What are the main character traits of Gorky's heroes? “Distinctive features of the romantic images of Maxim Gorky. The concept of image in literature

Early creativity Gorky is struck, first of all, by the artistic diversity, unusual for a young writer, and the bold confidence with which he creates works of different colors and poetic intonation. The enormous talent of the artist of the rising class - the proletariat, drawing powerful strength from the “movement of the masses themselves”, was revealed already at the very beginning literary work Maxim Gorky.
By acting as a herald of the coming storm, Gorky fell in line with the public mood. In 1920, he wrote: “I began my work as a stirrer of revolutionary sentiment through the glory of the madness of the brave.” Exam questions and answers. Literature. 9th and 11th grades. Tutorial. - M.: AST-PRESS, 2000. - P.214. This applies, first of all, to Gorky’s early romantic works. In the 1890s. he wrote the stories “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Khan and His Son”, “Mute”, “Return of the Normans from England”, “Blindness of Love”, fairy tales “The Girl and Death”, “About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd” ”, “Song of the Falcon”, “Song of the Petrel”, “Legend of Marco”, etc. All of them are distinguished by one feature, which can be defined in the words of L. Andreev: “the taste of freedom, something free, broad, bold.” Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.614. In all of them there is a motif of rejection of reality, confrontation with fate, and a daring challenge to the elements. In the center of these works is the figure of a strong, proud, courageous man, not submitting to anyone, unbending. And all these works, like living gems, shimmer with unprecedented colors, spreading a romantic glow around.

The story “Makar Chudra” is a statement of the ideal of personal freedom
In the center early works Maxim Gorky - exceptional characters, strong in spirit and proud people who, according to the author, “have the sun in their blood.” This metaphor gives rise to a number of similar images associated with the motif of fire, sparks, flame, and torch. These heroes have burning hearts. This feature is characteristic not only of Danko, but also of the characters in Gorky’s first story, “Makar Chudra.” Rogover E.S. Russian literature of the twentieth century. To help school graduates and applicants: Study guide. - St. Petersburg: “Paritet”, 2002. - P.131.
The old gypsy Makar Chudra begins his story to the brooding melody of the splashing of the oncoming waves. From the very first lines, the reader is overwhelmed by a feeling of the unusual: the boundless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right, the old gypsy lying in a beautiful strong pose, the rustling of coastal bushes - all this sets the mood for a conversation about something intimate, the most important. Makar Chudra slowly talks about man’s calling and his role on earth. “A person is a slave as soon as he is born, a slave all his life and that’s it,” argues Makar. Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Journalism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "AST Publishing House", 1999. - P.18. And he contrasts this with his own: “A person will be born to know what freedom is, the expanse of the steppe, to hear the voice of the sea wave”; “If you live, then you become kings over the whole earth.”
This idea is illustrated by the legend of the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, who did not become slaves to their feelings. Their images are exceptional and romanticized. Loiko Zobar has “eyes like clear stars, and a smile like the whole sun.” Ibid., p.21. When he sits on a horse, it seems as if he was forged from one piece of iron along with the horse. Zobar's strength and beauty are not inferior to his kindness. “You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good.” Ibid., p.20. The beautiful Rada matches. Makar Chudra calls her an eagle. “You can’t say anything about her in words. Perhaps its beauty could be played on a violin, and even those who know this violin like their soul.”
The proud Rada for a long time rejected the feelings of Loiko Zobar, because will was more valuable to her than love. When she decided to become his wife, she set a condition that Loiko could not fulfill without humiliating himself. An insoluble conflict leads to a tragic ending: the heroes die, but remain free, love and even life are sacrificed to the will. In this story, for the first time, a romantic image of a loving human heart appears: Loiko Zobar, who could tear the heart out of his chest for the happiness of his neighbor, checks whether his beloved has a strong heart and plunges a knife into it. And the same knife, but in the hands of soldier Danila, strikes Zobar’s heart. Love and the thirst for freedom turn out to be evil demons that destroy people's happiness. Together with Makar Chudra, the narrator admires the strength of character of the heroes. And together with him, he cannot answer the question that runs like a leitmotif through the entire story: how to make people happy and what happiness is.
The story “Makar Chudra” formulates two different understandings of happiness. The first is in the words of the “strict man”: “Submit to God, and he will give you everything you ask.” Ibid., p.18. This thesis is immediately debunked: it turns out that God did not even give the “strict man” clothes to cover his naked body. The second thesis is proven by the fate of Loiko Zobar and the Rada: will more valuable than life, happiness is in freedom. The romantic worldview of the young Gorky goes back to famous Pushkin's words: “There is no happiness in the world, but there is peace and will...”

