Demon and Arbenin are the heroes of M.Yu. Lermontov (“Demon”, “Masquerade”)

According to B.M. Eikhenbaum, the image of Arbenin grows organically from Lermontov’s early lyrics, poems and drama. “The restless, free spirit infused by Lermontov into all his renegades and rebels, from “The Demon” to Arseny in “Boyar Orsha”; their proud gaze, with which they contemptuously look around the dull vicious circle of human existence; finally, their original high loneliness, which they feel as the only condition for their “being” worthy - all this wealth of the romantic “I” Lermontov, having collected from his former heroes, placed in Arbenin.”

To compare the presented images, I think it is necessary to first analyze each character separately.

Thus, images of evil spirits have always disturbed the hearts of poets and writers. The power of good, embodied in God, had no other form. But the messenger of Hell did not bear any names: the Devil, Satan, and Lucifer. This proved that evil has many faces, and a person must be on guard, because he can succumb to temptation, and then the soul will go straight to hell.

However, in the romantic literature of the early 19th century, especially Russian, the images of evil spirits became not so much villains as tyrant fighters, and, paradoxically, God himself became the tyrant. After all, it was he who demanded suffering from a person, forced him to blindly follow his will, sometimes sacrificing the most precious thing he had.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's poem “The Demon” was no exception. The poet takes as the basis for the plot the well-known biblical legend about the spirit of evil cast out by God from heaven for rebellion against his power. The image of the Demon, who transgressed the laws of good and remained alone in the desert of a world that bored him, worried Lermontov all his life. Mikhail Yuryevich worked on the poem for 12 years.

At the beginning of the work, the poet sympathized with his hero. The Demon's desire to be limitless in feelings and actions, the challenge of everyday life, the audacity of rebellion against divine principles were attractive to young Lermontov. The demon is an unusual hero: he despises the limitations of human existence in both time and space. Once he “believed and loved,” “knew neither malice nor doubt,” but now “long rejected, he wandered in the desert of the world without shelter.”

Flying over the valleys of luxurious Georgia, he sees the young princess Tamara dancing. At this moment, the Demon experiences inexplicable excitement, because “his silent soul was filled with a blessed sound” and “he again comprehended the shrine of love, goodness and beauty.” But Tamara does not need his love, because she is waiting for her fiancé - the brave Prince Sinodal.

All the heroes of the poem, except for the Demon, are closed in the space of their fate. Tragic circumstances control them, and resistance to them is futile. The brave prince hurries to the wedding feast and passes the chapel, where he always offered “zealous prayer.” As soon as “the daring groom despised the custom of his ancestors,” as soon as he crossed the boundary of what was prescribed, death from the “evil Ossetian bullet” overtook him. Maybe this is the Demon's revenge?

While creating his poem, Lermontov remembered an ancient legend he had heard in the Caucasus about the mountain spirit Hood, who fell in love with a beautiful Georgian woman. When the spirit of Good found out that Nino loves an earthly youth, unable to endure the pangs of jealousy, on the eve of the wedding he covers the lovers' hut with a huge snow avalanche. But Lermontov is not satisfied with the principle: “So don’t let anyone get you!” His Demon is truly ready to transform for the sake of love: he is devoid of the energy of evil and the thirst for revenge, and there is no jealousy in him.

For the Demon, love for Tamara is an attempt to liberate himself from the cold contempt for the world to which his rebellion against God doomed him. “He is bored with evil” because he does not meet resistance from people who willingly use the Devil’s clues. The demon “sowed evil without pleasure”; he is deprived of vain satisfaction from his power over insignificant people.

When Tamara grieves for her dead groom, Demon

... He leaned towards her at the head of the bed;

And his gaze looked at her with such love.

At that moment he was neither a guardian angel nor a “terrible spirit of hell.” When Tamara decides to narrow her life to the gloomy cell of the monastery, the Demon wants to return to her the full breadth of freedom and give her the space of eternity. He promises Tamara a paradise of omniscience, a paradise of freedom:

I will sink to the bottom of the sea,

I'll fly beyond the clouds

I will give you everything, everything earthly -

Love me!…

But the price of such freedom is too high - renunciation of all insignificant earthly things, that is, death. That’s why Tamara wants to escape from the “irresistible dream” of the evil spirit. An Angel comes to her aid, not believing in the Demon's transformation, so he returns him to his previous role as a villain. Thus, Heaven did not have enough faith in goodness, awareness of its power in Tamara’s soul and its possibility in the Demon. Tamara turned out to be able not only to love the Demon, but also to take care of the salvation of her soul. After her death, Tamara’s “sinful soul” was washed by the tears of an Angel, because she “redeemed at a cruel price” the possibility that heaven would still open up to her.

