First of all, the work “Mtsyri” reflects courage and the desire for freedom. The love motive is present in the poem only in a single episode - the meeting of a young Georgian woman and Mtsyri near a mountain stream. However, despite his heartfelt impulse, the hero refuses his own happiness for the sake of freedom and his homeland. Love for the fatherland and thirst for will become more important for Mtsyri than others life events. Lermontov depicted the image of the monastery in the poem as an image of a prison. Main character perceives monastery walls, stuffy cells and monk guards as a huge obstacle on the path to the desired freedom. He is constantly gnawed by the thought: “We were born into this world for freedom or prison?” And only the days of escape are filled with meaning for Mtsyri. Despite Mtsyri's deep patriotism, Lermontov does not reflect this feeling in the form of dreamy love for his homeland. The protagonist's patriotism is strong, filled with the desire to fight. Militant youthful motives are sung by Lermontov with obvious sympathy. Even his father and friends, Mtsyri, first of all, remembers as courageous warriors. In his dreams, he often sees battles that bring victory. Mtsyri is confident that he can be a good defender of his region. This can be judged from his words: “in the land of our fathers, we are not the last to dare.” But, despite all the young man’s aspirations, he was never destined to experience what the rapture of battle was. However, in his soul Mtsyri remains a true warrior. Only once, on the day of his escape, did Mtsyri give in to tears for a short time. It seems that monastery loneliness strengthened the will of the young man. That is why he escapes from his prison on a terrible, stormy night. The elements frightened the monks, and Mtsyri feels a kinship with it. Courage and perseverance can be judged by the episode in which his battle with the leopard is described. Death does not frighten Mtsyri; he understands that upon returning to the monastery, he will experience the same suffering. The ending of the picture suggests that approaching death does not weaken the hero’s courage. The monk’s narrative does not force Mtsyri to repent of his sins. Even in such a tragic moment, he is ready to “exchange paradise and eternity” for a few minutes of freedom spent with his loved ones. The main character is defeated physically, but not spiritually. Lermontov endowed his character with courage and heroism; perhaps this was so lacking in the poet’s contemporaries. We can safely say that the Caucasus in the poem is presented as a hero. The landscape of this place is a means of revealing the image of Mtsyri. Since the main character does not find unity with his environment, nature becomes his outlet. While in the monastery, the hero associates himself with a greenhouse leaf, which is imprisoned in a prison of gray slabs. Once free, the first thing he does is crouch to the ground. Mtsyri’s romanticism is fully revealed precisely in relation to native nature. Mtsyri is a gloomy and lonely hero who is endowed with fiery passions. In his confessional story, he fully reveals his soul. The lines about an unhappy childhood and youth help to understand the main character’s experiences and thoughts. The poet tried to focus specifically on the psychological side of Mtsyri. He placed his hero at the center of the poem, as an extraordinary, strong and freedom-loving person.
Mtsyri's fight with the leopard is a key episode in the poem; in addition, it is the most famous and studied. The scene was repeatedly illustrated by artists. It is worth recalling the works of N. Dubovsky, O. Pasternak, as well as the engravings that were made by F. Konstantinov.
"Mtsyri": fight with a leopard - analysis
For literary scholars and critics who have studied this poem, the analysis of this episode is of great importance. Mtsyri's fight with the leopard reveals the main character traits of the hero, so it is the key to understanding the work. In a short poem, the episode that interests us occupies four stanzas - from 16 to 19. By allocating so much space for it, as well as placing the scene in the middle of the work, Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov emphasizes the compositional significance of the episode.
First, the leopard is described in detail. It is also important to note that the characterization of the beast is given by the hero without hostility or fear; on the contrary, the young man Mtsyri is mesmerized by the strength and beauty of the predator. The author uses many comparisons, says that the leopard’s eyes glow like lights, the fur is cast in silver. IN dark forest under moonlight it resembles a fairy tale come to life, one of the ancient legends, perhaps once told to a child by his sisters and mother.
Beast
Considering the fight between Mtsyri and the leopard, it should be noted that the predator, like the main character, enjoys the night, he plays happily. All definitions related to the beast in the poem describe him as a child, which he is, because before us is a child of nature. The leopard symbolizes the power of the earth, for which both animal and man are equally necessary elements.
Battle
Both participants in the battle are equally beautiful, worthy of life and free. For Mtsyri, the battle with the leopard is a test of his strength, which does not find proper use in the monastery. The “hand of fate” led the hero in a different direction. He was accustomed to consider himself weak, fit only for fasting and prayer. However, after defeating the predator, he proudly discovers new possibilities in himself. Thanks to the many verbs that indicate a quick change of action that the author uses, one can fully imagine the incredibly mesmerizing battle between Mtsyri and the leopard: eventful and dynamic.
