Lesson topic: Lieutenant Romashov: character, personality, fate.
Questions for the lesson:
1. How is the atmosphere of army life depicted in the story? Who are the officers of the regiment? How do they relate to the service, to subordinates? What is their leisure time filled with? What episodes of army life appear in the story as culminating? (Review and drunken brawl.) How does the duel theme arise and develop in the work? What is an officer's court of honor? How do Romashov's colleagues understand officer honor?
(These questions allow you to briefly repeat and summarize the content of the previous lesson, if there was one, or, if it was not there, help you “enter the material”, approach main topic conversation.)
2. What role does his portraiture play in creating the image of the main character, Lieutenant Romashov? From whose face is it served, what does it reveal in Romochka's character? Why - "Romochka"? How does the name of the hero correlate with his appearance?
3. How does Romashov feel in the military environment? Why serve? What is the dream at the beginning of the story?
4. How does Romashov feel about soldiers?
5. How is the hero's relationship with Raisa Peterson characterized? What made him cut off this connection? How did he do it?
6. Why did Romashov disgrace himself during the review? Is this a coincidence or a pattern?
7. What is revealed in the hero through his comparison with the soldier Khlebnikov and through his attitude towards this unfortunate man?
8. What happens in Romashov's soul after the social collapse? How does he deal with his shame? How does he re-evaluate himself, a person in general? How does he see his future life?
9. How does Romashov love? Does Shurochka reciprocate?
10. Why does Romashov not refuse to participate in a drunken brawl? How does he behave, unlike colleagues, in this situation? (Pay attention to his confrontation with Bek-Agamalov in the brothel.)
11. What brings Romashov closer to Nazansky and what opposes them to each other?
12. How does Romashov behave before the “court of honor”?
13. Why does Romashov die? Who and what is pushing him to death? What details of the narrative grow into symbols of the hero's fate?
14. Why is the death of Romashov described in the dry language of the protocol? (Pay attention to whose signature is on the document. Is this a coincidence?)
15. Explain the meaning of the title of the story.
16. How do you regard the tragic ending - as a statement of the weakness or strength of the hero, his defeat or victory?
17. What heroes of the Russian classics of the 19th century are similar to the hero of Kuprin?
Literary and critical assessments of the hero Kuprin
(they are not offered for unambiguous acceptance,
and as information for reflection, points of repulsion)
“Romashov is by no means a hero, he is an average, ordinary person.”
V. Afanasiev. A. I. Kuprin. M.: IHL, 1972. S. 60.
“The inevitability of a tragic denouement follows here from deep social causes. It is due to the separation of the intelligentsia of the Romashov type from the popular soil. The hero of the story is not able to exist in the maelstrom of an inhumane society and is not able to find a place among the people, draw strength for a new life in its midst. This is what makes the image of Romashov tragic.
A. Volkov. Creativity A. I. Kuprin. M.: " Fiction”, 1981. P.60.
Character and personality
Personality is the inner side of character, while character is the outer side of personality.
According to the definition of S. Averintsev, character is "a person, understood objectively, someone else's "I", observed and described as a thing." Personality is conceivable only “subjectively”, only as a certain “I” - the subject of self-determination: trying to comprehend someone else's personality, it is necessary to treat the other as oneself, “lyrically” recognizing oneself in another. And, on the contrary, in order to comprehend one's character, one has to treat oneself "epic": to see in oneself another for others. “Character,” Prishvin wrote, “is not me myself, but the manifestation of myself to people.”
Personality in terms of both historical and psychological is a product of responsible self-actualization of the human "I". The character is formed in the course of the social adaptation of the individual to external circumstances and norms, to the people around him.
V. I. Tyup. The art of Chekhov's story. M.: 1989. P.33.
As a material for comparison, you can use:
I. Goncharov. "Oblomov" (the hero's lifestyle, the place and condition of books in his house, the discrepancy between dreams and reality);
L.N. Tolstoy. "War and Peace" (Bolkonsky's dreams of a feat, of glory, self-criticism of Tolstoy's heroes, their attitude towards people from the people);
Y. Polyakov. "One hundred days before the order";
L. Aizerman. Hangover // "Znamya", 2002, No. 2 (letters from students).
"Duel" (1905)
The purpose of the lesson: to show the significance of Kuprin's story for society's awareness of the crisis of all Russian life; humanistic, anti-war pathos of the story.
Methodical methods:analytical conversation, commented reading.
