Foreign literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. Foreign literature of the 17th century. General characteristics of classicism

17th century literature

Since the 17th century, it has been customary to count down the New Time in the history of human civilization. Occupying a borderline position between the Renaissance (XIV-XVI centuries) and the Age of Enlightenment (XVIII centuries), the 17th century took a lot from the Renaissance and left a lot behind.

The main literary movements of the 17th century were Baroque and Classicism.

Baroque plays a significant role in the literature of the 17th century. Signs of a new style began to appear at the end of the 16th century, but it was the 17th century that became its heyday. Baroque is a response to social, political, economic instability, ideological crisis, psychological tension of the border era, it is a desire to creatively rethink the tragic outcome of the humanistic program of the Renaissance, it is a search for a way out of a state of spiritual crisis.

The tragically sublime content also determined the main features of the Baroque as an artistic method. Baroque works are characterized by theatricality, illusoryness (it is no coincidence that P. Calderon’s drama is called “Life is a Dream”), antinomy (the clash of personal principles and public duty), the contrast of the sensual and spiritual nature of man, the opposition of the fantastic and the real, the exotic and the ordinary, the tragic and the comic . Baroque abounds in complex metaphors, allegories, and symbolism; it is distinguished by expressiveness of words, exaltation of feelings, semantic ambiguity, and a mixture of motifs from ancient mythology with Christian symbolism. Baroque poets paid great attention graphic form of the verse, they created “figured” poems, the lines of which formed a picture of a heart, star, etc.

Such a work could not only be read, but also viewed as a work of painting. Writers proclaimed the originality of the work as its most important advantage, and its necessary features - difficulty of perception and the possibility of different interpretations. The Spanish philosopher Gracian wrote: “The more difficult the truth is to know, the more pleasant it is to comprehend it.” Artists of words highly valued wit and paradoxical judgments: “In the name of life, do not rush to be born. / In a hurry to be born, in a hurry to die” (Gongora).

The most famous Baroque writers were: in Spain Luis de Gongora (1561-1627), Pedro Calderon (1600-1681), in Italy Torquato Tasso (1544-1595), Giambattista Marino (1569-1625), in Germany Hans Jakob von Grimmelshausen ( ca. 1621-1676), in Belarus and Russia Simeon of Polotsk (1629-1680). Researchers note the influence of the Baroque style on the work of English writers W. Shakespeare and J. Milton.

The second literary movement that became widespread in the 17th century is classicism. Its homeland was Italy (XVI century). Here, classicism arose along with the revival of ancient theater and was initially thought of as a direct opposition to medieval drama. The humanists of the Renaissance decided speculatively, without taking into account the uniqueness of specific historical eras and peoples, to revive the tragedy of Euripides and Seneca, the comedy of Plautus and Terence. They were the first theorists of classicism. Thus, classicism initially acted as a theory and practice of imitation of ancient art: rationalistic rigor and logic of stage action, abstraction of the artistic image, pathetic speech, majestic poses and gestures, eleven-syllable unrhymed verse. These are the features of the tragedy of Trissino (1478-1550) “Sophonisba”, written on the model of the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides and which opened the era of European classicism.

Examples of classic art were created in the 17th century in France. This is where his theory crystallized.

The philosophical basis of the classicist method was the rationalistic teaching of Descartes. The philosopher believed that the only source of truth is reason. Taking this statement as the initial one, the classicists created a strict system of rules that harmonized art with the requirements of reasonable necessity in the name of observing the artistic laws of antiquity. Rationalism became the dominant quality of classicist art.

The orientation of classicist theory towards antiquity was associated primarily with the idea of ​​​​the eternity and absoluteness of the ideal of beauty. This teaching confirmed the need for imitation: if at one time ideal examples of beauty are created, then the task of writers of subsequent eras is to get as close as possible to them. Hence the strict system of rules, the obligatory observance of which was considered a guarantee of the perfection of a work of art and an indicator of the writer’s skill.

The classicists also established a clearly regulated hierarchy of literary genres: the exact boundaries of the genre and its features were determined. The highest ones included tragedy, epic, and ode. They depicted the sphere of state life, fateful events, and featured heroes befitting a high genre - monarchs, military leaders, noble persons. Distinctive feature there was high style, sublime feelings, in tragedy - dramatic conflicts, disastrous passions, inhuman suffering. The task of high genres is to shock the viewer.

Low genres (comedy, satire, epigram, fable) reflected the sphere of private life, its way of life and morals. Were heroes ordinary people. Such works were written in simple colloquial language.

Classical playwrights had to follow the rules of the “three unities”: time (no more than one day), place (one setting), action (no side plot lines). The rules were established to create the illusion of authenticity.

An important component of classicist theory is the concept of common types human character. This is where the well-known abstractness of artistic images came from. They emphasized universal, “eternal” traits (Misanthrope, Stingy). Heroes were divided into positive and negative.

The stage character of the classicists is predominantly one-sided, static, without contradictions or development. This is a character-idea: it is as revealed as the idea put into it requires. The author's bias thus manifests itself in a completely straightforward manner. Without depicting the individual, personal and individual in human character, it was difficult for classicists to avoid schematic, conventional images. Their courageous hero is courageous in everything and to the end; a loving woman loves to the grave; a hypocrite is a hypocrite to the grave, but a stingy person is stingy. A distinctive quality of classicism was the doctrine of the educational role of art. By punishing vice and rewarding virtue, classic writers sought to improve the moral nature of man. The best works of classicism are filled with high civic pathos.

Literature of Spain

At the beginning of the 17th century, Spain was in a state of deep economic crisis. The defeat of the “Invincible Armada” (1588) off the coast of England, unreasonable colonial policy, the weakness of Spanish absolutism, and its political shortsightedness made Spain a secondary European country. In Spanish culture, on the contrary, new trends were clearly identified that had not only national, but also pan-European significance.

A powerful echo of Renaissance culture is the work of the talented Spanish playwright Lope de Vega (1562-1635). A representative of Renaissance realism, he contrasted the tragedy of the Baroque with optimistic energy, a bright worldview, and confidence in the inexhaustibility of vitality. The playwright also rejected the “scientific” normativity of classicist theory. The writer affirmed life-loving ideals, strove for rapprochement with the public audience, and advocated for the free inspiration of the artist.

The extensive and varied dramatic heritage of Lope de Vega - he wrote, according to contemporaries, more than 2000 plays, of which about 500 were published - is usually divided into three groups. The first of them consists of socio-political dramas, most often based on historical material (“Fuente Ovejuna”, “The Grand Duke of Moscow”).

The second group includes domestic comedies of a love nature (“Dance Teacher”, “Dog in the Manger”, “Girl with a Jug”, “Peasant Woman from Getafe”, “Star of Seville”); sometimes they are called “cloak and sword” comedies, since the main role in them belongs to noble youth, performing in this characteristic attire (in a cloak and with a sword).

The third group includes plays of a religious nature.

To understand the features dramatic works Lope de Vega's treatise “The New Art of Composing Comedies in Our Days” (1609) is of great importance. It, in essence, formulated the main provisions of Spanish national drama with an orientation towards the traditions of folk theater, with the desire to satisfy the needs of the audience, with the plausibility of what is shown on stage and the skillful construction of intrigue, the tightly tied knot of which would not allow the play to break up into separate episodes.

Followers of the treatise works of art became a reality aesthetic principles writer. The best of these plays is the drama Fuente Ovejuna (The Sheep Spring, 1614). Drama has historical background. In 1476, in the town of Fuente Ovejuna, a peasant uprising broke out against the excesses of the knightly order of Calataura and its commander Fernan Gomez de Guzman, who committed outrages and all kinds of violence. The uprising ended with the murder of the commander. In Lope de Vega's drama, the Commander is a tyrant and rapist who encroaches on the honor of peasant girls, one of whom, the proud Laurencia, calls on her fellow villagers to take righteous revenge. There are many vivid images in the play, and yet main character here is a people united in its desire to restore justice.

Lope de Vega's plays are distinguished by life-affirming pathos, a sympathetic attitude towards ordinary people, and faith in their moral fortitude.

After the rapid rise experienced by Spain during the Renaissance, starting from the late 30s of the 17th century, signs of decline, due primarily to socio-political reasons, became increasingly clear. The cessation of the flow of gold from America, the complete breakdown of the internal economic life in the country, a series of foreign policy failures - all this completely undermined the economic and political power of Spain.

Socio-political troubles, a crisis of humanistic consciousness, the most severe feudal-Catholic reaction, and the destruction of the feudal system as a whole caused decadent moods in society. An attempt to comprehend what is happening, to get out of a state of spiritual crisis, to find moral foundations in new historical conditions became Baroque, most clearly represented in the works Luis de Gongora (1561-1627) And Pedro Calderona (1600-1681).

Góngora was the greatest poet of the Spanish Baroque. Gongora's style is distinguished by its metaphorical richness, the use of neologisms and archaisms. The poet refuses traditional syntax. Vocabulary is full polysemantic words: “The rubies of your lips are framed in snow” - about the whiteness of the face, “flying snow” - about a white bird, “running snow” - about Galatea running from Polyphemus. Despite his figurative richness, Gongora creates “poetry for the mind,” requiring active intellectual work from the reader. Gongora's poetic mastery was most fully manifested in the poems “The Tale of Polyphemus and Galatea” (1612) and “Loneliness” (1614). In the poem “Loneliness” the Renaissance idea of ​​the harmonious coexistence of man and nature is closely intertwined with the Baroque concept of the eternal loneliness of man in the world.

Calderon's art absorbed the best traditions of the Renaissance, but, being generated by another era, it gives a completely different vision of the world. Calderon wrote 120 plays of varied content, 80 “autos sacramentales” (or “sacred acts”) and 20 interludes. With his artistic consciousness, Calderon is associated both with the Spanish Renaissance and with the crisis phenomena of his time.

Continuing the traditions of his great predecessor Lope de Vega, Calderon wrote “cloak and sword” comedies. The most famous of them is the witty and cheerful comedy “The Invisible Lady” (1629), written in a light and elegant language. It expresses the idea of ​​the dominant game of chance in life. Accident here, as in other comedies, plays a plot-forming role.

