Composition
It was the Demon, and not a person, who could “enjoy and suffer all his life, centuries without division.” The demon was matched by inhuman suffering: “What a story of painful hardships, Labors and troubles of the crowd of people of the coming, past generations. Before one minute of My unacknowledged torment? It is the Demon who is characterized by boundless contempt or hatred for his surroundings.
* Where there is no true happiness,
* No lasting beauty,
* Where there are only crimes and executions,
* Where petty passions can only live,
* Where they can’t do it without fear
*Neither hate nor love
He is doomed to complete loneliness in this vulgar world, and hence his emptiness: nothing could arouse “In the barren chest of the exile, neither new feelings nor new strength.” However, the Demon dreams of rebirth, the possibility of which sometimes seems real:
* For a moment Inexplicable excitement
* He suddenly felt within himself.
* The silent soul of his desert
* Filled with a blessed sound
* And again he comprehended the shrine
* Love, kindness and beauty."
* But then again the same proud isolation:
* When did he see before him
* Everything that I loved and hated,
* He flashed noisily past
* And, casting a piercing gaze,
* Ambassador of Paradise Lost
* He reproached with a bitter smile...
The character typified by Lermontov found its most complete expression in the image of the Demon, as given in the sixth edition of the poem. The same character is revealed in the poet’s lyrical poems, about which Belinsky wrote: “In them... there is no hope, they strike the reader’s soul with joylessness, lack of faith in life and human feelings, with a thirst for life and an excess of feeling.”1
The Demon - Tamara situation resembles the Arbenin - Nina situation. But the conventionally romantic interpretation of the Demon frees the hero from jealousy and suspicion of treason, which reduce his greatness. The close relationship between Pechorin and Vera (“Princess of Lithuania”) is similarly diminished by the everyday motive of their separation and Vera’s marriage. Tamara's death is the result of a collision between an ordinary person, but alive in his mental turmoil, and the titanic nature of the Demon. The evil spirit triumphed - he introduced Tamara to his world. This is evidenced by the appearance of Tamara lying in the coffin:
* The strange smile froze,
* Barely flashed on the lips;
* But dark as the grave itself,
* The sad meaning of that smile:
* What with her? Is it a mockery of fate?
* Is doubt invincible?
* Or ‘cold contempt for life?
* Or is there proud enmity with the sky?
*Who knows? For the light forever
* Its meaning has been lost!
The poem is also romantic in its form: its construction is subordinated to the task of revealing the inner experiences of the central character, opposed to the entire surrounding world - hence the abundance of the hero’s monologues, the pathetic-declamatory style, the same throughout the poem, the same in the speech of the author and his beloved hero. From edition to edition, the romanticism of the poem does not weaken, but, as was the case in “Mtsyri”, in comparison with the poems preceding it, the 1838 edition of “Demon” reveals the influence of the realistic manner of Lermontov’s works of 1836-1837: the transfer of the scene of action to the Caucasus, which weakens the abstractness of the poem, the depiction of everyday life and the use of mountaineer legends, the greater psychological motivation of the characters of the Demon and Tamara.
All this, however, does not take the poem beyond the boundaries of romanticism. But despite the invariably romantic nature of the poem in all its eight editions, the images of the Demon and Tamara underwent significant changes, going through three important stages in the process of revision. In the editions of 1829-1834, that is, in the first three and in the fifth (the fourth is only a small sketch that remained unfinished), the Demon destroys the nun “out of envy and hatred,” jealous of her for the angel, marking the sky that sent him: “ The beauty must die, He will not spare her again. She will perish: her former love will not be a fence for her! In the sixth edition, the motive of revenge ceases to play any significant role.
Struck by Tamara’s beauty, and at the sight of her again comprehending “the shrine of love, goodness and beauty,” the Demon removes Tamara’s fiancé and the angel from his path and, having achieved Tamara’s love, thereby destroys her. The triumph of the Demon in this edition lies not in the revenge carried out, but in the fact that Tamara also became available to “cold contempt for life” and “proud enmity with heaven.” The last two editions do not contain the motive of the closeness of Tamara and the Demon and remove his triumph. When describing Tamara lying in a coffin, the above verses from the sixth edition are omitted, including the line that Belinsky liked so much: “Or there is a proud enmity with the sky,” and something completely different is said about the smile of Tamara lying in the coffin:
* She talked about a lot of sad things
* She to attentive eyes:
* There was cold contempt in her
* Souls ready to bloom,
* Last thought expression,
* Forgive the silent earth,
* A vain glimpse of a former life,
* She was even deader
* Even more hopeless for the heart
* Forever faded eyes.
Already in the seventh edition, the oath of the Demon appears, permeated with the desire for reconciliation with heaven. The triumph of the angel in the eighth edition leads to the complete defeat of the Demon. The story about him ends with previously missing verses:
* And the defeated Demon cursed
* Your crazy dreams,
* And again he remained, arrogant,
* Alone, as before, in the universe
* Without hope and love!..
The last two editions, thus, change the general meaning of the poem, more sharply emphasize the inconsistency of the Demon, and introduce into the work the motive of reconciliation with reality. This is achieved even at the cost of violating the internal logic of the poem: the words. “The demon... was again left... without hope” contradicts the entire previous text, where “hope” is one of the most important traits of his character. Such inconsistencies, and most importantly, the weakened sound of the last two editions, which contradicts all of Lermontov’s work, including the work of recent years, indicate that they are the result of autocensorship.