The story “Old Woman Izergil” - awareness of a person’s personality
On the seashore near Akkerman in Bessarabia, the author of the old woman’s legend, Izergil, listens. Everything here is full of atmospheric love: the men are “bronze, with lush black mustaches and thick shoulder-length curls,” the women are “cheerful, flexible, with dark blue eyes, also bronze.” The author's imagination and the night make them irresistibly beautiful. Nature harmonizes with the author’s romantic mood: the foliage sighs and whispers, the wind plays with the silky hair of women.
The old woman Izergil is depicted in contrast: time has bent her in half, a bony body, dull eyes, a creaky voice. Ruthless time takes away beauty and with it love. The old woman Izergil talks about her life, about her lovers: “Her voice crunched, as if the old woman was speaking with bones.” Gorky leads the reader to the idea that love is not eternal, just as man is not eternal. What remains in life for centuries? Gorky put two legends into the mouth of the old woman Izergil: about the eagle’s son Lara, who considered himself the first on earth and wanted happiness only for himself, and about Danko, who gave his heart to people.
The images of Lara and Danko are sharply contrasting, although both of them are brave, strong and proud people. Lara lives according to the laws of the strong, to whom “everything is permitted.” He kills the girl because she did not submit to his will, and steps on her chest with his foot. Lara's cruelty is based on a sense of superiority strong personality above the crowd. Gorky debunks popular late XIX V. ideas of the German philosopher Nietzsche. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche argued that people are divided into strong (eagles) and weak (lambs) who are destined to be slaves. Nietzsche's apology for inequality, the idea of ​​the aristocratic superiority of the chosen over all others were subsequently used in the ideology and practice of fascism. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.”
In the legend of Lara, Gorky shows that a Nietzschean who professes the morality “everything is permitted to the strong” awaits loneliness, which is worse than death. “His punishment is in himself,” says the wisest of people after Lara commits a crime. And Lara, doomed to eternal life and eternal wandering turns into a black shadow, dried up by the sun and winds. Condemning an egoist who only takes from people without giving anything in return, the old woman Izergil says: “For everything that a person takes, he pays with himself, with his mind and strength, sometimes with his life.”
Danko pays with his life, performing a feat in the name of people's happiness. The blue sparks that flare up at night in the steppe are the sparks of his burning heart, which illuminated the path to freedom. The impenetrable forest, where the giant trees stood like a stone wall, the greedy mouth of the swamp, strong and evil enemies gave birth to fear among people. Then Danko appeared: “What will I do for people,” Danko shouted louder than thunder. And suddenly he tore his chest with his hands and tore out his heart from it and raised it high above his head. It burned as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun, and the whole forest fell silent, illuminated by this torch. great love to people, and the darkness was scattered from its light...”
As we have seen, the poetic metaphor of “giving your heart to your loved one” arose both in the story “Makar Chudra” and in the fairy tale about the little fairy. But here it turns into an expanded poetic image, interpreted literally. Gorky puts a new, high meaning into the erased banal phrase that has accompanied declarations of love for centuries: “to give your hand and heart.” Danko's living human heart became a torch illuminating the path to a new life for humanity. And although the “cautious man” nevertheless stepped on him, the blue sparks in the steppe forever remind people of Danko’s feat.
The meaning of the story “Old Woman Izergil” is determined by the phrase “In life there is always a place for exploits.” The daredevil Danko, who “burned his heart for people and died without asking them for anything as a reward for himself,” expresses Gorky’s innermost thought: the happiness and will of one person are unthinkable without the happiness and liberation of the people.

