M. Gorky was formed as a person and as a writer at the end of the 19th century, simultaneously with the beginning of a new period of the liberation movement in Russia, which left a certain imprint on the entire work of the writer, especially on his early works - “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “ Chelkash", "Song of the Falcon" and others.
The main thing that characterizes Gorky's early work is a huge, sincere, burning interest in man, an ardent response to human suffering and a unique, melodic Gorky literary language. And at the same time, the writer speaks not only about the suffering of man, he believes in his creative powers, strives to find for everyone a path to happiness and freedom. It is precisely by faith in the strength of Russia, the strength of the Russian people, and the spirit of patriotism that Gorky’s romantic works are very close to the romantic lyrics of A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov, N.V. Gogol.
In the early period of creativity of A.M. On the pages of his works, Gorky introduced the reader to people wandering across the expanses of Rus'. They either confided the story of their lives to the writer, or told legends stored in popular memory. The search for the meaning of life, freedom, truth - these are the cornerstones early works author.
The central link in Gorky’s romantic works is the image of a heroic person, ready for a selfless feat. “There is always a place for exploits in life,” says the hero of the writer’s early work, the old woman Izergil. The main meaning of the author’s story of the same name lies in the old aphorism that Gorky loved to repeat: “If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, why should I?..”
main character story, the old women, Izergil, very emotionally and colorfully tells the reader two legends in which two images are contrasted - the image of Danko and the image of Larra. Both of them are strong-willed people, but Larra has all his strength only for him, and he has no high goal for which it would be worth living. And the end of his life is inglorious and pitiful. The writer contrasts this egoism with the beautiful and pure idea of a person who devotes all his strength to serving a high and noble goal and, above all, to serving the people. Danko becomes such a person. To bring his people to happiness, Danko sacrifices himself. With his heart, burning like the sun, Danko illuminated the entire forest, showed his fellow tribesmen the way to a happy and free life
Throughout the entire story, we observe the life of the old woman Izergil. The fate of the old woman clearly confirms that in a person’s life there is always a place for the struggle of two principles: good and evil, meanness and nobility, arrogance and philanthropy, Larra and Danko. In Izergil’s soul there is a lot of the strength that led to Danko’s feat. But life did not give her a glorious goal, and she wasted her strength only for herself, like Lara - why did he, what was the meaning of his life?
Gorky based the idea of heroism, elevating and ennobling, as the basis for his famous “Song of the Falcon.” The call for absolute freedom is also a call for exploits in the name of the future happiness of mankind. And this call could not be louder in this work of the writer, glorifying the image of the Falcon, eager for the “happiness of battle,” free and brave, and condemning the cowardly and pathetic Snake.
Already, without dreaming of anything, he defines the meaning of his life with the following words: “Fly or crawl, the end is known: everyone will fall into the ground, everything will be dust.” Something completely different attracts Falcon. The proud Falcon dies, and the Already, quite satisfied with his carefree existence, remains to live. In “The Song of the Falcon,” M. Gorky praises the “madness of the brave,” but this is not the intoxication of battle for the sake of battle, not a crazy and aimless waste of energy and time. In “The Song of the Falcon,” the author continues the same idea that was sung by him in the legend of Danko with his burning heart.
Drawing images of heroes in his early works, M. Gorky turned to the motifs of folk art. The traditional image of a falcon, an eagle is the basis of the “Song of the Falcon”, the image of Danko goes back to the folk myth about Prometheus - the giver of fire. When creating his short stories, the author uses genres characteristic only of folk art - a song, a legend, a fairy tale, and imparts a rhythmic character. All this clearly confirms Gorky’s inextricable connection with the Russian people; the people’s dream of a hero – the liberators – was reflected in the early work of the writer.
58. Boris Zaitsev.
Biography of Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev
Boris Zaitsev was born in 1881 in Orel, but spent his childhood in Kaluga. There he graduated from a real school and went to St. Petersburg to study at the Mining Institute. Then there was also admission to the Faculty of Law of Moscow University (did not graduate).