Tamara's death is a victory of love for the Demon, but he himself is not saved by this victory, because she is taken away by death, and his soul is taken by Heaven. Seeing how Tamara’s soul, “silhouetted by prayer,” seeks salvation on the Angel’s chest, the Demon is finally defeated:

And the defeated Demon cursed

Your crazy dreams...

Lermontov saw the reason for the defeat of the Demon in the limited feelings of the Demon, including for Tamara, so he sympathizes with his hero, but also condemns him for his arrogant bitterness against the world. The “eternal murmur of man” as his proud desire to stand on a par with nature is captured in the image of the Demon. The divine world is more powerful than the world of personality - this is the position of the poet.

Critics assessed the image of the Demon differently. The symbolic image was revealed best by V. Belinsky. He wrote that the Demon makes a person doubt the truth: “As long as the truth is only a ghost, a dream for you, you are the Demon’s prey, because you must know all the torture of doubt.”

The pinnacle of dramaturgy M.Yu. Lermontov can rightfully be considered “Masquerade”. “Masquerade” is a romantic drama about the tragic destinies of thinking people of contemporary Russia, about their impulses to action and fatal delusions.”

The author focuses on the problem of personality, thinking about the fate of a person who has taken on the burden of lonely opposition to the existing order of things. Arbenin is one of those characters of Lermontov who, while not being his positive heroes, at the same time, in terms of mentality and relationships with the outside world, are in many ways close to the author and therefore, naturally, in accordance with their character, often act as exponents of his views.

The hero is in constant conflict with himself and with the people around him; he is overcome by complete disappointment in the whole world, which is characteristic of Lermontov’s lyrical hero. Evgeniy Arbenin belongs to the type of people who, according to Belinsky, “are always in a struggle with the outside world, always dissatisfied, always upset and bilious.” These qualities make the hero of the drama “Masquerade” similar to the so-called “strange people” in Russian literature.

Arbenin, being a part of this society, is one of the participants in the “masquerade” of life with its hypocrisy and selfishness, intrigue and falsehood, card games and costume balls. Arbenin cannot be called a positive hero. He is a card sharper who got rich from it. But the strength of his spirit and mind allows him to break out of the vicious circle and start a new life.

...I saw everything

I felt everything, understood everything, learned everything,

I have often loved, more often I have hated,

And he suffered most of all!

At first I wanted everything, then I despised everything,

I didn’t understand myself,

The world didn't understand me.

However, the hero clearly feels chosen among people. He rises above the crowd, above secular life, filled with base passions. Better than anyone, he understands that in this society all life is based on deception, everything is illusory, everything is in the power of gold and evil. This contempt separates him from the “crowd.” Arbenin exposes human vices and evil, denounces everything that lies in hypocrisy and lies, cruelty and violence. He is surrounded by empty, soulless people, whose life resembles a masquerade. That is why Arbenin is alone in his tragedy:

In vain I look everywhere for entertainment,

The crowd in front of me is colorful and buzzing...

But the heart is cold and the imagination sleeps:

They are all strangers to me, and I am a stranger to them all!

Lermontov endowed his hero with fortitude, courage, and longing for a different life. But “the awareness of the impossibility of achieving spiritual freedom, independence, human trust and participation in a world where the concepts of good and evil are displaced gives rise to Arbenin’s tragic attitude.”

Contrasting oneself with a given society gradually gave rise to hatred and “coldness of soul.” Lermontov needed to endow the hero of the drama with the features of demonism “in order to separate “high evil” (carrier Arbenin) from “low, generated by the way of life” and “ordinary depravity” (carriers Kazarin and Zvezdich).” However, Lermontov's “demon” is capable of spiritual rebirth. The poet saw this miraculous power in the “prayer of quiet love.” It was love that brought Arbenin spiritual renewal:

And suddenly a forgotten sound woke up in me,

And into your dead soul

I looked... and saw that I loved her too

Again dreams, again any.

In an empty chest they rage in the open air...

For Lermontov's hero, love is a “shrine”, higher than which there is nothing. But Arbenin is not capable of sublime feelings after the bitter experience he endured, after he, by his own admission, “experienced all the sweets of vice and villainy of the world.” It seems to him that the lies prevailing around him have penetrated into his family. The slightest spark of erroneous suspicion is enough to ignite a fire of jealousy and revenge in Arbenin. Too often he saw lies in the family relationships of people in his circle, too easily and often he deceived himself; It’s easier for him to believe in Nina’s betrayal than in her innocence.