During the classes
- Teacher's word. The revolutionary era brought before all writers an urgent need to understand the historical fate of Russia, its people, and national culture. These global issues led to the creation of large "numerous" canvases. The writers comprehended the pace of the world in a contradictory time. This is how the stories "Duel", "Dry Valley" and "Village" by Bunin are written; "Judas Iscariot" by L. Andreev; "Movements", "Bear Cub" by Sergeev-Tsensky.
At first glance, the story (any of them) is simple in its content. But according to the author's generalizations, it is multi-layered, reminiscent of a "casket in a casket" that stores a jewel.
The story "Duel" came out in May 1905, in the days of the defeat of the Russian fleet at Tsushima. The image of a backward, incapacitated army, decomposed officers, and downtrodden soldiers had an important socio-political meaning: it was the answer to the question about the causes of the Far Eastern catastrophe. With hard strokes, as if paying off the past, Kuprin draws the army, to which he gave the years of his youth.
This story can be defined as psychological and philosophical. Since "Fathers and Sons" there was no such work.
- Novel conversation:
- What is the theme of the story?The main theme is the crisis of Russia, of all spheres of Russian life. The critical orientation of the story was noted by Gorky, classifying "Duel" as civil, revolutionary prose. The story had a wide resonance, brought Kuprin all-Russian fame, became the reason for controversy in the press about the fate of the Russian army. The problems of the army always reflect the general problems of society. In this sense, Kuprin's story is still relevant today.
- Dedicating "Duel" in her first publication to Gorky, Kuprin wrote to him: "Now, finally, when everything is over, I can say that everything bold and violent in my story belongs to you. If you knew how much I learned from Vasya, how grateful I am to you for it.
- What, in your opinion, in "Duel" can be defined as " bold and exuberant"? From the denial of petty rituals (holding hands at the seams and heels together in a conversation with superiors, pulling the sock down when marching, shouting “On the shoulder!”, Ch. 9, p. 336.), the main character of the “Duel” Romashov comes to the denial of what that in a rational societythere shouldn't be wars: « Maybe it's all some common error, some kind of worldwide delusion, insanity? Is it natural to kill? “Let's say tomorrow, let's say, this very second this thought came to everyone's mind: Russians, Germans, British, Japanese ... And now no more war, there are no officers and soldiers, everyone went home.Romashov naively believes that in order to eliminate the war, it is necessary that all people suddenly see the light, declare in one voice:"I don't want to fight!" and dropped their weapons. "What courage ! - said admiringly L. Tolstoy about Romashov. - And how did the censors let it through and why don’t the military protest?”
The preaching of peacemaking ideas provoked strong attacks in the fierce magazine campaign unleashed around the "Duel", and the military officials were especially indignant. The story was a major literary event that sounded topical.
- What thematic lines can be identified in the story?There are several of them: the life of officers, the combat and barracks life of soldiers, relations between people. It turns out that not all people hold the same pacifist views as Romashov.
- How does Kuprin draw images of officers?Kuprin knew the military environment very well from his many years of experience. The images of the officers are given accurately. Realistically, with ruthless authenticity. Almost all the officers in the "Duel" are nonentities, drunkards, stupid and cruel careerists and ignoramuses.
Moreover, they are confident in their class and moral superiority, they are contemptuous of civilians, who are called "hazel grouses", "shpaks", "shtafirks". Even Pushkin for them " some kind of spat ". Among them, it is considered “youthfulness to scold or beat a civilian for no reason, put out a lit cigarette on his nose, put a top hat over his ears.” Arrogance based on nothing, perverted ideas about the "honor of the uniform" and honor in general, rudeness - a consequence of isolation, isolation from society, inactivity, stupefying drill. In ugly revels, drunkenness, absurd antics, some kind of blind, animal,senseless rebellion against mortal anguish and monotony.Officers are not used to thinking and reasoning, some seriously believe that in military service in general "not supposed to think"(N. Rostov visited similar thoughts).
Literary critic Yu. V. Babicheva writes: “The officers of the regiment have a single "typical" face with clear signs of caste limitation, senseless cruelty, cynicism, vulgarity and swagger. At the same time, in the course of the development of the plot, each officer, typical in his caste ugliness, at least for a moment is shown as he could have become if it were not for the destructive influence of the army.».
- Do you agree that the officers in the story "Duel" have a single "typical" face? If so, what is the manifestation of this unity?The writer shows the officer environment in a vertical section: corporals, junior officers, senior officers, senior officers. "With the exception of a few ambitious and careerists, all officers served as a forced, unpleasant, disgusted corvee, yearning for it and not loving it.". A scary pictureugly wholesale revelry " officers. 406, ch. 18 .