Other works on this work
The image of the Demon in the poem of the same name by M.Yu. Lermontov Poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “Demon” Analysis of Lermontov’s realistic poem “The Demon” Philosophical questions and their solution in M.Yu. Lermontov’s poem “The Demon” The rebellious character of the Demon (based on the poem by M. Yu Lermontov “The Demon”) Poem "Demon" The originality of one of the romantic poems by M.Yu. Lermontov (“The Demon”).And literature in the study of creativity
Prepared by a teacher of Russian language and literature
MVSOU "Secondary school No. 35"
In the poem “Demon” there are four subjects: the lyrical narrator, the Demon, Tamara, and the Angel. Researchers usually focus on Demon and Tamara. But in order to understand the author’s position, it is necessary to analyze the entire figurative structure of the work.
Inside the “picture of the world” depicted in the poem - Demon - Tamara - Angel. Let's compare, in "Masquerade": Arbenin - Nina - Prince Zvezdich; in “Hero of Our Time”: Pechorin - Princess Mary - Grushnitsky.
Of course, the image of the Demon is the most widely represented. However, the main subject of the image is the lyrical narrator: his vision of the world, his word, his assessments prevail. He sees the world in space and time as broadly as the Demon, but aesthetically and morally differently: this is an emotionally enthusiastic perception of the beauty of all living things and an assessment of what comes from the system of Christian values.
Daemon.
Directly in the plot of the poem, the Demon comes first. Note, “demon”, not “devil”, although the nature and history of Lermontov’s Demon are diabolical. Naming a character a Demon brings a certain meaning to his image: the word “demon in Christianity corresponds to the concept of sin present in a person: the demon of pride, the demon of hypocrisy, the demon of lust, etc. The word “demon” indicates not only an external force (the devil ), but also on human sin, on what is inside a person, to which he succumbed, but what can be overcome by him. The author attributes certain properties to the Demon, expressed primarily through the naming of the character.
Demon in the past: “happy firstborn of creation!”, “pure cherub,” “greedy for knowledge,” “believed and loved.”
Demon in the present: “sad Demon”, “spirit of exile”, “outcast”, “homeless” (“without shelter”), “exile from paradise”, “exile”, “desert of the dumb soul”, “crafty Demon”.
In Tamara’s imagination: “the alien is foggy and dumb.”
In the naming of the cherub: “a restless spirit, a vicious spirit.”
In the naming of Tamara - when meeting with the Demon: “evil spirit”, “enemy”; but then: “accidental friend”, “sufferer”.
The meaning of naming the Demon Tamara changes after he complains to Tamara about his fate, influencing the most intimate and defenseless in a woman - the feeling of compassion.
The art of seducing a woman with a complaint and awakening a feeling of compassion is a constant technique of Lermontov’s hero, consciously used, for example, by Pechorin.
Pechorin tells Mary the story of his life: “Yes, this has been my fate since childhood! Everyone read on my face signs of bad qualities that were not there; but they were expected and they were born. I was modest - they accused me of guile: I became secretive.” After this story, Pechorin notes: “At that moment I met her eyes: tears were running in them; her hand, leaning on mine, trembled; cheeks were burning; she felt sorry for me! Compassion, a feeling that all women so easily submit to, let its claws into her inexperienced heart. During the entire walk she was absent-minded and did not flirt with anyone - and this is a great sign!” Pechorin is triumphant.
This is what it says in “The Demon”: “Alas! the evil spirit triumphed." Despite the fact that the Demon speaks about a possible rebirth in love, about the desire to “reconcile with heaven”, “to believe in goodness”, in the name of the lyrical narrator he still remains an “evil spirit”.
Let us pay attention to the fact that Tamara, being a Christian, knows the appearance of her angel, which she remembers when the Demon appears:
“That was not a celestial angel,
Her divine guardian;
Crown of rainbow rays
Didn't decorate it with curls.
Tamara also knows the appearance of the devil.
It was not the terrible spirit of hell,
Vicious martyr - oh no! "
The demon appears to Tamara, sometimes “shining with unearthly beauty,” sometimes in a vague, indefinite form:
“It looked like a clear evening:
Neither day nor night, neither darkness nor light!..”
When the period given to the Demon for possible power over a person (human life) ends, when Tamara dies and the Angel carries her soul, the Demon appears in its true form:
“He stood before her again,
But, God! - who would recognize him?
How he looked with an evil gaze,
How full it was of deadly poison
Enmity that knows no end -
And the chill of the grave blew
From a motionless face."
The names and appearance of the Demon are complemented by descriptions of his emotional world, which is dominated by boredom, contempt, envy, hatred, indifference, and pride:
“And evil bored him.
He cast a contemptuous eye
The creation of his God.
But, besides cold envy,
Nature was not aroused by brilliance
In the barren breast of an exile
No new feelings, no new strength;
And everything that he saw before him
He despised or hated.”
The Demon's goal is to seduce an innocent soul, the means to achieve the goal is a lie.
The demon offers Tamara a lot, but constantly returns to the promise to make Tamara like himself, an eternal creature who hates everything earthly:
“And I will give you eternity in a moment...
Without regret, without participation
You will look at the ground,
Where there is no true happiness,
No lasting beauty..."
The Demon’s promises become more and more earthly; he begins to speak in the language of a lyrical narrator, who sees and expresses in words the beauty of the earthly world:
"By the ray of a ruddy sunset
Your figure is like a ribbon, like a shoe,
Breathing pure aroma
I will drink the surrounding air...”