“Song of the Falcon” - a hymn to action in the name of freedom and light
“The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life,” Gorky states in “Song of the Falcon.” The main method by which this thesis is affirmed is a dialogue between two different “truths”, two worldviews, two contrasting images - the Falcon and the Snake. The writer used the same technique in other stories. The free shepherd is the antipode of the blind Mole, the egoist Lara is opposed to the altruist Danko. In “The Song of the Falcon,” a hero and a tradesman appear before the reader. Smug Already convinced of the inviolability of the old order. He feels great in the dark gorge: “warm and damp.” The sky for him is an empty place, and the Falcon, dreaming of flying into the sky, is a real madman. With poisonous irony, Already claims that the beauty of flying is in the fall.
In the soul of the Falcon lives an insane thirst for freedom and light. By his death, he confirms the rightness of the feat in the name of freedom.
The death of the Falcon is at the same time a complete debunking of the “wise” Snake. In “Song of the Falcon” there is a direct echo with the legend of Danko: blue sparks of a burning heart flash in the darkness of the night, forever reminding people of Danko. The death of the Falcon also brings him immortality: “And drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and will ignite many brave hearts with an insane thirst for freedom and light!”
From work to work in Gorky’s early work, the theme of heroism grows and crystallizes. Loiko Zobar, Rada, the little fairy commit crazy things in the name of love. Their actions are extraordinary, but this is not yet a feat. The girl, who comes into conflict with the king, boldly defeats Fear, Fate and Death (“The Girl and Death”). Her courage is also the madness of the brave, although it is aimed at protecting personal happiness. Lara's courage and audacity lead to a crime, for he, like Pushkin's Aleko, “only wants freedom for himself.” And only Danko and Sokol, by their deaths, affirm the immortality of the feat. So the problem of the will and happiness of an individual person fades into the background, replaced by the problem of happiness for all humanity. “The Madness of the Brave” brings moral satisfaction to the daredevils themselves: “I go to burn as brightly as possible and to illuminate the darkness of life more deeply. And death for me is my reward! - declares Gorky's Man. Spiridonova L.A. “I came into the world to disagree.” Gorky's early romantic works awakened the consciousness of the inferiority of life, unfair and ugly, and gave birth to the dream of heroes rebelling against the orders established over centuries.
The revolutionary romantic idea determined artistic originality Gorky's works: pathetic sublime style, romantic plot, fairy tale genre, legends, songs, allegories, conventionally symbolic background of action. In Gorky's stories it is easy to detect the exceptional character, setting, and language characteristic of romanticism. But at the same time, they contain features characteristic only of Gorky: a contrasting comparison of the hero and the tradesman, the Man and the slave. The action of the work, as a rule, is organized around a dialogue of ideas; the romantic frame of the story creates a background against which the author’s thought appears prominently. Sometimes such a frame is a landscape - romantic description seas, steppes, thunderstorms. Sometimes - a harmonious harmony of the sounds of a song. The meaning of sound images in romantic works It is difficult to overestimate Gorky: the melody of the violin sounds in the story about the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, the whistle of the free wind and the breath of a thunderstorm - in the fairy tale about the little fairy, the “wonderful music of revelation” - in the “Song of the Falcon”, the menacing roar of the storm - in the “Song of Petrel." The harmony of sounds complements the harmony of allegorical images. The image of an eagle as a symbol of a strong personality arises when characterizing heroes who have Nietzschean traits: the eagle Rada, free as an eagle, the shepherd, the son of the eagle Lara. The image of the Falcon is associated with the idea of ​​an altruistic hero. Makar Chudra calls a falcon a storyteller who dreams of making all people happy. Finally, the Petrel symbolizes the movement of the masses themselves, the image of future retribution.
Gorky generously uses folklore motifs and images, retells Moldavian, Wallachian, Hutsul legends that he overheard while wandering around Rus'. The language of Gorky's romantic works is flowery and patterned, melodiously sonorous.

Conclusion
The early work of Maxim Gorky is remarkable different styles, noted by L. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov and V.G. Korolenko. The work of young Gorky was influenced by many writers: A.S. Pushkin, Pomyalovsky, G. Uspensky, N.S. Leskova, M.Yu. Lermontov, Byron, Schiller.
The writer turned to both realistic and romantic directions arts, which in some cases existed independently, but were often whimsically mixed. However, at first, Gorky’s works were dominated by the romantic style, standing out sharply for their brightness.
Indeed, features of romanticism predominate in Gorky's early stories. First of all, because they depict a romantic situation of confrontation strong man(Danko, Lara, Sokol) with the world around him, as well as the problem of man as an individual in general. The action of the stories and legends is transferred to fantastic conditions (“He stood between the boundless steppe and the endless sea”). The world of the works is sharply divided into light and darkness, and these differences are important when assessing the characters: after Lara there remains a shadow, after Danko - sparks.
The gap between the heroic past and the pitiful, colorless life in the present, between the “should” and the “existent,” between the great “dream” and the “gray era” was the soil on which the romanticism of early Gorky was born.
All the heroes of Gorky's early works are morally emotional and experience mental trauma, choosing between love and freedom, but they still choose the latter, bypassing love and preferring only freedom.
People of this type, as the writer foresaw, can turn out to be great in extreme situations, in days of disasters, wars, revolutions, but they are most often unviable in normal conditions human life. Today, the problems posed by the writer M. Gorky in his early work are perceived as relevant and pressing for solving the issues of our time.
Gorky, who openly declared at the end of the 19th century about his faith in man, in his mind, in his creative, transformative capabilities, to today continues to arouse readers' interest.

Maxim Gorky (Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov, 1868-1936) is one of the most significant figures in world culture of our century and at the same time one of the most complex and controversial. In the last decade, attempts have been made to “throw Gorky’s work off the steamship of modernity.” However, let’s not forget that at the beginning of the century they tried to do the same thing with Pushkin and Tolstoy...

Perhaps only Gorky managed to reflect in his work the history, life and culture of Russia in the first third of the twentieth century on a truly epic scale.

