodpecker - the lover of truth"
In the fairy tale “About the sissy who lied, and about the woodpecker - the lover of truth”, in which the writer tells a “very true story” about how “among the songbirds of that grove”, where pessimistic songs were sung and crows were considered “very wise birds” , suddenly other, “free, bold songs” sounded, reminiscent of a hymn to reason:
… Ignite the hearts with the fire of the mind,
And light will reign everywhere!
... Who honestly accepted death in battle,
Has he fallen and been defeated?
... Follow me, who dare! Let the darkness perish!
Homework for the lesson
1. Write out the definition of the term romanticism from the dictionary of literary terms.
2. Read the story of Maxim Gorky "Old Woman Izergil"
3. Answer the questions:
1) How many legends did the Old Woman Izergil tell?
2) What happened to the girl from the “big river country”?
3) What was the name of the son of the eagle by the elders?
4) Why, having come close to people, did Larra not defend himself?
5) What feeling gripped people lost in the forest, why?
6) What did Danko do for people?
7) Compare the characters of Danko and Larra.
8) Was Danko's sacrifice justified?
The purpose of the lesson
To acquaint students with Maxim Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil" as a romantic work; improve the skills and abilities of prose text analysis; give an idea of the romantic aesthetics of early Gorky.
teacher's word
M. Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil" was written in 1894 and first published in 1895 in Samara Newspaper. This work, like the story "Makar Chudra", belongs to the early period of the writer's work. From that moment on, Gorky declared himself as the spokesman for a special way of understanding the world and the bearer of a very specific aesthetic - romantic. Since by the time the story was written, romanticism in art had already experienced its heyday, Gorky's early work in literary criticism is usually called neo-romantic.
At home, you had to write out the definition of romanticism from the dictionary of literary terms.
Romanticism- “in the broad sense of the word, an artistic method in which the subjective position of the writer in relation to the depicted phenomena of life is dominant, his inclination is not so much to reproduce, but to re-create reality, which leads to the development of especially conditional forms of creativity (fantasy, grotesque, symbolism, etc.), to the promotion of exceptional characters and plots, to the strengthening of subjective-evaluative elements in the author's speech, to the arbitrariness of compositional connections, etc.
teacher's word
Traditionally, a romantic work is characterized by the cult of an extraordinary personality. The moral qualities of the hero are not of decisive importance. Villains, robbers, generals, kings, beautiful ladies, noble knights, murderers are at the center of the story - anyone, as long as their life is exciting, special and full of adventures. The romantic hero is always recognizable. He despises the miserable life of the townsfolk, challenges the world, often foreseeing that he will not be the winner in this battle. A romantic work is characterized by a romantic dual world, a clear division of the world into real and ideal. In some works, the ideal world is realized as the other world, in others - as a world untouched by civilization. Throughout the work, the plot development of which is concentrated on the brightest milestones in the life of the hero, the character of an exceptional personality remains unchanged. The storytelling style is bright and emotional.
Writing in a notebook
Features of a romantic piece:
1. The cult of an extraordinary personality.
2. Romantic portrait.
3. Romantic duality.
4. Static romantic nature.
5. Romantic plot.
6. Romantic landscape.
7. Romantic style.
Question
Which of the books you have read before can you call romantic? Why?
Answer
Romantic works of Pushkin, Lermontov.
teacher's word
Distinctive features of Gorky's romantic images are proud disobedience to fate and impudent love of freedom, integrity of nature and heroism of character. The romantic hero strives for unrestricted freedom, without which there is no true happiness for him and which is often dearer to him than life itself. Romantic stories embody the writer's observations of the contradictions of the human soul and the dream of beauty. Makar Chudra says: “They are funny, those your people. They huddled together and crush each other, and there are so many places on earth ... " The old woman Izergil almost echoes him: “And I see that people do not live, but everyone tries on”.
Analytical conversation
Question
What is the composition of the story "Old Woman Izergil"?