However, it was not Renaissance comedies and folk-realistic dramas that brought Calderon worldwide fame. Love of life and optimism did not become the tone of his work. The real Calderon should be sought in his “autos sacramentales” and philosophical and symbolic plays, full of eschatological moods, existential problems that are overwhelming in their intractability, contradictions that dry up the consciousness. Already in Calderon’s youthful drama “Adoration of the Cross” (1620), the skeptical mood towards religion characteristic of humanists is replaced by gloomy religious frenzy. The God of Calderon is a formidable, merciless force, in the face of which a person feels insignificant and lost.

In the philosophical and allegorical drama “Life is a Dream” (1634), the glorification of the stern Catholic doctrine is combined with the preaching of the need for humility and submission to divine conduct. Calderon's main dramatic concept is the idea that human fate is predetermined by fate, that it is temporary earthly life illusory, it is only a preparation for an eternal afterlife.

Time and environment determined not only the nature of Calderon’s worldview and the general direction of Calderon’s work, but also his uniqueness as an artist. Calderon's dramaturgy is distinguished by its philosophical depth, the sophistication of psychological conflicts, and the excited lyricism of monologues. The plot in Calderon's plays plays a secondary role; all attention is paid to revealing the inner world of the characters. The development of action is replaced by a play of ideas. Calderon's style is characterized by rhetorical pathos and high metaphorical images, which makes it similar to Gongorism, one of the movements of the Spanish literary baroque.

Calderon's poetic audacity was highly appreciated by A. S. Pushkin.

Literature of Italy

In the 17th century, Italy was experiencing a crisis of humanistic ideals.

In this setting, Baroque comes to the fore, expressed most clearly in Marinism, a movement that received its name from the Italian poet Giambattista Marino (1569-1625). In the works of marine painters, followers of Marino, the form, with its verbal delights and narcissism, obscured the content. There are no socially important topics here, no pressing problems of our time. The writing is characterized by complex metaphors, bizarre images, and unexpected comparisons. Marino was the inventor of the so-called “concetti” - masterly phrases, verbal paradoxes, unusually used epithets, unusual figures of speech (“learned ignorant”, “joyful pain”).

Marino's fame in Italy was widespread. And yet, the poet’s contemporaries saw the danger of Marinism and contrasted it with politically topical poetry, expressing the needs and aspirations of the Italian people, telling about their suffering (Fulvio Testi, Vincenzo Filicaya, Alessandro Tassoni).

Alessandro Tassoni (1565-1635) rejected both the baroque poets (marinists) and the defenders of imitation and authoritarianism in Italian poetry (classicists). As a patriotic poet, he actively intervened in the political life of the country, opposed the regional fragmentation of Italy, and called for a fight for its independence (the poem “The Stolen Bucket”).

Italian prose of the 17th century is represented by names Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who used the polemical art of journalism in order to disseminate his scientific ideas (“Dialogue about two major systems peace"), Traiano Boccalini (1556-1613), protesting against the dominance of the Spaniards in Italy, against aristocratic snobbery, against apologists of classicism who recognize only the aesthetic canons of Aristotle (the satire “News from Parnassus”).

Literature of France

The policy of the absolutist state, aimed at eliminating feudal regionalism and transforming France into a powerful power in Western Europe, corresponded to the historically progressive trend of the era, which determined the advanced nature of classicism as a literary phenomenon for its time. The leading artistic method, officially recognized by the government of absolutist France, was classicism. The rise of national self-awareness of the progressive strata of French society during the period of transition from feudal fragmentation towards national unity.

Under Cardinal Richelieu (1624-1642), the creation of a powerful monarchical state, begun by Louis XIII's predecessor, Henry IV, was largely completed. Richelieu regulated and subordinated all aspects of state, public, and cultural life to the throne. In 1634 he founded the French Academy. Richelieu patronized the periodical press that was emerging in France.

During his reign, Theophrastus Renaudo founded the first French newspaper, Gazett de France (1631). (The Theophrastus Renaudo Prize is one of the highest literary awards in modern France.)

The historical progressiveness of classicism is manifested in its close connection with the advanced trends of the era, in particular with rationalist philosophy René Descartes (1596-1650), the so-called Cartesianism. Descartes bravely fought against medieval feudal ideology; his philosophy was based on data from the exact sciences. The criterion of truth for Descartes was reason. “I think, therefore I exist,” he said.

Rationalism became the philosophical basis of classicism. Contemporaries of Descartes, theorists of classicism Francois Malherbe (1555-1628) And Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711) believed in the power of reason. They believed that the elementary requirements of reason - the highest criterion of the objective value of a work of art - oblige art to truthfulness, clarity, logic, clarity and compositional harmony of parts and the whole. They demanded this in the name of observing the laws of ancient art, which they were guided by in creating a classicist program.

The admiration of 17th-century writers for reason was also reflected in the notorious rules about the “three unities” (time, place and action) - one of the core principles of classicist drama.

The didactic poem by N. Boileau “Poetic Art” (1674) became the code of French classicism.

It was noted above that the classicists, like the artists of the Renaissance, relied on ancient art in their aesthetics and artistic creativity. However, unlike the writers of the Renaissance, the theorists of classicism turned primarily not to ancient Greek, but to Roman literature of the imperial period. The monarchy of Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” as he called himself, was likened to the Roman Empire, the heroes of classic tragedies were endowed with Roman valor and greatness. Hence the well-known convention of classicist literature, its pompous and decorative character.

And yet the French classicists were not crazy epigones of ancient writers. Their work had a deeply national character; it was closely connected with the social conditions in France during the heyday of absolutism. Classicists, having managed to combine experience ancient literature with the traditions of their people, they created their own original artistic style. Corneille, Racine and Moliere created examples of classicist art in the dramatic genre.

The classicist concept of art, for all its monumentality, cannot be imagined as something frozen and unchanging. Within the classicist camp there was no complete unity of socio-political, philosophical, and ethical views. Even Corneille and Racine, the creators of high classic tragedy, disagreed with each other in many respects.

Unlike the orthodox Carthusians Boileau and Racine, Moliere and La Fontaine were students of the materialist Gassendi (1592-1655), an outstanding French scientist who considered sensory experience to be the main source of all knowledge. His teachings were reflected both in the aesthetics of these writers and in the democracy, optimism and humanistic orientation of their work.

The main genre of classicism was tragedy, which depicted sublime heroes and idealized passions. The founder of the French tragedy theater was Pierre Corneille (1608-1684). Literary activity Corneille began with poetry and comedies, which were not particularly successful.

Fame came to Corneille with the appearance on the stage of the tragedy “The Cid” (1636). The play is based on tragic conflict between passion and duty, on which the tragedy is built.

The young and valiant knight Rodrigo, avenging the insult inflicted on his father, kills the father of his beloved Jimena in a duel. Jimena justifies the action of Rodrigo, who fulfilled the duty of family honor, and fulfills her own - she demands from the king the death of her beloved. Fulfilling their family duty, Rodrigo and Ximena become deeply unhappy. After the attack on Castile by the Moors, a brilliant victory over them, Rodrigo becomes a national hero. Corneille contrasts family debt with duty to the homeland. Feudal honor must give way to civil honor. They are trying to convince Jimena that her demands are untenable: the interests of the family must be sacrificed in the name of social necessity. Ximena accepts the new morality, especially since it corresponds to her personal feelings. Corneille convincingly proved that the new state morality is more humane than feudal morality. He showed the emergence of a new state ideal in the age of absolutism. The King of Castile, Don Fernando, is portrayed in the play as an ideal autocrat, a guarantor of the general well-being and personal happiness of his subjects, if they align their actions with the interests of the state.

Thus, the “Sid” affirms the idea of ​​​​the progressiveness of the absolutist monarchy, which in specific historical conditions met the requirements of the time.

Despite its audience success, "Sid" caused serious controversy in literary circles. In the “Opinion of the French Academy on the Cid” (1638), Corneille’s play was condemned for not conforming to the canons of classicism. In a depressed state, Corneille leaves for his homeland. However, four years later, Corneille brings two new tragedies from Rouen, which already fully correspond to the classic canons (“Horace”, “Cinna”). As a tragedian, Corneille preferred historical and political tragedy. The political issues of the tragedies also determined the norm of behavior that Corneille wanted to teach the viewer: this is the idea of ​​​​heroic consciousness, patriotism.

In the tragedy “Horace” (1640), the playwright used a plot from the story of Titus Livy. The basis of the dramatic conflict is the combat of two cities - Rome and Alba Longa, which should be resolved by the duel of the Horatii and Curian brothers, bound by ties of friendship and kinship. In the play, duty is understood unambiguously - it is a patriotic duty.

Unable to forgive her brother Horace for the death of her fiancé, Camilla curses Rome, which destroyed her happiness. Horace, considering his sister a traitor, kills her. Camilla's death causes a new conflict: according to Roman law, the murderer must be executed. Horace's father proves that his son was driven to murder by righteous anger, civic duty, and patriotic feeling. Horace, who saved Rome, is necessary for his homeland: he will accomplish many more feats. King Tullus gives Horace life. Civic valor atoned for crime. The tragedy of “Horace” became the apotheosis of civic heroism.

The tragedy “Cinna, or the Mercy of Augustus” (1642) depicts the first days of the reign of Emperor Octavian-Augustus, who learns that a conspiracy is being prepared against him. The purpose of the tragedy is to show what tactics the sovereign will choose in relation to the conspirators. Corneille convinces that the interests of the state can coincide with the private aspirations of people if an intelligent and fair monarch is in power.

The conspirators in the tragedy - Cinna, Maxim, Emilia - act following two motives. The first reason is political: they want to return Rome to a republican form of government, not realizing their political myopia. Supporters political freedoms, they do not understand that the republic has outlived its usefulness and Rome needs firm power. The second motive is personal: Emilia wants to avenge her father, who was killed by Augustus; Cinna and Maxim, in love with Emilia, want to achieve a reciprocal feeling.