The mood is most accurately conveyed by the words: “twitched”, “managed”, “rushed”. Throughout the entire scene, concern for the main character does not fade. However, Mtsyri wins, overcoming not the leopard, but the forces of fate and nature, hostile to the young man. No matter how dark the forest may be, the hero will not give up his desire to return to his homeland.
Detailed solution Page / Part 1 200-228pp. on literature for 7th grade students, authors Petrovskaya L.K. 2010
1.What mood, what feelings did the poem “Mtsyri” evoke in you? In what places in the poem did you sympathize with the hero, admire him, where did you experience compassion and sadness? What episodes would you like to illustrate?
The poem evoked sad feelings, as well as deep empathy for the main character, whose fate was so tragic and unfair.
They sympathized when they learned about his fate and that he grew up in captivity, not knowing who he was, without feeling his mother’s and father’s affection, and admired him in the episode in the fight with the leopard, where he emerges victorious. Sadness when they realized that this person would die without ever enjoying it.
For example, fighting a leopard or meeting a Georgian woman.
2.What is the poem about? What is its theme?
The theme of “Mtsyri” can be defined as a story about the escape of a young novice from the monastery. The work examines in detail the hero's rebellion against everyday life in the monastery and the subsequent death, and also reveals a number of other topics and problems. These are problems of freedom and the struggle for freedom, misunderstanding by others, love for the homeland and family.
The pathos of the poem is romantic, here there is a poetic call to fight, and the feat is idealized.
The image of a strong, courageous, freedom-loving personality, a young man eager for freedom, for his homeland from an alien and hostile monastic environment. Expanding this main theme, Lermontov also poses private themes representing its various facets: man and nature, the connection of a person with his homeland, with the people, the severity of forced loneliness and inaction.
3. Review the text of the poem and determine the features of its composition. Why is the whole life of a mountaineer boy told in the second chapter, but three days- more than twenty subsequent ones? Why is the narration in them conducted on behalf of the hero himself?
The poem also has features that are unique to it: most of it is written in the form of a confession. The poem consists of 26 chapters and has a circular composition: the action begins and ends in the monastery. The climax a duel with a leopard may be called - it is at this moment that Mtsyri’s rebellious character is fully revealed.
The work contains a very small number of heroes. This is Mtsyri himself and his teacher-monk, who listened to the confession.
Because these three days became Mtsyri’s whole life. He himself says this:
...He lived, and my life,
Without these three blissful days
It would be sadder and gloomier...
The narration from Mtsyri himself, his fiery and vivid monologue has a greater impact on the reader, as if we find ourselves in his inner world.
4.Mtsyri calls his story to the monk a “confession.” But this word has several meanings: repentance of sins before the priest; frank confession of something; communicating your thoughts and views. In what meaning do you think this word is used in the work?
Confession is a frank, honest confession of one’s actions, a communication of one’s thoughts, views, aspirations; to confess means to repent of your sins, not to hide anything. However, Mtsyri’s confession is not repentance, but an assertion of one’s right to freedom and will. “And I don’t ask for forgiveness,” he says to the old monk who came to him “with admonition and prayer.”
5. The poem contains a passionate, excited monologue of a young man. But don’t you think that the hero is arguing with the monk, although no counter questions are heard? What is this dispute about? What do you think is the difference in their understanding of the meaning of life and happiness?
There is such a feeling as if the heroes are trying to convey to the black man the essence of their emotional experiences.
The excited monologue of the dying Mtsyri introduces us to the world of his innermost thoughts, secret feelings and aspirations, and explains the reason for his escape. It's simple. The whole point is that “a child at heart, a monk by destiny,” the young man was obsessed with a “fiery passion” for freedom, a thirst for life that called him “to that wonderful world of worries and battles, where rocks hide in the clouds, where people are free, like eagles.” The boy wanted to find his lost homeland, to find out what real life, “is the earth beautiful”, “for freedom or prison we are born into this world”: Mtsyri also sought to know himself. And he was able to achieve this only during the days he spent in freedom. During the three days of his wanderings, Mtsyri became convinced that man was born free, that he “could not have been one of the last daredevils in the land of his fathers.” For the first time, a world was revealed to the young man, which was inaccessible to him within the monastery walls.
