Philosophical problems and system of images of L. Andreev’s story “Judas Iscariot”. Rethinking the image of the traitor in the story “Judas Iscariot”

05.04.2019

Famous Russian writer Silver Age L. Andreev remained in the history of Russian literature as the author of innovative prose. His works were distinguished by deep psychologism. The author tried to penetrate such depths human soul, where no one looked. Andreev wanted to show the real state of affairs, tore off the cover of lies from the usual phenomena of the social and spiritual life of man and society.

The life of Russian people turn of XIX-XX centuries has given little reason for optimism. Critics reproached Andreev for incredible pessimism, apparently for the objectivity of showing reality. The writer did not consider it necessary to artificially create blissful pictures, to give evil a decent appearance. In his work he revealed true essence immutable laws public life and ideology. Evoking a barrage of criticism against himself, Andreev risked showing a person in all his contradictions and secret thoughts, revealed the falsity of any political slogans and ideas, and wrote about doubts in matters of the Orthodox faith in the form in which the church presents it.

In the story “Judas Iscariot” Andreev gives his version of the famous gospel parable. He said that he wrote “something on the psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal.” The story examines the problem of the ideal in human life. Jesus is such an ideal, and his disciples must preach his teachings, bring the light of truth to the people. But Andreev makes the central hero of the work not Jesus, but Judas Iscariot, an energetic, active and full of strength man.

To complete the perception of the image, the writer describes in detail the memorable appearance of Judas, whose skull was “as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of a sword and put back together again, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety... Judas’ face also doubled.” The eleven disciples of Christ look expressionless against the background of this hero. One eye of Judas is alive, attentive, black, and the other is motionless, like a blind one. Andreev draws the readers’ attention to Judas’s gestures and manner of behavior. The hero bows low, arching his back and stretching his lumpy, scary head forward, and “in a fit of timidity” closes his living eye. His voice, “sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes noisy, like an old woman’s,” sometimes thin, “unfortunately thin and unpleasant.” When communicating with other people, he constantly grimaces.

The writer also introduces us to some facts from the biography of Judas. The hero got his nickname because he came from Kariot, lives alone, left his wife, has no children, apparently God does not want offspring from him. Judas has been a wanderer for many years, “he lies everywhere, makes faces, vigilantly looks out for something with his thief’s eye; and suddenly leaves suddenly.”

In the Gospel, the story of Judas is short story about betrayal. Andreev shows the psychology of his hero, tells in detail what happened before and after the betrayal and what caused it. The theme of betrayal did not arise by chance for the writer. During the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907, he observed with surprise and contempt how many traitors suddenly appeared, “as if they came not from Adam, but from Judas.”

In the story, Andreev notes that the eleven disciples of Christ constantly argue among themselves, “who paid more love” in order to be closer to Christ and ensure their future entry into the kingdom of heaven. These disciples, who would later be called apostles, treated Judas with contempt and disgust, just like other vagabonds and beggars. They are deep in questions of faith, engaged in self-contemplation and have isolated themselves from people. L. Andreev’s Judas does not have his head in the clouds, he lives in real world, steals money for a hungry harlot, saves Christ from an aggressive crowd. He plays the role of mediator between people and Christ.

Judas is shown with all the advantages and disadvantages, like any living person. He is smart, modest, and always ready to help his companions. Andreev writes: “...Iscariot was simple, gentle and at the same time serious.” Shown from all sides, the image of Judas comes to life. He also has negative traits that arose during his time of wandering and searching for a piece of bread. This is deceit, dexterity and deceit. Judas is tormented by the fact that Christ never praises him, although he allows him to conduct business and even take money from the common treasury. Iscariot declares to his disciples that it is not they, but he who will be next to Christ in the kingdom of heaven.

Judas is intrigued by the mystery of Christ, he feels that under the guise ordinary person something great and wonderful is hidden. Having decided to betray Christ into the hands of the authorities, Judas hopes that God will not allow injustice. Until the death of Christ, Judas follows him, every minute expecting that his tormentors will understand who they are dealing with. But a miracle does not happen; Christ suffers beatings from the guards and dies like an ordinary person.

Coming to the apostles, Judas notes with surprise that on this night, when their teacher died a martyr's death, the disciples ate and slept. They grieve, but their lives have not changed. On the contrary, now they are no longer subordinates, but each independently intends to bring the word of Christ to people. Judas calls them traitors. They did not defend their teacher, did not recapture him from the guards, did not call the people to their defense. They “crowded together like a bunch of frightened lambs, not interfering with anything.” Judas accuses the disciples of lying. They never loved the teacher, otherwise they would have rushed to help and died for him. Love saves without doubt. Material from the site

John says that Jesus himself wanted this sacrifice and his sacrifice is beautiful. To which Judas angrily replies: “Is there such a beautiful sacrifice as you say, beloved disciple? Where there is a victim, there is an executioner, and there are traitors! Sacrifice is suffering for one and shame for all.<…>Blind people, what have you done with the land? You wanted to destroy her, you will soon kiss the cross on which you crucified Jesus!” Judas, in order to finally test his disciples, says that he is going to Jesus in heaven to persuade him to return to earth to the people to whom he brought light. Iscariot calls on the apostles to follow him. Nobody agrees. Peter, who was about to rush, also retreats.

The story ends with a description of Judas' suicide. He decided to hang himself on the branch of a tree growing over the abyss, so that if the rope broke, he would fall onto the sharp stones and ascend to Christ. Throwing a rope onto a tree, Judas whispers, turning to Christ: “So meet me kindly. I'm very tired." The next morning, Judas' body was taken from the tree and thrown into a ditch, cursing him as a traitor. And Judas Iscariot, the Traitor, remained forever in the memory of people.

This version of the gospel story caused a wave of criticism from the church. Andreev’s goal was to awaken people’s consciousness, to make them think about the nature of betrayal, about their actions and thoughts.

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Judas Iscariot analysis

The story "Judas Iscariot" summary which is presented in this article, is based on a biblical story. Nevertheless, Maxim Gorky, even before the publication of the work, said that it would be understood by few and would cause a lot of noise.