Zaitsev began writing at the age of 17, and soon, in 1990, he met A.P. Chekhov, and a year later entered into correspondence with V.G. Korolenko. In the same 1901, he met L.N. Andreev, who invited him to the literary circle “Sreda”, and in 1902 - with I.A. Bunin, who became his friend for many years. His literary debut took place in 1901 with the story “On the Road,” published in the Courier publication.
The writer lived in Moscow, often visiting St. Petersburg. He led an active literary and social life: he was a member of the Literary and Artistic Circle, participated in the publication of the magazine “Zori” (published for several months in 1906), was a full member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature and a member of the Society for Activities of Periodicals and Literature.
In August 1917, due to pneumonia, he went on vacation to Pritykino, where his family lived, and remained there until 1921, sometimes coming to Moscow. In 1922 he was elected chairman of the Moscow branch of the All-Russian Writers' Union. But that same year he fell ill with typhoid fever and received permission to travel abroad. By 1924, Boris Konstantinovich and his family settled in Paris, having previously lived for some time in Germany and Italy.
While living abroad, Zaitsev collaborated with the largest emigrant publications: “Modern Notes”, “Renaissance”, “Russian Thought”, “ New magazine" and others. He stood at the origins of the Icon society (1927, Paris). For many years he headed the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists and took part in the work on translating the books of the New Testament into Russian.
Died in 1972, buried in the cemetery. Buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
1. Themes of the writer’s early work.
2. Romantic hero.
3. Feat in the name of people.
They call me a household worker. Even a naturalist. But what kind of household worker am I? I am romantic.
M. Gorky
Considering the early work of M. Gorky, critics disagreed - some argued that Gorky's creative method was realism, since he adhered to naturalism in detail, others called his method romanticism. There was even a compromise name - “romantic realism” or “neorealism”. Nowadays it is customary to call characteristic feature Gorky's early work is a synthesis of romanticism and realism. Gorky himself considered himself a romantic. He transferred romantic traditions from the 19th to the 20th centuries so that in the literature of his time a hero would appear that people would follow. The writer was always worried about eternal questions - about driving forces history, the purpose of man and the meaning of life, the relationship between the individual and the collective, faith and religion, freedom and necessity, humanism and cruelty. To eradicate anger and violence from the world - that was Gorky’s goal. The revival of romanticism at this time occurred not only in Russian, but also in foreign literature. The books of that time reflected a premonition of global changes. This pushed writers to search for a romantic ideal. Gorky sang of Man with a capital M: “I don’t know anything better, more complicated, more interesting than a person. He is everything. He even created God... I am sure that man is capable of endless improvement, and all his activities will also develop with him, with him from century to century. I believe in the infinity of life, and I understand life as a movement towards the improvement of the spirit.” According to Gorky, reason and will can change a lot in life.
The early period of Gorky’s work is usually called romantic, when “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Song of the Falcon”, “Song of the Petrel” were written. These works were distinguished by a wide variety of genres - Gorky wrote stories, legends, fairy tales, and poems. All these works are united by characteristic characters. These are not people of our time - Gorky resorts to the form of legends, traditions, songs to designate the ideal of a person who still lives in the memory of people. Active fighters for justice, beautiful externally and spiritually, his freedom-loving heroes thirst for a storm, a feat, they are ready to selflessly devote their entire lives to people or give it up for the sake of a happy future for other generations.
In the story “Makar Chudra,” the writer turns to the very embodiment of freedom - the gypsies, depicts a proud romantic hero, free from everything, incapable of compromise with self-esteem. Loiko Zobar resembles a fairy-tale good fellow - handsome, daring, wise, brave. His character traits- desire for freedom, will, pride. Makar Chudra, who tells the legend, also considers the free gypsy life to be his ideal. Therefore, Loiko ultimately prefers death to life and love without freedom. Beautiful, brave and strong heroes are led to death by the conflict between the feeling of love and the desire for freedom. The death of heroes in the mouth of Makar Chudra is perceived as a triumph of life and will. The author shows that his hero had the beginnings of a fighter capable of accomplishing a feat in the name of people, but pride interferes with him.