- Except common features, characteristic of most officers, each of them haspersonality traits,outlined so vividly and expressively that the image becomes almost symbolic:
A) Regimental commander Shulgovich, under his thunderous bourbon, hides his concern for the officers.
B) What can you say about the image of Osadchy?An ominous image of Osadchy. "He's a cruel man."- says Romashov about him. The cruelty of Osadchy was constantly experienced by the soldiers, who trembled from his thunderous voice and the inhuman force of blows. In Osadchy's company, more often than in others, there were suicides of soldiers. The bestial, bloodthirsty Osadchy in disputes about the duel insists on the need for a fatal outcome of the duel - “otherwise it will only be a stupid pity ... a comedy.At the picnic he makes a toastfor the joy of former wars, for the cheerful bloody cruelty". In a bloody battle, he finds pleasure, the smell of blood intoxicates him, he is ready to chop, stab, shoot all his life - no matter who and for what ( ch. 8, 14)
C) Tell us about your impressions of Captain Plum. « Even in the regiment, which, thanks to the conditions of wild provincial life, did not differ in a particularly humane direction, it was some kind of outlandish monument of this ferocious military antiquity.He did not read a single book, not a single newspaper, and despised everything that went beyond the limits of the order, charter and company. This is a sluggish, downcast man, he brutally, to the point of blood, beats the soldiers, but he is attentive "to soldier's needs: does not delay money, personally monitors the company's boiler"(Ch. 10, 337)
D) What is the difference between Captain Stelkovsky,commander of the 5th company? Perhaps only the image of Captain Stelkovsky - patient, cold-blooded, persistent - does not cause disgust, "soldiers truly loved: an example, perhaps the only one in the Russian army"(Ch. 15. 376 - 377). “In his company, they didn’t fight and didn’t even swear, although they weren’t particularly tender, and yet the company, according to the magnificent appearance and training was not inferior to any guard unit.It is his company at the May review that causes tears from his corps commander.
D) lieutenant colonel Rafalsky (Brem) loves animals and devotes all his free and non-free time to collecting a rare domestic menagerie.352.
E) What are the distinguishing features of Bek-Agamalov? He boasts of his ability to chop, says with regret that he probably won’t cut a man in half: “I’ll blow my head to hell, I know that, but so that it’s oblique ... no ”My father did it easily…» (« Yes, there were people in our time…”). With his evil eyes, his hooked nose and bared teeth, helooked like some kind of predatory, angry and proud bird"(ch.1)
8) Bestiality generally distinguishes many officers. During a scandal in a brothel, this bestial essence comes through especially brightly: in Bek-Agamalov's rolling eyes "naked round squirrels sparkled terribly, his head" was lowered low and menacingly", "an ominous yellow gleam lit up in the eyes». “And at the same time, he bent his legs lower and lower, all cringed and absorbed his neck, like a beast ready to make a jump”. After this scandal, which ended in a fight and a challenge to a duel, "everyone dispersed, embarrassed, depressed, avoiding looking at each other. Everyone was afraid to read in other people's eyes their own horror, their slavish, guilty longing - the horror and longing of small, evil and dirty animals.» (Ch. 19).
9) Let us pay attention to the contrast of this description with the following description of the dawn "with clear, childlike skies and still cool air. Trees, damp, shrouded in barely visibleferry, silently woke up from their dark, mysterious night dreams". Romashov feels "short, ugly, ugly and infinitely alien in the midst of this innocent charm of the morning, smiling half-awake».
As the mouthpiece of Kuprin - Nazansky says,“all of them, even the best, most tender of them, wonderful fathers and attentive husbands, all of them in the service become base, cowardly, stupid little animals. You will ask why? Yes, precisely because none of them believe in the service and do not see the reasonable goal of this service».
10) How are the "regimental ladies" depicted?Officers' wives are just as predatory and bloodthirsty as their husbands. Evil, stupid, ignorant, hypocritical. Regimental ladies are the personification of extreme squalor. Their everyday life is woven from gossip, a provincial game of secularism, boring and vulgar connections. The most repulsive image is Raisa Peterson, the wife of Captain Talman. Evil, stupid, depraved and vengeful. "Oh, how nasty she is!”Romashov thinks of her with disgust. "And from the thought of the former physical intimacy with this woman, he had such a feeling, as if he had not washed for several months and had not changed his linen ”(ch. 9).
Not better and the rest of the "ladies". Even with outwardly charmingShurochka Nikolaevathe features of Osadchy, who seems to be unlike him, appear: she stands up for fights with a fatal outcome, says: “I would shoot these people like rabid dogs". There is no truly feminine left in her: “I don't want a child. Fu, what a mess!" - she confesses to Romashov (ch. 14).