The emperor, having suppressed his ambition, vindictiveness, and cruelty, decides to forgive the conspirators. They are going through a process of rebirth. Mercy triumphed over their selfish passions. They saw in Augustus a wise monarch and became his supporters.

The highest statesmanship, according to Corneille, is manifested in mercy. Wise public policy must combine the reasonable with the humane. An act of mercy, therefore, is a political act, committed not by the good man Octavian, but by the wise emperor Augustus.

During the period of the “first manner” (until approximately 1645), Corneille called for the cult of rational statehood and believed in the justice of French absolutism (“Martyr Polyeuctus”, 1643; “The Death of Pompey”, 1643; “Theodora - the Virgin and Martyr”, 1645; comedy "Liar", 1645).

Corneille of the “second manner” overestimates many of the political principles of the French monarchy that seemed so strong (“Rodogunda - the Parthian Princess”, 1644; “Heraclius - Emperor of the East”, 1646; “Nycomedes”, 1651, etc.). Corneille continues to write historical and political tragedies, but the emphasis is shifting. This is due to changes in political life French society after the accession of Louis XIV to the throne, which meant the establishment of unlimited dominance of the absolutist regime. Now Corneille, the singer of rational statehood, was suffocating in the atmosphere of victorious absolutism. The idea of ​​sacrificial public service, interpreted as the highest duty, was no longer a stimulus for the behavior of the heroes of Corneille's plays. The spring of dramatic action is the narrow personal interests and ambitious ambitions of the characters. Love from a morally sublime feeling turns into a game of unbridled passions. The royal throne is losing its moral and political stability. It is not reason, but chance that decides the fate of heroes and the state. The world becomes irrational and unstable.

Corneille's late tragedies, close to the baroque tragicomedy genre, are evidence of a departure from strict classicist norms.

French classicism received its most complete and complete expression in the works of another great national poet of France Jean Racine (1639-1690). A new stage in the development of classical tragedy is associated with his name. If Corneille developed primarily the genre of heroic historical and political tragedy, then Racine was the creator of a love-psychological tragedy, saturated at the same time with great political content.

One of Racine's most important creative principles was the desire for simplicity and verisimilitude, as opposed to Corneille's attraction to the extraordinary and exceptional. Moreover, this desire was extended by Racine not only to the construction of the plot of the tragedy and the characters of its characters, but also to the language and style of the stage work.

Relying on the authority of Aristotle, Racine abandoned the most important element of Corneille's theater - the “perfect hero”. “Aristotle is not only very far from demanding from us perfect heroes, but, on the contrary, wants tragic characters, that is, those whose misfortunes create a catastrophe in tragedy, to be neither completely good nor completely evil.”

It was important for Racine to affirm the artist’s right to depict the “average person” (not in the social, but in the psychological sense), to depict human weaknesses. Heroes, according to Racine, must have average virtues, that is, virtue capable of weakness.

Racine's first great tragedy was Andromache (1667). Turning to Greek mythological themes, already developed in antiquity by Homer, Virgil and Euripides, Racine, however, reinterpreted the classical plot. Succumbing to the influence of passions, the heroes of the tragedy - Pyrrhus, Hermione, Orestes - in their selfishness turned out to be cruel people capable of crime.

By creating the image of Pyrrhus, Racine solves a political problem. Pyrrhus (the monarch) should be responsible for the good of the state, but, succumbing to passion, he sacrifices the interests of the state to it.

Hermione, one of the most convincing images of tragedy, whose internal state is perfectly psychologically motivated, also becomes a victim of passion. Rejected by Pyrrhus, the proud and rebellious Hermione becomes selfish and tyrannical in her aspirations and actions.

"Andromache" was followed by "Britannicus" (1669) - Racine's first tragedy dedicated to the history of ancient Rome. As in Andromache, the monarch is portrayed here as a merciless tyrant. Young Nero treacherously destroys his half-brother Britannicus, whose throne he illegally occupied and whom Junia, who liked him, loves. But Racine did not limit himself to condemning Nero's despotism. It showed the power of the Roman people as the supreme judge of history.

“The singer of women and kings in love” (Pushkin), Racine created a whole gallery of images of positive heroines, combining a sense of human dignity, moral fortitude, the ability to self-sacrifice, and the ability to heroically resist all violence and tyranny. These are Andromache, Junia, Berenice (“Berenice”, 1670), Monima (“Mithridates”, 1673), Iphigenia (“Iphigenia in Aulis”, 1674).

The pinnacle of Racine’s poetic creativity in terms of the artistic power of depicting human passions and the perfection of verse is “Phaedra” written in 1677, which Racine himself considered his best creation.

Queen Phaedra passionately loves her stepson Hippolytus, who is in love with the Athenian princess Arikia. Having received false news about the death of her husband Theseus, Phaedra confesses her feelings to Hippolytus, but he rejects her. Upon the return of Theseus, Phaedra, in a fit of despair, fear and jealousy, decides to slander Hippolytus. Then, tormented by the pangs of repentance and love, he takes poison; Having confessed everything to her husband, she dies.

Racine's main innovation is associated with the character of Phaedra. In Racine, Phaedra is a suffering woman. Her tragic guilt lies in her inability to cope with a feeling that Phaedra herself calls criminal. Racine comprehends and embodies in his tragedy not only the moral and psychological conflicts of his era, but also reveals the general laws of human psychology.

The first Russian translator of Racine was Sumarokov, who received the nickname “Russian Racine.” In the 19th century, A. S. Pushkin showed a thoughtful attitude towards Racine. He drew attention to the fact that the French playwright was able to put deep content into the gallantly refined form of his tragedies, and this allowed him to place Racine next to Shakespeare. In an unfinished article from 1830 on the development of dramatic art, which served as an introduction to the analysis of M. P. Pogodin’s drama “Marfa Posadnitsa,” Pushkin wrote: “What develops in tragedy, what is its purpose? Man and people. Human destiny, people's destiny. This is why Racine is great despite the narrow form of its tragedy. That’s why Shakespeare is great, despite the inequality, negligence, and ugliness of decoration” (Pushkin - critic - M., 1950, p. 279).

If the best examples of classic tragedy were created by Corneille and Racine, then classic comedy was entirely the creation Moliere (1622-1673).

The writer's biography of Moliere (Jean Baptiste Poquelin) begins with the five-act poetic comedy “Naughty, or Everything Is Out of Place” (1655) - a typical comedy of intrigue. In 1658, Moliere would become famous. His performances would enjoy enormous success, the king himself would patronize him, but envious people, dangerous opponents from among those whom Moliere ridiculed in his comedies, pursued him until the end of his life.

Moliere laughed, exposed, accused. The arrows of his satire spared neither ordinary representatives of society nor high-ranking nobles.

In the preface to the comedy Tartuffe, Moliere wrote: “The theater has a great corrective power.” “We deal vices a heavy blow by exposing them to public ridicule.” “The duty of comedy is to correct people by amusing them.” The playwright perfectly understood the social significance of satire: “The best thing I can do is to expose the vices of my age in funny images.”

In the comedies “Tartuffe,” “The Miser,” “The Misanthrope,” “Don Juan,” and “The Bourgeois Nobility,” Moliere raises deep social and moral problems and offers laughter as the most effective medicine.

Moliere was the creator of the “comedy of character,” where the important role was not the external action (although the playwright skillfully built comic intrigue), but the moral and psychological state of the hero. Moliere's character is endowed, in accordance with the law of classicism, with one dominant character trait. This allows the writer to give a generalized image of human vices - stinginess, vanity, hypocrisy. It is not without reason that some of the names of Moliere’s characters, for example, Tartuffe, Harpagon, became household names; Tartuffe is called a bigot and a hypocrite, Harpagon is a miser. Moliere observed the rules of classicism in his plays, but did not shy away from the folk tradition of farcical theater, he wrote not only “ high comedy”, in which he raised serious social problems, but also funny “comedies-ballets”. One of Moliere's famous comedies, “The Bourgeois in the Nobility,” successfully combines the seriousness and relevance of the problem posed with the gaiety and grace of “comedy-ballet.” Moliere paints a bright picture in it satirical image the wealthy bourgeois Jourdain, who admires the nobility and dreams of joining the ranks of the aristocrats.

The viewer laughs at the unfounded claims of an ignorant and rude person. Although Moliere laughs at his hero, he does not despise him. The trusting and narrow-minded Jourdain is more attractive than the aristocrats who live on his money but despise Jourdain.

An example of a “serious” classic comedy was the comedy “The Misanthrope”, where the problem of humanism is resolved in the disputes between Alceste and Philinte. Alceste’s despairing words about the vices and injustice reigning in the human world contain a sharp criticism of social relations. Alceste's revelations reveal the social content of the comedy.

Moliere made a discovery in the field of comedy. Using the generalization method, the playwright expressed the essence of social vice through an individual image, depicted the typical social features of his time, the level and quality of his moral relations.

French classicism was most clearly manifested in drama, but it was also quite clearly expressed in prose.

Classic examples of the aphorism genre were created in France by La Rochefoucauld, Labruyère, Vauvenart, and Chamfort. A brilliant master of aphorism was François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1689). In the book “Reflections, or Moral Sayings and Maxims” (1665), the writer created a unique model of “man in general”, outlined a universal psychology, a moral portrait of humanity. The picture painted was a grim sight. The writer does not believe in truth or goodness. Even humanity and nobility, according to the writer, are just a spectacular pose, a mask covering self-interest and vanity. By generalizing his observations, seeing a universal law in a historical phenomenon, La Rochefoucauld comes to the idea of ​​​​the egoistic essence of human nature. Self-love as a natural instinct, as a powerful mechanism on which a person’s actions depend, underlies his moral motives. It is natural for a person to hate suffering and strive for pleasure, therefore morality is a refined egoism, a rationally understood “interest” of one person. In order to curb natural selfishness, a person resorts to the help of reason. Following Descartes, La Rochefoucauld calls for rational control over the passions. This is the ideal organization of human behavior.