Answer
The story is in 3 parts:
1) the legend of Larra;
2) a story about the life of Izergil;
3) the legend of Danko.
Question
What is the basis for the construction of the story?
Answer
The story is based on the opposition of two characters who are carriers of opposite life values. Danko's selfless love for people and Larra's unrestrained egoism are manifestations of the same feeling - love.
Question
Prove (according to the plan in your notebook) that the story is romantic. Compare the portraits of Larra and Danko.
Answer
Larra is a young man “handsome and strong”, “his eyes were cold and proud, like those of the king of birds”. The story does not contain a detailed portrait of Larra, the author pays attention only to the eyes and the proud, arrogant speech of the “son of the eagle”.
Danko is also very difficult to visualize. Izergil says that he was a "handsome young man", one of those who always dared because he was handsome. Again Special attention the reader is drawn to the eyes of the hero, which are called eyes: "... a lot of strength and living fire shone in his eyes".
Question
Are they extraordinary personalities?
Answer
Undoubtedly, Danko and Larra are exceptional personalities. Larra does not obey the clan and does not honor the elders, goes where he pleases, does what he wants, not recognizing the right of choice for others. Talking about Larr, Izergil uses epithets that are more suitable for describing the animal: dexterous, strong, predatory, cruel.
Question
Answer
In the story “Old Woman Izergil”, the ideal world is realized as the distant past of the earth, a time that has now become a myth, and the memory of which has remained only in the legends of the youth of mankind. Only a young earth could, according to the author, give birth to the heroic characters of people possessed by strong passions. Izergil emphasizes several times that modern " miserable" such a power of feeling and greed for life are not available to people.
Question
Do the characters of Larra, Danko and Izergil develop over the course of the story, or are they initially set and unchanged?
Answer
The characters of Larra, Danko and Izergil do not change throughout the story and are interpreted unambiguously: the main and only trait of Larra's character is selfishness, the denial of any law other than will. Danko is a manifestation of love for people, while Izergil subordinated her entire existence to her own thirst for pleasure.
Question
Which of the events described by the old woman can be considered unusual?
Answer
Both stories told by Izergil contain a description of extraordinary events. The genre of the legend determined their original fantastic plot basis (the birth of a child from an eagle, the inevitability of a completed curse, the light of sparks from Danko's burning heart, etc.).
Work with text
Match the heroes (Danko and Larra) according to the following parameters:
1) portrait;
2) the impression made on others;
3) understanding of pride;
4) attitude towards people;
5) conduct at the time of the trial;
6) the fate of the heroes.
| Stats/Heroes | Danko | Larra |
| Portrait | Young handsome man. The beautiful are always bold; in his eyes shone a lot of power and living fire |
A young man, handsome and strong; his eyes were cold and proud, like those of the king of birds |
| The impression made on others | We looked at him and saw that he is the best of all | Everyone looked with surprise at the son of an eagle; It offended them; Then they got really angry. |
| Understanding Pride | I have the courage to lead, that's why I led you! | He answered that there were no others like him; He stood alone against all; We talked with him for a long time and finally saw that he considers himself the first on earth and sees nothing but himself. |
| Attitude towards people | Danko looked at those for whom he endured labor, and saw that they were like animals; Then indignation boiled up in his heart, but from pity for people it went out; He loved people thought that maybe without him they would die |
She pushed him away and walked away, and he hit her and, when she fell, stood with his foot on her chest; He had no tribe, no mother, no livestock, no wife, and he did not want any of this; I killed her because, it seems to me, she pushed me away ... And I needed her; And he replied that he wanted to keep himself whole |
| Behavior at the time of judgment | What have you done to help yourself? You just walked and did not know how to save strength for a longer path! You just walked, walked like a flock of sheep! | - Untie me! I won't say bound! |
| The fate of the heroes | He rushed forward to his place, holding high his burning heart and lighting the way for people with it; But Danko was still ahead, and his heart was burning, burning! |
He cannot die! - people said with joy; - He was left alone, free, waiting for death; He has no life and death does not smile at him |
Analytical conversation
Question
What is the source of Larra's tragedy?