The hero of the story “Old Woman Izergil,” the arrogant and proud Larra, the son of a woman and an eagle, finds punishment in himself: “Let him go, let him be free. This is his punishment!” Eternal loneliness is what pride leads to. The second person the old woman Izergil talks about is Danko. Like Larra, he can be called a superman, but if Larra commits a crime in the human world, then Danko, on the contrary, is a feat. He is able to lead those around him, instill in them hope and faith. This romantic hero longs to devote himself to people to such an extent that he rips his heart out of his chest to light the way for them and dies. And the heart continues to shine.
A feat in the name of people is what a romantic hero must accomplish, overcoming even their disbelief. Danko loves his fellow tribesmen, and that’s why he leads them out of darkness into the light, but they treat the hero differently, ranging from disbelief to the fact that one “cautious person” puts out his warm heart with his foot. Old woman Izergil believes that “in life there is always a place for exploits.” She herself risked her life more than once for someone. She didn't become a heroine, but every person should strive to become a better person.
In “The Song of the Falcon” the heroic personality - Falcon - encounters the world of everyday life, with the everyman Uzh. In the work we recognize the same freedom-loving romantic hero-fighter as in the stories. The falcon speaks of the happiness of battle with the enemy, of feat. He already embodies the bourgeois views on life: “Well, what about heaven? - an empty place... How can I crawl there? I feel great here... warm and damp! So Already answered the free bird and chuckled in his heart at her for these nonsense. And so I thought: “Fly or crawl, the end is known: everyone will fall into the ground, everything will be dust.”
Gorky praises the “madness of the brave,” in which there is the “wisdom of life,” says that the death of the Falcon is not in vain: “But there will be time - and drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and many brave hearts will ignite the madness thirst for freedom, light!
"Song of the Petrel" glorifies the coming revolution. The author calls the petrel a “prophet of victory,” a brave one, in whose cry “the thirst for the storm, the power of anger, the flame of passion and confidence in victory” were mixed. Black lightning, arrow, black storm demon - here it is new hero revolution. Gorky became the creator of a new direction in Russian literature - socialist realism, which he called “socialist romanticism”, and its origins are in the early works of the writer.
Famous Russian philosopher of the 20th century N.A. Berdyaev spoke about the beginning creative path M. Gorky: “Gorky appeared in literature with his refreshing words and in his first stories he was strong, original and talented. It was necessary to tell the world about the tramps and their rebellion. This new power of tramping had a dazzling effect on modern society and was successful in the most bourgeois circles... Everyone recognized that Gorky’s tramps are a rebellious and revolutionary force” (“Revolution and Culture”).
Early creativity Gorky (nineties of the 19th century) represent two streams, creative and realistic principles, merging into a single artistic whole. The writer strives to escape from the gray, everyday life into a dream and a fairy tale. He was sure that “the time has come for the need for the heroic: everyone wants something exciting, bright... that is not similar to life, but is higher than it, better, more beautiful. It is imperative that modern literature begins to embellish life a little, and as soon as it begins to do so, life will become more beautiful, that is, people will begin to live faster, brighter” (From a letter to Chekhov, 1900).
This attitude leads to the creation of a whole cycle of romantic works: “Makar Chudra”, “The Girl and Death”, “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd”, “Khan and His Son”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Song of the Falcon”.
The most important feature of Gorky’s romantic creativity is the researcher V.V. Mikhailovsky considered the image of the “beautiful world”, whose representatives are exclusively integral, bright, strong, bold natures, outlined sharply, without halftones: Loiko Zobar, Radda, the old Khan, Danko, Sokol... The writer openly admires them, it is no coincidence that the emphasis their outer beauty. Here, for example, is how the young gypsy Loiko Zobar introduces himself: “The mustache lay on his shoulders and mixed with his curls, his eyes glow like clear stars, and his smile is the whole sun, by God! It was as if he had been forged from one piece of iron along with the horse. He stands covered in blood, in the fire of a fire, and his teeth sparkle, laughing! I’ll be damned if I didn’t already love him as myself, before he said a word to me or simply noticed that I, too, live in this world.”