Leonid Andreev

This is a rather controversial author. Andreev's creativity Soviet times readers were unfamiliar. Before we begin to present a brief summary of “Judas Iscariot” - a story that evokes both admiration and indignation - let us recall the main and most interesting facts from the writer's biography.

Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was an extraordinary and very emotional person. While a law student, he began to abuse alcohol. For some time, the only source of income for Andreev was painting portraits to order: he was not only a writer, but also an artist.

In 1894, Andreev tried to commit suicide. An unsuccessful shot led to the development of heart disease. For five years, Leonid Andreev was engaged in advocacy. His literary fame came to him in 1901. But even then he evoked conflicting feelings among readers and critics. Leonid Andreev greeted the 1905 revolution with joy, but soon became disillusioned with it. After the separation of Finland, he ended up in exile. The writer died abroad in 1919 from heart disease.

The history of the creation of the story “Judas Iscariot”

The work was published in 1907. The plot ideas came to the writer during his stay in Switzerland. In May 1906, Leonid Andreev told one of his colleagues that he was going to write a book on the psychology of betrayal. He managed to realize his plan in Capri, where he went after the death of his wife.

“Judas Iscariot,” a summary of which is presented below, was written within two weeks. The author demonstrated the first edition to his friend Maxim Gorky. He drew the author's attention to historical and factual errors. Andreev re-read it more than once New Testament and made changes to the story. During the writer’s lifetime, the story “Judas Iscariot” was translated into English, German, French and other languages.

A man of ill repute

None of the apostles noticed the appearance of Judas. How did he manage to gain the trust of the Teacher? Jesus Christ was warned many times that he was a man of very ill repute. You should beware of him. Judas was condemned not only by “right” people, but also by scoundrels. He was the worst of the worst. When the disciples asked Judas what motivated him to do terrible things, he answered that every person is a sinner. What he said was consistent with the words of Jesus. No one has the right to judge another.

In this philosophical problem story "Judas Iscariot". The author, of course, did not make his hero positive. But he put the traitor on a par with the disciples of Jesus Christ. Andreev’s idea could not but cause a resonance in society.

The disciples of Christ asked Judas more than once about who his father was. He answered that he didn’t know, maybe the devil, a rooster, a goat. How can he know everyone with whom his mother shared a bed? Such answers shocked the apostles. Judas insulted his parents, which meant he was doomed to death.

One day a crowd attacks Christ and his disciples. They are accused of stealing a kid. But a man who will very soon betray his teacher rushes at the crowd with the words that the teacher is not at all possessed by a demon, he just loves money just like everyone else. Jesus leaves the village in anger. His disciples follow him, cursing Judas. But this small, disgusting man, worthy only of contempt, wanted to save them...

Theft

Christ trusts Judas to keep his savings. But he is hiding several coins, which the students, of course, soon find out about. But Jesus does not condemn the unlucky disciple. After all, the apostles should not count the coins that his brother appropriated. Their reproaches only offend him. This evening Judas Iscariot is very cheerful. Using his example, the Apostle John understood what love for one's neighbor is.

Thirty pieces of silver

During the last days of his life, Jesus surrounds with affection the one who betrays him. Judas is helpful with his disciples - nothing should interfere with his plan. An event will soon take place, thanks to which his name will forever remain in the memory of people. It will be called almost as often as the name of Jesus.

After the execution

When analyzing Andreev’s story “Judas Iscariot” it is worth special attention devote to the finale of the work. The apostles suddenly appear before the readers as cowardly, cowardly people. After the execution, Judas addresses them with a sermon. Why didn't they save Christ? Why didn’t they attack the guards in order to rescue the Teacher?

Judas will forever remain in people's memory as a traitor. And those who were silent when Jesus was crucified will be revered. After all, they carry the Word of Christ across the earth. This is the summary of Judas Iscariot. In order to do artistic analysis works, you should still read the story in full.

The meaning of the story "Judas Iscariot"

Why did the author depict a negative biblical character from such an unusual perspective? “Judas Iscariot” by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev is, according to many critics, one of greatest works Russian classics. The story makes the reader think, first of all, about what true love, real faith and fear of death. The author seems to be asking what is hidden behind faith, is there a lot of true love in it?

The image of Judas in the story “Judas Iscariot”

The hero of Andreev's book is a traitor. Judas sold Christ for 30 pieces of silver. He is the worst person who has ever lived on our planet. Is it possible to feel compassion for him? Of course not. The writer seems to be tempting the reader.

But it is worth remembering that Andreev’s story is by no means a theological work. The book has nothing to do with the church or faith. The author simply invited readers to look at a well-known plot from a different, unusual side.

A person is mistaken in believing that he can always accurately determine the motives of another’s behavior. Judas betrays Christ, which means he bad person. This suggests that he does not believe in the Messiah. The apostles hand over the teacher to the Romans and Pharisees to be torn to pieces. And they do this because they believe in their teacher. Jesus will rise again and people will believe in the Savior. Andreev suggested looking at the actions of both Judas and the faithful disciples of Christ differently.

Judas madly loves Christ. However, he feels that those around him do not value Jesus enough. And he provokes the Jews: he betrays his beloved teacher in order to test the strength of the people’s love for him. Judas will be severely disappointed: the disciples have fled, and the people are demanding that Jesus be killed. Even Pilate’s words that he did not find Christ guilty were not heard by anyone. The crowd is out for blood.

This book caused outrage among believers. No wonder. The apostles did not snatch Christ from the clutches of the guards not because they believed in him, but because they were cowardly - that’s, perhaps, main idea Andreev's story. After the execution, Judas turns to his disciples with reproaches, and at this moment he is not at all vile. It seems that there is truth in his words.

Judas took upon himself a heavy cross. He became a traitor, thereby forcing people to wake up. Jesus said that you cannot kill a guilty person. But wasn't his execution a violation of this postulate? Andreev puts words into the mouth of Judas, his hero, that he might have wanted to utter himself. Didn't Christ go to his death with tacit consent your students? Judas asks the apostles how they could allow his death. They have nothing to answer. They are silent in confusion.