The “spirit of doubt”, according to its nature, lies. He can say one thing and almost at the same time the opposite: he seduces Tamara with the promise of eternal life, but he himself is burdened by eternity:
“And secretly I suddenly hated
Immortality and your power."
The demon knows no happiness, no beauty: neither eternal nor temporary. In eternity he is punished by loneliness; He hates the temporary, the earthly - like God's creation.
Lermontov's Demon, finding itself in a love situation, changes for a while:
"The silent soul of his desert
Filled with a blessed sound -
And again he comprehended the shrine
Love, kindness and beauty!”
The author, showing the terrible essence of the Demon, does not deny him the opportunity to love, to temporarily join the shrine - love, goodness and beauty. Such “romanticization” of the character is a constant element of Lermontov’s love situation. Arbenin, the hero of the drama “Masquerade,” also feels that he loves Nina and connects the hope of revival with love:
“And suddenly a forgotten sound woke up in me:
I'm dead in my soul
I looked... and saw that I loved her...”
Pechorin: “... I, a fool, thought that she was an angel sent to me by a compassionate fate... I was wrong again: the love of a savage is little better than the love of a noble lady...”
The evil of the Demon lies in his eternal desire to spoil God's creation - man, to move him onto the path of sin.
Moral evil and its consequences are also depicted in other works of Lermontov: Arbenin (“Masquerade”) is cynical in his relationships with people, Pechorin in his speech-complaint to Mary calls himself a “moral monster” and confirms this by ruining the people he meets in life.
Tamara.
“Tempter” is another name for the Demon in the poem, i.e. a demon who appears to a person in a dream, in dreams and seduces with a thirst for lust, carnal sin:
“When the Demon comes to Tamara, she asks him:
ABOUT! who are you? your speech is dangerous!
Did heaven or hell send you to me?
What do you want?
But tell me, who are you? answer..."
Let's remember Pushkin's Tatyana, her letter to Onegin:
“Who are you, my guardian angel,
Or an insidious tempter..."
The demon tempts Tamara with the sin of lust. This sin is depicted in the descriptions of the mental states of Tamara, the groom. Tamara finds herself in the power of the demon-sin, understands and says to her father:
“I am tormented by an evil spirit
An irresistible dream;
I'm dying, have pity on me!
Give it to the sacred monastery
Your reckless daughter;
The Savior will protect me there,
I will shed my sorrow before him.”
But the Demon approaches Tamara with renewed vigor; “lawless dreams” do not let go of the “young sinner.”
“Tamara is sad, languishing, she’s scared...
Her chest and shoulders are burning,
There is no strength to breathe, there is fog in the eyes,
Embraces eagerly seek a meeting,
Kisses melt on the lips...”
Pushkin’s Tatyana, whom she “warns”, experiences something similar
"You'll die, honey...
Dreams haunt you:
Everywhere you imagine
Happy Date Shelters;
Everywhere, everywhere in front of you
Your tempter is fatal.
You appeared in my dreams,
Invisible, you were already dear to me,
Your wonderful gaze tormented me
For a long time...".
But the life-loving Pushkin sees a young girl in love differently than Lermontov, who suffers for the sins of humanity. Pushkin could advise his friends:
"For now, revel in it,
Enjoy this easy life, friends!
Lermontov sighed sadly:
Loving... but who?.. for a while is not worth the trouble.
But it’s impossible to love forever.”
(“Both boring and sad”)
Angel
The author sees the evil of the Tempter Demon, leading Tamara to death, but the author also shows the victory of good over evil, light forces over dark ones, introducing into the poem the image of an Angel, which is sharply opposed in appearance and behavior to the Demon. He is bright in appearance and internally calm:
“He enters, looks - in front of him
Messenger of Paradise, Cherub,
Guardian of the beautiful sinner,
Standing with a shining brow
And from the enemy with a clear smile
He shaded her with his wing;
And a ray of divine light
Suddenly blinded by an unclean gaze,
And instead of sweet hello
A painful reproach was heard.”
It is the Angel who explains why Tamara was awarded heaven: Tamara experiences her fall in a Christian way.
Yielding to a feeling of compassion, Tamara demands that the Demon renounce evil:
“Swear to me... from evil acquisitions
Make a vow to renounce now.
Are there really no vows or promises?
There are no more indestructibles?..”
Tamara does not love the Demon, but the deceptive image in which he appeared before her. Her love is not only carnal, but also love-compassion, which the Demon selfishly took advantage of.
Sinful things exist in a person as long as a person remains on earth, but as soon as the soul is freed from the earthly, bodily, having been tormented in cruel doubts, paradise opens up for it:
"With the clothing of the mortal earth
The shackles of evil fell from her.
I redeemed it at a cruel price
She has her doubts...
She suffered and loved
And heaven opened for love!”
While on earth, Tamara suffers from the fact that she cannot pray, but after death Tamara’s soul -
“I pressed myself to my guardian breast,
I drowned out the horror with prayer,
Tamara is a sinful soul."
Tamara loves sinfully and is aware of her sin. This is not at all a reckless acceptance of sin and its justification. This is temporary human powerlessness to resist sin - with the consciousness of sin and internal turning to God.
The author fits the image of a person’s stay in the sin of carnal lust within the framework of the confrontation between God and the devil.