- What role do images play? soldier? Depicted in mass, variegated in national composition, but essentially gray. The soldiers are completely powerless: officers take out their anger on them, beat them, crush their teeth, break their eardrums.
- Kuprin gives and individualized images(there are about 20 of them in the story). A whole series of ordinary soldiers - in chapter 11:
A) poorly thinking, slow-witted B ondarenko,
B) intimidated, stunned by shouts Arkhipov, who does not understand and cannot memorize the simplest things»,
B) loser Khlebnikov. 340, 375, 348/2.His image is more detailed than others. Ruined, landless and impoverished Russian peasant,shaved into soldiers.Khlebnikov's soldier's lot is painful and pitiful. Corporal punishment and constant humiliation - that's his lot. Sick and weak, with a face in cam ”, on which a dirty nose turned up absurdly stuck up, with eyes in which“froze stupid, submissive horror", This soldier has become a general ridicule in the company and an object for mockery and abuse. He is driven to the idea of suicide, from which Romashov saves him, seeing in Khlebnikov his brother-man. Pitying Khlebnikov, Romashov says:Khlebnikov, are you sick? And I'm not feeling well, my dear... I don't understand anything of what's going on in the world. Everything is some wild, senseless, cruel nonsense!But you have to endure, my dear, you have to endure…» Khlebnikov, although he sees in Romashov good man, humanly related to a simple soldier, but, above all, sees in him master. Cruelty, injustice, the absurdity of the way of life become obvious, but the hero sees no way out of this horror, except for patience.
G) educated, intelligent, independent Fokin.
Depicting gray, impersonal, crushed « own ignorance, general slavery, bossy indifference, arbitrariness and violence» soldier, Kuprin evokes compassion in the reader for them, shows that in fact they are living people, and not faceless "cogs" of the military machine.
So Kuprin comes to another, very important topic- the theme of personality.
D. h. 1) Prepare messages based on the images of Romashov and Nazansky (in groups) (portrait characteristics, relationships with people, views, attitude to service, etc.)
2) Answer the questions:
How is the theme of love dealt with in the story?
What is the meaning of the title of the story?
Lesson 2
Subject: The metaphorical nature of the title of A. I. Kuprin's story "Duel".
The purpose of the lesson: analyze the images of the characters expressing the author's position in the story.
Methodical methods:students' messages, work on the text, analytical conversation.
- Checking the house. tasks.The author's ideals are expressed by the heroes opposed to the main mass - Romashov and Nazansky. These heroes are represented by several students (in groups)
- Characteristics of the image of Nazansky.The conversations between Romashov and Nazansky contain the essence of the story.
A) We learn about Nazansky from the conversation between the Nikolaevs and Romashov ( ch. 4): this is "an inveterate person", he is " goes on vacation for one month due to domestic circumstances ... This means that he took a drink”; “Such officers are a disgrace to the regiment, an abomination!”
B) Chapter 5 contains a description of the meeting between Romashov and Nazansky. We see firstwhite figure and golden head"Nazansky, we hear his calm voice, we get acquainted with his dwelling:" 288", ch. 5. All this, and even a direct look "thoughtful, beautiful blue eyes”contradicts what the Nikolaevs said about him. Nazansky argues "about sublime matters”, philosophizes, and this, from the point of view of others, is“nonsense, idle and absurd chatter". He thinks of "289". This is for him « 290/1 ". He feels someone else's joy and someone else's sorrow, feelsinjustice exist with Troy, the aimlessness of your life, looking for and not finding a way out of the impasse. 431-432.
Description of the landscape, the mysterious night that opens from the window, according to hislofty words: "290/2".
Nazansky's face seems to Romashov "beautiful and interesting": golden hair, a high, clean forehead, a neck of a noble pattern, a massive and graceful head, similar to the head of one of the Greek heroes or sages, clear blue eyes, looking "lively, smart and meek". True, this description of an almost ideal hero ends with a revelation: “ 291/1".
Dreaming about " future godlike life”, Nazansky glorifies the power and beauty of the human mind, enthusiastically calls for respect for a person, enthusiastically talks about love - and at the same time expresses the views of the author himself: “ 293/1 ". Love according to Kuprin is a talent akin to a musical one. Kuprin will develop this theme later in the story "Garnet Bracelet", and much of what Nazansky said will go directly into the story.
C) "435 -underlined" (Ch. 21 ). Preaches equality and happiness, sings of the human mind.