Early work of A.M. Gorky is marked by the influence of romanticism. There may be some things you like about any writer’s legacy and some things you don’t like. One will leave you indifferent, while the other will delight you. And this is even more true for the huge and varied creativity of A.M. Gorky. His early works - romantic songs and legends - leave the impression of contact with real talent. The heroes of these stories are beautiful. And not only externally - they refuse the pitiful fate of serving things and money, their life has a high meaning. Heroes of the early works of A.M. Gorky are courageous and selfless (“Song of the Falcon”, the legend of Danko), they glorify activity, the ability to act (images of the Falcon, Petrel, Danko). One of the most striking early works of A.M. Gorky's story "The Old Woman Izergil" (1894). The story was written using the writer’s favorite form of framing: the legend of Larra, the story of the life of Izergil, the legend of Danko. What makes the three parts of the story a single whole is the main idea - the desire to reveal true value human personality.

In 1895, Gorky wrote his “Song about the Falcon.” In the contrasting images of the Snake and the Falcon, two forms of life are embodied: rotting and burning. To more clearly show the courage of the fighter, the author contrasts the Falcon with the adaptable Snake, whose soul is rotting in petty-bourgeois complacency. Gorky pronounces a merciless verdict on philistine prosperity: “He who is born to crawl cannot fly.” In this work, Gorky sings a song to the “madness of the brave,” claiming it as the “wisdom of life.”

Gorky believed that with the organization of a “healthy working people - democracy,” a special spiritual culture would be established, in which “life would become joy, music; labor is pleasure." That is why at the beginning of the 20th century the writer’s confessions about the happiness of “living on earth” were very frequent, where “ new life in the new century."

This romanticized feeling of the era was expressed by “Song of the Petrel” (1901). In this work, a personality was revealed through romantic means, overthrowing a stagnant world. The image of the “proud bird” contains all the manifestations of feelings dear to the author: courage, strength, fiery passion, confidence in victory over a meager and boring life. The petrel combines truly unprecedented abilities: to soar high, to “pierce” the darkness, to summon a storm and enjoy it, to see the sun behind the clouds. And the storm itself is their realization.

Everywhere and always A.M. Gorky strove for the revival by nature of the given foundations of human existence. Gorky's early romantic works contained and captured the awakening human soul- the most beautiful thing that the writer has always worshiped.

Born on March 28, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod. At the age of 11 he became an orphan and until 1888 he lived with relatives in Kazan. He tried many professions: he was a cook on a ship, worked in an icon-painting workshop, and was a foreman. In 1888 he left Kazan for the village of Krasnovidovo, where he was engaged in propaganda. revolutionary ideas. Maxim Gorky's first story, "Makar Chudra", was published in 1892 in the newspaper "Caucasus". In 1898, the collection “Essays and Stories” was published, and a year later his first novel “Foma Gordeev” was published. In 1901, Gorky was expelled from Nizhny Novgorod in Arzamas Durnov A.N. Gorky, whom we do not know. // Literary newspaper, 1993, March 10 (No. 10). .

A little later, the writer’s collaboration with the Moscow Art Theater began. The plays “At the Lower Depths” (1902), “The Bourgeois” (1901) and others were staged at the theater. The poem “Man” (1903), the plays “Summer Residents” (1904), “Children of the Sun” (1905), “Two Barbarians” (1905) belong to the same period. Gorky becomes an active member of the “Moscow Literary Environment” and takes part in the creation of collections of the “Knowledge” society. In 1905, Gorky was arrested and immediately after his release he went abroad. From 1906 to 1913, Gorky lived in Capri. In 1907, the novel “Mother” by R.M. Mironov was published in America. Maxim Gorky. His personality and works. - M., 2003..

The plays “The Last” (1908), “Vassa Zheleznova” (1910), the stories “Summer” (1909) and “The Town of Okurov” (1909), and the novel “The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin” (1911) were created in Capri. In 1913, Gorky returned to Russia, and in 1915 he began publishing the journal Letopis. After the revolution, he worked at the World Literature publishing house.

In 1921, Gorky again went abroad. In the early 20s, he finished the trilogy “Childhood”, “In People” and “My Universities”, wrote the novel “The Artamonov Case”, and began work on the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin”. In 1931, Gorky returned to the USSR. He died on June 18, 1936 in the village of Gorki.

At the end of the 90s, the reader was amazed by the appearance of three volumes of “Essays and Stories” by a new writer - M. Gorky. “Great and original talent,” was the general judgment about the new writer and his books G.D. Veselov.

Growing discontent in society and the expectation of decisive changes caused an increase in romantic tendencies in literature. These trends were reflected especially clearly in the work of young Gorky, in such stories as “Chelkash”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Makar Chudra”, and in revolutionary songs. The heroes of these stories are people “with the sun in their blood”, strong, proud, beautiful. These heroes are Gorky's dream. Such a hero was supposed to “strengthen a person’s will to live, arouse in him a rebellion against reality, against all its oppression.”