The author constantly turns from the earthly to the heavenly: the Demon - in his rejection, pride, loneliness, anger; Tamara - in her turn to God; Tamara's fate, decided in heaven; her soul carried away by an Angel to heaven.
The groom hurried, “despised” the “custom of his great-grandfathers” - to pray in the chapel. But this incident (the death of the caravan) also has its positive religious significance, which is noted by the lyrical narrator.
The poem ends with a panorama picture, in the center of which is the Temple of God:
"But the church is on a steep hill,
Where their bones are taken by the earth,
The earthly world created by God is beautiful. This feeling is constantly expressed in the speech of the lyrical narrator:
“And, deep down blackening,
Like a crack, the home of a snake,
The radiant Daryal curled,
And Terek, jumping like a lioness,
With a shaggy mane on the ridge,
And it was wild and wonderful all around
The whole world of God..."
Tamara, who is internally captivated, does not see the beauty of the world. The author unfolds before the reader a beautiful picture of the area where the monastery is located. Everything around him is alive, everything is united in its life and interconnection.
“Dashing horse, you are the master
He took me out of the battle like an arrow,
But the evil Ossetian bullet
Lermontov's Demon is a figurative expression of dark demonic forces as they are understood in Christianity: The Demon has the ability to overcome space and time, take on any form, and penetrate a person’s consciousness. At the same time, Lermontov's Demon concentrates the author's ideas about the moral vices of people (pride, envy, anger, lies, indifference, boredom).
At the same time, Lermontov's Demon is an example of a person overcoming demonism through creativity. It is the overcoming of demonism by Christian spirituality that is the internal theme of the poem “Demon”.
It would probably be wise to look at all creativity from this point of view. We would see in the poet’s work not only repeated attempts to portray a demon and endow characters with demonic traits (Arbenin, Pechorin), not only a depiction of the destructive effect of demonic sins on the soul and fate of a person, but also a person’s overcoming of these sins. The main thing is that the poet “saw God in heaven” and pointed to the only effective means of spiritual cleansing - prayer, after which:
“Like a burden will roll off my soul,
Doubt is far away -
And I believe and cry,
And so easy, easy...”
Literature
1. Lermontov. In 2 vols. M., 1988-1990.
2. Pushkin. In 3 volumes. M., 1986.
In 1839, Lermontov finished writing the poem "The Demon". A summary of this work, as well as its analysis, is presented in the article. Today, this creation of the great Russian poet is included in the compulsory school curriculum and is known throughout the world. Let us first describe the main events that Lermontov depicted in the poem “The Demon”.
"Sad Demon" flies over the Earth. He surveys the central Caucasus from a cosmic height, its wonderful world: high mountains, stormy rivers. But nothing attracts the Demon. He feels only contempt for everything. The demon is tired of immortality, eternal loneliness and unlimited power that he has over the earth. The landscape under his wing has changed. Now he sees Georgia, its lush valleys. However, they do not impress him either. Suddenly, the festive revival that he noticed in the possessions of a certain noble feudal lord attracted his attention. The fact is that Prince Gudal wooed his only daughter. A festive celebration is being prepared at his estate.
The demon admires Tamara
Relatives have already gathered. The wine flows like a river. The groom should arrive in the evening. The young princess Tamara marries the young ruler of the Synodal. Meanwhile, the ancient carpets are being laid out by the servants. According to custom, the bride must, even before her groom appears, perform a dance with a tambourine on a roof covered with carpets.
The girl starts dancing. It is impossible to imagine anything more beautiful than this dance. She is so good that the Demon himself fell in love with Tamara.
Tamara's thoughts
Various thoughts are circling in the head of the young princess. She leaves her father's house, where she knew nothing was denied. It is unknown what awaits the girl in a foreign land. She is pleased with her choice of groom. He is in love, rich, handsome and young - everything that is necessary for happiness. And the girl drives away doubts, devoting herself entirely to the dance.
The demon kills the girl's fiancé
Lermontov continues his poem “The Demon” with the next important event. The summary of the episode associated with it is as follows. The demon is no longer able to take his eyes off the beautiful Tamara. He is fascinated by her beauty. And he acts like a real tyrant. The robbers, at the behest of the Demon, attack the princess's fiancé. The synodal is wounded, but rides to the bride’s house on a faithful horse. Having arrived, the groom falls dead.
Tamara goes to the monastery
The prince is heartbroken, the guests are crying, Tamara is sobbing in her bed. Suddenly the girl hears a pleasant, unusual voice, comforting her and promising to send her magical dreams. While in the world of dreams, the girl sees a handsome young man. She understands in the morning that she is being tempted by the evil one. The princess asks to be sent to a monastery, where she hopes to find salvation. The father does not immediately agree to this. He threatens a curse, but eventually gives in.
Murder of Tamara
And here Tamara is in the monastery. However, the girl did not feel any better. She realizes that she has fallen in love with the tempter. Tamara wants to pray to the saints, but instead she bows to the evil one. The demon realizes that the girl will be killed by physical intimacy with him. He decides at some point to abandon his insidious plan. However, the Demon no longer has control over himself. He enters her cell at night in his beautiful winged form.
Tamara does not recognize him as the young man who appeared in her dreams. She is afraid, but the Demon opens his soul to the princess, speaks to the girl passionate speeches, so similar to the words of an ordinary man, when the fire of desires boils in him. Tamara asks the Demon to swear that he is not deceiving her. And he does it. What does it cost him?! Their lips meet in a passionate kiss. Passing by the door of the cell, the watchman hears strange sounds, and then a faint death cry made by the princess.