And here is the description of the gypsy Radda: “Do you know my Nonka? Queen-girl! Well, Radda cannot be compared with her - a lot of honor to Nonke! You can’t say anything about her, this Radda, in words. Maybe its beauty could be played on a violin, and even then to someone who knows this violin like his own soul” (“Makar Chudra”),
And here is a general portrait of Moldovans, young grape pickers: “They walked, sang and laughed; men - bronze, with lush, black mustaches and thick shoulder-length curls, in short jackets and wide trousers; the women are cheerful, flexible, with dark blue eyes, also bronze. Their hair, silky and black, was loose, the wind, warm and light, played with it, and tinkled the coins woven into it. The wind flowed in a wide, even wave, but sometimes it seemed to jump over something invisible and, giving rise to a strong gust, blew the women’s hair into fantastic manes that billowed around their heads. This made women strange and fabulous. They moved further and further from us, and night and fantasy dressed them more and more beautifully” (“Old Woman Izergil”).
The main thing in the heroes of Gorky’s early romantic works is an active attitude to life, the ability to fight for their moral ideals and defend them even at the cost of your life. And it’s not even about the death of the hero, although the motive for death in such situations is stable (Radda and Zobar die, Danko dies, Sokol dies), but about the ideas that they defend. Loiko Zobar cannot lose his honor and humiliate himself even in front of his beloved girl; dying, the Falcon dreams only of once again rising into the free space of the sky and finally fighting the enemy; At the cost of his life, Danko, tearing out a flaming heart from his chest and illuminating the way with it, leads people out of the ruined forest. But the memory of them does not die. The beautiful love story of Zobar and Radda lives in the stories of Makar Chudra; the sea composes a solemn song about the death of the proud Falcon and, roaring and hitting the coastal rocks with waves, sings it; sparks from Danko's burning heart with love for people still appear in the steppe before a thunderstorm...
The writer finds the origins of romantic art in the international folklore of the peoples of the Volga region, Crimea, Caucasus, Gypsies, Moldavians...
Nature is an indispensable part of the “beautiful world”. Nature appears as a character in a number of stories: “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Song of the Falcon”... And the story itself usually sounds in the open, merging with the freedom of the elements of the sea, steppe, wind, sky.
Here, for example, is how the story “Makar Chudra” opens: “There was a humid blow from the sea, cold wind, spreading across the steppe the thoughtful melody of the splash of a wave running onto the shore and the rustling of coastal bushes. Occasionally his gusts brought with them wrinkled, yellow leaves and threw them into the fire, fanning the flames; the darkness surrounding us autumn night shuddered and timidly moved away, revealing for a moment to the left - a limitless degree, to the right - an endless sea and right opposite me - the figure of Makar Chudra, an old gypsy...”
And the legend about Danko ends with the following description: “And so the forest parted before them, parted and remained behind, dense and silent, and Danko and all those people immediately plunged into a sea of sunlight and clean air, washed by rain. The thunderstorm was there, behind them, above the forest, and here the sun was shining, the steppe was sighing, the grass was shining in the diamonds of the rain and the river was sparkling golden... It was evening, and from the rays of the sunset the river seemed red, like the blood that flowed in a hot stream from Danko's torn chest..."
And many similar examples can be given.
A.V. Lunacharsky noted that no one before Gorky had created such a background; he “almost cannot walk to a person, begin a story or chapter of a novel without looking at the sky, without seeing what the sun, moon and stars and the whole untold palette of the heavenly are doing.” vault with the changing magic of the clouds."
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Slide captions:
Alexey Maksimovich Gorky (Peshkov) Early creativity using the example of the story “Old Woman Izergil”
Gorky's creative path began in September 1892 with the publication of the story "Makar Chudra". (at the same time his pseudonym appears) 1895. The story “Old Woman Izergil” was published. The early stories are romantic in nature.
Romanticism Displaying and reproducing life outside of the real concrete connections of a person with the surrounding reality, the depiction of an exceptional personality, often lonely and dissatisfied with the present, striving for a distant ideal and therefore in sharp conflict with society, with people.