Nina is angelically spontaneous; she, like a child, adores holidays, “the glitter, the noise, and the talk of balls,” and often spends time at them until late. It is not surprising that it is the simple-minded Nina who becomes a victim of the intrigues and masquerade twists of fate.

Society takes revenge on Arbenin in the person of the “masks” surrounding him, finding his most sore spot and hitting it prudently and in cold blood. The hypocritical Baroness Shtrahl, who has started a tragic intrigue, trying to save her position in society, exposes Nina to attack. Shprikh, the essence of which Arbenin immediately understood

An evil smile, eyes... bugles for sure,

Look, he’s not human, but he doesn’t look like the devil.

takes revenge on Prince Zvezdich for Evgeniy’s help. Former fellow gambler Kazarin, trying to return Arbenin to card games as a good partner, adds fuel to the fire, after which Evgeniy is completely disappointed in Nina:

Be gone, virtue: I don't know you,

I was deceived by you too...

The Stranger is hovering around Arbenin like a black demon. Once upon a time, Evgeniy deprived him of all his funds by winning big at cards and not forgiving the debt. For many years he has been hatching a plan for revenge, which is finally brought to life. It is he who opens Evgeny’s eyes to the fact that Nina is innocent.

A growing feeling of jealousy, a thirst for revenge for the betrayal and betrayal of his wife, bile and anger accumulated over the years, lead to a tragic outcome.

... Oh, I love her,

I love you - and they deceive you so furiously...

No, I won’t give it up to people...

And they won’t judge us...

I myself will carry out my terrible judgment...

I will find her execution - let mine be here.

(Points to heart)

Despite such a serious crime committed by the lyrical hero, Lermontov does not blame and does not execute Arbenin. It seemed that the author wanted to give him the opportunity to drink the bitter cup of trials to the end. That is why Arbenin is one of the most striking romantic images that exist in Russian poetry.

Lermontov endowed the lyrical hero with his own spirit of protest, which he himself was full of and which he loved so much, created a romantic type of lyrical “I”, unified and unique in its internal content.

The thoughts and actions of Arbenin and other characters indicate that the author with his play not only tried to criticize the existing secular society, he warned against the growing undivided reign of evil and the basest qualities and actions.

“Masquerade” is Lermontov’s most mature dramatic play; it reveals the author’s honed skills: rich language, apt phrases, textured dialogues, depth of images, specificity of issues, which deservedly places the play among the best works of Russian drama.

Eikhenbaum establishes a connection between “Masquerade” and the early editions of “The Demon” (for example, the 1833 edition): “The hero of the drama must go the path of the Demon, but in everyday embodiment.” He further notes that “Masquerade” is not a psychological tragedy, at least in the sense in which this can be said about Shakespeare’s “Othello,” but a social-philosophical one: it is not about the fate of the individual, not about “character” and not about passions in themselves, but about human society, structured in such a way that an active striving for good and happiness must inevitably turn into evil...” By emphasizing the social nature of the problem, Eikhenbaum neutralizes the problem of personality, which is so important for Lermontov. He rightly points to Arbenin’s words to Nina, “not amenable to any psychological interpretation”:

Yes, you will die - and I will remain here,

One, one... years will pass,

I'll die and I'll be all alone! Terrible!

This is undoubtedly the Demon speaking. However, Eikhenbaum attributes the peculiar “demonization” of Arbenin to the need for a contrasting image in order to reveal the “ordinary depravity” of Kazarin and Zvezdich.

The nature of Lermontov’s literary position can be revealed in the correlation of the poetic and thematic features of “Masquerade” and “Demon”. Does “Masquerade” represent a path to the “Demon” or, on the contrary, a reduction of biblical issues to the level of a moral, social, psychological artistic embodiment of demonism? It all depends on the quality of the research perspective. Undoubtedly, in this case we are dealing with different manifestations of a special Lermontov problematic, the essence of which is organically synthetic. A look from the side of “Masquerade” indicates that the romantic hero, player, etc., being artistically transformed, seems to “condense” into the Demon of the poem of the same name. On the other hand, in “Masquerade” the social insolubility of the “vertigo game” is evident, and this requires a transition to a new level of demonic problematics - biblical and mythological. It is hardly advisable to establish the creative “vector”, the direction of movement of Lermontov the artist, because “Masquerade” and “Demon” were created simultaneously, or more precisely: “Masquerade” was a stop on the way to “Demon”.

The biblical and mythological material of “The Demon” extremely expands the space of thematic implementation, which is already present in “Masquerade,” although to a large extent as an undeveloped essay.