Answer
Larra could not and did not want to compromise between his desires and the laws of society. Egoism is understood by him as a manifestation of personal freedom, and his right is the right of the strong from birth.
Question
How was Larra punished?
Answer
As a punishment, the elders doomed Larra to immortality and the inability to decide for himself whether he should live or die, they limited his freedom. People deprived Larra of what, in his opinion, it was worth living for - the right to live by his own law.
Question
What is the main feeling in Larra's attitude towards people? Support your answer with an example from the text.
Answer
In relation to people, Larra does not have any feelings. He wants "keep yourself whole" that is, to get a lot out of life without giving anything in return.
Question
What feeling is experienced by Danko, looking into the crowd of people judging him? Support your answer with an example from the text.
Answer
Looking at those for whom he, risking his life, went to the swamps, Danko is indignant, “But out of pity for the people, it went out. Danko's heart flared with the desire to save people and lead them "to the easy path".
Question
What is the function of the "cautious man" episode?
Answer
The mention of the "cautious man" is introduced into the legend of Danko in order to emphasize the exclusivity of the hero. "Cautious Man" is perceived as one of many, thus the author will determine the essence ordinary people, "not heroes" who are not capable of sacrificial impulses and are always afraid of something.
Question
What is common in the characters of Larra and Danko and what is the difference between them?
Answer
This question can lead to ambiguous answers. Students can perceive Larra and Danko as opposite characters (egoist and altruist), or interpret them as romantic characters who oppose themselves to people (for various reasons).
Question
What place does society occupy in the inner reflections of both characters? Is it possible to say that heroes exist in isolation from society?
Answer
Heroes think of themselves outside of society: Larra - without people, Danko - at the head of people. Larra “He came to the tribe, he stole cattle, girls - everything he wanted”, he "hovering around people". Danko was walking "ahead of them and was cheerful and clear".
Question
What moral law determines the actions of both characters?
Answer
The actions of the characters are determined by their own value system. Larra and Danko are their own law, they make decisions without asking the elders for advice. Proud, triumphant laughter is their answer to the world of ordinary people.
Question
What is the function of the image of the old woman Izergil in the story? How do the images of Larra and Danko relate to each other with the help of the image of the old woman Izergil?
Answer
Despite the brightness, completeness and artistic integrity of both legends, they are only illustrations necessary for the author to understand the image of the old woman Izergil. It "cements" the composition of the story both at the substantive and at the formal level. In the general narrative system, Izergil acts as a narrator, it is from her mouth that the I-character learns the story of the "son of the eagle" and the burning heart of Danko. At the level of content in the portrait of the old woman, one can find features of both Larra and Danko; in how insatiably she loved, Danko's character was reflected, and in how thoughtlessly she threw her loved ones - the seal of the image of Larra. The figure of Izergil links both legends together and makes the reader think about the problem of human freedom and his right to dispose of his life force at his own discretion.
Question
Do you agree with the saying that “in life there is always a place for a feat”? How do you understand it?
Question
Is achievement possible in every life? Does every person use this right of achievement in life?
Question
Did the old woman Izergil accomplish the feat she is talking about?
These questions do not require an unambiguous answer and are designed for independent answers.
conclusions write them down in their own notebooks.
Some of Nietzsche's philosophical and aesthetic ideas were reflected in Gorky's early romantic works. The central image of the early Gorky is a proud and strong personality, embodying the idea of freedom. "Strength is virtue", Nietzsche argued, and for Gorky, the beauty of a person lies in strength and achievement, even aimless: “A strong person has the right to be “on the other side of good and evil”, to be outside of ethical principles, and a feat, from this point of view, is resistance to the general flow of life.