He was not afraid to challenge his monastic existence and managed to live his life exactly as he wanted - in struggle, in search, in the pursuit of freedom and happiness. Mtsyri wins a moral victory. Thus, the happiness and meaning of life of the protagonist of the poem lies in overcoming the spiritual prison, in the passion for struggle and freedom, in the desire to become a master and not a slave of fate.
6. What can be learned from the first words of Mtsyri’s confession about his most cherished desire - about the “fiery passion” of his entire short life? What is he aiming for? Re-read the words of the young man characterizing the monastery and homeland (pay attention to visual arts: epithets, comparisons, etc.). How do these contrasting images (of the monastery and homeland) help us understand the purpose of the hero’s escape (chapters 3, 8), his character?
At the beginning of his confession, Mtsyri speaks of his cherished desire:
"She called my dreams
From stuffy cells and prayers
In that wonderful world of worries and battles,
Where rocks hide in the clouds,
Where people are as free as eagles..."
The monastery for him was a prison and captivity. He lives in a world completely alien to him - the world of monastic prayers, humility and obedience. But he was not born to ask God for mercy, prostrating himself before the altar. The blood of the mountaineers, a proud, freedom-loving and independent people, is raging in Mtsyri. And the hero, feeling this, begins to embody his most cherished dream- find the way to your homeland, to your fatherland.
The young novice cherishes half-forgotten memories of the gray peaks of the Caucasus, of his warrior father with a proud look, in ringing chain mail and with a gun, of his games near a stormy mountain river, of the songs of his young sisters and of the stories of old men. At night during a thunderstorm, the young man decides to run away from the monastery in order to come to his homeland and find his father’s house.
For Mtsyri, the storm raging in the darkness of the night is closer and more understandable than the monastery peace and quiet:
Tell me what's between these walls
Could you give me in return
That friendship is short, but alive
Between a stormy heart and a thunderstorm?
Mtsyri renounces paradise and heavenly homeland in the name of his earthly homeland:
Alas! - in a few minutes
Between steep and dark rocks,
Where did I play as a child?
I would trade heaven and eternity...
Young Mtsyri became the embodiment of an insane thirst for freedom, the desire for boundless will. He can be called one who, along with M.Yu. Lermontov, his creator, defends human will and defends earthly rights from heaven.
7.What does “live” mean for Mtsyri? Why does he call the three days of his “wanderings in freedom, full of anxiety and dangers” “blessed” and value it more than his whole life, because not many events happen to him during this time?
The hero of the poem “Mtsyri” dreams of breaking out of the monastery, perceiving it as a prison. To live in Mtsyri’s understanding means to “hate and love,” to recognize and overcome true danger, to fight for freedom.
He feels a blood connection with heavenly powers. The calm and measured life of the monastery did not destroy the hero’s dream of breaking free. Mtsyri is like a child of nature.
…God’s garden was blooming all around me;
And again I fell to the ground
And I began to listen again
They whispered in the bushes,
As if they were speaking
About the secrets of heaven and earth...
Mtsyri's three-day wanderings assured him that the world was beautiful and gave him a full sense of feeling and understanding of life.
What was the first thing that struck Mtsyri when he was free? Read the description of the nature of the Caucasus, which we see through the eyes of Mtsyri (chapter 6). How does this characterize the hero? Why does he peer so intently into the world that has opened up to him? What similarities human life does he see in nature? What questions does he seek answers to in it (chapter 8)?
The beauty of the new world surrounding the fugitive left an indelible impression on his soul. The harmony of nature delighted him and made him feel that he was part of it. amazing world. And a raging mountain stream, strengthened by a thunderstorm, trying to escape from a narrow gorge, also makes “friendship” with Mtsyri, just like a night thunderstorm. And the lush fields, green hills, dark rocks and snow-covered mountains of the distant homeland seen in the distance, through the fog, remain in his soul forever. The hero seems to understand the voice of nature, feels it with all his being. He thinks about who he is, what real life is like, which he has never known.
What memories of his homeland (chapter 7) come to him when he sees pictures of Caucasian nature? What does Mtsyri see as the true happiness of life?
In the monastery, Mtsyri dreamed of meeting “his native side.” During his next reminiscences about the Fatherland, home, friends, relatives, he took an oath in which he expressed the desire to “press his flaming chest with longing to the chest of another, albeit unfamiliar, but dear.”