Early romantic works “Makar Chudra”, “The Girl and Death”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Chelkash”, “Song of the Falcon”, “Song of the Petrel”, etc. At the center of the story is a romantic hero - a proud, strong, freedom-loving, lonely man, a destroyer of the bitter vegetation of the majority. The action takes place in an unusual, often exotic setting: in a gypsy camp, in communication with the elements, with the natural world. Actions are often transferred to legendary times.
“Old Woman Izergil” The heroes appear in a romantic landscape. Give examples to prove this. At what time of day do the events in the story take place? Why? What natural images could you highlight? Which artistic media did the author use in depicting nature? Why is the landscape shown in this way in the story? What is the compositional solution of the story?
Analysis of the legend of Larra Who are the main characters of the first legend? Is the story of a young man’s birth important for understanding his character? How does the hero relate to other people? A romantic work is characterized by a conflict between the crowd and the hero. What lies at the heart of the conflict between Larra and people? What is the difference between pride and arrogance. Distinguish between these words. Prove that it is pride, and not pride, that is characteristic of Larra.
What does the hero's extreme individualism lead to? What punishment did Larra suffer for his pride? Why do you think such punishment is worse than death? What is the author’s attitude to the psychology of individualism?
Analysis of the legend about Danko What are the main features of Danko? What is the basis of his actions? What act did the hero do for the sake of love for people? How is the relationship between Danko and the crowd?
CONCLUSION We see that Larra is a romantic anti-ideal, so the conflict between the hero and the crowd is inevitable. Danko is a romantic ideal, but the relationship between the hero and the crowd is also based on conflict. This is one of the features of a romantic work. ? Why do you think the story ends with the legend of Danko?
Independent work Comparison of the images of Danko and Larra. Criteria. Danko Larra 1. Attitude to the crowd 2. The crowd is the hero 3. Distinctive feature character 4. Attitude to life 5. Legend and modernity 6. Actions performed by the heroes 7. The writer’s attitude towards the heroes
Homework: Reading the play “At the Bottom”; Consider the history of the play, the genre of the work, the conflict.
On the topic: methodological developments, presentations and notes
Literature lesson in 11th grade "Early works of M. Gorky"
The material presents the development of a meta-subject lesson based on Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil", the concept of "pride" is considered on the material of the story, the concept of "pride" is introduced; samosa offered...
Life and work of Maxim Gorky. Early Romantic Stories. Problems and features of the story composition.
Purpose of the lesson: to introduce students to the milestones of Gorky’s biography and creativity; show the features of Gorky's romanticism. To trace how the writer's intention is revealed in the composition of stories. Method...
Gorky's early work amazes, first of all, with its artistic diversity, unusual for a young writer, and the bold confidence with which he creates works of different colors and poetic intonation. The enormous talent of the artist of the rising class - the proletariat, drawing powerful strength from the “movement of the masses themselves”, was revealed already at the very beginning literary work Maxim Gorky.
Speaking as a herald the coming storm, Gorky was in tune with the public mood. In 1920, he wrote: “I began my work as a stirrer of revolutionary sentiment with glory to the madness of the brave.” Exam questions and answers. Literature. 9th and 11th grades. Tutorial. - M.: AST-PRESS, 2000. - P.214. This applies, first of all, to Gorky’s early romantic works. In the 1890s. he wrote the stories “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Khan and His Son”, “Mute”, “Return of the Normans from England”, “Blindness of Love”, fairy tales “The Girl and Death”, “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd” ”, “Song of the Falcon”, “Song of the Petrel”, “Legend of Marco”, etc. All of them are distinguished by one feature, which can be defined in the words of L. Andreev: “the taste of freedom, something free, broad, bold.” Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.614. In all of them there is a motif of rejection of reality, confrontation with fate, and a daring challenge to the elements. In the center of these works is the figure of a strong, proud, courageous person, not submitting to anyone, unbending. And all these works, like living gems, shimmer with unprecedented colors, spreading a romantic glow around.