Jean La Bruyère (1645-1696) known as the author of the only book, “Characters, or Manners of this Age” (1688). In the latest ninth edition of the book, La Bruyère described 1120 characters. Turning to the work of Theophrastus as a model, La Bruyère significantly complicated the manner of the ancient Greek: he not only discovers the reasons for the vices and weaknesses of people. The writer establishes the dependence of human character on the social environment. From concrete and individual diversity, La Bruyère derives typical, most general patterns. "Characters" depicts the various strata of Parisian and provincial society during the time of Louis XIV. Having divided the book into chapters “Court”, “City”, “Sovereign”, “Nobles”, etc., the author builds its composition in accordance with the internal classification of portraits (prudes, misers, gossips, talkers, flatterers, courtiers, bankers, monks, bourgeois, etc.). La Bruyère, the last great classicist of the 17th century, combining various genres in his book (maxims, dialogue, portrait, short story, satire, moral teaching), follows strict logic, subordinates his observations to a general idea, and creates typical characters.

In 1678, the novel “The Princess of Cleves” appeared, written by Marie de Lafayette (1634-1693). The novel was distinguished by its in-depth interpretation of images and accurate depiction of real circumstances. Lafayette tells the story of the love of the wife of the Prince of Cleves for the Duke of Nemours, emphasizing the struggle between passion and duty. Worrying love passion, the Princess of Cleves overcomes it through sheer force of will. Having retired to a peaceful abode, she managed, with the help of her mind, to maintain peace and spiritual purity.

Literature of Germany

In the 17th century, Germany bore the tragic imprint of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The Peace of Westphalia formalized its division into many small principalities. Fragmentation and the decline of trade and handicraft production led to the decline of culture.

The poet played a huge role in the revival of German culture in modern times Martin Opitz (1597-1639) and his theoretical treatise "The Book of German Poetry".

Instilling the classicist canon in German literature, Opitz calls for studying the poetic experience of antiquity, formulates the main tasks of literature, and places emphasis on the task of moral education. Opitz introduced the syllabic-tonic system of versification, tried to regulate literature, and established a hierarchy of genres. Before Opitz, German poets wrote predominantly in Latin. Opitz sought to prove that German you can create poetic masterpieces.

Opitz became one of the first chroniclers of the Thirty Years' War. One of best works- poem “A Word of Consolation Amid the Disasters of War” (1633). The poet calls on his compatriots to rise above the chaos of life and find support in their own souls. The theme of condemnation of war is heard in the poems “Zlatna” (1623) and “Praise to the God of War” (1628). Opitz’s “scientific classicism” was not widely developed, and already in the work of his students Fleming and Logau the influence of Baroque poetics is clearly noticeable.

An outstanding poet of the German Baroque was Andreas Gryphius (1616-1664), which captured the worldview of the era of the Thirty Years' War in piercingly mournful tones.

Gryphius's poetry is oversaturated with emotional, visual images, symbols, and emblems. Gryphius's favorite techniques are enumeration, deliberate accumulation of images, and contrastive comparison. “A cold dark forest, a cave, a skull, a bone - // Everything says that I am a guest in the world, // That I will not escape either weakness or decay.”

Gryphius is also the founder of German drama, the creator of German Baroque tragedy (“The Armenian Lion, or Regicide” (1646), “The Murdered Majesty, or Charles Stuart, King of Great Britain” (1649), etc.).

A striking figure of the German Baroque was the original poet Johann Gunther (1695-1723). Gunther develops Gryphius’s thought about the best feelings plundered by war, about a homeland that has forgotten its sons (“To the Fatherland”). The poet opposes the dullness of life, wretchedness, German reality, its backwardness and inertia. Many motifs of his poetry would later be adopted and developed by representatives of the Sturm and Drang movement.

The largest representative in Baroque prose is Hans Jakob Christoffel Grimmelshausen (1622-1676). His best work is the novel Simplicissimus (1669). The author describes the unusual journey of a hero whose name - Simplicius Simplicissimus - is translated as “the simplest of the simplest.” A naive, unselfish young peasant, walking along the road of life, meets with representatives of various social strata German society. The hero faces the tyranny, cruelty that reigns in the world, the lack of honesty, justice, and kindness.

In the palace of the ruler of Hanau, they want to make a jester from Simplicius: they put a calf skin on him, lead him on a rope, make faces, and mock him. Everyone perceives the hero’s naivety and sincerity as madness. Through allegory, Grimmelshausen wants to tell the reader about the most important thing: a terrible world in which a person’s misfortune serves as fun. The war has embittered people. Simplicissimus seeks kindness in human hearts and calls everyone to peace. However, the hero finds peace of mind on a deserted island, far from a vicious civilization.

Grimmelshausen was the first in German literature to show the destructive effect war has on human souls. In his hero, the writer embodied the dream of an integral, natural person living according to the laws of folk morality. That is why today the novel is perceived as a bright anti-war work.

Literature of England

In development English literature The 17th century, inextricably linked with political events, is traditionally distinguished into three periods:

1. Pre-revolutionary period (1620-1630).

2. The period of revolution, civil war and republic (1640-1650).

3. Restoration period (1660-1680).

In the first period (20-30s of the 17th century), there was a decline in drama and theater in English literature. The ideology of the triumphant absolutist reaction is expressed in the activities of the so-called “metaphysical school,” which creates speculative literature abstracted from the problems of reality, as well as the “Carolinian school,” which included royalist poets. In the works of D. Donne, D. Webster,

T. Dekker can hear the motives of loneliness, fatal predestination, and despair.

This was Shakespeare's younger contemporary Ben Jonson (1573-1637), author of the life-affirming and realistic comedies “Volpone” (1607), “Episin, or the Silent Woman” (1609), “The Alchemist” (1610), “Bartholomew’s Fair” (1610).

In the 1640-1650s, journalism (treatises, pamphlets, sermons) acquired great importance. The journalistic and artistic works of Puritan writers often had a religious overtones and at the same time were filled with protest and the spirit of a fierce class struggle. They reflected not only the aspirations of the bourgeoisie led by Cromwell, but the moods and expectations of the broad masses, expressed in the ideology of the Levellers (“levelers”), and especially the “true Levellers” or “Diggers” (“diggers”), who relied on the rural poor.

The democratic opposition of the 1640s-1650s put forward a talented leveler publicist, John Lilburne (1618-1657). Lilburne's famous pamphlet “England's New Chains” was directed against the orders of Cromwell, who had turned from a revolutionary commander into a Lord Protector with despotic intentions. Democratic tendencies are clear in the works of Gerald Winstanley (1609 - about 1652). His accusatory treatises and pamphlets (“The Banner Raised by the True Levellers,” 1649; “Declaration of the Poor, Oppressed People of England,” 1649) were directed against the bourgeoisie and the new nobility.

The most prominent representative of the revolutionary camp in English literature of the 40-50s of the 17th century was John Milton (1608-1674).

In the first period of his work (1630s), Milton wrote a number of lyrical poems and two poems, “The Cheerful” and “The Pensive,” which outline the main contradictions of his subsequent work: the coexistence of Puritanism and Renaissance humanism. In the 1640-1650s, Milton actively participated in the political struggle. He almost does not turn to poetry (writes only 20 sonnets) and devotes himself entirely to journalism, eventually creating outstanding examples of journalistic prose of the 17th century. The third period of Milton's work (1660-1674) coincides with the era of the Restoration (1660-1680). Milton retreats from politics. The poet turned to artistic creativity and wrote large-scale epic poems “Paradise Lost” (1667), “Paradise Regained” (1671) and the tragedy “Samson the Fighter” (1671).

Written on biblical subjects, these works are imbued with a fiery revolutionary spirit. In the poem Paradise Lost, Milton tells the story of Satan's rebellion against God. The work contains many features of Milton's contemporary era. Even during the period of the most severe reaction, Milton remains faithful to his tyrant-fighting, republican principles. Second story line connected with the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve - this is an understanding of humanity’s difficult path to moral rebirth.

In the poem "Paradise Regained" Milton continues to reflect on the revolution. The glorification of the spiritual fortitude of Christ, rejecting all the temptations of Satan, served as an edification to recent revolutionaries who were afraid of the reaction and hastily went over to the side of the royalists.

Milton's last work - the tragedy "Samson the Fighter" - is also allegorically connected with the events of the English Revolution. In it, Milton, persecuted by political enemies, calls for revenge and for the continuation of people’s struggle for a decent existence.

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Bncz&Exam: History of Foreign Literature. 17-18 centuries

Teacher: Ninel Ivanovna Vannikova

Place: 320 room

1. Phaedra - there are the words “passion commands”, a discussion about the nobility of Hippolytus.

2. Steadfast Prince - there are the words of Don Fernando “;I suffered torment, but I believe...”;.

3. Steadfast Prince - sonnet about flowers.

4. Sid - there are the words “;renounce love, stand up for your father”;.

5. Boileau - a discussion about tragedy, there are the words “horror and compassion”.

6. Fielding - description of the table, nature sent something to the hero.

7. Steadfast Prince - there are the words “you did not defeat faith, but me, despite

that I am dying."

8. Faust - the words of Mephistopheles “I am that...”;. This quote was already in this thread.

9. Swift - the hero ends up on the island of Lilliputians.

10. Sid - the words of Jimena, there are the words “to avenge the father”, honor is mentioned.

11. Robbers - Karl’s words “they forced me to kill an angel.”

12. Faust - a conversation between Faust and Wagner about the division of love into earthly and heavenly.

13. Faust - cranes are mentioned in the last line.

14. Lope de Vega - the Minotaur is mentioned. (Apparently this piece:

Mixing the tragic with the funny...

Terence with Seneca - but in many ways,

What to say, like the Minotaur,

But a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous

It pleases the crowd with its diversity.

After all, nature is so beautiful for us,

Which extremes appear every day.)

15. Nun - mother is mentioned.

16. Phaedra - Athens is mentioned.

17. Faust - Mephistopheles about evil and vices.

18. Boileau - “a bastard in art” is mentioned.

19. Faust - refuses to master the teaching, happiness is mentioned.

20. Life is a dream - there are the words “if I am sleeping, do not wake me.”

21. Andromache - Hector is mentioned.

22. Phaedra - poison in the veins is mentioned (Excerpt:

Flows through my inflamed veins

Medea once brought us poison).