In freedom, Mtsyri saw lush fields, trees, piles of rocks, hills... The feeling of freedom, lightness, space, the view of the mountains of his native Caucasian nature reminded the young man of his father's house, his native village, its inhabitants, herds of horses. The image of his father flashed before him (in combat clothes with chain mail, a gun and a characteristic proud and unyielding look). He remembered his sisters, their lullabies, the few children's games in the sand. Mtsyri loved the surrounding nature very much in all its diversity and beauty, and only she was his only friend throughout his life. Mtsyri sees true happiness and the meaning of life for the protagonist of the poem lies in overcoming a spiritual prison, in a passion for struggle and freedom, in the desire to become a master and not a slave of fate.
What feelings does the hero experience when meeting a Georgian girl? Why didn’t he follow her to the hut?
A meeting with a beautiful Georgian woman becomes a huge emotional shock for Mtsyri. The image of the dark-eyed dark woman vividly touched his heart, which had not yet known love. However, the young man, defeating the surging feelings, renounces personal happiness in the name of the ideal of freedom to which he strives.
The meeting with the Georgian woman, as we see, influenced the hero very much, so much so that he sees her in his dreams. This episode confirms that Mtsyri has a “fiery soul,” a “mighty spirit,” and a gigantic nature.
Why does the fight with the leopard become the most important episode in Mtsyri’s wanderings? How does he perform in this battle? What gives him strength? Why does this dangerous meeting that weakens the hero evoke in him a feeling of triumph and happiness?
Mtsyri saw in the leopard a worthy rival and an evil enemy, just like him, thirsty for freedom. The duel that took place between them was a duel of physical strength and fortitude. The hero may be weak and exhausted by illness, but he is driven great will to victory, therefore in this battle the beast and man are equal.
Mtsyri's battle with the angry leopard is the culmination of his three free days, symbolic to the extreme. The leopard personifies the evil power and will of nature, which has turned away from the hero. The motive of the hero’s “friendship-enmity” with nature reaches its apotheosis in this episode.
And in this mortal battle Mtsyri shows higher form heroism - spiritual heroism. Anything that threatens his freedom must be broken and defeated. And he boldly deals with all the fatal circumstances that prevent him from being free, and in in this case they are personified by the leopard.
Previously dormant instincts awaken, and Mtsyri puts all the unspent energy into the fight. His movements are lightning fast, his eye is precise, and his hand does not waver. By defeating the enraged beast, he gains the upper hand over all other enemies, visible and invisible.
What do all these events help the young man learn about life and, most importantly, about himself?
For the first time, a world was revealed to the young man, which was inaccessible to him within the monastery walls. Mtsyri pays attention to every picture of nature that appears to his eyes, listens to the polyphonic world of sounds. And the beauty and splendor of the Caucasus simply dazzle the hero; in his memory “lush fields, hills covered with a crown of trees growing all around”, “mountain ranges as bizarre as dreams” are preserved. The brightness of colors, the variety of sounds, the splendor of the infinitely blue vault in the early morning - all this richness of the landscape filled the hero’s soul with a feeling of merging with nature. He feels that harmony, unity, brotherhood that he was not given the opportunity to experience in the society of people: But we see that this delightful world is fraught with many dangers. Mtsyri had to experience the fear of the “threatening abyss on the edge,” and thirst, and the “suffering of hunger,” and a mortal fight with a leopard. Dying, the young man asks to be moved to the garden: He will send me farewell greetings... Lermontov shows that in these last minutes for Mtsyri there is nothing closer than nature, for him the breeze from the Caucasus is his only friend and brother. Through the image of Mtsyri, the author affirms love of life and will as the highest human values.
8. Why does Mtsyri die? How does he explain this himself? Do you agree with the hero?
How do you see Mtsyri before his death? Does he repent of his escape? Are you reconciled with your fate? What is the meaning of his “will”? Is it possible to talk about Mtsyri’s defeat?
Mtsyri's blood flowed violently, which the monastery walls could not calm down. He free man and could not live in captivity (the monastery). Having escaped during a thunderstorm, Mtsyri for the first time sees the world that was hidden from him behind the monastery walls. That’s why he peers so intently at every picture that opens to him, listens to the polyphonic world of sounds. Mtsyri is blinded by the beauty and splendor of the Caucasus. He retains in his memory “lush fields, hills covered with a crown of trees growing all around,” “mountain ranges as bizarre as dreams.” These pictures evoke in the hero vague memories of home country, which he was deprived of as a child.
The dangers that Mtsyri faces are romantic symbols of the evil that accompanies a person throughout his life. But here they are extremely concentrated, since the real life of Mtsyri is compressed to three days. And in his dying hour, realizing the tragic hopelessness of his situation, the hero did not exchange it for “paradise and eternity.” Through all my short life Mtsyri carried a powerful passion for freedom, for struggle.