The central image of Gorky's early romantic works is the image of a hero, ready to perform a feat for the good of the people. The story “Old Woman Izergil,” written in 1895, is of great importance in revealing this image. In the image of Danko, Gorky put a humanistic idea of ​​a man who devotes all his strength to serving the people.

Gorky's work on initial stage bears a strong imprint of the new literary movement- the so-called revolutionary romanticism. Philosophical ideas beginner talented writer, passion, emotionality of his prose, a new approach to man differed sharply from both naturalistic prose, which went into petty everyday realism and chose the hopeless boredom of human existence as its theme, and from the aesthetic approach to literature and life, which saw value only in “refined” emotions, heroes and words.

For youth there are two most important components of life, two vectors of existence. This is love and freedom. In Gorky's stories "Makar Chudra" and "Old Woman Izergil" love and freedom become the theme of the stories told by the main characters. Gorky's plot discovery - that old age tells about youth and love - allows us to give a perspective, the point of view of a young man who lives by love and sacrifices everything for it, and a man who has lived his life, seen a lot and is able to understand what is really important, what remains at the end of a long journey.

The heroes of the two parables told by the old woman Izergil are complete opposites. Danko is an example of love-self-sacrifice, love-giving. He cannot live, separating himself from his tribe, people, he feels unhappy and unfree if the people are unfree and unhappy. Pure sacrificial love and the desire for heroism were characteristic of romantic revolutionaries who dreamed of dying for universal human ideals, could not imagine life without sacrifice, did not hope and did not want to live to old age. Danko gives his heart, illuminating the path for people.

This is a fairly simple symbol: only a pure heart, full of love and altruism, can become a beacon, and only a selfless sacrifice will help free the people. The tragedy of the parable is that people forget about those who sacrificed themselves for them. They are ungrateful, but perfectly aware of this, Danko does not think about the meaning of his dedication, does not expect recognition or reward. Gorky argues with the official church concept of merit, in which a person does good deeds, knowing in advance that he will be rewarded. The writer gives an opposite example: the reward for a feat is the feat itself and the happiness of the people for whose sake it was accomplished.

The son of an eagle is the complete opposite of Danko. Larra is a loner. He is proud and narcissistic, he sincerely considers himself higher, better than other people. He evokes disgust, but also pity. After all, Larra does not deceive anyone, he does not pretend that he is capable of love. Unfortunately, there are many such people, although their essence is not so clearly manifested in real life. For them, love and interest come down only to possession. If it cannot be possessed, it must be destroyed. Having killed the girl, Larra says with cynical frankness that he did it because he could not own her. And he adds that, in his opinion, people only pretend to love and observe moral standards. After all, nature gave them only their body as their property, and they own both animals and things.

Larra is cunning and knows how to talk, but this is a deception. He loses sight of the fact that a person always pays for the possession of money, labor, time, but ultimately a life lived in one way and not another. Therefore, Larra’s so-called truth becomes the reason for his rejection. The tribe expels the apostate, saying: you despise us, you are superior - well, live alone if we are unworthy of you. But loneliness becomes endless torture. Larra understands that his whole philosophy was just a pose, that even in order to consider himself superior to others and be proud of himself, others are still needed. You can’t admire yourself alone, and we all depend on evaluation and recognition from society.

Romanticism early stories Gorky, his heroic ideals are always close and understandable to youth; they will be loved and will inspire more and more generations of readers to search for truth and heroism.

Early romantic stories by M. Gorky

“I came into the world to disagree,” these words of Gorky can be applied to any of the heroes of his romantic works. Loiko Zobar, Radda, Makar Chudra, Danko, Larra, Izergil - they are all proud and independent, they are distinguished by personal originality, brightness of nature, exclusivity of passions. Gorky's romanticism was formed in an era seemingly not intended for romanticism - the nineties of the 19th century, however, it was the writer's furious rebellion against the "leaden abominations of life" that gave birth to the concept of a man-doer, the creator of his own destiny: Gorky's romantic heroes do not bow to circumstances, but overcome them. “We need feats, feats!” - Gorky wrote a few months before the creation of the story “Old Woman Izergil” and embodied in his romantic works heroes capable of accomplishing these feats, therefore works with a dramatic, or even tragic ending, reveal a bold, joyful view of the world of the young writer.

"Makar Chudra" (1892)

“Makar Chudra” is the first work that made Gorky famous. The heroes of this story - young gypsies Loiko Zobar and Radda - are exceptional in everything: in appearance, feelings, fate. Radda’s beauty cannot be expressed in words; it “could be played on a violin, and by the one who played the violin. He knows his own soul.” Zobar has “eyes like clear stars, shining,” “a smile like the whole sun, a mustache lay on his shoulders and mixed with his curls.” Makar Chudra cannot hide his admiration for Zobar’s daring, spiritual generosity, and inner strength: “I’ll be damned if I didn’t already love him, before he said a word to me. He was a daring fellow! Was he afraid of anyone? You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only it would make you feel good. With such a person you become a better person. There are few such people, my friend!” Beauty in Gorky's romantic works becomes a moral criterion: one is right and worthy of admiration simply because one is beautiful.