The story “Makar Chudra” is a statement of the ideal of personal freedom
The early works of Maxim Gorky center on exceptional characters, strong-willed and proud people who, in the author’s words, have “the sun in their blood.” This metaphor gives rise to a number of images close to it, associated with the motif of fire, sparks, flame, and torch. These heroes have burning hearts. This feature is characteristic not only of Danko, but also of the characters in Gorky’s first story, “Makar Chudra.” Rogover E.S. Russian literature of the twentieth century. To help school graduates and applicants: Study guide. - St. Petersburg: “Paritet”, 2002. - P.131.
The old gypsy Makar Chudra begins his story to the brooding melody of the splashing of the oncoming waves. From the very first lines, the reader is overwhelmed by a feeling of the unusual: the boundless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right, the old gypsy lying in a beautiful strong pose, the rustling of coastal bushes - all this sets the mood for a conversation about something intimate, the most important. Makar Chudra slowly talks about man’s calling and his role on earth. “A person is a slave as soon as he is born, a slave all his life and that’s it,” argues Makar. Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.18. And he contrasts this with his own: “A man will be born to know what freedom is, the expanse of the steppe, to hear the voice of the sea wave”; “If you live, then you become kings over the whole earth.”
This idea is illustrated by the legend of the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, who did not become slaves to their feelings. Their images are exceptional and romanticized. Loiko Zobar has “eyes like clear stars, and a smile like the whole sun.” Ibid., p.21. When he sits on a horse, it seems as if he was forged from one piece of iron along with the horse. Zobar's strength and beauty are not inferior to his kindness. “You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good.” Ibid., p.20. The beautiful Rada matches. Makar Chudra calls her an eagle. “You can’t say anything about her in words. Perhaps its beauty could be played on a violin, and even those who know this violin like their soul.”
The proud Rada for a long time rejected the feelings of Loiko Zobar, because will was more valuable to her than love. When she decided to become his wife, she set a condition that Loiko could not fulfill without humiliating himself. An insoluble conflict leads to a tragic ending: the heroes die, but remain free, love and even life are sacrificed to the will. In this story, for the first time, a romantic image of a loving human heart appears: Loiko Zobar, who could tear the heart out of his chest for the happiness of his neighbor, checks whether his beloved has a strong heart and plunges a knife into it. And the same knife, but in the hands of soldier Danila, strikes Zobar’s heart. Love and thirst for freedom turn out to be evil demons that destroy people's happiness. Together with Makar Chudra, the narrator admires the strength of character of the heroes. And together with him, he cannot answer the question that runs like a leitmotif through the entire story: how to make people happy and what happiness is.
In the story “Makar Chudra” two different understandings happiness. The first is in the words of the “strict man”: “Submit to God, and he will give you everything you ask.” Ibid., p.18. This thesis is immediately debunked: it turns out that God did not even give the “strict man” clothes to cover his naked body. The second thesis is proven by the fate of Loiko Zobar and the Rada: will is more valuable than life, happiness lies in freedom. The romantic worldview of the young Gorky goes back to the famous Pushkin words: “There is no happiness in the world, but there is peace and will...”
The story “Old Woman Izergil” - awareness of a person’s personality
On seashore near Akkerman in Bessarabia, the author of the legend of the old woman, Izergil, listens. Everything here is full of atmospheric love: the men are “bronze, with lush black mustaches and thick shoulder-length curls,” the women are “cheerful, flexible, with dark blue eyes, also bronze.” The author's imagination and the night make them irresistibly beautiful. Nature harmonizes with the author’s romantic mood: the foliage sighs and whispers, the wind plays with the silky hair of women.
The old woman Izergil is depicted in contrast: time has bent her in half, a bony body, dull eyes, a creaky voice. Ruthless time takes away beauty and with it love. The old woman Izergil talks about her life, about her lovers: “Her voice crunched, as if the old woman was speaking with bones.” Gorky leads the reader to the idea that love is not eternal, just as man is not eternal. What remains in life for centuries? Gorky put two legends into the mouth of the old woman Izergil: about the eagle’s son Lara, who considered himself the first on earth and wanted happiness only for himself, and about Danko, who gave his heart to people.