The ending of the poem
Gudal was told about the death of his daughter. He is going to bury her in the family high-mountain cemetery, where his ancestors erected a small hill. The girl is dressed up. Her appearance is beautiful. There is no sadness of death on him. A smile seemed to freeze on Tamara’s lips. The wise Gudal did everything right. Long ago, he, his yard and estate were washed away from the face of the earth. But the cemetery and the temple remained undamaged. Nature made the grave of the Demon’s beloved inaccessible to man and time.
This is where Lermontov ends his poem “The Demon”. The summary conveys only the main events. Let's move on to the analysis of the work.
Specifics of the analysis of the poem "Demon"
The poem "Demon", which Lermontov created from 1829 to 1839, is one of the poet's most controversial and mysterious works. It is not so easy to analyze it. This is due to the fact that there are several plans for the interpretation and perception of the text that Lermontov created (“The Demon”).
The summary describes only the outline of events. Meanwhile, the poem has several plans: cosmic, which includes relationships with God and the Demon universe, psychological, philosophical, but, of course, not everyday. This should be taken into account when analyzing. To carry it out, you should turn to the original work, the author of which is Lermontov (“The Demon”). A summary will help you remember the plot of the poem, knowledge of which is necessary for analysis.
The image of the Demon created by Lermontov
Many poets turned to the legend of a fallen angel who fought against God. Suffice it to recall Lucifer from Byron’s work “Cain”, Satan depicted by Milton in “Paradise Lost”, Mephistopheles in Goethe’s famous “Faust”. Of course, Lermontov could not help but take into account the tradition that existed at that time. However, he interpreted this myth in an original way.
Lermontov (“The Demon”) portrayed the main character very ambiguously. The chapter summaries point out this ambiguity but leave out the details. Meanwhile, the image of Lermontov’s Demon turned out to be very contradictory. It combines tragic powerlessness and enormous inner strength, the desire to join the good, to overcome loneliness and the incomprehensibility of such aspirations. The demon is a rebellious Protestant who has opposed himself not only to God, but also to people, to the whole world.
Lermontov's protesting, rebellious ideas appear directly in the poem. The demon is the proud enemy of heaven. He is the “king of knowledge and freedom.” The demon is the embodiment of the rebellious uprising of power against that which fetters the mind. This hero rejects the world. He says that there is neither lasting beauty nor true happiness in him. Here there are only executions and crimes, only petty passions live. People cannot love or hate without fear.
Such universal denial, however, means not only the strength of this hero, but at the same time his weakness. The demon is not given the opportunity to see earthly beauty from the heights of the boundless expanses of space. He cannot understand and appreciate the beauty of nature. Lermontov notes that the brilliance of nature did not arouse, apart from cold envy, either new strength or new feelings in his chest. Everything that the Demon saw in front of him, he either hated or despised.
Demon's love for Tamara
In his arrogant solitude, the protagonist suffers. He yearns for connections with people and the world. The demon is bored with life exclusively for himself. For him, love for Tamara, an earthly girl, should have meant the beginning of a way out of gloomy loneliness to people. However, the search for “love, goodness and beauty” and harmony in the world is fatally unattainable for the Demon. And he cursed his crazy dreams, remained arrogant again, alone in the Universe, as before, without love.
Unmasking the Individualistic Consciousness
Lermontov's poem "The Demon", a brief summary of which we have described, is a work in which individualistic consciousness is exposed. Such revelation is also present in previous poems by this author. In this, the destructive, demonic principle is perceived by Lermontov as anti-humanistic. This problem, which deeply worried the poet, was also developed by him in prose (“Hero of Our Time”) and drama (“Masquerade”).
The author's voice in the poem
It is difficult to identify the author’s voice in the poem, his direct position, which predetermines the ambiguity of the work and the complexity of its analysis. M. Yu. Lermontov (“The Demon”) does not at all strive for unambiguous assessments. The summary you just read may have given you a number of questions to which the answer is not obvious. And this is no coincidence, because the author does not answer them in the work. For example, does Lermontov see in his hero an unconditional bearer (albeit suffering) of evil or only a rebellious victim of a divine “unjust verdict”? Was Tamara's soul saved for the sake of censorship? Perhaps for Lermontov this motive was just an ideological and artistic inevitability. Does the defeat of the Demon and the ending of the poem have a conciliatory or, on the contrary, non-conciliatory meaning?
The poem “The Demon” by Lermontov, a summary of the chapters of which was presented above, can prompt the reader to answer all these questions. They talk about the complexity of the philosophical problems of this work, about the fact that the Demon dialectically combines good and evil, hostility to the world and the desire to reconcile with it, the thirst for the ideal and its loss. The poem reflects the poet's tragic worldview. For example, in 1842 Belinsky wrote that the “Demon” had become a fact of life for him. He found in it worlds of beauty, feelings, truth.
"The Demon" is an example of a romantic poem
The artistic originality of the poem also determines the richness of its philosophical and ethical content. This is a vivid example of romanticism, built on antitheses. The heroes confront each other: Demon and God, Demon and Angel, Demon and Tamara. The polar spheres form the basis of the poem: earth and sky, death and life, reality and ideal. Finally, ethical and social categories are contrasted: tyranny and freedom, hatred and love, harmony and struggle, evil and good, denial and affirmation.