Analysis of “Demon” makes it possible to establish some similar features of the artistic space of “Masquerade”. The poem analytically distinguishes between the mythological Demon and the Demon - a character in a romantic poem, identified in the artistic space. In “Masquerade” such a symbolic embodiment of the conflict is impossible due to the generic properties of the drama, however, it is dramatization that makes it possible to solve this problem of differentiation and identification in a different way by doubling the characters (the oppositions Arbenin - Kazarin, Arbenin - Unknown). The revealed inconsistency of Arbenin seems to anticipate the unity of the biblical-mythological and moral-social issues of the poem. The cosmological limitlessness of the Demon corresponds to the infinity of Arbenin’s self-knowledge, and both positions demonstrate a playful attitude of artistic comprehension, correlated with sociocultural circumstances.

Like the poem, “Masquerade” is characterized by an inverted plot: the story of the death of the Unknown, which is very significant for understanding the character of the hero, is given at the end, after the most important events, as well as the story of Tamara’s ancestor, “the robber of wanderers and villages,” whose existence is very important as the motivation for “God’s punishment” ", "flew down" on Gudal's house.

Thus, the feelings reigning in the soul of the main character thereby bring the image of Arbenin closer to Lermontov’s Demon, a variant of the same ideological, philosophical and psychological collision. Lermontov needed to endow the hero of the drama with the features of demonism “in order to separate “high evil” (carrier Arbenin) from “low, generated by the way of life” and “ordinary depravity” (carriers Kazarin and Zvezdich).” However, Lermontov's “demon” is capable of spiritual rebirth. The poet saw this miraculous power in the “prayer of quiet love.”

The main theme of Lermontov’s works is personality and its conflict with the outside world. The rebellious heroes struggle in vain with reality, but are ultimately doomed to loneliness. Lermontov opposes the oppression of autocracy to freedom. As a result, the main characters of the works are lonely, broken and powerless in their attempts to change reality.

The poem “Demon” is one of the author’s favorites; it was written based on an ancient Caucasian legend. The work is full of epithets and comparisons, permeated with the spirit of romanticism, filled with vivid images of heroes. Lermontov added sketches of the amazing Caucasian nature with all its diversity to the poem.

The poem traces not only the confrontation between the protagonist and the world, but also an internal conflict with himself. The angel, who did not recognize the ideas of the universe and had a rebellious spirit, was expelled by God from paradise and doomed to eternal wanderings. Possessing a strong spirit, the Demon is unable to free himself from his own vices, he is tormented by internal contradictions, even the evil that he commits is boring to him. Given the Demon’s characteristic contempt for the world around him, he involuntarily reaches out to people. Thanks to the description of the mental torment of his hero, the reader involuntarily sympathizes with him.

Lermontov's Demon is humanized, thereby the author wanted to show the contradictions present in people. At the same time, the loneliness and suffering of the protagonist reflects the people's dissatisfaction with the political system of that time. After all, protest was already growing in society at that time; the people did not want to put up with the despotism of the authorities.

The Demon, who has lost the meaning of life, finds him in love for the beautiful Tamara, who personifies virtue, purity, sincerity, and spontaneity. He seeks to find peace of mind by reuniting with the object of his love. It seems to him that this strong feeling can give them freedom and harmony, so he promises the woman eternity in exchange for renouncing everything earthly. However, his love is selfish and therefore doomed. Pursuing his goals, he dooms his beloved fiance to certain death.

Tamara succumbs to the tempter, not foreseeing the disastrous ending. But the Demon’s love is destructive; by surrendering to him, the woman dies. After death, an angel who appears takes Tamara’s soul to heaven, dooming the Demon to loneliness and further wandering. Tamara’s soul is cleansed by her suffering, repentance and sincere love.

At the end of the work, the hero curses his dreams, because attempts to change his life and himself failed. As in most of Lermontov’s handwritten works, the finale contains sadness, grief, broken hopes, and the dreams of the main character who did not come true, who remains completely alone.

The contradictory attitude towards the world of the Demon expresses Lermontov's love for Russia and at the same time his hatred of autocracy. The poet is filled with admiration for the beautiful nature of his native country; he enthusiastically describes its greatness and beauty in his work. But the author is oppressed by the fate of the freedom-loving Russian people, forced to endure the political structure of that time.

It is not for nothing that Mikhail Yuryevich worked on the poem for about twelve years, because on the basis of this imperishable work Rubinstein created an opera, and Vrubel painted the paintings “The Seated Demon”, “The Flying Demon” and “The Defeated Demon”, and the first of the above paintings is presented in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Thus, Lermontov's greatest creation was reflected in the works of other geniuses.