The images of Lara and Danko are sharply contrasting, although both of them are brave, strong and proud people. Lara lives according to the laws of the strong, to whom “everything is permitted.” He kills the girl because she did not submit to his will, and steps on her chest with his foot. Lara's cruelty is based on a sense of superiority of a strong individual over the crowd. Gorky debunks popular late XIX V. ideas of the German philosopher Nietzsche. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche argued that people are divided into strong (eagles) and weak (lambs) who are destined to be slaves. Nietzsche's apology for inequality, the idea of the aristocratic superiority of the chosen over all others were subsequently used in the ideology and practice of fascism. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.”
In the legend of Lara, Gorky shows that a Nietzschean who professes the morality “everything is permitted to the strong” awaits loneliness, which is worse than death. “His punishment is in himself,” says the wisest of people after Lara commits a crime. And Lara, doomed to eternal life and eternal wandering turns into a black shadow, dried up by the sun and winds. Condemning an egoist who only takes from people without giving anything in return, the old woman Izergil says: “For everything that a person takes, he pays with himself, with his mind and strength, sometimes with his life.”
Danko pays with his life, performing a feat in the name of people's happiness. The blue sparks that flare up at night in the steppe are the sparks of his burning heart, which illuminated the path to freedom. An impenetrable forest, where giant trees stood like a stone wall, the greedy mouth of a swamp, strong and evil enemies gave birth to fear in people. Then Danko appeared: “What will I do for people,” stronger than thunder Danko shouted. And suddenly he tore his chest with his hands and tore his heart out of it and raised it high above his head. It burned as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun, and the whole forest fell silent, illuminated by this torch. great love to people, and the darkness was scattered from its light...”
As we have seen, the poetic metaphor of “giving your heart to your loved one” arose both in the story “Makar Chudra” and in the fairy tale about the little fairy. But here it turns into an expanded poetic image, interpreted literally. Gorky puts a new, high meaning into the erased banal phrase that has accompanied declarations of love for centuries: “to give your hand and heart.” Danko's living human heart became a torch illuminating the path to a new life for humanity. And although the “cautious man” nevertheless stepped on him, the blue sparks in the steppe always remind people of Danko’s feat.
The meaning of the story “Old Woman Izergil” is determined by the phrase “In life there is always a place for exploits.” The daredevil Danko, who “burned his heart for people and died without asking them for anything as a reward for himself,” expresses Gorky’s innermost thought: the happiness and will of one person are unthinkable without the happiness and liberation of the people.
“Song of the Falcon” - a hymn to action in the name of freedom and light
“The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life,” Gorky states in “Song of the Falcon.” The main technique by which this thesis is affirmed is a dialogue between two different “truths”, two worldviews, two contrasting images - the Falcon and the Snake. The writer used the same technique in other stories. The free shepherd is the antipode of the blind Mole, the egoist Lara is opposed to the altruist Danko. In “The Song of the Falcon,” a hero and a tradesman appear before the reader. Smug Already convinced of the inviolability of the old order. He feels great in the dark gorge: “warm and damp.” The sky for him is an empty place, and the Falcon, dreaming of flying into the sky, is a real madman. With poisonous irony, Already claims that the beauty of flying is in the fall.
In the soul of the Falcon lives an insane thirst for freedom and light. By his death, he confirms the rightness of the feat in the name of freedom.
The death of the Falcon is at the same time a complete debunking of the “wise” Snake. In “Song of the Falcon” there is a direct echo with the legend of Danko: blue sparks of a burning heart flash in the darkness of the night, forever reminding people of Danko. The death of the Falcon also brings him immortality: “And drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and will ignite many brave hearts with an insane thirst for freedom and light!”