The famous Russian writer of the Silver Age L. Andreev remained in the history of Russian literature as the author of innovative prose. His works were distinguished by deep psychologism. The author tried to penetrate into such depths of the human soul where no one had looked. Andreev wanted to show the real state of affairs, tore off the cover of lies from the usual phenomena of the social and spiritual life of man and society.

The life of Russian people at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries gave little reason for optimism. Critics reproached Andreev for incredible pessimism, apparently for the objectivity of showing reality. The writer did not consider it necessary to artificially create blissful pictures, to give evil a decent appearance. In his work, he revealed the true essence of the immutable laws of social life and ideology. Evoking a barrage of criticism against himself, Andreev risked showing a person in all his contradictions and secret thoughts, revealed the falsity of any political slogans and ideas, and wrote about doubts in matters of the Orthodox faith in the form in which the church presents it.

In the Gospel, the story of Judas is a short story of betrayal. Andreev shows the psychology of his hero, tells in detail what happened before and after the betrayal and what caused it. The theme of betrayal did not arise by chance for the writer. During the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907, he observed with surprise and contempt how many traitors suddenly appeared, “as if they had come not from Adam, but from Judas.”

In the story, Andreev notes that the eleven disciples of Christ constantly argue among themselves, “who paid more love” in order to be closer to Christ and ensure their future entry into the kingdom of heaven. These disciples, who would later be called apostles, treated Judas with contempt and disgust, just like other vagabonds and beggars. They are deep in questions of faith, engaged in self-contemplation and have isolated themselves from people. L. Andreev’s Judas does not have his head in the clouds, he lives in the real world, steals money for a hungry harlot, saves Christ from an aggressive crowd. He plays the role of mediator between people and Christ.

Judas is intrigued by the mystery of Christ; he feels that something great and wonderful is hidden under the guise of an ordinary person. Having decided to betray Christ into the hands of the authorities, Judas hopes that God will not allow injustice. Until the death of Christ, Judas follows him, every minute expecting that his tormentors will understand who they are dealing with. But a miracle does not happen; Christ suffers beatings from the guards and dies like an ordinary person.

John says that Jesus himself wanted this sacrifice and his sacrifice is beautiful. To which Judas angrily replies: “Is there such a beautiful sacrifice as you say, beloved disciple? Where there is a victim, there is an executioner, and there are traitors! Sacrifice means suffering for one and shame for all.<…>Blind people, what have you done with the land? You wanted to destroy her, you will soon kiss the cross on which you crucified Jesus!” Judas, in order to finally test his disciples, says that he is going to Jesus in heaven to persuade him to return to earth to the people to whom he brought light. Iscariot calls on the apostles to follow him. Nobody agrees. Peter, who was about to rush, also retreats.

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Material overview

Goals:

Educational:

To teach eleventh graders to comprehend the idea of a work through revealing the image of the hero, his and the author’s worldview;

improve skills philological analysis text;

developing:

develop students’ critical thinking, the ability to navigate the text, compare, contrast, and argue their point of view;

develop students’ communication skills (work in groups, study in discussing a problematic issue);

educational:

develop a sense of responsibility for one’s actions and decisions in a situation moral choice;

bring up moral values and a critical attitude towards evil;

form a moral position, lay the foundations moral behavior;

develop empathy as the ability to sympathize and empathize;

instill a love of reading fiction

Equipment:

Portrait of L. Andreev, portraits of Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot,

Texts of L. Andreev’s story “Judas Iscariot”,

Reproductions of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci " Last Supper" and Giotto di Bondone's "The Kiss of Judas".

Lesson format: research lesson

An epigraph is drawn up on the board, the words prepared by the students for the “Literary Warm-up” are written down.

He [Thomas] looked carefully at Christ and Judas,

sitting next to each other, and this strange proximity of the divine
beauty and monstrous ugliness, a man with a gentle gaze
and the octopus with dull, greedy eyes oppressed his mind,
like an unsolvable riddle.

L. Andreev “Judas Iscariot”

In the epigraph the words “divine” and “monstrous” are closed.

Lesson progress

Organizational moment.

Announcing the topic and objectives of the lesson. Motivation for learning activities

Working with an epigraph. Lexical work.

The teacher invites students to read the epigraph expressively and reconstruct closed words from memory or offer their own. Experience shows that there are children who remember the quote. Otherwise, students offer their own options: unearthly beauty, magnificent, bright, kind, bewitching, ugliness - repulsive, unpleasant, annoying, scary. In the second case, all options are accepted and then the words covered with paper in the epigraph are opened. Students need to be led to the conclusion that all the options they propose can in one way or another be correlated with the words “divine” and “monstrous.” The main thing is to convince that they correctly follow the author’s idea, which is the desire to show the “strange proximity” of contradictory phenomena. This remains to be seen by analyzing the text of the work and the image of Judas created by L. Andreev.

Method “Literary warm-up” (allows you to test your knowledge of the text work of art). On the board are written individual words related to the content of the story “Judas Iscariot”: Jesus Christ, Judas, Gethsemane, apostles, betrayal, doubts, high priests, 30 pieces of silver, love, Teacher, swords, notoriety, John, lies, theft, father , mother, kiss, Mount of Olives, Pontius Pilate, Golgotha, crowd, repentance, disappointed hopes, noose, Jerusalem. Students go to the board, circle the chosen word with chalk and tell how it is connected to the work/character/event.

Checking homework.

Students offer their essay-reasonings “How do I imagine Judas in L. Andreev’s story?” (see Appendix)

The teacher draws the students’ attention after listening to several essays to the fact that the authors of the works found it difficult to give an unambiguous answer, and this is no coincidence. The image of the biblical Judas is complex and contradictory; the image of the hero Leonid Andreev is also multifaceted. You have to be convinced of this by analyzing the contents of the story.

Work on the topic of the lesson.

Analysis of the story “Judas Iscariot”.

Question-answer method. For discussion, the teacher offers questions about the text of the story (hereinafter - possible questions and answers):

* What is the appearance of the main character of the story by L. Andreev?