23. Phaedra - there are the words “;to justify the innocent”;.

24. Horace - there are the words “;O Rome...”;.

25. Call of Cthulhu - There are the words “Pkh"nglui mglv"nafh Cthulhu R"lieh vgah"nagl fhtagn."

26. Fielding - If you are in difficulty, and the quote begins or ends with “HE”, say Fielding.

27. Zadig - the hermit with whom Zadig travels throws a teenager from a fragile bridge into the river, he drowns.

28. Boileau - there are the words “beautiful under the master’s brush.”

29. Sid - there is something like “;must fulfill my duty in return”;.

30. Emilia Galotti - it is said about the portrait.

31. Fielding - a Hogarth painting is mentioned, with which the character (Partridge's wife) is compared.

17th century

1. Characteristics of the 17th century as a special era in the history of Western literature (the relationship between baroque and classicism)

According to lectures by Ninell Ivanna:

K con. 16th century art and literature have reached a creative crisis. The Renaissance idea of ​​human domination in the world has safely died. In the Renaissance, it was believed that the world is a place where a person should realize his “I,” humanists believed that humanity would devote itself to the creative process. But in fact, the world turned out to be the arena of bloody wars - religious, civil, aggressive (“death is our craft”). There is an atmosphere of strictness and violence in society. Intensifying persecution of heretics, creating indexes of banned books, tightening censorship => human harmony with the world is unattainable, a real man was imperfect in his actions (acting according to the principle “everything is permitted”, he turned out to be flawed + the scientific and psychological aspect of the crisis: they thought that without medieval ideology we could understand everything, but we couldn’t do anything). Geographical discoveries, discoveries in physics (the theory of Copernicus and more), etc. showed that Cthulhu is destroying everyone, and the world is more complex than it seemed, the secret of the universe is not accessible to man, the world is impossible to understand. New Universe: man is no longer the center of the universe, but a grain of sand in the world's chaos, a worldview with a strong tragic overtones. Let a person think about himself again and compare his existence with all that exists. The era testifies to the infinity of space, the transience of time, man is not omnipotent => the Renaissance is replaced baroque.

Instead of a linear Renaissance perspective, there was a “strange baroque perspective”: double space, mirroring, which symbolized the illusory nature of ideas about the world.

The world is split. But not only that, it is also moving, but it is not clear where. Hence the theme of the transience of human life and time in general, the short-term nature of human existence.

The use of historical and mythological reminiscences, which are given in the form of allusions and which must be deciphered.

Baroque poets were very fond of metaphor. It created an atmosphere of intellectual play. And play is a property of all baroque genres (in metaphors, in the combination of unexpected ideas and images).

The dramaturgy was distinguished by its exceptional spectacle, the transition from reality to fantasy. In dramaturgy, play led to a special theatricality à the “scene on stage” technique + the “life-theater” metaphor. Theater is also used to reveal the elusiveness of the world and the illusory nature of ideas about it.

In Calderon's: “the great theater of the world,” where lives are played out on stage under the curtain of chaos. There is a clear division: the divine sphere and the earthly sphere, and the creator of the play, which is designed to express the entire illusory nature of human existence, sits on the throne.

Baroque art sought to relate man to nature, the cosmos; it is permeated with the experience of finitude human existence before the infinity of the universe. This is the most severe internal contradiction.

German Baroque occurs in conditions The 30-year war, the tragedy of social life. Eternity is a continuation of timelessness. Creating a new baroque harmony, unity, glorifying moral fortitude human spirit(wide dissemination of the ideas of Stoicism). And in such conditions, when everything is bad, a certain beginning begins to emerge, on the basis of which natural chaos is overcome - the resilience of the human spirit.

Man is believed to have an inner independence of spirit (converging with the Catholic concept of free will). In the Christian religion there is a opposition between the ideas of predestination and free will (2 types of consciousness). Luther adhered to the idea of ​​predestination (he believed that after the Fall, corruption passed into human nature => man is sinful). Reformation - the path of every person is predetermined from birth.

The doctrine of free will appeared in the 16th century. Its adherents argued that all people are given grace from birth, and each person chooses his own path.

At the same time there arises classicism. Both of these systems arise as an awareness of the crisis of Renaissance ideals.

Classicism seems to resurrect the style of the High Renaissance. Moderation and good taste should be observed in everything. A strict system of rules => restrain the wildness of imagination. Rules are inherent in any creativity, and art is a form play activity human => there is no game without rules. The task of classicism is to make the rules mandatory. They are created by the human mind to subjugate the chaos of things. Rules are unwritten laws; they are conventional and relate to the formal organization of a work.

According to Plavskin:

17th century – the century of absolutism (the dominant form of the state is absolutism).

17th century - an era of continuous wars in Europe. The old colonial powers - Spain, Portugal - are gradually being pushed into the background by the young bourgeois states - Holland, England; The era of capitalism begins.

History of Europe in the 17th century. Characterized by transition and crisis.

17th century – changes in the field of science; scientific journals are published; scholasticism of the Middle Ages => experimental method; the dominance of mathematics and the metaphysical way of thinking.

The boundaries of the surrounding world are expanding to cosmic proportions, the concepts of time and space are being rethought as abstract, universal categories. For the 17th century. characterized by a sharp aggravation of philosophy, politics, ideology. fight, cat Reflected in the formation and confrontation of the two dominant artistic systems in this century - classicism and baroque.

They arise as an awareness of the crisis of Renaissance ideals. Artists of both Baroque and Classicism reject the idea of ​​harmony; they reveal a complex interaction between personality and social politics. environment; put forward the idea of ​​​​subordinating passions to the dictates of reason; intelligence and reason are brought to the fore. The role of a work as a means of educating the reader or viewer => “journalism” of literature.

2. Characteristics of Baroque.

Italian barocco - whimsical

The emergence of the Baroque. After the Renaissance came a crisis of ideas. The principle of humanism is associated with the ideas of harmony; in the center of the universe, instead of God, there is man. Everything befits a person if he is brave and talented. In the Middle Ages, man was opposed to nature, and in modern times nature was poeticized. Renaissance art is characterized by harmony in composition and images. But soon humanism collided with harsh reality. The world has turned not into a kingdom of freedom and reason, but into a world of bloody wars. “We are poor in mind, and our feelings are impoverished.” The atmosphere of fanaticism, cruelty, and violence established itself in the 16th century, after the Council of Trent, which opened in 1545 in Trento on the initiative of Pope Paul III, mainly in response to the Reformation, and closed there in 1563. The persecution of heretics intensifies, an index was created banned books. The fate of the humanists was dramatic. Harmony is inaccessible, peace is opposed to the ideals of the individual. The ideas of humanism revealed their inconsistency. Human qualities began to turn into negative ones: self-realization equals immorality and crime. Another important aspect crisis- psychological. People believed that they could find out everything, only the church and medieval prejudices got in the way. Geographical and physical discoveries, the theory of Copernicus said that the world is more complex. Having solved one riddle, a person stumbles upon 10 new ones. “The abyss has opened and is full of stars.” Infinity is an attribute of the universe, and man is a grain of sand in a vast world. The illusions of the Renaissance are supplanted by a new vision of the world. The Renaissance is being replaced baroque, which “throws between doubts and contradictions.” Bizarre, expressive forms, important for Baroque art dynamics, disharmony, expression. Linear perspective is being replaced by “ strange baroque perspective": double angles, mirror images, shifted scales. Designed to express the elusiveness of the world and the illusory nature of our ideas about it. “Man is no longer the center of the world, but the quintessence of dust” (Hamlet). Contrasted: lofty and science, earthly and heavenly, spiritual and physical, reality and illusion. There is no clarity or integrity in anything. The world is split, in endless movement and time. This running makes human life terribly fleeting, hence the theme of the short-term nature of man, the frailty of everything that exists.

Spanish poetry. Contemporaries considered poetry Gongora(1561-1627) difficult. Alluchias, metaphorical descriptions. Romance "About Angelica and Medora". (If you want to read: /~lib/gongora.html#0019). Incomprehensibility. Withered roses are the blush on Medora's cheeks. Chinese Diamond - Princess Angelica, who has not yet experienced love. Complicated literary description - the closed nature of Gongora's poetry, the atmosphere of the game. Sophisticated metaphoricality, conceptual rapprochement of distant images - baroque game(characteristic of Gongora, Grassian, Calderon, Fhtagn).

From the horn:

Baroque poets were very fond of metaphor. It created an atmosphere of intellectual play. And play is a property of all baroque genres (in metaphors, in the combination of unexpected ideas and images). In dramaturgy, the game led to a special theatricality à the technique of “scene on stage” + the metaphor “life-theater” (Calderon’s autograph “The Great Theater of the World” is the apotheosis of this metaphor). Theater is also used to reveal the elusiveness of the world and the illusory nature of ideas about it.

And in such conditions, when everything is bad, a certain beginning begins to emerge, on the basis of which natural chaos can be overcome - the resilience of the human spirit.

At the same time, classicism emerges. Both of these systems arise as an awareness of the crisis of Renaissance ideals.

Artists of both Baroque and Classicism rejected the idea of ​​harmony underlying the humanistic Renaissance concept. But at the same time, Baroque and classicism clearly oppose each other.

Lecture. In dramaturgy, baroque acting initially manifests itself in entertainment, illusionism, transition from reality to fantasy. Theater of metaphor - likening human life to theater (Shakespeare's As You Like It). Ideas about theater determined ideas about the world, hence theme of life-theater. Especially Calderon - “The Great Theater of the World”. God plays out the theater of life, lifting the curtain of chaos. The illusory nature of human existence. Baroque gave a more dramatic idea of ​​the world and of man. The illusory is more correlated by man not only with nature, but also with society (a strange phrase). The comicality of human existence. Tragic dissonance: the pursuit of happiness is a cruel historical process. This is discussed a lot in the poetry of the German Baroque (they wrote during the 30-year war).