From work to work in Gorky’s early work, the theme of heroism grows and crystallizes. Loiko Zobar, Rada, the little fairy commit crazy things in the name of love. Their actions are extraordinary, but this is not yet a feat. The girl, who comes into conflict with the king, boldly defeats Fear, Fate and Death (“The Girl and Death”). Her courage is also the madness of the brave, although it is aimed at protecting personal happiness. Lara's courage and audacity lead to a crime, for he, like Pushkin's Aleko, “only wants freedom for himself.” And only Danko and Sokol, by their death, affirm the immortality of the feat. So the problem of the will and happiness of an individual person fades into the background, replaced by the problem of happiness for all humanity. “The Madness of the Brave” brings moral satisfaction to the daredevils themselves: “I go to burn as brightly as possible and to illuminate the darkness of life more deeply. And death for me is my reward! - declares Gorky's Man. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.” Gorky's early romantic works awakened the consciousness of the inferiority of life, unfair and ugly, and gave birth to the dream of heroes rebelling against the orders established over centuries.
The revolutionary romantic idea also determined the artistic originality of Gorky's works: a pathetic sublime style, a romantic plot, the genre of fairy tales, legends, songs, allegories, and a conventionally symbolic background of action. In Gorky's stories it is easy to detect the exceptional character, setting, and language characteristic of romanticism. But at the same time, they contain features characteristic only of Gorky: a contrasting comparison of the hero and the tradesman, the Man and the slave. The action of the work, as a rule, is organized around a dialogue of ideas; the romantic frame of the story creates a background against which the author’s thought appears prominently. Sometimes such a frame is a landscape - a romantic description of the sea, steppe, thunderstorm. Sometimes - a harmonious harmony of the sounds of a song. The importance of sound images in Gorky’s romantic works is difficult to overestimate: the melody of the violin sounds in the story of the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, the whistle of the free wind and the breath of a thunderstorm - in the tale of the little fairy, “wonderful music of revelation” - in the “Song of the Falcon”, a menacing roar storms - in “Song of the Petrel”. The harmony of sounds complements the harmony of allegorical images. The image of an eagle as a symbol of a strong personality arises when characterizing heroes who have Nietzschean traits: the eagle Rada, free as an eagle, the shepherd, the son of the eagle Lara. The image of the Falcon is associated with the idea of an altruistic hero. Makar Chudra calls a falcon a storyteller who dreams of making all people happy. Finally, the Petrel symbolizes the movement of the masses themselves, the image of future retribution.
Gorky generously uses folklore motifs and images, adapts Moldavian, Wallachian, and Hutsul legends that he overheard while wandering around Rus'. The language of Gorky's romantic works is flowery and patterned, melodiously sonorous.
Conclusion
The early work of Maxim Gorky is remarkable different styles, noted by L. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov and V.G. Korolenko. The work of young Gorky was influenced by many writers: A.S. Pushkin, Pomyalovsky, G. Uspensky, N.S. Leskova, M.Yu. Lermontov, Byron, Schiller.
The writer turned to both the realistic and romantic movements of art, which in some cases existed independently, but were often whimsically mixed. However, at first, Gorky’s works were dominated by the romantic style, standing out sharply for their brightness.
Indeed, features of romanticism predominate in Gorky's early stories. First of all, because they depict a romantic situation of confrontation strong man(Danko, Lara, Sokol) with the world around him, as well as the problem of man as an individual in general. The action of the stories and legends is transferred to fantastic conditions (“He stood between the boundless steppe and the endless sea”). The world of the works is sharply divided into light and darkness, and these differences are important when assessing the characters: after Lara there remains a shadow, after Danko - sparks.
The gap between the heroic past and the pitiful, colorless life in the present, between the “should” and the “existent”, between the great “dream” and the “gray era” was the soil on which the romanticism of early Gorky was born.
All the heroes of Gorky's early works are morally emotional and experience mental trauma, choosing between love and freedom, but they still choose the latter, bypassing love and preferring only freedom.
People of this type, as the writer foresaw, can turn out to be great in extreme situations, in days of disasters, wars, revolutions, but they are most often unviable in normal conditions human life. Today, the problems posed by the writer M. Gorky in his early work are perceived as relevant and pressing for solving the issues of our time.
Gorky, who openly declared at the end of the 19th century about his faith in man, in his mind, in his creative, transformative capabilities, to today continues to arouse readers' interest.