Matches Zobar and Radda - and she has the same royal pride, contempt for human weakness, no matter what it is expressed in. The large purse of the Moravian magnate, with which he wanted to seduce the proud gypsy, only deserved to be carelessly thrown into the dirt by Radda. It is no coincidence that Radda compares herself to an eagle - independent, high soaring, lonely, because there are few who can match her. “Look for the dove - those are more pliable,” her father Danila advises the tycoon.

The basis of a romantic work is the conflict of the romantic hero with generally accepted values; in this case, two passions collide in the souls of Zobar and Radda - freedom and love as affection, responsibility, submission. “And I can’t live without you, just as you can’t live without me... I’ve never loved anyone, Loiko, I love you. And I also love freedom. Will, Loiko, I love more than you.” Gorky's heroes are faced with a choice that can be called tragic, since it is impossible to make - all that remains is the denial of the very necessity of choice, that is, life. “If two stones roll towards each other, you cannot stand between them - they will mutilate you.” Pride and love cannot be reconciled, since compromise is unthinkable for the romantic consciousness.

Compositional framing plays a special role in Gorky's story. A romantic story, in the center of which there are exceptional characters and situations, affirms a special system of values, into which ordinary, everyday human life does not fit. The antithesis of the narrator and Makar Chudra, who told the legend about the love and death of the proud, handsome gypsies, reveals the dual world characteristic of a romantic work - the inconsistency, the opposition of the everyday view of the world and life philosophy romantic hero. Freedom, not constrained by any attachments - neither to a person, nor to a place, nor to work - this in the eyes of Makar Chudra is the highest value. “This is how you need to live: go, go - and that’s it. Don't stand in one place for a long time - what's in it? Just as they run day and night, chasing each other, around the earth, so you run away from thoughts about life, so as not to stop loving it. And if you think about it, you’ll stop loving life, this always happens.”

"Old Woman Izergil" (1895)

The system of images in the story “Old Woman Izergil” is built on the principle of antithesis, which is typical for a romantic work. Larra and Danko are proud and beautiful, but already in the description of their appearance there is a detail that sharply distinguishes them: Danko has eyes in which “a lot of strength and living fire shone,” and Larra’s eyes were “cold and proud.” Light and darkness, fire and shadow - this will distinguish not only the appearance of Larra and Danko, but also their attitude towards people, their destinies, the memory of them. Danko has a fiery heart in his chest, Larra has a heart of stone, Danko will live in blue steppe sparks even after death, and the ever-living Larra will turn into a shadow. Larra sees nothing but herself. The son of Eagle, a lonely predator, he despises the laws of people, lives by his own laws, obeys only his momentary desires. “The punishment of a person is in himself” - this is why eternal lonely life became for Larra a punishment worse than death.

Burning is the ideal of life for another hero of this story - Danko. Danko saves those people who, from weakness, exhaustion and fear, were ready to kill him, those among whom there was one who stepped on his proud heart. It is no coincidence that Gorky introduces this episode into the artistic fabric of the story: people were poisoned not only by the poisonous fumes of the swamp, but also by fear, they were accustomed to being slaves, it is very difficult to free themselves from this “internal slavery”, and even Danko’s feat is not able to wrest fear out in an instant from human souls. People were frightened by everything: both the road back and the road forward; they blamed Danko, a man endowed with “the courage of the West,” for their weakness. And”, that is, the courage to be first. “People began to reproach him for his inability to manage them; in anger and anger they attacked Danko, the man who walked ahead of them.” Danko gives his life to people, dreaming of awakening light in their souls.

The life of Izergil, the third heroine of the story, was called “rebellious” by Gorky. This life was filled with rapid movement and vivid feelings; extraordinary, brave, strong people often found themselves next to her - especially the red-haired Hutsul and the “lord with the chopped up face.” She left the weak and vile without regret, even if she loved them: “I looked at him from above, and he was floundering there, in the water. I left then. And I never met him again” (about the nun), “Then I gave him kicked him and would have hit him in the face, but he recoiled and jumped up... Then I went too” (about Arcadek).

Izergil was not afraid to sacrifice herself in the name of love, but at the end of her life she was left alone, “without a body, without blood, with a heart without desires, with eyes without fire - also almost a shadow.” Izergil was absolutely free, she stayed with a person as long as she loved him, she always parted without regret and even remembered little of the person with whom she spent part of her life: “Where did the fisherman go? - Fisherman? And he...here... -Wait, where is the little Turk? - Boy? He died...” Izergil put her freedom above attachment to a person, calling it slavery: “I have never been anyone’s slave.”