Meaning of the work
The poem that Lermontov created (“The Demon”) is of great importance. The summary and analysis presented in this article may have given you this idea. After all, deep problematics, powerful poetic fantasy, pathos of doubt and denial, high lyricism, plasticity and simplicity of epic descriptions, a certain mystery - all this should lead and led to the fact that Lermontov’s “Demon” is rightfully considered one of the pinnacle creations in the history of the romantic poem . The significance of the work is great not only in the history of Russian literature, but also in painting (Vrubel’s paintings) and music (Rubinstein’s opera, in which its summary is taken as a basis).
"Demon" - a story? Lermontov defined this work as a poem. And this is correct, because it is written in verse. The story is a prose genre. These two concepts should not be confused.
and at the ready cost of his own life, turn the Demon to the path of good. Tamara only asks the Demon to take a “fatal oath” (“Swear to me... from evil acquisitions, now make a vow to renounce”). The next famous oath of the Demon, designed in the “oriental” style and extremely intense in intonation and rhythmic pattern, is clearly divided into two parts. In the first, the Demon speaks sincerely and passionately about himself, that he has decided from now on to become “kind”:
Revealing to Tamara the previously unfamiliar complexity of the world, the Demon takes her on the path of proud contempt for the human world. The revival of the Demon is impossible without the internal rebirth of Tamara. The hero of the poem tries to achieve his goals by alienating the heroine from objective ethical values, depriving her of blood ties with the world. In this contradiction - the Demon brings Tamara the inner boundless freedom of spirit and at the same time the burden of the aimless life he himself has experienced, tries to put the burden of individualism and skepticism on her fragile shoulders - the evil nature of the demonic hero is ultimately expressed. The demon cannot leave the designated path even for the sake of its own rebirth. In passion, he remains the same individualist, devoid of objective ethical values, although he strives to know them. The inhumanity of the Demon, who consciously demands a voluntary sacrifice from Tamara, contrasts with the humanity of Tamara, who deeply feels the suffering of the hero
Tamara’s whole nature becomes an arena of struggle between two disintegrated and irreconcilable principles - naturalness, elemental sensual spirituality and abstract speculation, saturated with the poison of unbridled and corrosive skepticism. The solution found by Tamara - leaving the earthly world for a monastery - symbolizes the desire to avoid internal contradiction, but it gives rise to an equally dramatic disintegration between body and spirit. The monastery brings salvation for the soul, but for the body it is a coffin (“Let the gloomy cell, Like a coffin, receive me in advance...”).
- To expand knowledge about the work of M.Yu. Lermontov, to help students understand the image of the Demon in the poet’s work and in art.
- education
Equipment:
- portraits of M.Yu. Lermontov and M.A. Vrubel;
- illustrations of M.A. Vrubel’s paintings “The Defeated Demon”, “The Seated Demon”;
- text of the poem “Demon” (various editions, variants);
- poems “My Demon” (1829), “Prayer” (Don’t blame me, omnipotent...) (1829), “I am not for angels and heaven...” (1831), “Angel” (1831);
- audio recording: R. Wagner “Flight of the Valkyries”.
O my prophetic soul,
O heart full of anxiety!
Oh, how you beat on the threshold
As if double existence!
F.I.Tyutchev
I. Introduction
– There are images in world art that have excited the minds of people for many centuries. Over time they change, but do not disappear. More and more generations of poets, artists, composers turn to them to solve the mystery and have their say. The demon is one of these images.
II. Entering the lesson
The music of Wagner "Ride of the Valkyries" is played.
– What associations do you have with the word “demon”? Write it down. Read it out loud. Highlight the general.
– In the works of M.Yu. Lermontov, in addition to the well-known themes of the poet and poetry, Motherland, nature, love, motifs of loneliness, suffering, exile, earth and sky, struggle and protest, and the search for harmony in relations with the outside world appear early.
Group work
– I bring to your attention 4 poems by M.Yu. Lermontov:
“My Demon” (1829), “Prayer” (Don’t blame me, omnipotent...) (1829), “I am not for angels and heaven...” (1831), “Angel” (1831).
– Each of them is interesting to reflect on. Choose one for yourself. Unite into groups those who chose the same poems. Write down (briefly) what you can say about the poem you have chosen. (Individual words and phrases are written down, conclusions are drawn about how the lyrical hero was seen in these poems).
Groups perform and talk about their observations. The task of the rest is to write down individual thoughts that will help express their opinion about what they heard.
For example:
"My Demon" (1829)
sad and gloomy
evil is his element, etc.
“Prayer” (Don’t blame me, omnipotent...) (1829)
omnipotent - god
I am a sinner
cramped world, etc.
“I am not for angels and heaven...” (1831)
I am a stranger to the world (earth) and heaven
I am the chosen one of evil, etc.
"Angel" (1831)
connection of soul with body
disappointment of the soul on earth - sad songs, etc.
Conclusion: the image of the demon captivates Lermontov so much that it runs through his entire work, starting with the early poem “My Demon” (1829) and ending with the poem “The Demon”. By studying Lermontov's poetry, we penetrate into the poet's inner world. A world full of contradictions, suffering, struggle between the “angelic beauty” and the “demonic rebellion”, etc.
Lesson problem: So, what did M.Yu. Lermontov want to say with the poem “Demon”?