In the passionate speeches of Nazanskya lot of bile and anger, thoughts on the need to fight against"two-headed monster" - the tsarist autocracy andpolice regime in the country, forebodings of the inevitability of profound social upheavals: "433/1 ". Believes in the next life.
He anti-military and the army in general condemns the brutal treatment of soldiers(ch.21, 430 - 432 ). Nazansky's accusatory speeches are full of open pathos. It's kind of hero duel with a senseless and cruel system. Some statements of this hero, as Kuprin himself later said, “sound like a gramophone,but they are dear to the writer, who invested in Nazansky much that worried him.
D) What do you think, why was such a hero needed in the “Duel” next to Romashov?Nazansky asserts: there is only man, the complete freedom of man. Romashov embodies the principle of human lack of freedom. The door is not closed, you can go out. Romashov recalls that his mother tied him to the bed with the thinnest thread. She caused him mystical fear, although it was possible to break.
- Characteristics of Romashov.
Lieutenant Romashov, the protagonist of The Duel, becomes infected with the moods and thoughts of Nazansky. This is a typical Kuprin image of a truth seeker and a humanist. Romashovgiven in perpetual motion, in the process of internal change and spiritual growth. Kuprin reproduces not the entire biography of the hero, and the most important momentin it, without a beginning, but with a tragic end.
Portrait the hero is outwardly expressive: 260, ch. 1 ", sometimes unsophisticated. However, in the actions of Romashov one can feel inner strength coming from a sense of righteousness and justice. For example, he unexpectedly defends the Tatar Sharafutdinov, who does not understand Russian, from a colonel who insults him (Ch. 1, 262-263 )
He stands up for the soldier Khlebnikov when a non-commissioned officer wants to beat him ( ch.10, 340/1).
He even triumphs over the bestial Bek-Agamalov, when he almost hacked to death a woman from a brothel where the officers were drinking: “ 18 ch., 414" . Bek-Agamalov is grateful to Romashov for not letting him, who had gone berserk from drunkenness, kill a woman
In all these fights Romashov is at his best.
- What lifestyle does? (bored, drunkenness, loneliness, is in connection with an unloved woman)
There are plans ? Extensive in self-education, the study of languages, literature, art. But they remain only plans.
What is he dreaming about? About a brilliant career, sees himself as an outstanding commander. His dreams are poetic, but they are wasted. 267-269.
- Where does Romashov like to go?? Meet trains at the station 265. ch.2. His heart yearns for beauty. Wed Tolstoy ("Resurrection"), Nekrasov ("Troika"), Blok ("On the Railway", 439) . direct reminiscence ( echo, the influence of someone's creativity in work of art). The railway is read as the theme of the distance, the theme of life's way out
Romashov is a romantic, subtle nature. Him " 264 ". Attractive in the herosoftness of mind, kindness , innate sense of justice. All this sharply distinguishes him from the rest of the officers of the regiment.
Painful, boring army situation in a provincial regiment. Senseless, sometimes idiotic military practice. His disappointments are painful.
- Why is Kuprin's hero young?Over blossoming youth is dominated by soul-deadening treasury. By choosing young hero, Kuprin increased the torment "nonsense, incomprehensibility».
What feeling does Romashov evoke in the reader?Deep sympathy.
Romashov has trend towards evolution. Moves towards the knowledge of life.Clash of man and officerfirst takes place in Romashov himself, in his soul and mind. This internal struggle gradually turns into an open one. duel with Nikolayev and with all the officers. pp. 312 (ch. 7), 348, 349, 419.
Romashov graduallyfreed from a false understanding of honorofficer's uniform. The turning point was the hero's reflections on the position of the human person in society, his internal monologue in defense of human rights, dignity and freedom. Romashova "I was stunned and shocked by the unexpectedly bright consciousness of my individuality.and he rose in his own way against depersonalization of a person in military service, in defense of the ordinary soldier. He is indignant at the regimental authorities, who maintain a state of enmity between soldiers and officers. But his impulses to protest are replaced by complete apathy and indifference, his soul is often overwhelmed by depression: “My life is gone!"
The feeling of absurdity, confusion, incomprehensibility of life depresses him. During a conversation with a sick, disfigured Khlebnikov Romashov is experiencingdeep pity and compassion for him(ch. 16 ). He, brought up in the spirit of superiority over the mass of soldiers, indifference to the hard fate of a soldier, begins to understand that Khlebnikov and his comrades are depersonalized and crushed by their own ignorance, general slavery, arbitrariness and violence, that soldiers are also people who have the right to sympathy. 402/1, 342 .