At first glance, it may seem that the hero has been defeated. But that's not true. After all, he was not afraid to challenge his monastic existence and managed to live his life exactly as he wanted - in struggle, search, in the pursuit of freedom and happiness. Mtsyri wins a moral victory. Thus, the happiness and meaning of life of the protagonist of the poem lies in overcoming the spiritual prison, in the passion for struggle and freedom, in the desire to become a master and not a slave of fate.
9.What is your attitude towards the hero? What is the main thing in his character?
Mtsyri’s idea of freedom is connected with the dream of returning to his homeland. To be free means for him to escape from monastic captivity and return to his native village. The image of an unknown but desired “wonderful world of anxiety and battle” constantly lived in his soul. Mtsyri's personality, his character is revealed in what pictures attract the hero and how he talks about them. He is struck by the richness and brightness of nature, sharply contrasting with the monotony of monastic existence. And in close attention with which the hero looks at the world around us, one can feel his love for life, the desire for everything beautiful in it, sympathy for all living things. In freedom, Mtsyri’s love for his homeland was revealed with renewed vigor, which for the young man merged with the desire for freedom. In freedom, he experienced the “bliss of freedom” and strengthened in his thirst for earthly happiness. After living for three days outside the walls of the monastery, Mtsyri realized that he was brave and fearless. Mtsyri’s “fiery passion” - love for his homeland - makes him purposeful and firm.
Living in freedom for the main character means being in constant search, anxiety, fighting and winning, and most importantly - experiencing the bliss of “holy freedom” - in these experiences the fiery character of Mtsyri is very clearly revealed. Only real life tests a person and shows what he is capable of. Mtsyri saw nature in its diversity, felt its life, and experienced the joy of communicating with it. Yes, the world is beautiful! - this is the meaning of Mtsyri’s story about what he saw. His monologue is a hymn to this world. And the fact that the world is beautiful, full of colors and sounds, full of joy, gives the hero the answer to the second question: why was man created, why does he live? Man was born for freedom, not for prison.
10. What brings together the heroes of Lermontov’s poems - Mtsyri and Kalashnikov?
We believe that they are brought together by fortitude, will, and thirst for justice. The plot of both poems is based on the hero’s desire to achieve a certain goal. In “The Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov,” Stepan Paramonovich seeks to take revenge on the offender and defend family honor. The main motive that prompts Kalashnikov to act is a sense of family duty and self-esteem. In the poem "Mtsyri" the hero strives to break free from monastery captivity. The main motive that prompts him to escape from the monastery is the love of freedom, this view of life as an active action, this is the refusal of life if it is not a struggle.
11. Why did Belinsky call Mtsyri “the poet’s favorite ideal”? What is dear to Lermontov in this hero?
The poet embodied the passionate longing of Lermontov’s advanced contemporaries for a beautiful, free homeland in the poem “Mtsyri”.
Lermontov nurtured the idea of a poem about a monk striving for freedom for ten years. In the poem “Mtsyri” Lermontov included lines from his early poems.
Lermontov passionately protested against all types of slavery, fought for the right of people to earthly human happiness.
Exiled to the Caucasus in the spring of 1837, he traveled along the Georgian Military Road. Near the Mtskheta station, near Tiflis, there once existed a monastery. Here the poet met a decrepit old man wandering among the ruins and gravestones. It was a highlander monk. The old man told Lermontov how, as a child, he was captured by the Russians and given to be raised in a monastery. He recalled how homesick he was back then, how he dreamed of returning home. But he gradually got used to his prison, was drawn into the monotonous monastic life and became a monk.
The story of the old man, who in his youth was a novice in the Mtskheta monastery, or “Mtsyri” in Georgian, answered with Lermontov’s own thoughts, which he had been nurturing for many, many years. In the creative notebook of a seventeen-year-old poet we read: “Write notes of a young monk of 17 years old. Since childhood, he had been in a monastery and had never read sacred books. Passionate thought lurks - Ideals.”
But the poet could not find an embodiment for this plan: everything written so far did not satisfy. The most difficult thing was the word “ideals”.
Eight years passed, and Lermontov embodied his old plan in the poem “Mtsyri”. Home, fatherland, freedom, life, struggle - everything is united in a single radiant constellation and fills the reader’s soul with the languid longing of a dream.
A hymn to high “fiery passion”, a hymn to romantic burning - this is what the poem “Mtsyri” is:
I knew only the power of thoughts,
One but fiery passion...
In his poem, Lermontov sought to contrast his weak-willed and powerless contemporaries with a brave and freedom-loving person, ready to do anything to achieve his goal, ready to defend his freedom to the end.
