Poem by M.Yu. Lermontov's "Demon" can be considered the writer's calling card. Here we see the author’s beloved Caucasus, and the author’s philosophical thoughts regarding good and evil. The poem is not devoid of the theme of the impossibility of love, which was so relevant for Mikhail Yuryevich himself. A masterful depiction of nature, dialogues full of psychologism and romantic pathos, a variety of mythological and folklore motifs - all this is contained in this masterpiece of Russian literature.
The poem “The Demon” has 8 editions, since Lermontov began writing his work at the age of 14 and returned to work on his brainchild throughout his life. Early editions are distinguished by lack of integrity of images and a large number of philosophical discussions. The year 1838 became a turning point for the development of the author’s idea, when the 6th and 7th editions appeared from the poet’s pen. Now a more mature creator does not draw a parallel between the Demon and himself and gives his hero monologues.
The poem is based on the biblical myth of a fallen angel, and also refers to Georgian folklore and details of local life.
Genre and direction
The main character of the poem can be called the prototype of the exiled hero, who firmly took his place in the literature of romanticism. This is a Fallen Angel, suffering for his insolence and disobedience. The very appeal to such an image is a characteristic feature of romanticism. One of the first was Milton (“Paradise Lost”), who turned to this character and influenced Russian literature, Byron, and does not shy away from the eternal image of A.S. Pushkin.
The poem is permeated with ideas of struggle both at the global level (the confrontation between the Demon and God) and within the soul of an individual character (the Demon wants to improve, but pride and thirst for pleasure torment him).
The presence of folklore motifs also allows us to classify “The Demon” as a romantic poem.
About what?
In Georgia, in the luxurious house of Prince Gudal, his daughter, a girl of incredible beauty, Tamara, lives. She is waiting for her wedding, the yard has already been cleared for the celebration, but the Demon flying over the peaks of the Caucasus has already noticed the girl, he is captivated by her. The groom hurries to the wedding, followed by a rich caravan of camels, but in the gorge the travelers are overtaken by robbers. So the joy of a wedding turns into the grief of a funeral.
The demon, now without rivals, appears to Tamara, wanting to take possession of her. The poor girl wants to find protection from God and goes to a monastery. There she is guarded by a Guardian Angel, but one night the Demon overcame this barrier and seduced the girl. Tamara died, but an Angel saved her soul and transported her to Paradise, where she found peace.
The main characters and their characteristics
- Daemon- a very complex character in the poem. The very image of the Demon goes back to Biblical stories, but in Lermontov’s poem we already encounter the author’s interpretation of this archetype. He is punished with eternal life, and his existence will always be accompanied by loneliness and melancholy. It would seem that one could envy this unique opportunity: to observe the mountain beauty from a bird's eye view, but even this bored the hero. Even evil no longer brings him pleasure. But the characteristics of the Demon cannot be reduced to only negative ones. He meets a girl comparable to a fairy-tale maiden, possessing such beauty that “the world has never seen before.” But she is beautiful not only in appearance and outfits, but also in her soul.
- Tamara modest, chaste, believes in God, she was not created for this world, it is no coincidence that the Demon wants to find salvation through love for her. Feeling this new feeling for him, the Fallen Angel wants to do only good, to take the true path. But, as we see further, the hero cannot cope with his pride, and all his good intentions turn into dust. The tempter is bold and persistent; on the path to pleasure, he is not going to give in to either the pleas of a defenseless girl or the persuasion of God's messenger.
- Love. Love occupies a special place in the poem. It has limitless power: sometimes it destroys heroes, sometimes it gives hope, and sometimes it promises eternal torment. A jealous rush to the bride destroys Tamara’s fiancé, but for the Demon this girl is the hope of salvation. Love awakens long-forgotten feelings in the Fallen Angel; it makes him, who terrifies him, afraid and cry.
- Struggle. The Demon, rejected by Heaven, can no longer bear his torment. In the poem, he appears to the reader as having already lost all taste for existence; even evil does not bring him pleasure. The last chance to win forgiveness is the love of a young, pure girl. For the Demon, Tamara is a weapon to fight Heaven. He got rid of the Angel, seduced Tamara, but he is not able to overcome himself, his vices, for which he is doomed to suffer forever. Tamara fights the tempter, she does not succumb to his words against the Almighty, desperately wanting to escape the hellish abode.
- Loneliness. The “spirit of exile” has been wandering “in the desert of the world without shelter” for several centuries. The only joy of his existence is the memories of the past, when he was among his brothers - the “pure cherubs.” Love for a pure mortal girl makes the Demon celebrate his melancholy and loneliness even more keenly. It seems that at some point he is ready to show humility and bow before the Almighty: he hears the evening song, it reminds the Fallen Angel of Paradise. The demon, who had previously brought fear and horror to everyone, now cries himself with hot tears.