A. And Kuprin recalled that the scene at the canvas railway produced great impression on Gorky: " When I read a conversation between Lieutenant Romashov and the miserable soldier Khlebnikov, Alexei Maksimovich was moved, and it was terrible to see him. big man with wet eyes.
Unexpectedly for himself, he suddenly rebels against God himself, who allows evil and injustice (another duel perhaps the most important)."402". He closed in on himself, focused on his inner world , determined to break with military service to start new life: "403"; "404/1 ”- this is how Romashov defines for himself the worthy purpose of life.
A modest person grows spiritually, discovers the eternal values of being. Kuprin sees in the youth of the hero hope for the future transformation of the world. The service makes a repulsive impression on him precisely because of its unnaturalness and anti-humanity. However, Romashov does not have time to fulfill his dreams and dies as a result of betrayal.
4. Thoughts about the possibility of another life are combined in him with thoughts about love forShurochka Nikolaeva. Sweet, feminine Shurochka, with whom Nazansky is in love, is essentiallyguilty of the murder of Romashov to a duel. Greed, calculation, lust for power, duplicity, « some evil and proud force", Shurochka's resourcefulness is not noticed by Romashov in love. She demands:You must shoot tomorrow”- and Romashov agrees for her sake to a duel that could have been avoided.
Types of business people have already been created in Russian literature (Chichikov, Stolz). Shurochka is a business man in a skirt. She seeks to escape from the environment. The only way is for her husband to enter the academy, he seeks to leave for the capital from the petty-bourgeois province. 280, 4 ch.
For the sake of winning his place in the world, he rejects Nazansky's passionate love, for the sake of preserving his husband's reputation and career, he sacrifices Romashov. Outwardly charming and smart, she appears disgusting in a conversation with Romashov on the eve of a duel. 440/2.
- Discussing the meaning of the story's title.
A) The title itself conveys the personal and social conflict underlying the plot.
plot aspect. duels , which we have already talked about, is inevitable and natural lead to a breakdown to the last fight.
Final Feature. The duel between Romashov and Nikolaev is not described in the story. ABOUT the death of Romashov report dry, official, soulless lines report Staff Captain Dietz ( ch.23, 443 ). The ending is perceived as tragic because Romashov's death is meaningless. This last chord is filled with compassion. This duel, the death of the hero is a foregone conclusion:Romashov is too different from everyone,to survive in this society.
Mentioned several times in the story duels , a painful, stuffy atmosphere is being forced. Chapter 19 describes how drunken officers are pullingfuneral tune,(in Vetkin's stupid eyes this motive causes tears), but pure sounds funeral services suddenly interrupted "terrible, cynical swearing" Osadchy, 419. Offended Romashov is trying to reason with people. After that, a scandal is played out, which led to the fact that Romashov challenges Nikolaev to a duel, 420, 426.
B) The meaning of the name is in Romashov's duel with the evil that is in himself. This conflict is given as a philosophical one, the hero's comprehension of freedom and necessity.
C) The theme of the duel -a sign of reality itself, the disunity of people, the misunderstanding of one person by another.
G) Civilian - officers, 411-412. Caste officer prejudices.
D) officers and soldiers(humiliated, let's remember the Tatar, Romashov's orderly, finishing his coffee after him, finishing his dinners)
E) But the name is also metaphorical, symbolic meaning. Kuprin wrote:With all the strength of my soul, I hate the years of my childhood and youth, the years of the corps, the cadet school and service in the regiment. About everything. What I have experienced and seen, I must write. And with my novel I will challenge royal army ". The name has another, much larger social aspect. The story is Kuprin's duel with the whole army, with the whole system that kills the personality in a person and kills the person himself. In 1905, this story, of course, was taken by the revolutionary forces as a call to fight. But even almost a hundred years after the writing, the story remains a call for respect for the human person, for reconciliation and brotherly love.
5. So traditions of Russian literature:
1) Kuprin's hero is closely connected with the concept of a superfluous person, Tolstoy's hero.
2) Subtle psychological drawing (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy). Like L. Tolstoy, he explores in depth the struggle of feelings, the contradictions of the awakening consciousness, their collapse. Romashov is close to Chekhov's characters. Kuprin's approach to his hero is akin to Chekhov's. An embarrassing, short-sighted and baggy lieutenant, thinking of himself in the 3rd person with the words of stilted novels, 375, 380. 387., evokes a mocking and compassionate attitude. This is how the figure of Petya Trofimov is illuminated.