Essay Analysis

In 1829, the youthful impulses of a sublime soul poured out onto paper with the writing of “The Demon.” Over the next ten years, the author added and rewrote the work - eight versions of the poem are known. The details of the plot and the setting changed, but the image of the main character remained unchanged - proud beyond measure, disappointed and despising. The eternal struggle between good and evil, coming from the creation of the world, the opposition of the individual to the oppressive public opinion, the tales of the peoples of the Caucasus - this is the foundation of a brilliant work.

In the author's soul there is an understanding of the cause of the problem. Revealing the image of the Demon, Lermontov clearly showed new views and trends about opposing the individual to the oppression of tyranny. Which disturbed the minds and hearts of contemporaries. Lermontov's Demon, the main character of the poem, is shown as humane and sublime. It evokes in the reader not fear or rejection, but compassion and empathy, and sometimes even pity. Punished with immortality and exiled for rebellion. Suffering in exile and yearning for spiritual warmth, without a goal, wandering in oblivion at the junction of realities, the Demon soared in the heights. Tamara talks about him

It looked like a clear evening:
Neither day nor night - neither darkness nor light!..

The exiled wanderer is not a competitor of the Almighty, not a troublemaker who destroys the balance in the world, not a villain. Lermontov showed a hero suffering from the injustice of the world order, tormented by the contradictions surrounding him. There is no justice in the world that sees. Such endless vegetation exhausts the proud Demon, dries him out. And he is guilty of bringing torment to humanity

"sowed evil without pleasure
.. He met no resistance -
And evil bored him.”

The demon longed for agreement with the higher power that cast renewal into this world. Touching a pure soul would be salvation. An unexpected collision with Tamara seems to be a response to the hero’s aspirations. A demon with an open heart came to the meeting

And he comes in, ready to love,
With a soul open to goodness,
And he thinks that there is a new life
The desired time has come.

Living alone without love is worthless. He is so eager to find a soul mate, captivates and seduces the girl with gentle words

I will give you everything - everything earthly -
Love me!

The demon comes to the heroine’s chambers with pure thoughts, but he is pushed away and again forced to play the part of the seducer. There is no forgiveness from heaven. Next to his beloved, an Angel accuses him of evil intent and calls the newcomer vicious. The humiliated and insulted Demon is now fighting for Tamara not out of love, but out of a desire to confirm his own strength and defeat the Angel.

And again he woke up in his soul
Ancient hatred is poison.

Heroes choose attraction and suffer. The main character has died, and her soul, “drowning out the horror with prayer,” finds refuge in the arms of an Angel. The Demon's moral revival failed. He is crushed and defeated

And the defeated Demon cursed
Your dreams are crazy.

The poet's contemporaries often asked questions and thoughts about the root cause of the injustice of the world order. Why is there such disharmony in the world? The poet empathizes with the main character, but at the same time condemns him for neglect and bitterness. “The eternal murmur of man” is a self-confident desire to be above the forces of nature - this is the tragic basis as the author presents in the poem. The Controversial Demon captivated subsequent generations of readers. The poem served as inspiration for subsequent talented artists, poets and writers.

"Demon" (1829-1841). The image goes back to the biblical myth of expulsion from paradise, the content of which was freely and poetically reworked by Lermontov. In the story, D. is the personified human spirit, endowed with divine immortality.

In D.'s characterization, his position as an “exile from paradise” takes on the original symbolic meaning. God's punishment is that D. is doomed to wandering and eternal loneliness. D., as the “spirit of denial”, “spirit of doubt”, is endowed with exceptional vigilance regarding the imperfections of the world. His situation is tragic: by his nature, he cannot accept anything on faith (before experience), and as a result of experience (cognition), the integrity of cognizable phenomena is destroyed. As a certain world substance, D. acts as a source of evil, but is in constant interaction with the opposite principle. A transformed angel, he remembers the times of heavenly bliss. In essence, the evil represented by D. is revenge on the world for its non-identity with the ideal of beauty and perfection. It should be added that D. Lermontov does not coincide with Christian biblical sources, and is not equal to Lucifer or Satan. He is the individual myth of the Russian poet.

The story is based on the idea of ​​a possible change in the fate of the renegade D. By the beginning of the action, D. is not satisfied with the role of a sower of evil destined for him in the world, he is tired and dissatisfied (“evil has become boring to him”). Suddenly, his soul flashes towards an earthly woman - Georgian Tamara. The plot is based on the interaction of two independent persons - a mysterious spirit and a seduced human soul. The scale and intensity of D.'s feelings correspond to his crazy idea of ​​​​overcoming God's curse, and the symbolic condition for returning to the lost paradise is the implementation of the absolute in a love relationship with Tamara.