The desire for freedom became for Lermontov a “longing” for will, it became a passion that engulfed a person’s entire being. In the situation that developed after 1825, the poet did not lose faith in the revolutionary cause. The desire to “act” wins, as the poet wrote. A romantic dream creates a new hero, strong-willed and strong, fiery and courageous, ready, according to Lermontov, for further struggle.
12.What is the main idea of the poem? How are the poem “Mtsyri” and the poem “Sail” similar to each other?
Lermontov permeates the entire poem with the idea of the struggle for freedom, a protest against the fetters human personality social conditions. The happiness of life for Mtsyri is in the struggle for the goal he has set for himself - to find his homeland and freedom.
The poem “Mtsyri” is one of the last classic examples of Russian romantic poetry. The problems of this work are closely related to central themes Lermontov's lyrical creativity: the theme of loneliness, dissatisfaction with the world around him, the thirst for struggle and freedom.
Mtsyri is a hero-fighter who protests against violence against the individual. He longs for will, freedom, “asks for a storm,” like a sail, not being satisfied quiet fate monk, not submitting to fate:
Such two lives in one,
But only full of anxiety,
I would trade it if I could.
The monastery became a prison for Mtsyri. His desire “to find out whether we are born into this world for freedom or prison” is due to a passionate impulse for freedom. The short days of escape became a temporary newfound will for him. He only lived outside the monastery.
AND lyrical hero poem “Sail” does not find peace in real life, cannot come to terms with reality:
Below him is a stream of lighter azure,
Above him is a golden ray of sun...
And he, the rebellious one, asks for a storm,
As if there is peace in the storms!
Isn’t it also true that Mtsyri, “like a brother, would be glad to embrace the storm”? This poem expresses the ineradicable desire to achieve the unattainable. Constant struggle, constant search, continuous desire for active action - this is where the poet saw the meaning of life. It was with this lofty meaning that the author filled the poem “Mtsyri”: although the hero failed to find the way to his native country, “where people are free like eagles,” Lermontov glorified the search for the power of will, courage, rebellion and struggle, no matter what tragic results they may lead to. led.
13. Find and look at reproductions of illustrations different artists to the poem by I. Toidze (p. 218), F. Konstantinov (endpaper II), L. Pasternak, I. Glazunov. Which ones did you like best and why?
Most of all I liked the illustrations of I. Toidze and L. Pasternak. The first reflects the exciting moment of the fight with the leopard - very dynamic and vivid; the second contains an episode of Mtsyri’s confession. These illustrations very well allow you to imagine Mtsyri, his features, appearance, strength of character and will.
All of Lermontov’s work is permeated by the image of the Caucasus. Proud free people, majestic and imperious nature with youth impressed the poet, which is already evident in his early poems. He did not ignore one of the main trends in literature of the first half of the 19th century - the image romantic hero. And these two main themes came together in one of best essays author - the poem "Mtsyri".
For this work, the historical context is incredibly important - the events that led to the captivity of Mtsyri. In Russia, the first half of the nineteenth century was the era of the conquest of the Caucasian lands. This is not only the annexation of territories to Russian Empire, but also submission mountain peoples Orthodoxy and royal power. It is quite possible to imagine how a Georgian boy, left orphaned after another battle, ends up being raised in an Orthodox monastery. History knows such examples: this was the childhood of the artist P. Z. Zakharov. There are suggestions that Lermontov based the plot on the story of a monk he met on the military roads of Georgia. The author also turned to local folklore, as evidenced by the scene of the fight with the leopard: this episode was based on folk song about a young man and a tiger.
The poem "Mtsyri" was written by Lermontov in 1839. It was edited a lot to avoid censorship. Basically, fragments in which freedom was particularly praised or anti-Orthodox motives were heard were removed.
What is the work about?
The action in the book takes place in the Caucasus. At the beginning of the poem, Lermontov reproduces the backstory of how the main character ended up in the monastery: a Russian general was carrying a captive child. The boy was very weak, and a monk sheltered him in his cell, thereby saving his life. The essence of “Mtsyri” is to express his protest against this salvation in captivity, which not only destroys him, but also torments him.
The main part of the poem is the confession of the main character. This is what it says: the prisoner admits that he has been unhappy all these years, the walls of the monastery are tantamount to a prison for him, he cannot find understanding here. In 3 days outside captivity, a young man lives his entire life.
Firstly, the young man remembers his childhood years and his father. During this period, he feels his purpose, realizes what kind of blood flows in his veins.
Secondly, he meets a young Georgian woman who was walking to fetch water. This might be the first girl he's seen in years.