3) Spontaneous democracy, sympathy for the little man. (Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky)
4) Socio-philosophical definition of good and evil.
5) Orientation to some kind of doctrine. Tolstoy is looking for his "green stick". Kuprin does not know how to rebuild the world. His work contains the rejection of evil.
Agenosov's textbook, part 1, p. 26.
V. Lilin, With. 64 - reviews of the "Duel" by Gorky, L. Tolstoy.
Metaphorical name
story by A. I. Kuprin "Duel"
The purpose of the lesson: analyze the images of the characters expressing the author's position in the story.
Methodological techniques: students' messages, working with text, analytical conversation.
During the classes
I. Examination homework
The author's ideals are expressed by the heroes opposed to the main mass - Romashov and Nazansky. These heroes are represented by several students (in groups): portrait characteristics, relationships with people, views, attitude to service, etc.
II. Characteristics of the image of Nazansky
Feature plan:
1. The first mention of Nazan.
2. Meeting of Romashov and Azansky.
3. Portrait of a hero.
4. The role of the interior.
5. Themes of Nazansky's reflections.
6. The role of the landscape in the characterization of the image of Nazansky.
7. Reasoning Nazansky about love.
We learn about Nazansky from a conversation with Romashov (Chapter IV): he is “an inveterate person”, he “goes on leave for one month due to domestic circumstances ... This means he got drunk”; "Such officers are a disgrace to the regiment, an abomination!" Chapter V contains a description of the meeting between Romashov and Nazansky. First we see Nazansky's “white figure and golden-haired head”, we hear his calm voice, we get acquainted with his dwelling: “Nazansky's room was even poorer than Romashov's. Along the wall near the window stood a narrow, low, arched bed, so thin it was as if only a pink pique blanket lay on its iron pieces; against the other wall is a simple unpainted table and two rough stools...”. All this, and even the direct look of "thoughtful, beautiful blue eyes" contradicts what the Nikolaevs said about him. Nazansky talks "about sublime matters", philosophizes, and this, from the point of view of those around him, is "nonsense, idle and absurd chatter." He thinks about "love, about beauty, about relationships with humanity, about nature, about the equality and happiness of people, about poetry, about God." This is for him "a time ... of freedom of spirit, will, mind." He feels someone else's joy and someone else's sorrow.
Description of the landscape, the mysterious night opening from the window, according to his sublime words: “in this soft air, full of strange spring aromas, in this silence, darkness, in these exaggeratedly bright and exactly warm stars - a secret and passionate fermentation was felt, a thirst for motherhood was guessed and the wasteful voluptuousness of the earth, plants, trees - the whole world. Nazansky's face seems to Romashov "beautiful and interesting": golden hair, a high clean forehead, a neck of a noble pattern, a massive and graceful head, similar to the head of one of the Greek heroes or sages, clear blue eyes that look "lively, intelligently and meekly." True, this description of an almost ideal hero ends with a revelation: "only a very experienced eye would discern in this seeming freshness ... the result of alcoholic inflammation of the blood."
Dreaming of “the coming god-like life”, Nazansky glorifies the power and beauty of the human mind, enthusiastically calls for respect for a person, speaks enthusiastically about love and expresses the author’s own view: “It is the lot of the chosen ones ... love has its peaks, accessible only to a few of million." According to Kuprin, love is a talent akin to a musical one. Kuprin will develop this theme later in the story "Garnet Bracelet", and much of what Nazansky said will go directly into the story.
There is a lot of bile and anger in Nazansky's passionate speeches, thoughts about the need to fight against the "two-headed monster" - the police regime in the country, forebodings of the inevitability of deep social upheavals: "The greater the violence, the bloodier the reprisal will be." He is an opponent of military service and the army in general, condemns the brutal treatment of soldiers (Chapter XXII). Nazansky's accusatory speeches are full of open pathos. This is a kind of hero duel with a senseless and cruel system. Some statements of this hero, as Kuprin himself later said, "sound like a gramophone", but they are dear to the writer, who invested in Nazansky a lot that worried him.
Teacher comment:
In Nazansky's statements, many critics note the features of vulgarized Nietzscheanism: “Love for humanity has burned out of human hearts. It is being replaced by a new, divine faith... This is love for oneself, for one's beautiful body, for one's all-powerful mind, for the infinite wealth of one's feelings... The time will come, and great faith in one's Self will overshadow like the fiery tongues of the holy spirit , the heads of all people, and then there will be no more slaves, no masters, no cripples, no pity, no vices, no malice, no envy. Then people will become gods…” (Chapter XXI).