- Faith. Only thanks to her unshakable faith in God does Tamara escape the torment of hell. A disdainful attitude towards religion destroys, according to the author's plan, the princess's groom. Tempting the beauty, the Demon whispers to her that God is busy only with heavenly affairs and does not pay attention to earthly ones. But the girl did not succumb to the slander of evil, for which her soul was saved by the Guardian Angel.
Themes
Idea
Angel and Demon are two sides of one soul. Man is dual by nature; Good and Evil always fight within him. The purpose of the main character of the poem is to sow doubt, to awaken evil thoughts in a person. For obedience to the Demon, God can severely punish, as happened with Tamara’s fiancé.
The Demon is also defeated, but is Heaven so cruel to him? It gives the exile a chance to be saved through sincere love leading to virtue, but the hero cannot cope with his negative beginning and thereby destroys himself and the girl.
Issues
Love and vice are incompatible - this problem is actualized by Lermontov in “The Demon”. For the author, this feeling is rather sacred, given by Heaven, rather than earthly. When they forget about the beauty of the soul and think only about the pleasures of the flesh, love is replaced by sin. True feeling calls for virtue, self-sacrifice, and renunciation of pride.
But not everyone is given the ability to love in this way. Obsessed with a thirst for superiority over Heaven and the desire to experience pleasure for the first time in many hundreds of years, the Demon breaks the last saving thread. Both the Fallen Angel and Tamara become victims of sinful passion, but the girl who worships God is saved, and the Demon, who stubbornly opposes the Creator, dooms himself to eternal suffering. This is how the moral problem of pride is reflected - the dark side of the soul of each of us.
The heroes are faced with the problem of moral choice. Between humility and passion, the demon chooses the latter, for which he receives even greater suffering. Tamara’s fiancé listened to the evil voice and neglected prayer on the road, for which he paid dearly. Tamara manages to resist the temptations of the tempter, so the Gates of Paradise are open for her.
Criticism
In the assessment of critics, “The Demon” in certain periods of its literary history, the poem is presented differently. The appearance of this demonic image on Russian soil was in some way a literary event; reviewers treated the work with trepidation, primarily because they realized what history this topic had behind it in world literature. One of the largest authorities of criticism of that time, V.G. Belinsky himself admits that “Demon” became for him a measure of “truths, feelings, beauties.” V.P. Botkin saw in the poem a revolutionary view of the universe. Many of the researchers of Lermontov's work still argue about the importance of some editions, without unconditionally giving the palm to the final version.
The criticism of a later period was completely different. “The Demon” became the object of ridicule and mockery, especially the realists, V. Zaitsev, A. Novodvorsky, had an extremely negative attitude towards one of the main symbols of romanticism.
A. Blok, the beacon of poetry at the beginning of the last century, rehabilitates the poem, continuing the tradition of Lermontov in his poem “Demon”.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!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 vols. M., 1986.
The image of the Demon in the poem “Demon” is a lonely hero who has transgressed the laws of good. He has contempt for the limitations of human existence. M.Yu. Lermontov worked on his creation for a long time. And this topic worried him throughout his life.
The image of the Demon in art
Images of the other world have long excited the hearts of artists. There are many names for Demon, Devil, Lucifer, Satan. Every person must remember that evil has many faces, so you always need to be extremely careful. After all, insidious tempters constantly provoke people to commit sinful deeds so that their souls end up in hell. But the forces of good that protect and preserve man from the evil one are God and the Angels.
The image of the Demon in the literature of the early 19th century is not only villains, but also “tyrant fighters” who oppose God. Such characters were found in the works of many writers and poets of that era.
If we talk about this image in music, then in 1871-1872. A.G. Rubinstein wrote the opera “The Demon”.
M.A. Vrubel created excellent canvases depicting the fiend of hell. These are the paintings “Demon Flying”, “Demon Seated”, “Demon Defeated”.
Lermontov's hero
The image of the Demon in the poem “Demon” is drawn from the story of an exile from paradise. Lermontov reworked the content in his own way. The main character's punishment is that he is forced to wander forever in complete solitude. The image of the Demon in the poem “Demon” is a source of evil that destroys everything in its path. However, it is in close interaction with the opposite principle. Since the Demon is a transformed angel, he remembers the old days well. It’s as if he is taking revenge on the whole world for his punishment. It is important to pay attention to the fact that the image of the Demon in Lermontov’s poem differs from Satan or Lucifer. This is the subjective vision of the Russian poet.