Thirdly, he has a fight with a leopard. The hero instinctively fights the beast, because within the walls of the monastery he could not be taught martial arts. The feeling of danger awakened his true warlike spirit in him, and the young man defeats the enemy.
Exhausted and wounded, by the end of the third day of wandering, the fugitive is forced to bitterly admit to himself: not knowing where to go, he made a circle and returned to his ill-fated prison - the monastery. Dying, he bequeaths to bury himself in the garden where the acacia tree blooms.
Genre and direction
It is difficult to imagine the era of romanticism in literature without the genre of the poem. "Mtsyri" is included in thematic group Lermontov's works about the romantic hero. The previously written “Boyar Orsha” and “Confession” anticipated the poem about an escaped novice.
A more precise definition of the genre “Mtsyri” is a romantic poem. One of characteristic features the work is a reflection of the hero's ideas. The young man strives for freedom; for him, will is the goal of life, the main happiness. For the sake of his dream, he is ready to sacrifice his life. All this allows us to consider Mtsyri a romantic hero.
Not only Lermontov in his work developed such special genre poems. First of all, we can compare “Mtsyri” with the poem by K.F. Ryleev “Nalivaiko”, the plot of which dates back to the era of the Cossacks’ struggle for independence.
Another feature romantic poem is a confessional character, which is also characteristic of “Mtsyri”. Confession, as a rule, contains a story about the hopes and dreams of the hero, his confessions, sometimes unexpected. Revelation reflects the strength of his spirit, his character.
The main characters and their characteristics
To determine the image of the main character, it is necessary to take into account what the word “mtsyri” means. There are two meanings in Georgian: novice and stranger. Initially, Lermontov wanted to call the poem “beri,” which means monk in Georgian, but it was “mtsyri” that maximally reflects the essence of the character.
Why did Mtsyri escape? He was not tortured in the monastery, nor was he forced to do backbreaking work. However, there were reasons because of which the hero suffered. Firstly, the young man’s dream was to gain loved one, maybe not a relative, but of the same nation, of the same blood. Growing up as an orphan, he dreamed of feeling at least for a moment the warmth of an understanding soul. Another goal of the hero is will. He cannot call the years spent in the cell life; only in freedom was he able to realize who he really is.
It is important to note that, despite the failure, the character of “Mtsyri” does not complain about fate, he does not curse himself, but confidently accepts this test and even rejoices that these three days brightened his gloomy life.
It is impossible to create the image of a romantic hero without the motive of love. This goal is conveyed by the mention in the confession of a young Georgian woman, when the young man himself admits: “My ardent thoughts // Are confused...”. and his thoughts are described in detail by us in the essay.
In his fight with the leopard, the hero showed incredible courage and perseverance, the risk and energy of battle awakened the spirit of his ancestors in him, but young man not destined to find freedom and happiness. This is the author’s embodiment of the theme of rock in the image of Mtsyri.
Topics
- Freedom. This theme permeates the poem on two levels. The first is global: Georgia is subordinate to the Russian Empire, the second concerns the protagonist of the poem personally: he dreams of a free life. Mtsyri does not want to come to terms with his captivity in the monastery and escapes. But he cannot escape his fate, and three days later the young man, having made a circle, returns to the hated walls.
- Loneliness. One of the reasons for the escape was the search for people close in spirit and blood. Mtsyri is alone among the clergy; he rather feels his kinship with nature than with them. The young man grew up as an orphan, he is a stranger to both worlds: both to the monastery and to the mountaineers. The temple for him is captivity, and to independent life, as his escape showed, the novice turned out to be unsuitable.
- War. The hero "Mtsyri" did not participate in battles, but was born for them. His father was a courageous defender of his people, but his son became a victim of war. It was she who left the boy an orphan, it was because of her that he did not know family, affection, a happy childhood, but only a monastery and prayers.
- Love. The unfortunate exile does not know what a family is, he has no friends, all his bright memories are focused on his childhood. But a meeting with a young Georgian woman awakens new feelings in the hero. Mtsyri understands that happiness is possible even now, if only he could find the right path, but life decreed otherwise.
Issues
The problem of personal oppression always worried Lermontov. The poet passionately loved the Caucasus, visited there as a child, and was sent there to war several times. Fulfilling his duty to his homeland, the writer fought and fought courageously, but at the same time, in the depths of his soul he sympathized with the innocent victims of this political campaign. Mikhail Yuryevich expressed these experiences in the image of the main character of the poem. It would seem that Mtsyri should be grateful to the general, because by his grace he did not die as a child, but he cannot call his stay in the monastery life. Thus, by depicting the life of one, the author showed the fate of many, which allowed readers to take a completely different look at Caucasian wars. Thus, the creator touched upon both political and social problems arising from any violent action by the state. Officially only soldiers fight, but in reality they are involved in a bloody cycle civilians, whose families and destinies are a bargaining chip for the implementation of His Majesty’s large-scale plans.