Judas’s appearance is repulsive, everything is dual: strange through, as if cut from the back of the head, a memorable face (one side is mobile, with wrinkles, the other is flat and frozen). Different eyes: one is black and sharp, the other is blind, does not close, covered with whitish turbidity. The voice is strange, changeable: sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes loud, like an old woman’s

* What do we learn about Judas from the first pages of the story?

We judge him by the rumors among the people. This is a person who is accompanied by notoriety. He is selfish and steals skillfully. People say to watch out for him. Rumors broke peaceful life Jerusalem and the Christian community. Therefore, the motive of anxiety appears almost immediately in the story.

* Who calls Judas in the story and what?

When you read the story, you immediately pay attention to the fact that the students call the hero Judas, the author of the story calls him “insect”, “punished dog”, “monstrous fruit”, “old deceiver”, “stern jailer”. I think that P. Andreev, using metaphors and calling the main character that way, expresses his negative attitude towards him.

* Why, in your opinion, did Jesus bring such a terrible person closer to himself?

Christ's actions are guided by love for people. The spirit of bright contradiction draws him rejected and unloved.

* How did the disciples of Jesus Christ explain Judas’ desire to get closer to the Teacher? What was the purpose of this? How did the disciples react to the fact that Christ accepted Judas and entrusted him with the common money?

The disciples of Christ believed that there was a secret calculation, some kind of deceit in Judas’ desire to get closer to the Teacher. However, Jesus greeted the new disciple with love and trusted him more than the other disciples. Therefore, the apostles began to worry and grumble. But Jesus did not listen to them, he brought the Jew closer to him.

5. Why do you think Judas betrayed Christ?

Interactive exercise "Creating a cluster"

All the students' assumptions are recorded, several positions are formed... Then we invite the eleventh graders to divide into groups and prove their point of view about the reason for Judas' betrayal.

Let's return to the painting by Giotto di Bondone, which we talked about in the last lesson - “The Kiss of Judas”. Look at the painting of the great master and listen to an episode from the story by Leonid Andreev.

A student recites by heart an excerpt from the story “Judas Iscariot”:

Now a crowd of warriors surrounded them, and the smoky, alarming glare of the lights drove the quiet glow of the moon somewhere to the sides and upwards. Judas from Kariot hurriedly moved ahead of the soldiers and, keenly moving his living eye, looked for Jesus. I found him, gazed for a moment at his tall, thin figure and quickly whispered to the attendants:

The one I kiss is the one. Pick it up and drive it carefully. But just be careful, did you hear?

Then he quickly moved closer to Jesus, who was waiting for him in silence, and plunged his direct and sharp gaze, like a knife, into his calm, darkened eyes.

Rejoice, Rabbi! - he said loudly, putting a strange and menacing meaning into the words of an ordinary greeting.

But Jesus was silent, and the disciples looked at the traitor with horror, not understanding how the human soul could contain so much evil. Iscariot took a quick look at their confused ranks, noticed the trembling, ready to turn into a loudly dancing trembling of fear, noticed the pallor, meaningless smiles, sluggish movements of the hands, as if tied with iron at the forearm - and a mortal sorrow was kindled in his heart, similar to that which he had experienced before this is Christ. Stretching out into a hundred loudly ringing, sobbing strings, he quickly rushed to Jesus and tenderly kissed his cold cheek. So quietly, so tenderly, with such painful love and longing that if Jesus had been a flower on a thin stem, he would not have shaken it with this kiss and would not have dropped the pearly dew from the clean petals.

“Judas,” said Jesus, and with the lightning of his gaze he illuminated that monstrous pile of wary shadows that was the soul of Iscariot, “but he could not penetrate into its bottomless depths. “Judas!” Do you betray the son of man with a kiss?

And I saw how all this monstrous chaos trembled and began to move. Silent and stern, like death in his proud majesty, stood Judas of Kariot, and inside him everything groaned, thundered and howled with a thousand violent and fiery voices:

"Yes! We betray you with the kiss of love. With the kiss of love we hand you over to desecration, to torture, to death! With the voice of love we call the executioners out of the dark holes and erect a cross - and high above the crown of the earth we raise love crucified by love on the cross.”

So Judas stood, silent and cold as death, and the cry of his soul was answered by the screams and noise that arose around Jesus.

What is this episode about, which became the basis for Giotto di Bondone’s painting?

The painting depicts the tragic moment when Judas points out to the legionnaires his Teacher, who already knew that he would be betrayed by his disciple. And the excerpt from the story is dramatic, and an alarming, unpleasant feeling is born when you look at the picture. In fact, Judas, who betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver, continues to follow the path of betrayal, helping the soldiers. By kissing (betraying) Christ, he forever diverges from his Teacher, breaking the laws of morality.

Student retelling of the passage “The Interrogation of Jesus and Pontius Pilate and the Execution.”

The teacher helps students draw a conclusion. On the way to Gologatha, Jesus will have to appear before the Sanhedrin, then be interrogated by Pontius Pilate. During the execution, he looks suffering, loving, and experiencing great shock.

It should be noted that during the interrogation of Christ by Pontius Pilate, Judas talks with one or the other from the noisy and shouting crowd that accompanied the Teacher. He hopes that people will understand: Christ is innocent. But his dislike for people and his negative attitude towards them worsens when the crowd demands to free the criminal and crucify Christ. From this very moment the shameful glory of Judas begins. They began to hate and fear him. But he remained indifferent.

Do you remember the text of the story? Judas was next to Christ until the last minute and hoped for his salvation. He was there when the soldiers beat Christ, when he was tried and led to execution, and watched with pain as they crucified him on the cross. What awaits Judas for his perfect betrayal?

Judas faces terrible trials and a “cruel fate” for his sin. 2000 years and beyond it will remind people of the very terrible crime. The name Judas became a household name. Means "traitor". The story ends with the word “traitor,” symbolizing the collapse of human relationships. Judas goes to Jesus and asks to meet him kindly, because he is very tired. “Then you and I, hugging like brothers, will return to earth. Fine?" But there was no answer... Judas passes away.