Gryphius, "Tears of the Fatherland", 1636 d. In the face of disaster, there was no hope left. The treasury of the soul has been plundered into timelessness. In the face of intense experiences and tragic contradictions, the organizing principle, the unshakable foundation of human existence: inner moral fortitude of the human spirit. The philosophy of Stoicism is the independence of the human spirit, the ability to withstand all circumstances.

Catholic concept of free will. Predestination (Aurelius Augustine) and the doctrine of free will are contrasted. The Reformation, represented by Luther, developed the ideas of predestination. A person is happy and sinful if he needs help from above in the form of divine grace. Another idea (among Catholics): everyone makes their own choice, in favor of grace or evil. These ideas became philosophical basis dram Calderon. In The Steadfast Prince, for example, the Christian and Moorish worlds are contrasted

In dramaturgy: there is no strict norming, no unity of place and time, mixing the tragic and comic in one work is the main genre tragicomedy, baroque theater - theater of action. Lope de Vega writes about all this in “A New Guide to Writing Comedies.”

3. Features of Calderon’s philosophical tragedies (“Life is a dream”, etc.) The 17th century in Spain is the golden age of drama. It was opened by Lope de Vega and closed by Calderon

Biography : Calderon was born in Madrid, in the family of Don Diego Calderon, secretary of the treasury, a middle-class nobleman. The mother of the future playwright, Anna Maria de Henao, was the daughter of a gunsmith. His father prepared Calderon for a spiritual career: he was educated at the Madrid Jesuit College, and also studied at the universities of Salamanca and Alcala de Henares. However, in 1620, Calderon left his studies for military service.

As a playwright, Calderon made his debut with the play Love, Honor and Power, for which he received praise from his teacher, Lope de Vega, and by the time of his death, was already considered Spain's first playwright. In addition, he received recognition at court. Philip IV knighted Calderon in the Order of Saint James (Santiago) and commissioned him to play plays for the court theater set up in the newly built Buen Retiro Palace. Calderon was provided with the services of the best musicians and stage designers of that time. In the plays written when Calderon was a court playwright, the use of complex stage effects is noticeable. For example, the play “The Beast, the Lightning and the Stone” was performed on an island in the middle of a lake in the palace park, and the audience watched it while sitting in boats.

In 1640-1642, while performing military duties, Calderon participated in the suppression of the “Revolt of the Reapers” (national separatist movement) in Catalonia. In 1642, for health reasons, he left military service and three years later received a pension. He later became a tertiary of the Order of St. Francis (that is, he took on the monastic vows of the order, but remained in the world), and in 1651 Calderon was ordained a priest; This was probably caused by events in his personal life (the death of his brother, the birth of an illegitimate son), about which little reliable information has been preserved, as well as by the persecution of the theater that began. After his ordination, Calderon abandoned the composition of secular plays and turned to allegorical plays based on plots borrowed mainly from the Bible and Sacred Tradition, the so-called autos, performances given during religious festivals. However, turning to religious themes, he interpreted many problems in the spirit of early Christianity with its democracy and asceticism and never followed the principles of the orthodox church. In 1663 he was appointed personal confessor to Philip IV (royal chaplain); This honorary position was retained by Calderon and the king's successor, Charles II. Despite the popularity of the plays and the favor of the royal court, Calderon's last years were spent in noticeable poverty. Calderon died on May 25, 1681. It’s quite a contrast, isn’t it?

Inheriting the traditions of Spanish Renaissance literature, Calderon. At the same time, he expressed disappointment in the humanism of the Renaissance. Calleron sees in the very nature of man the source of evil and cruelty, and the only means of reconciliation with life is the Christian faith with its the requirement to curb pride. The writer's work is contradictory combines Renaissance and Baroque motifs.

Calderon's dramas (including 51 plays) are usually divided into several categories: dramas historical, philosophical, religious, biblical, mythological and “dramas of honor” . But the spirit of the Spanish Baroque and the genius of Calderon were most fully manifested in the philosophical dramas that were produced in Spain in the 17th century. took the form of religious-philosophical or historical-philosophical drama.

Plays of this type touch upon fundamental questions of existence, first of all - human destiny, free will, causes of human suffering. The action most often takes place in “exotic” countries for Spain (for example, Ireland, Poland, Muscovy); the historical and local flavor is emphatically conventional and is intended to emphasize their timeless issues. Specific feelings and actions are more important for him in “comedies of cloak and sword,” but in philosophical ones this was not so important. In them he combines the features of historical drama, religious, philosophical and theological allegory of the auto type (performances on church holidays). At the center of the problem the meaning of life, free will, freedom of human existence, education of a humane and wise ruler. Here he continues the ideas of the Renaissance with its humanism and in general, but begins the ideas of the Baroque, which I will talk about a little further. Examples: “Life is a Dream”, “The Magician”, “Purgatory of St. Patrick”.

Calderon had a wonderful ability in his works to combine a real picture of the world with its abstract, philosophical generalization. The parallels are easy to guess, especially easy to guess then, because I wrote, if not on the topic of the day, then. at a minimum, on the problems that worried society, depicting tragic contradictions and other problems in society.

Baroque style attitude: pessimism(life is full of troubles, it’s generally a dream, moreover, these troubles also contradict each other), but with features n neostoicism(everyone quickly remembered philosophy!). Their life is chaotic, illusory, imperfect. (“What is life? Madness, a mistake. What is life? The deception of the veil. And the best moment is error, Since life is only a dream, And dreams are only dreams”). Life is a comedy, life is a dream. However, the formula is not absolute for the poet and does not apply to love.

Doubt about earthly values And craving for the supersensible in Calderon's drama are explained by theological dogmatism, and widespread in Spain in the 17th century. loss of confidence in historical perspective and a sense of chaos in the world.Feeling tragic disorder of life The theme running through the plays makes clear from the first verses the persistence with which the idea “life is a dream” is pursued. The same tragic feeling explains the heightened consciousness of the “guilt of birth” - the sinfulness of man. At the same time, Calderon’s baroque philosophy, which brought up readiness to bravely face a difficult fate, did not necessarily imply submission to providence. From the beginning of the drama, along with the theme of the disorder of the world, the guilt of birth, the theme of rebellion also arises, energetically expressed in the monologue of Segismundo, imprisoned by his father in the tower (“...And with a more expansive spirit, / Do I need less freedom?”)

It depends only on the person how he will play his role in this theater of life. It is not divine providence that will help a person to play his role well or badly, but a mind that confronts the chaos of life, heading towards the truth. He sees in the mind a power that can help a person curb passions. In dramas he shows painful the tossing and turning of this mind, who is exhausted to bring order to this chaos. Life is movement, a sharp clash of contrasts. Despite his clergy and his studies as a theologian, he does not call for humility, since, I repeat, conformism is alien to him, but he calls for perseverance, praises willpower, in general, he is close to early theological views. Even in The Steadfast Prince (1629), where religious and absolutist sentiments may seem carried to the point of fanaticism, Calderon thinks in more universal terms than Catholicism. People different faiths can act together.

The plans of the heroes are violated by something at first glance inexplicable, but in fact quite material (as in Life is a dream).

Compared to classicism, the drama “Life is a Dream” gives more space for emotions and imagination. Its form is free, and the stage space is no less open to infinity than in The Steadfast Prince. It is not for nothing that the romantics were so fascinated by such examples of depicting a person in the face of infinity. The counter-reformation ideology of spiritual violence was opposed not by the obviousness of the correctness of harmoniously developed, noble people, full of vitality, physical and mental beauty, as in Shakespeare or Lope, but grit in defeat, a confused and searching intellect.

Calderon's philosophical drama shows the depth of the spiritual and intellectual life of a 17th century man, his the desire to break through the sea of ​​troubles, find a way out of the terrible labyrinth of fate.

4. Calderon's honor dramas

The problem of honor was common to many dramas of the 16th-17th centuries (in Spain this issue was very acute, because in connection with the reconquista it was announced a large number of"caballeros" ("horsemen"), knights who went to recapture Spanish lands from the Moors; upon returning from hostilities, these people brought both a constant desire and readiness to fight to the death, and high ideas about the honor that they allegedly gained in battle - which gave rise to the practice of frequent duels in Spanish high society), and Calderon’s textbook “History of Foreign Literature” XVII century" along with comedies about love (The Invisible Lady) and philosophical dramas (Life is a Dream), dramas of honor stand out: "The Doctor of His Honor" (a question of marital honor), "The Steadfast Prince" (honor as self-respect, loyalty to an idea ( preservation of the fortress of Ceuta for Spain)), “The Salamean Alcalde” (honor as the dignity of all people, growing from virtue, inherent not only to nobles), etc. Of those listed, only the first two dramas should be familiar to us.

In “The Doctor of His Honor,” honor is practically a living creature (Gutierre says: “The two of us, honor, are left”), a totem, the preservation of which is placed as the highest duty (dishonored, as he believes, Don Gutierre without a doubt goes to kill his supposedly guilty wife by someone else's hands), actions within the framework of her protection - even murder! - are recognized as legal (the king, notified of the murder by the barber, does not punish Don Gutierre, moreover, he marries Dona Leonor for him, and at the end of the drama the following dialogue takes place between the married spouses: (Don Gutierre) But just remember, Leonor, / My hand is washed with blood.(Dona Leonor) I am not surprised or frightened. (Don Gutierre) But I was a doctor to my honor, / And I did not forget healing.(Dona Leonor) Remember if you need to.(Don Gutierre) I accept this condition. Apparently, no one is embarrassed by what happened - killing in the name of preserving honor is taken for granted, and the “young” are persuaded to adhere to this rule in the future). Moreover, it is appearance that is important (in front of the king, Don Gutierre, already tormented by terrible jealousy, talks about his wife as a model of innocence and the absence of any suspicions in her relation), and to begin actions to protect honor, it is not even the crime itself that is enough, but suspicion, the slightest glare: Dona Mencia, married not for love, but faithful to her husband Don Gutierre, in every possible way brushes aside the advances of her beloved Don Enrique in the past; however, Gutierre’s suspicions, Don Enrique’s dagger discovered in his house, and Gutierre’s overheard speech, confused with Don Enrique Mencia, by his wife addressed to the infanta, asking him to stop his “attacks” - all this, plus Mencia’s letter discovered by Gutierre to the infanta with a request not to flee the country, so as not to give rise to gossip to tarnish the honor of Mencia and her husband - enough for the don to sentence his beloved and revered wife to death - for, as he writes to his wife, having already decided to kill her, Gutierre: “ Love adores you, honor hates you, and that’s why one kills you and the other informs you.” But even Mencia herself, dying, as Ludovico, who opened her veins, conveys her words, does not blame her husband for what happened.