Literature
D.N. Murin, E.D. Kononova, E.V. Minenko. Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11 program. Thematic lesson planning. St. Petersburg: SMIO Press, 2001
E.S. Rogover. Russian literature of the XX century / St. Petersburg: Paritet, 2002
N.V. Egorova. Lesson developments in Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11. I semester. M.: VAKO, 2005
At the beginning of the 20th century, Gorky turned to such a literary movement as romanticism. This is due to the fact that the surrounding reality oppressed the writer, he did not find real life such heroes who could become an example, a role model. Then such heroes had to be invented. He wanted to sing the feat, glorify people who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.
So in 1898 the story "Old Woman Izergil" appeared. The story can be divided into 3 parts. 1 - the legend of Larra, 2 - the old woman's story about her life, 3 - the legend of Danko. The story begins and ends with a description of the seashore, where Izergil and the author are sitting. This artistic frame connects the distant past and the present together.
In the works of romanticism, the action most often takes place near the sea, because the sea is a symbol of freedom in romanticism. With Gorky, everything happens against the backdrop of a bright southern nature. All the heroes of his romantic works are young, strong, beautiful people. Such are the features of Gorky's romantic works.
The first legend tells about the fate of Larra, the son of a girl and an eagle. He was handsome and strong, and most importantly, proud and despised people. He considered himself superior to everyone and did whatever he wanted. He killed a girl who did not want to go with him, did not consider the elders. And then they decided to punish him - to expel him from the tribe and deprive him of the opportunity to die. This freedom turned out to be a difficult test for the proud. He nevertheless returned to the people, because he wanted to die and could not. So was the punishment of a man for his pride. In this legend, Gorky debunked individualism and egoism, showed the loneliness of a person who imagines himself better than others, who believes in his exclusivity.
Part 2 is the story of the old woman about her life. Once she was young, beautiful, loved a lot, and she was loved too. The famous saying, which has become an aphorism: "In life there is always a place for a feat ..." - belongs to her. She really accomplished a feat: she helped the Poles escape from captivity, among whom was her beloved. However, she accomplished this feat for the sake of her beloved, in the name of her love. Therefore, only memories remain in her life. Strength, youth, beauty are gone, it is no coincidence that Gorky paints a portrait of Izergil in old age: she has grown old and nothing reminds of her former attractiveness.
Part 3 - the legend of Danko. It begins with a description of a dark, gloomy forest, a terrible swamp into which alien tribes drove people. People began to die. And then the brave handsome Danko came and saved everyone. He decided to lead people out of the darkness of swamps and forests, and for this he did not spare his heart. What will I do for people? Danko shouted louder than thunder. He tore his heart out of his chest and held it high above his head. It glowed like the sun, and brighter than the sun. These hyperboles (shouted stronger than thunder, blazed like the sun, and brighter than the sun) help to understand the greatness of Danko's feat, his willingness to die for the sake of others. He led the tribe out of the darkness of the swamps, saved them, and then fell and died. And then one cautious man stepped on a proud heart so that it would not burn. And now only blue sparks in the steppe remind of Danko's feat.
Danko is also called proud. But this is a different kind of pride than Larra's. His desire for independence, the desire to gain freedom himself and help others escape from the darkness of the swamps turned out to be stronger than the fear of death. He sacrificed himself without asking for anything in return. Gorky sings of such a feat.
There are many metaphors, hyperbole, vivid comparisons in the legend about Danko, which help to make the work more figurative, emotional, give solemnity and majesty to the legend. Otpodvige Gorky writes in a lofty style.
Summing up, it can be noted the following features romantic works of A.M. Gorky: an exotic landscape, bright, expressive portraits of heroes, emotional intensity of the action, an abundance of hyperbole and metaphors that give solemnity to the narrative, a tragic ending as a statement of a feat, glorification of self-sacrifice in the name of others.