III. Analysis of the poem
Students' message about the poem "Demon"
1. M.Yu. Lermontov began writing the poem at the age of 14, while staying in a boarding school. In 1829 The plot had already been outlined, the main content of which was the struggle of a demon with an angel in love with a mortal girl. This first draft contained 92 verses and a prose summary of the content. Over the next 10 years, 7 more editions of the poem were created, differing from each other both in plot and in the degree of poetic skill. Despite numerous alterations, the first line (Sad Demon - the spirit of exile), which appeared in 1829, was preserved in the last, 8th, version. The basis of the plot remains the myth of a fallen angel who rebelled against God.
2. It is possible that it was Pushkin’s “Angel” (1827) that led Lermontov to the idea of a poem about a Demon who was disillusioned with evil and reached out to goodness. In Pushkin we read:
A gentle angel at the door of Eden
He shone with his head drooping,
And the demon is gloomy and rebellious
He flew over the hellish abyss.
Spirit of denial, spirit of doubt
I looked at the pure spirit
And the heat of involuntary tenderness
For the first time I vaguely knew.
“Sorry,” he said, “I saw you,
And it’s not for nothing that you beamed at me:
I didn't hate everything in the world,
I didn’t despise everything in the world.”
3. Traditionally they talk about the Western European roots of the “Demon”. Researchers unanimously trace the hero’s “pedigree” to the biblical myth of a fallen angel who rebelled against God. Lermontov was also familiar with numerous literary incarnations of this biblical story: Milton’s Paradise Lost, Goethe’s Faust, Byron’s Cain, etc.
4. In 1837 the poet was exiled to the Caucasus, to serve in the active army. In relation to the mountain peoples, notes of mature assessment appeared, but admiration and fascination with the nature and customs of the Caucasus remained. They colored the poetic narrative, the image of the lyrical hero, and sublime tones, especially since the impression was superimposed on the interest in romanticism, on the desire to characterize the hero as an exceptional person. Many researchers discover the “ancestors” of the Demon among the characters of Caucasian legends.
5. No less interesting and significant (but less known!) is the eastern component of the image of the Demon: you can find parallels between Lermontov’s hero and one of the characters in the Koran - Satan (Iblis). Lermontov knew the Koran, read its Russian translation and could well have used one of its plots in his work.
Working on the image of the main character
– How did you see the Demon in the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov's "Demon"? Find a description of the character and actions of the hero; select all the pros and cons related to the Demon's characteristics. Fill out the table (you can offer to complete this task in pairs or groups).
– Can we say whether more positive or negative principles, good or evil, angelic or satanic are inherent in the character and actions of the hero?
Conclusion: the image is based on a contradiction, a conflict between good and evil. The concepts of good and evil are not absolute; sometimes they intersect with each other in different circumstances.
– Prove the above idea with text examples.
1. The demon saw Tamara, fell in love, but this great feeling led to the death of Tamara’s fiancé:
And again he comprehended the shrine
Love, kindness and beauty!...His insidious dream
The crafty Demon was indignant:...
2. Having experienced the anguish of love, the Demon cries, but instead of a cleansing tear, a burning tear flows:
The longing of love, its excitement
The Demon comprehended for the first time...The stone is visible through the burnt
A hot tear like a flame,
An inhuman tear!.. and others.
– How does the Demon relate to the world, to the beauty of nature? Give examples from the text.
1. Nature was not aroused by brilliance
In the barren breast of an exile
No new feelings, no new strength;
And everything that he saw before him
He despised or hated.2. It was wild and wonderful all around
God's whole world; but a proud spirit
He cast a contemptuous eye
The creation of his god.
And on his high forehead
Nothing was reflected.
Conclusion: The demon experiences contempt and hatred for what he sees around him.
Tamara's image ( work in groups)
1 group – portrait characteristics:
And not a single king of the earth
I have never kissed such an eye...
...fountain...with its pearly dew
Such a camp has not been washed!...
...the earth's hand...has not unraveled such hair;...And her moist gaze shines
From under an envious eyelash;
Then he will raise a black eyebrow... etc.
Conclusion: Tamara is the embodiment of life and beauty. In relation to the heroine, the epithet “divine” is used, which not only characterizes her charming appearance, but also contrasts the princess with the main character, expelled from paradise.
Group 2 – the fate of the heroine:
Alas! I expected it in the morning
Her, the heiress of Gudal,
Freedom's playful child,
The sad fate of the slave,
The homeland, alien to this day,
And an unfamiliar family.And I can’t be anyone’s wife!
I'm dying, have pity on me!
Give it to the sacred monastery
Your reckless daughter... and others.
Conclusion: Tamara’s future is not cloudless, she will become a slave wife, enter someone else’s family, “the bright features have been darkened” by the expectation of bonds, captivity, loss of freedom. After the death of her fiancé, Tamara is “reckless”, her mind cannot comprehend what is happening, she cries and begs her father to send her to a monastery in order to find peace there.
– There is something secretly hidden in the narrative, the author does not tell the reader everything, the reader is forced to languish with the heroine of the poem. Thus, Lermontov prepares us for a new round in the development of action.
Love of heroes
– Describe the state of the Demon who saw Tamara.
The demon, “chained by an invisible force,” is amazed by Tamara’s beauty, he “for a moment felt an inexplicable excitement within himself,” “a feeling suddenly began to speak in him,” etc.
– Was it only Tamara’s beauty and youth that attracted the Demon? Haven't the hero seen many beautiful girls while flying over the earth? Maybe there is something in common between them? Support with words from the text.