Honor in this drama appears as a terrifying tyrant, whose power is recognized by everyone, and it also sanctions any actions to preserve and protect it.

It is important to note that in reality such practices, the murder of wives with impunity, were not a constant phenomenon (chronicles prove this), i.e. drama is not a reflection of the typical. Rather, it serves to reflect the critical state of rigidity and intransigence in the understanding of noble honor.

The “steadfast prince” Don Fernando and the Muslim commander Muley are equally familiar and understandable with the word honor - and this brings together two heroes belonging to opposing worlds - the strict and clear, sunny Catholic world of Spain, whose missionaries are the arriving troops led by Don Fernando, later - with King Alfonso, and the mysterious and beautiful “night” Muslim world. And from the moment of their first meeting - Don Fernando wins a duel on the battlefield of Muley, but releases him according to the rules of honor, which evokes the genuine respect of the Moor - and later - when Muley is entrusted with Don Fernando, who was actually condemned to death, - heroes like they would compete to see who would show more respect for honor, who deserves it more. In the dispute that occurred between the Moor and the infante, where on the one hand Muley offers the infante to escape from prison so that he, Muley, will answer with his head to the king of Fetz for the escape of the prisoner, and on the other hand, the infant tells Muley not to make attempts to free him, and to live happily the rest of his life with his beloved Phoenix - it is Fernando who wins the argument, and there is no escape, thus the Spanish prince sacrifices his freedom and life for the happiness of his friend. Moreover, after death, the ghost of the prince contributes to the fulfillment of the goal of this sacrifice - he nevertheless unites Muley and Phoenix in marriage.

But commitment to the highest honor is reflected not only in this - Don Fernando sacrifices his life, refusing to become a ransom for Ceuta, which belongs to the Christians (he tears up a letter from King Alfonso to King Fetz, offering a similar “bargain”, and refuses to further exchange his life for Ceuta, for which he is thrown into prison in unbearable conditions), for the infant gives his life in the name of the idea, the triumph of the “sunny” Christian world, and therefore he lives in the most difficult conditions and dies without regrets about his bitter fate.

In “The Alcalde of Salamey,” written with significant transformations based on the work of Lope de Vega, honor appears as the capacity for virtue, moral purity and innocence, which some nobles lack (contrary to the belief that “honor” is passed on only by inheritance in a noble family), but which possess and simple people, for example, the peasant Pedro (alcalde - something like an elder-judge), whose daughter is stolen by a passing army captain. Honor, in the understanding of Calderon in "Alcalde", appears as the highest good, for the sake of returning her to his daughter, and for this the captain is obliged to marry her, the peasant Pedro, perceiving honor as a great moral treasure, is ready to give all his property to the captain, and if this is not enough , then give himself and his son into slavery. So, in the name of honor, the presence of which among the peasants is disputed by some negative characters in the drama, Pedro is ready to sacrifice all material benefits and even freedom.

French history literature/ A.L. Stein, M.N. Chernevich, M.A. Yakhontova. - M., 1988. Readers 1. Artamonov, S.D. Foreignliterature17 -18 bb.: reader; educational...

Annotated program of the discipline/module “history of foreign literature”

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Storyforeignliterature17 -18 bb Storyforeignliterature XVII-XVIII bb

Annotated program of the discipline/module “history of foreign literature” (1)

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Destruction of the optimistic model. Specifics of the interchange Storyforeignliterature17 -18 bb. (10 hours) Topic 1. Baroque poetics in... Moscow State University. Ser. 9. 1995. No. 1. Melikhov O. V. Storyforeignliterature XVII-XVIII bb. Methodical instructions. M., 1968. Mering...

Characteristics of the 17th century as a special era in the history of Western literature

The 17th century is a century of wars, political and religious conflicts, a century when utopian Renaissance ideas about domination are becoming a thing of the past, leaving behind a feeling of absolute world chaos. A person in this chaos ceases to be the highest measure of all things, he is forced to submit to new laws and rules. And the increased persecution of heretics and the tightening of censorship only intensify the tragic moods that are reflected in literature. Two worldview concepts emerge: the Catholic concept of free will and the Protestant concept of predestination. The first concept is characterized by the perception of a person as free, free to choose between good and evil, thereby predetermining his future. The Protestant concept assumes that a person’s salvation does not depend on how he lives, and everything is already predetermined from above. But this does not relieve a person from the obligation to be virtuous. Despite the disadvantages of the Catholic concept of free will, which involves some kind of exchange between God and man (good deeds with an expectation of divine reward), this concept most influenced the literature of the 17th century.

Other popular ideas reflected in the literature of the 17th century were the ideas of Stoicism and Neo-Stoicism. The main principle and motto of the adherents of these ideas was maintaining inner peace. Neo-Stoicism is also characterized by a very strong religious feeling, parallel to the evangelical beliefs and premonitions.

In the 17th century, two opposing art systems: Baroque and classicism.

General characteristics of Baroque.

Baroque is translated from Italian as “bizarre,” and this word best characterizes this literary movement. It replaces the Renaissance and introduces bizarre, expressive forms, dynamics, disharmony, and expression into literature. Linear perspective is replaced by a strange baroque perspective: double angles, mirror images, shifted scales. All this is intended to express the elusiveness of the world and the illusory nature of our ideas about it. In the Baroque, the sublime and science, the earthly and the heavenly, the spiritual and the physical, reality and illusion are contrasted. There is no clarity or integrity in anything. The world is split, in endless movement and time. This running makes human life terribly fleeting, hence the theme of the short-term nature of man, the frailty of everything that exists.

In dramaturgy, baroque acting initially manifests itself in spectacle, illusionism, and the transition from reality to fantasy. Human life is likened to theater. God plays out the theater of life, lifting the curtain of chaos. This dramatic idea of ​​the world and of man in general is characteristic of the Baroque. It exposes the comicality of human existence, when the pursuit of happiness is just a cruel historical process.

General characteristics of classicism.

Usually the most important feature of classicism is its normative character, namely a set of laws and rules mandatory for all artists. However, many supporters of classicism did not always strictly observe these rules.

Foreign literature of the 17th – 18th centuries.
17th century in world literary development.

The literary process in Europe in the 17th century was very complex and contradictory. The 17th century is the era that marked the transition from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, and this determined the characteristics of historical and cultural development in European countries; the positions of the feudal-Catholic reaction were strengthened, and this caused a crisis of Renaissance humanism, most forcefully expressed in Baroque art.

Baroque as a style is formed not only in literature, but also in painting and music. As a literary movement, the Baroque has a number of common ideological and artistic principles.

The Baroque is based on a concept of man that is polemical in relation to the Renaissance traditions. A weak and fragile creature, man, as Baroque writers believed, is doomed to wander in the tragic chaos of life. A deeply pessimistic concept of existence leads Baroque literature to ascetic religious ideals.

Baroque creates an elite theory of art and asserts a special metaphorical ornamental style. Based on the idea of ​​disharmony in the world, Baroque writers, trying to express the idea of ​​disharmony in the very figurative system of the work, are carried away by semantic and pictorial contrasts. The most vivid embodiment of the principles of Baroque was found in the work of the great Spanish playwright P. Calderon.

In European Baroque, two movements emerge - high and low, or democratic, Baroque. To the elite ideas, the sublime rhetoric of the high baroque, represented by the theater of P. Calderon, the poetry of L. de Gongora, D. Donne, the pastoral and gallant-heroic novel, the low baroque contrasts the style of comic burlesque, which in many ways consciously parodies the sublime imagery (these trends are expressed most clearly in a 17th century picaresque novel).

Another literary movement of the 17th century was classicism, which flourished in France. It must be remembered that the origins of classicism go back to the aesthetics of the Renaissance, which created the cult of antiquity as the focus of the artistic ideal. Classicism reflected the rise of national consciousness of French society. In the first third of the 17th century, the formation of an absolute monarchy took place in France, which led to the elimination of feudal civil strife and the formation of a single centralized state. This historically progressive process creates objective preconditions for the development of classicism. The ideas of R. Descartes, the creator of the rationalist philosophical school, had a profound impact on the aesthetics of classicism.

In its development, classicism of the 17th century went through two main stages. In the first half of the 17th century, he asserted high ideas of citizenship and heroism, which were reflected in the political tragedies of P. Corneille.

In the second half of the 17th century, after the tragic events of the Fronde, tragic motifs deepened in classicism. Classicism created a coherent aesthetic theory, which was fully embodied in N. Boileau’s treatise “Poetic Art”. The classicists developed a normative theory of art, including a clear differentiation of “high” and “low”, strict genre and style canons. The rationalistic attitude determined the concept of man and the features of conflict in classic works. At the same time, the classicists defended the principle of “imitation of nature,” “reasonable verisimilitude,” which allowed them to recreate in their works the typical features of social life of the 17th century.
^ 17th century in world literary development

The Renaissance is difficult to separate from the history and culture of the 17th century. At the beginning of the 17th century, the luminaries of the Renaissance continued to create. The transition between eras is very smooth and lasts for several generations. The same thing happens at the upper boundaries of the period. The 17th - 18th centuries are a fundamental era for the development of modern European culture. During this era, modern states were created. In France, under the influence of the culture of classicism, norms of literature and language are created that took root until the 20th century. The educational movement and rationalist literature had a similar regulatory function in England.