Another romantic hero of Gorky’s stories can be called nature, which in its exclusivity is akin to Zobar, Radda, Danko, Izergil. Only where there was steppe space and free wind could Gorky’s romantic heroes live. Nature in the story “Old Woman Izergil” becomes one of the characters: it is a living creature that takes part in people’s lives. And just like among people, there is good and evil in nature. The Moldavian night, the description of which precedes the events of the first legend, creates an atmosphere of mystery. Before Larra appears, nature dresses in bloody tones and becomes alarming. In the legend of Danko, nature is hostile to people, but its evil energy was defeated by Danko’s love: with his feat, he overcame the darkness not only in the souls of people, but also in nature: “The sun was shining here; the steppe sighed, the grass glittered in the diamonds of the rain, and the river sparkled with gold.”

The exclusivity and colorfulness of their characters, the desire for freedom and the ability to take decisive actions distinguish all the heroes of Gorky’s romantic works. The words given by the writer to the old woman Izergil have already become an aphorism: “In life, do you know, there is always room for exploits.” This reflects the concept of a human doer capable of transforming the world. At the turn of the century, this concept turned out to be consonant with a time when many already felt the approach of global historical changes.

Composition

Proud defiance of fate and daring love of freedom. Heroic character. The romantic hero strives for unfettered freedom, without which there is no true happiness for him and which is more valuable than life itself.

At an early stage of his creativity, the writer turned to romanticism, thanks to which he created a number of bright literary images. This literary direction allowed the writer not only to create perfect image, but also to convey the romantic spirit: the Proud Falcon, dying in a deep gorge, the daredevil Danko, who lit the way for people with the torch of his heart, Radda with his beautiful voice - all these Gorky heroes are united by the desire for freedom, they are not afraid even of death itself. In Gorky's stories, only freedom is a real value for a person. As an example, he tells a legend about the love of two young gypsies, stronger than the love of freedom. The ending of the poem is tragic - Loiko kills Rada in front of the entire camp and dies himself. Gorky draws exactly this ending to the poem because neither Loiko nor Rada wanted to lose freedom.

The heroes of the legends told by the Moldavian Izergil also strive for freedom. The heroes of the story “Old Woman Izergil” - Larra and Danko - are opposed to each other, but they also have common similarities. Strength of character and pride are emphasized in Lara. But good qualities turn into their opposite because she despises people. Danko also strives for freedom and takes on a difficult mission - to lead people out of the forest. He rips out his heart, thereby lighting the way for them. Gorky's romantic heroes have many positive, human qualities- love of freedom, as well as the ability to serve people

Romanticism as a movement in literature arose in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and became most widespread in Europe in the period from 1790 to 1830. The main idea of ​​romanticism was the assertion creative personality, and its peculiarity is a violent depiction of emotions. The main representatives of romanticism in Russia were Lermontov, Pushkin and Gorky.

Gorky's romantic mood was prompted by growing discontent in society and the expectation of change. It was thanks to the protest against “stagnation” that images of heroes who were capable of saving the people, leading them out of darkness, and showing them the right path began to appear in the writer’s head. But this path seemed completely different to Gorky, different from his usual existence; the author despised everyday life and saw salvation only in freedom from social shackles and conventions, which was reflected in his early stories.

Historically, this period of Gorky’s work coincided with the flourishing of revolutionary movements in Russia, whose views the author clearly sympathized with. He sang the image of a selfless and honest rebel, consumed not by greedy calculations, but by romantic aspirations to change the world for the better and destroy an unjust system. Also, in his works of that time, a craving for freedom and unrealistic ideals was revealed, because the writer had not yet seen the changes, but only had a presentiment of them. When dreams of a new social system took on real shape, his work transformed into socialist realism.

Main features

The main feature of romanticism in Gorky’s work is a clear division of characters into bad and good, that is, there are no complex personalities, a person has either only good qualities, or only bad. This technique helps the author to more clearly show his sympathy and highlight those people who need to be imitated.

In addition, in all of Gorky’s romantic works a love for nature can be traced. Nature is always one of the main acting characters, and all romantic moods are transmitted through her. The writer loved to use descriptions of mountains, forests, seas, endowing every particle of the surrounding world with its own character and behavior.

What is revolutionary romanticism?

The early romantic works of Zhukovsky and Batyushkov were based on the ideas of classicism and, in fact, were a direct continuation of it, which did not correspond to the sentiments of progressive and radically thinking people of that period. There were few of them, so romanticism acquired classical forms: conflict between the individual and society, an extra person, longing for an ideal, etc. However, time passed, and there were more and more revolutionary-minded citizens.

The divergence of literature and popular interests led to a change in romanticism, to the emergence of new ideas and techniques. The main representatives of the new revolutionary romanticism were Pushkin, Gorky and the Decembrist poets, who, first of all, promoted progressive views on the development prospects of Russia. The main theme was folk identity - the possibility of independent existence of peasants, hence the term nationality. New images began to appear, and the main ones among them were the genius poet and hero, capable at any moment of saving society from an impending threat.