* Of course, Judas is a traitor. But can it be said that the theme of betrayal in L. Andreev’s story sounds new when Judas comes to his disciples and begins to accuse them?

The image of Judas is dual: formally a traitor, but in essence the only person devoted to Christ. In chapter 9, he returns to the students and accuses them of silent non-interference in the outcome of the tragedy. The author puts a very deep ethical postulate into the mouth of Judas: “Sacrifice is suffering for one and shame for all. You have taken upon yourself all the sin. You will soon kiss the cross on which you crucified Christ!.. Did he forbid you to die? Why? Are you alive when he is dead?.. What is truth itself in the mouths of traitors? Doesn’t it become a lie?” Judas’ words are striking: “He who loves does not ask what to do, but goes and does everything.”

The author did not intend to justify betrayal, but to expose other, not so obvious, but typical forms of it. The heroes of his story were precisely the “others” - the disciples of Christ, his apostles, who, like “a bunch of frightened lambs,” crowded and fled before the soldiers who came to take the Teacher. On the “day of vengeance,” his last earthly day, Judas came to them to expose them and equate them with the cold murderous high priests. So it becomes clear main idea story: whoever did not stand up for the truth and failed to die for it is also a traitor.

Problematic question: “Can Judas be compared with the main character of F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment”?

During the discussion, it is important to lead students to the conclusion that comparison is possible. At the heart of Rodion Raskolnikov’s crime is the theory of the division of people into “those with the right” and “trembling creatures”; at the heart of the betrayal of Judas is the theory that all people are bad. Dostoevsky's hero tests the theory by killing an old pawnbroker. As a result, he realizes the absurdity and inhumanity of the theory, repents of committed crime. L. Andreev's hero tests the theory, betraying Christ, and hopes to the last that people will stand up for the Teacher. Everything in him sings: “Hosanna!” He rejoices when the theory is confirmed. He turned out to be right: people are bad! But just like Raskolnikov, Judas could not bear the gravity of his crime and passed away. Thus, L. Andreev proves with his story that no goal justifies unclean, ignoble means. Therefore, the author does not give his Judas the opportunity to celebrate victory, he leads the hero to suicide.

Lesson summary. Reflection.

To sum it up. The teacher says that the image of Judas, created by L. Andreev, is the only one in world art with such a unique extravagant interpretation. Leonid Andreev described the story as “something about psychology, ethics and the practice of betrayal.” Returning to the epigraph, he draws students’ attention to the fact that L. Andreev has no antagonism between Judas and Christ. They are united by suffering. To which love condemns. Jesus' love for people is abstract, Judas' love is concrete, strong and deep. The author puts them side by side, boldly declaring equality in the face of Eternity.

The teacher invites students to orally answer one of the questions (optional):

A few words about Leonid Andreev

Once upon a time in Russian national library I happened to get acquainted with the first issue of the magazine “Satyricon”, which was published, as you know, in 1908. The reason was to study the work of Arkady Averchenko or, more likely, to collect materials for writing a novel in which one of the chapters takes place in St. Petersburg in 1908. On the last page of "Satyricon" a cartoon portrait of Leonid Andreev was placed. The following was written:

“Rejoice that you are holding an issue of Satyricon in your hands.” Rejoice that such a person is your contemporary... He once looked into the Abyss, and horror froze forever in his eyes. And from then on he laughed only with a blood-chilling Red laugh.”

The cheerful magazine ironized the darkly prophetic image of Leonid Andreev, referring to his stories “The Abyss” and “Red Laughter”. Leonid Andreev was very popular in those years: his elegant style, expressiveness of presentation, and bold subject matter attracted the reading public to him.

Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was born on August 9 (21 n.s.) 1871 in the city of Orel. His father was a land surveyor and tax collector, his mother was from the family of a bankrupt Polish landowner. At the age of six he learned to read “and read extremely a lot, everything that came to hand”. At the age of 11 he entered the Oryol gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1891. In May 1897, after graduating from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, he was planning to become a sworn attorney, but unexpectedly received an offer from a lawyer he knew to take the place of a court reporter in the Moskovsky Vestnik newspaper. Having received recognition as a talented reporter, two months later he moved to the Courier newspaper. Thus began the birth of the writer Andreev: he wrote numerous reports, feuilletons, and essays.

Literary debut - the story “In Cold and Gold” (zvezda, 1892, No. 16). At the beginning of the century, Andreev became friends with A.M. Gorky and together with him joined the circle of writers united around the publishing house “Znanie”. In 1901, the St. Petersburg publishing house “Znanie”, headed by Gorky, published “Stories” by L. Andreev. The following were also published in the literary collections “Knowledge”: the story “The Life of Vasily of Fiveysky” (1904); story “Red Laughter” (1905); dramas “To the Stars” (1906) and “Sava” (1906); story “Judas Iscariot and Others” (1907). In “Rosehip” (an almanac of modernist orientation): drama “Human Life” (1907); story "Darkness" (1907); "The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men" (1908); pamphlet “My Notes” (1908); drama "Black Masks" (1908); the plays “Anfisa” (1909), “Ekaterina Ivanovna” (1913) and “The One Who Receives Slaps” (1916); story “The Yoke of War. Confessions little man about great days" (1916). Andreev's last major work, written under the influence of the world war and revolution, is “Notes of Satan” (published in 1921).

I. Repin. Portrait of L. Andreev

Andreev did not accept the October Revolution. At that time he lived with his family at a dacha in Finland and in December 1917, after Finland gained independence, he found himself in exile. The writer died on September 12, 1919 in the village of Neivola in Finland, and was reburied in Leningrad in 1956.

More details biography of Leonid Andreev can be read , or , or .