The Renaissance is an era of social optimism, the discovery of the universe and human capabilities. The social system becomes more dynamic, the possibilities of the human personality and destiny open up. There is a belief in overcoming social obstacles in a variety of areas. The ideal of the Renaissance man is typologically similar to different cultures. The universal ideal embodied the trinity of beauty, goodness and truth. But already at the end of the Renaissance, in the 16th century, this ideal began to weaken. In the 16th century, religious wars, the struggle of states for colonies, and competition in the European arena took place. The united European culture is being shaken. The generalizing influence of Latin origin is lost. A national culture appears, and different types of states are created: bourgeois (revolution in Holland and England), which emerged as a result of the process of refeudalization, a return to old social relations (Spain, Germany, Italy). “Dwarf absolutism” reigned in Germany; the state found itself in a state of fragmentation. The situation was aggravated by the Thirty Years' War that occurred in the 16th century. In France there was a gradual movement towards capitalism. France of that era was one of the leading European powers. It is considered a classic for the literature of the era. The tendencies of centralization are most clearly manifested in it: regional differences disappear, the center strengthens, a unified legal and cultural system is created - and absolutism (the exclusive role of royal power).

In the 17th century, the concept of power appeared. Power becomes a transpersonal force that cannot be controlled. The English philosopher Hobbes represented the state in the form of the monster Leviathan, which controls everything, demands obedience and acts with harsh methods. There is a complete unification of life, submission to the king. The leading category in the era is the category of controllability. In Europe, rituals emerge that control cultural and social life, etiquette is introduced. In the era of Louis XIV, etiquette was exaggerated. Strict government control becomes a constraining force. Revolutions occur, giving way to dictatorship and the subsequent restoration of the monarchy.

During the 17th century, a new religious ideal was formed. There is a search for a “personal” God, his approach to Everyday life. The bourgeoisie presupposes personal initiative. The embodiment of this search is the Reformation in its extreme manifestations (Puritanism, Calvinism). The ritual side is discarded and naked faith remains. The main tenet of Protestantism is individual proof that you are worthy of divine salvation. The counter-reformation movement, especially developing in Spain and Italy, also became the content of the era. According to the counter-reformers, God is relegated to the empyrean, he acts as a blind and irrational force. The bearer of this faith becomes the Church, which is also pushed into the empyrean. This strategy is implemented by the Jesuit Order, whose slogan is “The end justifies the means.”

The 17th century is a turning point when human values ​​shift catastrophically. The symbols of the era are endless searches, trust in irrational categories and rebellion, the riot of one’s own will. The man of the era is looking for support in his search. This support becomes either reason or feeling. Truth, goodness and beauty begin to exist separately from each other. As a result, two opposing trends arise: rationalism and irrationalism, respectively.

The most distinct symptom of rationalism is the emergence of science. In empiric studies, the problem of method arises, bringing science closer to literature (René Descartes, Spinoza, Hobbes). These scientific searches continue until the 20th century.

The flip side of these searches is irrationalism. Irrationalism doubts the possibilities of human knowledge. He strives to highlight areas of the unknown, to show the diversity and play of phenomena. In irrationalism, the category of concept is highlighted - the convergence of different, but mystically related categories. From the concept a metaphor develops. The literature of this era is metaphorical. The choice between private truths depends on one's own will.

One of the universals of the era is the feeling of crisis, turning point, revaluation of the ideals of the Renaissance. The literature of the era is polemical and propaganda. They either try to restore the ideal of the Renaissance or deny it. There is also a rejection of the principle of harmony. In the 17th century, there was an orientation toward dominant categories. Dialectics is determined by the unity and struggle of opposites: the interaction of reason and feelings, personality and society. The Baroque era is interested in personal processes. Humanism is changing - it becomes “humanism in spite of.” The value of a person is not given initially, it is acquired. Another feature of the era is analyticalism and a research approach. A method is being developed for dividing reality into details and combining it in unexpected ways. The era strives for wide epic panoramas. Writers focus on centralizing the idea. Thanks to the discovery of an idea, interaction occurs between journalistic and artistic creativity. The idea itself in a literary text is revealed through pathos and logic. Logic organizes the composition, the connection of parts. One of the main issues of the era is truth and credibility. There is a search for criteria of truth.
^ Baroque literature (general characteristics).

Writers and poets in the Baroque era perceived the real world as an illusion and a dream. Realistic descriptions were often combined with their allegorical depiction. Symbols, metaphors, theatrical techniques, graphic images (lines of poetry form a picture), richness in rhetorical figures, antitheses, parallelisms, gradations, and oxymorons are widely used. There is a burlesque-satirical attitude towards reality. Baroque literature is characterized by a desire for diversity, a summation of knowledge about the world, inclusiveness, encyclopedicism, which sometimes turns into chaos and collecting curiosities, a desire to study being in its contrasts (spirit and flesh, darkness and light, time and eternity). Baroque ethics is marked by a craving for the symbolism of the night, the theme of frailty and impermanence, life as a dream (F. de Quevedo, P. Calderon). Calderon's play “Life is a Dream” is famous. Such genres as the gallant-heroic novel (J. de Scudéry, M. de Scudery), real-life and satirical novel(Furetière, C. Sorel, P. Scarron). Within the framework of the Baroque style, its varieties and directions are born: Marinism, Gongorism (Culteranism), Conceptism (Italy, Spain), the metaphysical school and euphuism (England) (See Precision Literature).

The action of the novels is often transferred to the fictional world of antiquity, to Greece, court gentlemen and ladies are depicted as shepherdesses and shepherdesses, which is called pastoral (Honoré d'Urfe, “Astraea”). Pretentiousness and the use of complex metaphors flourish in poetry. Common forms include sonnet, rondo, concetti (a short poem expressing some witty thought), and madrigals.

In the West, an outstanding representative in the field of the novel is G. Grimmelshausen (the novel “Simplicissimus”), in the field of drama - P. Calderon (Spain). In poetry, V. Voiture (France), D. Marino (Italy), Don Luis de Gongora y Argote (Spain), D. Donne (England) became famous. In Russia, Baroque literature includes S. Polotsky and F. Prokopovich. In France during this period, “precious literature” flourished. It was then cultivated mainly in the salon of Madame de Rambouillet, one of the aristocratic salons in Paris, the most fashionable and famous. In Spain, the baroque movement in literature was called “Gongorism” after the name of its most prominent representative (see above).
Baroque literature (general characteristics).

the universals of the era appear in baroque and classicism. In European literature, classicism appears to be a simplified version of baroque; in Russian literature, baroque and classicism are viewed as different artistic directions. But in the work of one writer both of these directions can converge. In Spain, the Baroque occupied a dominant position. His aesthetics and poetics were developed by representatives of the Lope de Vega school. Classicism developed there only theoretically. In England, none of the methods was dominant, since the traditions of the Renaissance were strong there. Only by the middle of the century did classicist features grow in English art (the theory of Ben Jonson), but they did not take root in this country. In Germany, a low-level baroque is developing, the preferred genres of which are bloody drama and picaresque romance. Classicism became the fundamental method in France, but Baroque tendencies also appeared here. Along with classicism, there is also salon literature and libertine poetry.

Baroque is realized not only in literature. Initially it was highlighted in architecture (the works of Bernini, the fountains of Versailles). In music, the Baroque was represented by the works of Bach and Handel, in painting - by Titian and Caravaggio, in literature - by Jean-Baptiste Marino and Calderon. Baroque is closely related to the Renaissance. Yu.B. Whipper talks about mannerism - the tragic humanism of the late Renaissance. This is an exit to allegorical spaces with philosophical conflicts that demonstrate faith in man and the tragedy of human existence.

The word "Baroque" itself has no precise explanation. This term refers to a wide range of phenomena. In Baroque, by definition, there are no canons. The canon is individual, diversity reigns here.
Worldviews of the Baroque:
1. A sense of the contradictory nature of the world, the absence of established forms, endless struggle. The author’s task is to capture reality in its variability.

2. Pessimistic emotional tone. It comes from the fragmentation, the duality of the world. In the literature of this direction, the motif of the double is often found.

3. The leading motives are the struggle of flesh and spirit, visible and essential. A favorite theme is the struggle of life and death. Baroque authors often depict a person in his borderline states (sleep, illness, madness, feast during the plague).

4. Theatrics, play, experiments of heroes with life, reverent attitude towards earthly joys, admiring the little things of everyday life. Baroque works display a kaleidoscope of life.

5. The Baroque hero is a complete individualist. This is either a bright, but initially vicious creature who needs to atone for his sins, or an initially kind person, but disfigured by life’s circumstances. The second type of hero strives to escape from the world either into creativity or by creating life utopias.
Baroque aesthetics is expounded in the treatises “Wit or the Art of the Quick Mind” (Balthazar Grassian) and “Aristotle’s Spyglass” (Emmanuel Tesauro). Art from the Baroque point of view is subjective creativity. It does not express the truth, but creates an illusion, obeying the will of the author. The writer's task is to transform reality. The flight of thought must be exaggerated. Baroque authors are interested in everything unusual. Getting acquainted with the unprecedented, the reader is able to be surprised. The main artistic means is metaphor. Metaphor intersects with amplification—exaggeration. The same object is rotated from different sides.
^ Features of English literature of the 17th century.

The first half of the 17th century was marked in England by the flourishing of Baroque poetry, represented primarily by the school of metaphysical poets. One of the most talented poets of this movement, who opened new horizons for European poetry of modern times, was John Donne (1572 - 1631), whose work is recommended for students to get acquainted with. The English bourgeois revolution (1640 - 1650) had a decisive influence on the development of English literature in the 17th century. It took place under religious Puritan slogans, which determined the specifics of the artistic thought of the era.

When studying English literature of the 17th century, the main attention should be paid to the work of D. Milton (1608 - 1674). An outstanding revolutionary publicist, Milton reflected in his poems the most pressing political conflicts of our time. His poem “Paradise Lost” is an attempt at a socio-philosophical understanding of the development of the world and humanity as a whole. IN art world The poem organically combines baroque and classicist tendencies, which must be noted when analyzing it.