Idea of the work
The poem is built on the antithesis of freedom and captivity, but in the context of the era when Lermontov lived and worked, these concepts had much more broad meaning. It is no coincidence that, fearing censorship, the poet independently edited and crossed out some fragments. The unsuccessful escape of the young man can be seen as an allegory for the December Uprising: the captivity of the monastery - the oppression of the autocracy, the attempt to free himself doomed to failure - the performance of the Decembrists. Thus, the main idea in “Mtsyri” was encrypted and hidden from the authorities so that readers could find it between the lines.
This is how Lermontov responds in the poem not only to the problem of conquest Caucasian peoples, but also on the events of 1825. The author gives the hero not only courage, endurance and a rebellious character, the young man is noble, despite his sad fate, he does not hold a grudge against anyone. This is the meaning of “Mtsyri” - to show the rebellion of the soul without evil and thirst for revenge, a pure, beautiful and doomed impulse, which was the Decembrist uprising.
What does it teach?
The poem makes you think about the fact that anyone military victory there is also a downside: Georgia was annexed by Russia in 1801, but not only the army suffered, but also civilians, innocent children, like the main character of “Mtsyri”. Main idea in the poem “Mtsyri” it is humanistic: this should not happen again.
Lermontov calls on you to fight and resist fate to the end, never to lose hope. And even in case of failure, do not grumble about life, but courageously accept all trials. Since the poet has endowed his character with all these qualities, the reader perceives him, despite the unsuccessful and spontaneous escape, not as an unfortunate victim, but as a true hero.
Criticism
The literary world enthusiastically accepted the poem “Mtsyri”. Lermontov began to be showered with praise for his creation even before the work was published. For example, A. N. Muravyov recalls the author reading a book he had just written: “...no story has ever made such a strong impression on me.” S.T. Aksakov in “The History of My Acquaintance with Gogol” writes about the author’s wonderful reading of “Mtsyri” at Gogol’s name day in 1840.
The most authoritative critic of that time, V.G. Belinsky valued this work very highly. In his article about the poem “Mtsyri”, he emphasizes how well the poet chose the size and rhythm and compares the sound of the poems with the blows of a sword. He sees in the book a reflection of Lermontov's personality and admires the depiction of nature.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!>Works based on the work of Mtsyri
Meeting with a Georgian woman
The romantic poem by M. Yu. Lermontov, written in 1839, became one of best works of its time. The main character of the poem is young Mtsyri, born in free lands in the bosom of wildlife, but by chance ended up in a monastery, within whose suffocating walls he spent his entire life. For the poor man, the monastery became a real prison, from which he dreamed of breaking out and seeing his native land.
One day he managed to escape and enjoy the beautiful nature of the Caucasus. There he met a mighty wild leopard, with whom he fought and won. But the greatest impression on him was made by a beautiful Georgian woman in national dress, who went down to a mountain river for water. In particular, Mtsyri remembers her voice as “sweetly free,” “so artlessly alive.”
According to the author, we learn that the girl and her family live in a poor hut in the mountains. This is a simple girl with large dark eyes, a deep gaze and a languid voice. But for Mtsyri this meeting is not accidental. Within the walls of the monastery, he did not know how beautiful the voice of a young girl could be. He did not know how beautiful girls who grew up in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus could be.
I think that’s why he remembered this meeting until the end of his allotted days. Returning to the monastery, wounded and weak, he remained there to die. IN last days Next to Mtsyri was an old monk who saved him from inevitable death in childhood.
The young man was interested in one question: why was it necessary to save him if he was forced to spend his life within the suffocating walls of a monastery, without seeing the beauty of Caucasian nature, without being able to hug his family, hear the voice of a beautiful Georgian woman, sleep under open air and stroll through mighty forests and mountain valleys. All this was very depressing for the poor man, and the last minutes of his life he wished to be closer to nature.
At the end of the work the hero dies unconquered. His courage and will are worthy of admiration, because he challenged humble peace and indifference. Life in his understanding was seen as a free existence, and not a thoughtless vegetation. Every day he spent outside the monastery was filled with vibrant colors and novelty. However, this world turns out to be unattainable for a person who grew up in a monastery cell.