L. Andreev and L. Tolstoy; L. Andreev and M. Gorky

With L.N. Tolstoy and his wife Leonid Andreev do not have mutual understanding found it. "He's scary, but I'm not scared" - So Leo Tolstoy spoke about Leonid Andreev in a conversation with a visitor. Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya in a “Letter to the Editor” of Novoye Vremya accused Andreev of “ loves to enjoy the baseness of the phenomena of vicious human life" And, contrasting Andreev’s works with her husband’s works, she called for “ to help those unfortunates come to their senses, whose wings they, Messrs. Andreevs, are knocking down, given to everyone for a high flight to the understanding of spiritual light, beauty, goodness and... God" There were other critical reviews of Andreev’s work; they made fun of his gloominess, as in the micro-pamphlet from Satyricon cited above; he himself wrote: “Who knows me among the critics? It seems no one. Loves? Nobody either."

Interesting statement M. Gorky , very close acquaintance with L. Andreev:

« To Andreev, man seemed spiritually poor; woven from the irreconcilable contradictions of instinct and intellect, he is forever deprived of the opportunity to achieve any internal harmony. All his deeds are “vanity of vanities,” corruption and self-deception. And most importantly, he is a slave to death and all his life

The story of Leonid Andreev is also "gospel of Judas" because the Traitor is in charge there actor and performs the same function as in the heretical treatise, but the interaction between Judas and Jesus occurs more subtly:

Jesus does not ask Judas to betray Him, but by His behavior forces him to do so;

Jesus does not inform Judas about the meaning of his atoning sacrifice, and therefore condemns him to the torments of his conscience, i.e., to put it in the language of the special services, he “uses in the dark” the unfortunate Judas. Andreev’s “shifters” are not limited to this:

Judas not only overshadows many of the heroes of the gospel narrative, since they turn out to be clearly stupider and more primitive than him, but also replaces them with himself. Let's take a closer look at St. Andrew's “gospel inside out.”

Illustration by A. Zykina.

The appearance of Judas in the text of the story does not bode well: “Jesus Christ was warned many times that Judas of Kerioth was a man of very bad reputation and should be avoided. Some of the disciples who were in Judea knew him well themselves, others heard a lot about him from people, and there was no one who could tell about him kind word. And if the good ones reproached him, saying that Judas was selfish, treacherous, prone to pretense and lies, then the bad ones, who were asked about Judas, reviled him the most cruel words... And there was no doubt for some of the disciples that in his desire to get closer to Jesus there was hidden some secret intention, there was an evil and insidious calculation. But Jesus did not listen to their advice, their prophetic voice did not touch his ears. With that spirit of bright contradiction that irresistibly attracted him to the outcast and unloved, he decisively accepted Judas and included him in the circle of the chosen ones.».

The author at the beginning of the story tells us about some oversight of Jesus, excessive gullibility, improvidence, for which he had to pay later and that his disciples were more experienced and far-sighted. Come on, is he really God after this, to whom the future is open?

There are three options:

either he is not God, but a beautiful-hearted, inexperienced person;

either He is God, and specially brought closer to Him the person who would betray Him;

or he is a person who does not know the future, but for some reason it was necessary for him to be betrayed, and Judas had a corresponding reputation.

The discrepancy with the Gospel is obvious: Judas was an apostle of the twelve, he, like the other apostles, preached and healed; was the treasurer of the apostles, however, a lover of money, and the Apostle John directly calls him a thief:

« He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He had a cash drawer with him and wore what was put there"(John 12:6).

IN it is explained that

« Judas not only carried the donated money, but also carried it away, i.e. secretly took a significant part of them for himself. The verb here (?????????), translated in Russian by the expression “carried”, is more correctly translated “carried away”. Why was Judas entrusted with a box of money by Christ? It is very likely that with this manifestation of trust Christ wanted to influence Judas, to inspire in him love and devotion to Himself. But such trust did not have favorable consequences for Judas: he was already too attached to money and therefore abused the trust of Christ».

Judas was not deprived of free will in the Gospel, and Christ knew in advance about his betrayal and warned of the consequences: “ However, the Son of Man comes, as it is written about Him; but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed: it was better if that person would never have been born "(Matthew 26, 24). This was said at the Last Supper, after Judas visited the high priest and received thirty pieces of silver for betrayal. At the same Last Supper, Christ said that the traitor was one of the apostles sitting with Him, and the Gospel of John says that Christ secretly pointed him to Judas (John 13:23-26).

Earlier, even before entering Jerusalem, addressing the apostles, “ Jesus answered them: Have I not chosen you twelve? but one of you is the devil. He spoke this about Judas Simon Iscariot, for he wanted to betray Him, being one of the twelve "(John 6, 70-71). IN “Explanatory Bible” by A.P. Lopukhina The following interpretation of these words is given: “ So that the apostles do not fall into excessive arrogance about their position as constant followers of Christ, the Lord points out that among them there is one person who is close to the devil in his attitude. Just as the devil is in a constantly hostile mood towards God, so Judas hates Christ, as destroying all his hopes for the foundation of the earthly Messianic Kingdom, in which Judas could take a prominent place. This one wanted to betray Him. More precisely: “this one was going, so to speak, to betray Christ, although he himself was not yet clearly aware of this intention of his.” ».

Further, according to the plot of the story, St. Andrew's Jesus constantly keeps Judas at a distance, forcing him to envy other disciples who are objectively stupider than Judas, but enjoy the favor of the teacher, and when Judas is ready to leave Christ or the disciples are ready to expel him, Jesus brings him closer to himself and does not let him go. There are many examples that can be given, let us highlight a few.

The scene when Judas is accepted as an apostle looks like this:

Judas came to Jesus and the apostles, telling something that was obviously false. “John, without looking at the teacher, quietly asked Peter Simonov, his friend:

- Aren't you tired of this lie? I can't stand her any longer and I'll leave here.

Peter looked at Jesus, met his gaze and quickly stood up.

- Wait! - he told his friend. He looked at Jesus again, quickly, like a stone torn from a mountain, moved towards Judas Iscariot and loudly said to him with broad and clear friendliness:

“Here you are with us, Judas.”.