Old woman Izergil

In this story there is a contrast between two characters and two types of behavior. The first is Danko - an example of that very hero, the ideal who must save the people. He feels free and happy only when his tribe is free and happy. The young man is filled with love for his people, sacrificial love, which personifies the spirit of the Decembrists, who were ready to die for the well-being of society.

Danko saves his people, but at the same time dies himself. The tragedy of this legend is that the tribe forgets its heroes, it is ungrateful, but for the leader this does not matter, because the main reward for the feat is the happiness of the people for whom it was accomplished.

The antagonist is the son of the eagle, Larra, he despised people, despised their way of life and law, he recognized only freedom, turning into permissiveness. He did not know how to love and limit his desires; as a result, he was expelled from the tribe for violating social foundations. Only then did the proud young man realize that without the people he was nothing. When he is alone, no one can admire him, no one needs him. Having shown these two antipodes, Gorky brought everything to one conclusion: the values ​​and interests of the people should always be higher than your values ​​and interests. Freedom is to free people from the oppression of the tyranny of the spirit, ignorance, that darkness that hid behind the forest, unfit for life for the Danko tribe.

It is obvious that the author follows the canon of romanticism: here is the confrontation between the individual and society, here is the longing for the ideal, here is the proud freedom of loneliness and extra people. However, the dilemma about freedom was not resolved in favor of Larra’s proud and narcissistic loneliness; the writer despises this type, glorified by Byron (one of the founders of romanticism) and Lermontov. Its perfect romantic hero- this is the one who, being above society, does not renounce it, but helps it even when it persecutes the savior. In this feature, Gorky is very close to the Christian understanding of freedom.

Makar Chudra

In the story “Makar Chudra,” freedom is also the main value for the heroes. The old gypsy Makar Chudra calls her the main treasure of a person; in her he sees an opportunity to preserve his “I”. Revolutionary romanticism is colorfully manifested precisely in this understanding of freedom: the old man claims that under conditions of tyranny a moral and gifted individual will not develop. This means that it is worth taking risks for the sake of independence, because without it the country will never become better.

Loiko and Radda have the same message. They love each other, but see marriage only as chains and shackles, and not as a chance to find peace. As a result, the love of freedom, which so far appears in the form of ambition, since the heroes cannot use it correctly, leads to the death of both characters. Gorky puts individualism above marriage ties, which only lull a person’s creative and mental abilities with everyday worries and petty interests. He understands that it is easier for a loner to sacrifice his life for the sake of freedom, it is easier to find complete harmony with his inner world. After all, married Danko cannot really rip out the heart.

Chelkash

The main characters of the story are the old drunkard and thief Chelkash and the young village boy Gavrila. One of them was going to go on a “deal,” but his partner broke his leg, and this could complicate the whole operation, and that’s when the experienced rogue met Gavrila. During their conversation, Gorky paid great attention to Chelkash’s personality, noticed all the little things, described his slightest movements, all the feelings and thoughts that arose in his head. The refined psychologism of the image is a clear adherence to the romantic canon.

Nature also occupies a special place in this work, since Chelkash had a spiritual connection with the sea, and his state of mind often depended on the sea. The expression of feelings and moods through the states of the surrounding world is again a romantic trait.

We also see how Gavrila’s character changes over the course of the story, and if at first we felt pity and compassion for him, then in the end they turn into disgust. The main idea of ​​the story is that it doesn’t matter what you look like or what you do, but what’s in your soul is important, the most important thing is to always remain a decent person in any matter. This thought itself carries a revolutionary message: how does it matter what the hero does? Does this mean that the murderer of a dignitary can also be a decent person? So, a terrorist can blow up His Excellency’s carriage and at the same time maintain moral purity? Yes, this is exactly the kind of freedom the author deliberately allows: not everything is a vice that society condemns. A revolutionary kills, but his motive is sacred. The writer could not say this directly, so he chose abstract examples and images.

Features of Gorky's romanticism

The main feature of Gorky's romanticism is the image of a hero, a certain ideal designed to save the people. He does not renounce the people, but on the contrary wants to lead them to the right path. The main values ​​that the writer exalted in his romantic stories, is love, freedom, courage and self-sacrifice. Their understanding depends on the revolutionary sentiments of the author, who writes not only for the thinking intelligentsia, but also for the ordinary Russian peasant, therefore the images and plots are not ornate and simple. They have the character of a religious parable and are even similar in style. For example, the author very clearly shows his attitude towards each character, and it is always clear who the author likes and who he doesn’t.

Gorky also had nature actor and influenced the heroes of the stories. In addition, its individual parts are symbols that must be perceived allegorically.

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