Characterizing D.’s personality, Lermontov identifies two defining features in him: mysterious incomprehensibility and heavenly charm, which an earthly woman cannot resist. “Materialization” of D., the embodiment of the spirit into a real being is given in the perception of Tamara. The question of the reality of D. is the most important. Undoubtedly, for Lermontov himself, D. is not a ghost, not a morbid fantasy, but the embodiment of the spirit in tangible and visible forms.

D. appears to earthly Tamara at night, in her dreams. It correlates with the element of air and manifests itself as breath and “voice”. There is no external characteristic of D. Like the phantom of dreams, it is not only incorporeal, but also intermediate in state. In Tamara’s perception, “oi... is like a clear evening: neither day nor night, neither darkness nor light!” In her visions, D. “slides without sound or trace,” “shines quietly like a star,” “calls and beckons.” Tamara is disturbed by his “magic voice”, “wonderful tenderness of speeches”. Having killed his rival, Tamara’s fiancé, D. flies to her to bring back “golden dreams.” His song (a lullaby by genre) magically frees Tamara from earthly anxieties. D. sings about the life of “elusive clouds” that “walk without a trace” in the sky. Lack of purpose, lack of will of movement, disappearance without a trace, indifference to everything in the world - such qualities of “clouds” model a kind of ideal form of existence. This life without expenses, the opposite of earthly existence, evokes dreams of impossible peace. D. is a night deity, whose magic is associated specifically with night time. His “lullaby” contains this poeticization of the night world, common in the romantic tradition: the “sounds” of silence, the breeze, the blooming of a night flower. Thus, D. appears as the demiurge of a utopian universe, which imperiously attracts Tamara with sound harmony and sensory-physical sensations of bliss.

What is the demonism (killing effect) of D.’s “songs”? D. infects Tamara's soul with longing for what does not happen in reality, deprives her of will and inspires indifference to everything earthly. In his speeches, a significant place is occupied by the denial of the pitiful short human life, in which “neither true happiness nor lasting beauty” is possible. To give up “land,” which D. demands from Tamara, in the language of human ideas means ethical indifference, which is destructive in the human world. D. corrupts Tamara's heart with new beauty, in which all the oppositions of human understanding of the world are reconciled in a strange unity: good and evil, heaven and hell. The death of Tamara, who believed D., fully demonstrates the individualistic nature of the hero, focused exclusively on his position and his suffering. This death is both an exposure of D.'s failure and the highest point of his despair. The hero's attempt to return to the world of goodness and beauty was tragically cut short, and D. cannot take the blame for the failure alone.

The author's attitude towards the hero is complex. On the one hand, the work has an author-narrator telling an “eastern legend” from ancient times, whose point of view does not coincide with the individual positions of the characters and is distinguished by its breadth and objectivity. At different levels of the text, the author's commentary on D.'s fate is carried out, including at the level of plot organization. The denouement of the romantic story - D. kills Tamara with his love - is perceived as a form of trial of the hero.

On the other hand, D. is a deeply intimate image of the poet. Many of D.'s passionate meditations echo Lermontov's lyrics and are colored by the author's direct intonation. An image of such a scale turned out to be in tune with the historical fate of the young generation of the 30s, to which Lermontov belonged. D. reflected the restlessness of this generation, its philosophical doubts about the correctness of the world order, its quest for absolute freedom, and a deep longing for lost ideals. In the depths of his spirit, Lermontov guessed and experienced many aspects of evil as a certain type of worldview and personal behavior. He guessed, for example, the demonic nature of a rebellious attitude towards the world with the moral impossibility of coming to terms with its inferiority. Lermontov also guessed the demonic dangers lurking in creativity, through which a person can get out of the flow of everything temporary, transient, “small”, paying for it with indifference to reality. Until the end of his life, Lermontov was unable to free himself from the power of D.’s image over himself. D. remained a secret. According to the majority of researchers who have written about the “eastern story,” D. leaves it as unclear as he entered it.

The image of Lermontov's D. was embodied in A.G. Rubinstein's opera “The Demon” (1871-1872). In the libretto by P.A. Viskovatov, the motives of “knowledge and freedom”, enmity with heaven are cut off, and the philosophical content of the poem is ignored. Lermontov’s “golden” verse is significantly diluted with low-grade inserts. The huge range of feelings of the universal exile is reduced to an ordinary feeling of love, which turned D. into a banal seducer.

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.