St. Andrew's Jesus is silent. He does not stop Judas, who is clearly sinning; on the contrary, he accepts him as he is, into the number of his disciples; Moreover, he does not verbally call on Judas: Peter guesses his desire and formalizes it in word and deed. This is not how things happened in the Gospel: apostleship was always preceded by a clear calling by the Lord, often by repentance of the one called, and always by a radical change in life immediately after the calling. This is what happened to the fisherman Peter: “ Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said: Depart from me, Lord! because I am a sinful man... And Jesus said to Simon: Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch people "(Luke 5, 8, 10). So it was with the publican Matthew: “ Passing from there, Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth, and he said to him, “Follow Me.” And he stood up and followed Him"(Matthew 9:9).

Leonardo da Vinci. Last Supper

But Judas does not abandon his way of life after his calling: he also lies and makes faces, but for some reason St. Andrew’s Jesus does not speak out against it.

« Judas lied constantly, but they got used to it, because they did not see bad deeds behind the lie, and it gave special interest to Judas’ conversation and his stories and made life look like a funny and sometimes scary fairy tale. He readily admitted that sometimes he himself lies, but he assured with an oath that others lie even more, and if there is anyone deceived in the world, it is he, Judas." Let me remind you that the Gospel Christ spoke quite definitely about lies. He characterizes the devil this way: “ When he tells a lie, he speaks his own way, for he is a liar and the father of lies. "(John 8:44). But for some reason St. Andrew's Jesus allows Judas to lie - except for the case when Judas lies to save himself.

To protect the teacher from the angry crowd, Judas flatters her and calls Jesus a simple deceiver and a tramp, diverts attention to himself and allows the teacher to leave, saving the life of Jesus, but he is angry. This was not the case in the Gospel, of course, but they actually wanted to kill Christ more than once for preaching, and this was always resolved successfully solely thanks to Christ himself, for example, with the admonition:

« I have shown you many good works from My Father; For which of them do you want to stone Me?"(John 10:32) or simply a supernatural departure:« Hearing this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with rage, stood up, drove Him out of the city and led Him to the top of the mountain on which their city was built in order to overthrow Him; but He passed through the midst of them and departed"(Luke 4, 28-30).

St. Andrew's Jesus is weak, cannot cope with the crowd on his own, and at the same time condemns the man who made great efforts to save him from death; The Lord, as we remember, “welcomes intentions,” i.e. White lies are not a sin.

In the same way, St. Andrew's Jesus refuses to help Peter defeat Judas in throwing stones, and then pointedly does not notice that Judas defeated Peter; and he is angry with Judas, who proved the ingratitude of the people in the village where Jesus preached earlier, but for some reason he allows Judas to steal from the cash drawer... He behaves very contradictory, as if tempering Judas for betrayal; he inflates Judas’s pride and love of money and at the same time hurts his pride. And all this in silence.

“And before, for some reason, it was the case that Judas never spoke directly to Jesus, and he never directly addressed him, but he often looked at him with gentle eyes, smiled at some of his jokes, and if he did not see him for a long time, he asked : where is Judas? And now he looked at him, as if not seeing him, although as before, and even more persistently than before, he looked for him with his eyes every time he began to speak to his disciples or to the people, but either he sat with his back to him and threw words over his head. his own towards Judas, or pretended not to notice him at all. And no matter what he said, even if it was one thing today and something completely different tomorrow, even if it was the same thing that Judas was thinking, it seemed, however, that he was always speaking against Judas. And for everyone he was a tender and beautiful flower, fragrant with the rose of Lebanon, but for Judas he left only sharp thorns - as if Judas had no heart, as if he had no eyes and nose and no better than everyone else, he understood the beauty of tender and immaculate petals."

Naturally, Judas eventually grumbled:

« Why is he not with Judas, but with those who do not love him? John brought him a lizard - I would have brought him a poisonous snake. Peter threw stones - I would have turned a mountain for him! But what is a poisonous snake? Now her tooth has been pulled out, and she is wearing a necklace around her neck. But what is a mountain that can be torn down with your hands and trampled underfoot? I would give him Judas, brave, beautiful Judas! And now he will perish, and Judas will perish with him." Thus, according to Andreev, Judas did not betray Jesus, but took revenge on him for his inattention, for his lack of love, for his subtle mockery of the proud Judas. What kind of love of money there is!.. This is the revenge of a loving, but offended and rejected person, revenge out of jealousy. And St. Andrew’s Jesus acts as a completely conscious provocateur.

Judas is ready to save Jesus from the inevitable until the last moment: “ With one hand betraying Jesus, with the other hand Judas diligently sought to thwart his own plans" And even after the Last Supper he tries to find a way not to betray the teacher, he directly turns to Jesus:

“Do you know where I’m going, Lord? I am coming to deliver you into the hands of your enemies.

And there was a long silence, the silence of the evening and sharp, black shadows.

-Are you silent, Lord? Are you ordering me to go?

And again silence.

- Let me stay. But you can't? Or don't you dare? Or don't you want to?

And again silence, huge, like the eyes of eternity.

- But you know that I love you. You know everything. Why are you looking at Judas like that? Great is your mystery beautiful eyes, but is mine less? Order me to stay!.. But you are silent, are you still silent? Lord, Lord, why, in anguish and torment, have I been looking for you all my life, looking for you and finding you! Set me free. Take away the heaviness, it is heavier than mountains and lead. Can't you hear how the chest of Judas of Kerioth is cracking under her?

And the last silence, bottomless, like the last glance of eternity.

- I'm coming."

And who is betraying whom here? This is the “gospel inside out,” in which Jesus betrays Judas, and Judas begs Jesus just as Christ in the present Gospel begs His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane to carry the cup of suffering past him. In the present Gospel, Christ prays to His Father for his disciples, and St. Andrew’s Jesus condemns the disciple to betrayal and suffering.

Icon “Prayer for the Cup” by Caravaggio. Kiss of Judas

Even in the Gnostic Gospel of Judas, Jesus is not so cruel:

Video fragment 2. "National Geographic. Gospel of Judas"

In general, Andreev’s Judas often replaces the disciples, Christ, and even God the Father. Let's look at these cases briefly.

We have already said about the prayer for the cup: here Judas replaces the suffering Christ, and St. Andrew’s Jesus acts as Sabaoth in the Gnostic understanding, i.e. like a cruel demiurge.