Demon Characteristics
The poem is based on the idea of the Demon's desire for reincarnation. He is dissatisfied with the fact that he is assigned the fate of sowing evil. Unexpectedly, he falls in love with the Georgian Tamara - an earthly woman. He strives in this way to overcome God's punishment.
The image of the Demon in Lermontov's poem is characterized by two main features. This is heavenly charm and alluring mystery. An earthly woman cannot resist them. The demon is not just a figment of the imagination. In Tamara’s perception, he materializes in visible and tangible forms. He comes to her in her dreams.
He is like the element of air and is animated through voice and breath. Demon is missing. In Tamara’s perception, he “looks like a clear evening,” “shines quietly like a star,” “glides without a sound or a trace.” The girl is excited by his enchanting voice, he beckons her. After the Demon killed Tamara's fiancé, he appears to her and brings back “golden dreams,” freeing her from earthly experiences. The image of the Demon in the poem “Demon” is embodied through a lullaby. It traces the poeticization of the night world, so characteristic of the romantic tradition.
His songs infect her soul and gradually poison Tamara’s heart with longing for a world that does not exist. Everything earthly becomes hateful to her. Believing her seducer, she dies. But this death only makes the Demon's situation worse. He realizes his inadequacy, which leads him to the highest point of despair.
The author's attitude towards the hero
Lermontov's position on the image of the Demon is ambiguous. On the one hand, the poem contains an author-narrator who expounds on the “eastern legend” of bygone times. His point of view differs from the opinions of the heroes and is characterized by objectivity. The text contains the author's commentary on the fate of the Demon.
On the other hand, the Demon is a purely personal image of the poet. Most of the meditations of the main character of the poem are closely related to the author’s lyrics and are imbued with his intonations. The image of the Demon in Lermontov’s work turned out to be consonant not only with the author himself, but also with the younger generation of the 30s. The main character reflects the feelings and aspirations inherent in people of art: philosophical doubts about the correctness of existence, a huge longing for lost ideals, an eternal search for absolute freedom. Lermontov subtly felt and even experienced many aspects of evil as a certain type of personality behavior and worldview. He recognized the demonic nature of the rebellious attitude towards the universe with the moral impossibility of accepting its inferiority. Lermontov was able to understand the dangers hidden in creativity, because of which a person can plunge into a fictional world, paying for it with indifference to everything earthly. Many researchers note that the Demon in Lermontov's poem will forever remain a mystery.
The image of the Caucasus in the poem “Demon”
The theme of the Caucasus occupies a special place in the works of Mikhail Lermontov. Initially, the action of the poem “The Demon” was supposed to take place in Spain. However, the poet takes him to the Caucasus after he returned from Caucasian exile. Thanks to landscape sketches, the writer managed to recreate a certain philosophical thought in a variety of poetic images.
The world over which the Demon flies is described in a very surprising way. Kazbek is compared to the facet of a diamond that shone with eternal snow. “Deep below” the blackened Daryal is characterized as the dwelling of the serpent. The green banks of the Aragva, the Kaishaur valley, and the gloomy Gud Mountain are the perfect setting for Lermontov’s poem. Carefully selected epithets emphasize the wildness and power of nature.
Then the earthly beauties of magnificent Georgia are depicted. The poet concentrates the reader’s attention on the “earthly land” seen by the Demon from the height of his flight. It is in this fragment of text that the lines are filled with life. Various sounds and voices appear here. Next, from the world of the celestial spheres, the reader is transported to the world of people. The change of perspectives occurs gradually. The general plan gives way to a close-up.
In the second part, pictures of nature are conveyed through Tamara’s eyes. The contrast of the two parts emphasizes the diversity. It can be both violent and serene and calm.
Characteristics of Tamara
It’s hard to say that the image of Tamara in the poem “The Demon” is much more realistic than the Demon himself. Her appearance is described by generalized concepts: deep gaze, divine leg and others. The poem focuses on the ethereal manifestations of her image: the smile is “elusive”, the leg “floats”. Tamara is characterized as a naive girl, which reveals the motives of childhood insecurity. Her soul is also described - pure and beautiful. All Tamara’s qualities (feminine charm, spiritual harmony, inexperience) paint an image of a romantic nature.
So, the image of the Demon occupies a special place in Lermontov’s work. This topic was of interest not only to him, but also to other artists: A.G. Rubinstein (composer), M.A. Vrubel (artist) and many others.
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 Fatherland, 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 felt 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 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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