In 1839, Lermontov finished writing the poem "The Demon". A summary of this work, as well as its analysis, is presented in the article. Today, this creation of the great Russian poet is included in the compulsory school curriculum and is known throughout the world. Let us first describe the main events that Lermontov depicted in the poem “The Demon”.

"Sad Demon" flies over the Earth. He surveys the central Caucasus from a cosmic height, its wonderful world: high mountains, stormy rivers. But nothing attracts the Demon. He feels only contempt for everything. The demon is tired of immortality, eternal loneliness and unlimited power that he has over the earth. The landscape under his wing has changed. Now he sees Georgia, its lush valleys. However, they do not impress him either. Suddenly, the festive revival that he noticed in the possessions of a certain noble feudal lord attracted his attention. The fact is that Prince Gudal wooed his only daughter. A festive celebration is being prepared at his estate.

The demon admires Tamara

Relatives have already gathered. The wine flows like a river. The groom should arrive in the evening. The young princess Tamara marries the young ruler of the Synodal. Meanwhile, the ancient carpets are being laid out by the servants. According to custom, the bride must, even before her groom appears, perform a dance with a tambourine on a roof covered with carpets.

The girl starts dancing. It is impossible to imagine anything more beautiful than this dance. She is so good that the Demon himself fell in love with Tamara.

Tamara's thoughts

Various thoughts are circling in the head of the young princess. She leaves her father's house, where she knew nothing was denied. It is unknown what awaits the girl in a foreign land. She is pleased with her choice of groom. He is in love, rich, handsome and young - everything that is necessary for happiness. And the girl drives away doubts, devoting herself entirely to the dance.

The demon kills the girl's fiancé

Lermontov continues his poem “The Demon” with the next important event. The summary of the episode associated with it is as follows. The demon is no longer able to take his eyes off the beautiful Tamara. He is fascinated by her beauty. And he acts like a real tyrant. The robbers, at the behest of the Demon, attack the princess's fiancé. The synodal is wounded, but rides to the bride’s house on a faithful horse. Having arrived, the groom falls dead.

Tamara goes to the monastery

The prince is heartbroken, the guests are crying, Tamara is sobbing in her bed. Suddenly the girl hears a pleasant, unusual voice, comforting her and promising to send her magical dreams. While in the world of dreams, the girl sees a handsome young man. She understands in the morning that she is being tempted by the evil one. The princess asks to be sent to a monastery, where she hopes to find salvation. The father does not immediately agree to this. He threatens a curse, but eventually gives in.

Murder of Tamara

And here Tamara is in the monastery. However, the girl did not feel any better. She realizes that she has fallen in love with the tempter. Tamara wants to pray to the saints, but instead she bows to the evil one. The demon realizes that the girl will be killed by physical intimacy with him. He decides at some point to abandon his insidious plan. However, the Demon no longer has control over himself. He enters her cell at night in his beautiful winged form.

Tamara does not recognize him as the young man who appeared in her dreams. She is afraid, but the Demon opens his soul to the princess, speaks to the girl passionate speeches, so similar to the words of an ordinary man, when the fire of desires boils in him. Tamara asks the Demon to swear that he is not deceiving her. And he does it. What does it cost him?! Their lips meet in a passionate kiss. Passing by the door of the cell, the watchman hears strange sounds, and then a faint death cry made by the princess.

The ending of the poem

Gudal was told about the death of his daughter. He is going to bury her in the family high-mountain cemetery, where his ancestors erected a small hill. The girl is dressed up. Her appearance is beautiful. There is no sadness of death on him. A smile seemed to freeze on Tamara’s lips. The wise Gudal did everything right. Long ago, he, his yard and estate were washed away from the face of the earth. But the cemetery and the temple remained undamaged. Nature made the grave of the Demon’s beloved inaccessible to man and time.

This is where Lermontov ends his poem “The Demon”. The summary conveys only the main events. Let's move on to the analysis of the work.

Specifics of the analysis of the poem "Demon"

The poem "Demon", which Lermontov created from 1829 to 1839, is one of the poet's most controversial and mysterious works. It is not so easy to analyze it. This is due to the fact that there are several plans for the interpretation and perception of the text that Lermontov created (“The Demon”).

The summary describes only the outline of events. Meanwhile, the poem has several plans: cosmic, which includes relationships with God and the Demon universe, psychological, philosophical, but, of course, not everyday. This should be taken into account when analyzing. To carry it out, you should turn to the original work, the author of which is Lermontov (“The Demon”). A summary will help you remember the plot of the poem, knowledge of which is necessary for analysis.