Well, it is Judas who contextually appears as Andreev’s loving “God’s father”: it is not without reason that, observing the suffering of Jesus, he repeats: “Oh, it hurts, it hurts a lot, my son, my son, my son. It hurts, it hurts a lot."

Another replacement of Christ by Judas: Judas asks Peter who he thinks Jesus is. " Peter whispered fearfully and joyfully: “I think that he is the son of the living God.” And in the Gospel it is written like this: “ Simon Peter answered Him: Lord! who should we go to? You have verbs eternal life: And we have believed and known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"(John 6, 68-69). The twist is that Peter’s gospel remark is addressed to Christ, not Judas.

Appearing to the apostles after the death of Jesus, St. Andrew’s Judas again creates an inverted situation and replaces the risen Christ with himself. "Jesus' disciples sat in sad silence and listened to what was happening outside the house. There was also a danger that the revenge of Jesus’ enemies would not be limited to him alone, and everyone was waiting for the guards to invade... At that moment, Judas Iscariot entered, slamming the door loudly».

And the Gospel describes the following: “ On the same first day of the week in the evening, when the doors of the house where His disciples were meeting were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: Peace be with you! "(John 20:19).

Here the quiet and joyful appearance of the risen Christ is replaced by the noisy appearance of Judas, denouncing His disciples.

The denunciation of Judas is permeated by the following refrain: “Where was your love? ... Who loves... Who loves!.. Who loves! Compare with the Gospel: “When they were dining, Jesus said to Simon Peter: Simon the Jonah! Do you love Me more than they? Peter says to Him: Yes, Lord! You know that I love You. Jesus says to him: Feed my lambs. Another time he says to him: Simon the Jonah! do you love me? Peter says to Him: Yes, Lord! You know that I love You. Jesus says to him: Feed My sheep. He says to him for the third time: Simon the Jonah! do you love me? Peter was saddened that he asked him for the third time: Do you love Me? and said to Him: Lord! You know everything; You know that I love You. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."(John 21:15-17).

Thus, after His resurrection, Christ restored the apostolic dignity to Peter, who had denied Him three times. In L. Andreev we see an inverted situation: Judas three times denounces the apostles for their dislike for Christ.

Same scene: “Judas fell silent, raising his hand, and suddenly noticed the remains of a meal on the table. And with strange amazement, curiosity, as if he saw food for the first time in his life, he looked at it and slowly asked: “What is this? Did you eat? Perhaps you slept the same way? Let's compare: " When they still did not believe for joy and were amazed, He said to them: Do you have any food here? They gave Him some of the baked fish and honeycomb. And he took it and ate before them"(Luke 24:41-43). Once again, Judas exactly the opposite repeats the actions of the risen Christ.

« I'm going to him! - said Judas, extending his imperious hand upward. “Who is following Iscariot to Jesus?” Let's compare: " Then Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead; and I rejoice for you that I was not there, so that you might believe; but let's go to him. Then Thomas, otherwise called the Twin, said to the disciples: come and we will die with him"(John 11, 14-16). To the courageous statement of Thomas, who, like the other apostles, could not confirm it with deeds on the night when Judas betrayed Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, L. Andreev contrasts the same statement of Judas, and Judas fulfills his promise, showing greater courage than the other apostles.

By the way, Andreev’s apostles are shown as fools, cowards and hypocrites, and against their background Judas looks more than advantageous; he outshines them with his sharp paradoxical mind and sensitive love for Jesus. Yes, this is no wonder: Thomas is stupid and cowardly, John is arrogant and hypocritical, Peter is a complete ass. Judas characterizes him this way:

« Is there anyone stronger than Peter? When he shouts, all the donkeys in Jerusalem think that their Messiah has come, and they also start shouting." Andreev completely agrees with his favorite hero, as can be seen from this passage: “A rooster crowed, resentfully and loudly, as if during the day, a donkey, who had woken up somewhere, crowed and reluctantly fell silent intermittently.”

The motif of a cock crowing in the night is associated with Peter’s denial of Christ, and the braying donkey obviously correlates with Peter weeping bitterly after his denial: “ And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times; and started crying"(Mark 14:72).

Judas even replaces Mary Magdalene. According to Andreev’s version, it was Judas who bought the ointment with which Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus’ feet, while in the Gospel the situation is completely opposite. Let's compare: " Mary, taking a pound of pure precious ointment of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the world. Then one of His disciples, Judas Simon Iscariot, who wanted to betray Him, said: Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor?"(John 12:3-5).

Sebastian Ritchie. Mary Magdalene washes Christ's feet

And in the light of what has been said above, the outburst of Judas does not look at all strange, who, to the public question of Peter and John about which of them will sit next to Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven, answered: “I! I will be near Jesus!”

One can, of course, talk about the inconsistency of the image of Judas, which was reflected in his behavior, and in his speeches, and even in his appearance, but the main intrigue of the story is not this, but the fact that St. Andrew’s silent Jesus, without uttering a word , was able to force this smart, contradictory and paradoxical man to become a great Traitor.

« And everyone - good and evil - will equally curse his shameful memory, and among all nations, which were and are, he will remain alone in his cruel fate - Judas of Kariot, Traitor" The Gnostics, with their theory of a “gentleman’s agreement” between Christ and Judas, never dreamed of this.

A domestic film adaptation of Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot" - "Judas, the Man from Kariot" - should soon be released. I wonder what emphasis the director made. For now, you can only watch the trailer for the film.

Video fragment 3. Trailer “Judas, the Man from Kariot”

M. Gorky recalled this statement by L. Andreev:

“Someone proved to me that Dostoevsky secretly hated Christ. I also don’t like Christ and Christianity, optimism is a disgusting, completely false invention... I think that Judas was not a Jew - a Greek, a Hellenic. He, brother, is an intelligent and daring man, Judas... You know, if Judas had been convinced that Jehovah himself was in the face of Christ before him, he would still have betrayed Him. Killing God, humiliating Him with a shameful death, this, brother, is not a trifle!”

I think this statement most accurately defines author's position Leonid Andreev.