Tamara personifies youth, beauty, and goodness for the hero. The demon has long been “an outcast wandering in the desert of the world without shelter” and now sees in Tamara a kindred soul - seeking, doubting, thirsting for knowledge.
Tamara is waiting to meet the Demon, listening to his speeches addressed to her alone and incomprehensible to no one else:
She often heard speech.
Under the arch of the dark temple
A familiar image sometimes
He slid... He beckoned and called... but - where?...Full of longing and trepidation,
Tamara is often at the window
Sits alone in thought...All her feelings were suddenly boiling;
The soul broke its shackles! and etc.
– What size is the poem written in? Why does the poem's meter change in Chapter XV of Part I? (Based on homework materials).
Lermontov wrote the poem in iambic tetrameter with a variety of rhymes, which helps to show all the beauty of the world, and in Chapter XV of the first part he replaced iambic with trochee tetrameter (speeding up speech): love illuminates the hero’s days, changes everything in words, in appeals to the heroine there is a call to change her life ...
...Be to the earthly without participation
And carefree, like them!
– What does the Demon want when he falls in love with Tamara?
The demon hopes that through his love for Tamara he can once again touch world harmony:
Me to goodness and heaven
You could return it with a word
Your love is a holy cover
Dressed, I would appear there,
Like a new angel in a new splendor...
The demon even makes an oath to Tamara that:
From now on, the poison of insidious flattery
No one's mind will be alarmed;
– What stylistic device does the author use to help instill faith in the Demon’s words and give them weight?
I swear by the first day of creation,
I swear on his last day...I have renounced my old revenge
I have renounced proud thoughts;...I want to make peace with the sky,
I want to love, I want to pray,...
– What does the Demon promise to give Tamara in return for her love for him?
And I will give you eternity in a moment;...
And you will be the queen of the world,
My first friend;...I will give you everything, everything earthly -
Love me!.. etc.
Problematic issues ( can be given as a creative task or as a discussion):
1. Can a Demon find harmony? Why?
2. Why does God forgive Tamara, and her soul goes to heaven?
1. The Demon's love is selfish. Instead of purifying his soul, he is ready to destroy Tamara's bush. That's not what lovers do. In love, he did not rejoice, but triumphed, and experienced a sense of personal superiority. Sacrificial love is pure, but what does the Demon sacrifice?
Love me!..
………………………….
A mighty gaze looked into her eyes!
He burned her.
………………………….
Alas! the evil spirit triumphed!
………………………….
"She is mine! - he said menacingly, - etc.
Pride, this mortal sin, which always encroaches on the sacred, is the reason for the defeat of the Demon, this is the source of his suffering. Introducing to harmony through love for an earthly woman and at the cost of her death did not materialize. The evil principle appeared again in the Demon:
And the defeated Demon cursed
Your crazy dreams...
2. Tamara’s soul is carried away by a guardian angel. It is he who saves her for heaven. The soul of the deceased Tamara is still full of doubts; the “trace of transgression” is imprinted on it, which the angel washes away with tears:
...And with the sweet speech of hope
Dispelled her doubts
And a trace of misdeed and suffering
He washed it off with his tears.
It was God who sent Tamara a test. Having accepted the evil principle inspired by the Demon, the heroine sacrifices herself, defending eternal values: Goodness, Peace, Beauty, Love. Therefore she deserves forgiveness. Forgiven, Tamara goes to heaven, where the hero has no access:
...And again he remained, arrogant.
Alone, as before, in the universe
Without hope and love!...
Lesson summary
– What did M.Yu. want to say? Lermontov's poem "The Demon"? And why does the image of the Demon run through all of the author’s work?
The demon appears in the poem as a spirit of exile, flying over the sinful earth, powerless to break away from it and approach heaven. He was expelled from paradise, thrown out of heaven and therefore sad. He sows evil, but it does not bring him pleasure. Everything he sees brings either cold envy or contempt and hatred. He was bored with everything. But he is proud, he is not able to obey the will of others, he is trying to overcome himself...
Unearthly love helps the hero fight the evil within himself, and his suffering soul wants to reconcile with heaven, wants to believe in goodness. This conflict of good and evil is similar to the clash of light and darkness.
Two principles merge in him, and he appears before us, ready to turn his face to both good and evil:
It was not the terrible spirit of hell,
Vicious martyr - oh no!
It looked like a clear evening:
Neither day nor night, neither darkness nor light!...
The essence of the hero is in irreconcilable contradictions, in the assertion that even such concepts as Good and Evil are not absolute. These contradictions are inherent in life itself. A person gains the ability to learn and fight, and each person has their own demon living in their soul.
M.Yu. Lermontov is distinguished by dual worlds, a tragic understanding of the abyss between earthly and heavenly, bodily and spiritual, real and ideal. The only narrow, shaky, but indestructible bridge across this abyss remains the human soul. A soul eternally balancing on the brink of “dual existence,” as F.I. said. Tyutchev:
O my prophetic soul,
O heart full of anxiety!
Oh, how you beat on the threshold
As if double existence!
Homework
Demons are close to the spiritual world of their authors. M.A. Vrubel, whose illustrations of his paintings you see, like M.Yu. Lermontov, felt early that he was chosen. M.A. Vrubel would never have painted his “Demon” if the image had not been part of the artist himself. What can you say about the author of the paintings? What connects Vrubel’s “Demon” and Lermontov? This is the theme of your creative work.
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