Famous dramatic works, their summary. "Little Tragedies" by Pushkin

Boldin’s autumn, in addition to wonderful lyrics and prose, transparent, like pure autumn air, gave us a short cycle of works, which became one of the most significant in the creative heritage of A.S. Pushkin. It is small in format, but very capacious in content and semantic load “Little Tragedies”.

The originality of the genre

Consider the originality of the genre and a brief summary. Pushkin’s “Little Tragedies” can be attributed to philosophical dramatic works. In them, the author reveals the various aspects of human characters, studies the various ups and downs of fate and internal conflicts. Each of the tragedies, on the one hand, is a sketch of one or another type of personality at the time of the highest tension of its internal, mental and mental forces. And on the other, it is a kind of slice of a certain social group of people in the proposed historical era. The conflicts that unfold before us occur not so much in the outside world as inside the heroes themselves — psychological and moral.

"Mean Knight"

“The Mean Knight” is the first drama to which we will review a brief summary. Pushkin’s “Little Tragedies” do not begin in vain with her. The power of gold, money, wealth over the human soul is one of the most powerful in the world. With Baron, the protagonist of the drama, she long ago developed into a painful passion. Everything replaced him with cold gold circles: family, relatives, friends, respect, chivalrous valor, intellectual development and moral values. With trepidation, so similar to the impatience of a passionately in love young man, the hero descends into his basement - on a meeting with chests. He remembers the story of every penny who was captured. Without compassion, she recalls the unfortunate widow who prayed not to take her last, kneeling for hours in the rain in front of his gate. But the avaricious heart has long ceased to be human - a work, even its brief content, leads us to such regular thoughts. Pushkin's “Little Tragedies” show that if a person begins to serve the Golden Calf, it will inevitably degrade. The drama ends sadly: father and son fight a duel, and the last words of the Baron are not forgiveness and reconciliation, but: “My keys, keys!” Perhaps, Pushkin was the first among Russian writers to express so directly the idea of ​​the corrupting power of money in society, and it turned out to be very topical for all our art.

"Mozart and Salieri"

This work, even its brief content, pushes us to some other thoughts. Pushkin’s “Little Tragedies” acquire global sound in the drama. The legend that the envious Salieri poisoned the brilliant Mozart gets a different interpretation here. It is not only and not so much envy: Salieri is affectionate by the public, critics, rich, achieved almost everything he dreamed about. But he does not understand Mozart - how in him a great divine talent is combined with such frivolity, such a childish attitude to life, to his calling. A genius must work in the sweat of his face, each note of harmony must be obtained by him "sweat and blood." And in Mozart everything turns out joking, by itself. He is the embodiment of light and cheerfulness, he is the solar child of art. Salieri does not accept this sunshine, this lightness of life and artistry, they contradict all his views and theories regarding creativity. In the person of Mozart, more precisely in his behavior and philosophy, he sees a challenge to everything that he worships. Salieri is a craftsman, Mozart is a Master. With his genius, he can not only show to what heights the creative personality is able to rise , but he also plunges into the gloom of the less talented. And the speed and ease with which Wolfgang composes is able to turn other musicians away from serious, thoughtful work on themselves and music. Consequently, art will only benefit if Mozart does not. And Salieri destroys a friend for the sake of, as it seems to him, higher justice and for the sake of art itself - this brief summary leads us to this idea. Pushkin’s “Little Tragedies,” however, are full of philosophical generalization. And the sentence for Salieri sounds words about genius and villainy as two things incompatible.

Stone Guest and Feast During the Plague

Pushkin built “Little Tragedies” (a brief summary and analysis of which we are considering) based on the principle of reflection in each work of one or another facet of the soul. In the last two works, he brought to the forefront heroes capable of challenging social prejudices, attitudes, traditions, and even fate. Don Guan from The Stone Guest, a female conqueror of female hearts in Spain, is damn charming. He is courageous, handsome, ready to draw his sword and challenge the devil himself if he touches it. He seems genuinely in love with Donna Anna - the wife of the Commander, whom he killed. But Pushkin sees much deeper than what lies on the surface. And the writer reveals before us the cold calculation of the hero, his immoral egoism, the violation of moral standards and moral values, which are classified as universal. And in the future, the exposure of individualism will become the main task of Russian classical literature.

Alexander Pushkin “Little Tragedies” ends with “Feast during the Plague.” Using Walsingham as an example, he glorifies the personal courage of people who are able, in a moment of danger, with a proudly raised head to face the face of death and not put up with its terrible power. Fighting, not fear and humility, distinguishes a real person.

It can rightfully be argued that the Little Tragedies is a brilliant example of Russian psychological realism.