The image of the Demon created by Lermontov

Many poets turned to the legend of a fallen angel who fought against God. Suffice it to recall Lucifer from Byron’s work “Cain”, Satan depicted by Milton in “Paradise Lost”, Mephistopheles in Goethe’s famous “Faust”. Of course, Lermontov could not help but take into account the tradition that existed at that time. However, he interpreted this myth in an original way.

Lermontov (“The Demon”) portrayed the main character very ambiguously. The chapter summaries point out this ambiguity but leave out the details. Meanwhile, the image of Lermontov’s Demon turned out to be very contradictory. It combines tragic powerlessness and enormous inner strength, the desire to join the good, to overcome loneliness and the incomprehensibility of such aspirations. The demon is a rebellious Protestant who has opposed himself not only to God, but also to people, to the whole world.

Lermontov's protesting, rebellious ideas appear directly in the poem. The demon is the proud enemy of heaven. He is the “king of knowledge and freedom.” The demon is the embodiment of the rebellious uprising of power against that which fetters the mind. This hero rejects the world. He says that there is neither lasting beauty nor true happiness in him. Here there are only executions and crimes, only petty passions live. People cannot love or hate without fear.

Such universal denial, however, means not only the strength of this hero, but at the same time his weakness. The demon is not given the opportunity to see earthly beauty from the heights of the boundless expanses of space. He cannot understand and appreciate the beauty of nature. Lermontov notes that the brilliance of nature did not arouse, apart from cold envy, either new strength or new feelings in his chest. Everything that the Demon saw in front of him, he either hated or despised.

Demon's love for Tamara

In his arrogant solitude, the protagonist suffers. He yearns for connections with people and the world. The demon is bored with life exclusively for himself. For him, love for Tamara, an earthly girl, should have meant the beginning of a way out of gloomy loneliness to people. However, the search for “love, goodness and beauty” and harmony in the world is fatally unattainable for the Demon. And he cursed his crazy dreams, remained arrogant again, alone in the Universe, as before, without love.

Unmasking the Individualistic Consciousness

Lermontov's poem "The Demon", a brief summary of which we have described, is a work in which individualistic consciousness is exposed. Such revelation is also present in previous poems by this author. In this, the destructive, demonic principle is perceived by Lermontov as anti-humanistic. This problem, which deeply worried the poet, was also developed by him in prose (“Hero of Our Time”) and drama (“Masquerade”).

The author's voice in the poem

It is difficult to identify the author’s voice in the poem, his direct position, which predetermines the ambiguity of the work and the complexity of its analysis. M. Yu. Lermontov (“The Demon”) does not at all strive for unambiguous assessments. The summary you just read may have given you a number of questions to which the answer is not obvious. And this is no coincidence, because the author does not answer them in the work. For example, does Lermontov see in his hero an unconditional bearer (albeit suffering) of evil or only a rebellious victim of a divine “unjust verdict”? Was Tamara's soul saved for the sake of censorship? Perhaps for Lermontov this motive was just an ideological and artistic inevitability. Does the defeat of the Demon and the ending of the poem have a conciliatory or, on the contrary, non-conciliatory meaning?

The poem “The Demon” by Lermontov, a summary of the chapters of which was presented above, can prompt the reader to answer all these questions. They talk about the complexity of the philosophical problems of this work, about the fact that the Demon dialectically combines good and evil, hostility to the world and the desire to reconcile with it, the thirst for the ideal and its loss. The poem reflects the poet's tragic worldview. For example, in 1842 Belinsky wrote that the “Demon” had become a fact of life for him. He found in it worlds of beauty, feelings, truth.

"The Demon" is an example of a romantic poem

The artistic originality of the poem also determines the richness of its philosophical and ethical content. This is a vivid example of romanticism, built on antitheses. The heroes confront each other: Demon and God, Demon and Angel, Demon and Tamara. The polar spheres form the basis of the poem: earth and sky, death and life, reality and ideal. Finally, ethical and social categories are contrasted: tyranny and freedom, hatred and love, harmony and struggle, evil and good, denial and affirmation.

Meaning of the work

The poem that Lermontov created (“The Demon”) is of great importance. The summary and analysis presented in this article may have given you this idea. After all, deep problematics, powerful poetic fantasy, pathos of doubt and denial, high lyricism, plasticity and simplicity of epic descriptions, a certain mystery - all this should lead and led to the fact that Lermontov’s “Demon” is rightfully considered one of the pinnacle creations in the history of the romantic poem . The significance of the work is great not only in the history of Russian literature, but also in painting (Vrubel’s paintings) and music (Rubinstein’s opera, in which its summary is taken as a basis).

"Demon" - a story? Lermontov defined this work as a poem. And this is correct, because it is written in verse. The story is a prose genre. These two concepts should not be confused.