Issues for discussion:
- What do you think, is there any reason to call Nazansky a "Nietzschean"?
- What do you think, why was such a hero needed in the “Duel” next to Romashov?
III. Characteristics of the image of Romashov
1. Romashov and Nazansky.
2. Portrait of Romashov.
3. Actions of the hero.
4. What attracts in Romashov?
5. Internal contradictions of the hero.
6. Romashov and Khlebnikov.
7. Romashov and Shurochka Nikolaeva.
Lieutenant Romashov, the protagonist of The Duel, becomes infected with the moods and thoughts of Nazansky. This is a typical Kuprin image of a truth seeker and a humanist. Romashov is given in constant motion, in the process of his inner change and spiritual growth. Kuprin does not reproduce the entire biography of the hero, but the most important moment in it, without a beginning, but with a tragic end.
The portrait of the hero is outwardly inexpressive: “medium height, thin, and although quite strong for his build, he is awkward because of his great shyness,” sometimes spineless. However, in the actions of Romashov, one can feel an inner strength coming from a sense of rightness and justice. For example, "unexpectedly for himself" defends the Tatar Sharafutdinov, who does not understand Russian, from the colonel insulting him (Chapter I). He stands up for the soldier Khlebnikov when a non-commissioned officer wants to beat him (Chapter X). He even triumphs over the bestial drunken Bek-Agamalov, when he almost hacked to death a woman from a brothel where the officers were drinking with a sword: “with a force that he did not expect from himself, he grabbed Bek-Agamalov by the wrist. For several seconds, both officers, without blinking, stared at each other ... he already felt that the madness was fading in this distorted face with every moment. And it was terrifying and inexpressibly joyful for him to stand like this, between life and death, and already know that he was emerging victorious in this game ”(Chapter XVIII). In all these fights, Romashov is at his best.
Romashov is a dreamy, romantic nature, he is prone to reflection. He had a "slightly funny, naive habit, often characteristic of very young people, of thinking of himself in the third person, in the words of formulaic novels." Attractive in the hero is spiritual gentleness, kindness, an innate sense of justice. All this sharply distinguishes him from the rest of the officers of the regiment. The clash between a man and an officer first takes place in Romashov himself, in his soul and mind. This internal struggle is gradually turning into an open duel with Nikolaev and with all the officers. Romashov is gradually freed from a false understanding of the honor of an officer's uniform. The turning point was the hero's reflections on the position of the human person in society, his internal monologue in defense of human rights, dignity and freedom. Romashov was "stunned and shocked by the unexpectedly bright consciousness of his individuality," and in his own way he rebelled against the depersonalization of a person in military service, in defense of the ordinary soldier. He is indignant at the regimental authorities, who maintain a state of enmity between soldiers and officers. But the impulses to protest are replaced by complete apathy and indifference, the soul is often overwhelmed by depression: “My life is gone!”
The feeling of absurdity, confusion, incomprehensibility of life depresses him. During a conversation with the sick, mutilated Khlebnikov, Romashov feels acute pity and compassion for him (Chapter XVI). Unexpectedly, he rises against God himself, who allows evil and injustice (another duel, perhaps the most important one). “From that night, a deep spiritual breakdown occurred in Romashov”, He closed himself in, focused on his inner world, firmly decided to break with military service in order to start a new life: “the thought became clearer and clearer for him that there are only three proud recognition of man: science, art and free physical labor. Thoughts about the possibility of another life are combined in him with thoughts about love for Shurochka Nikolaeva. Sweet, feminine Shurochka, with whom Nazansky is also in love, is essentially guilty of killing Romashov in a duel. Self-interest, calculation, lust for power, duplicity, "some kind of evil and proud force", Shurochka's resourcefulness are not noticed by the enamored Romashov. She demands: "You must shoot yourself tomorrow" - and Romashov agrees for her sake to a duel that could have been avoided.
IV. On the psychology of the story
Literary critic I. A. Pitlyar argued that the story “Duel” is “a phenomenon of great realistic art, in which the mercilessly truthful depiction of“ the horror and boredom of military life ”was combined with great reliability in revealing the psychology of a person experiencing a serious moral change, in depicting a breakdown in consciousness liberated from the fetters of ugly caste prejudices.
- Do you agree that the story "Duel" is distinguished by "great reliability in revealing human psychology"? If so, what features of the narrative testify to this?
- Which of the characters is going through a "serious moral break"? What is it connected with?
V. Discussing the meaning of the story's title
What is the meaning of the title of the story?
(The fights that we have already talked about naturally and inevitably lead to a denouement. To the last duel. The duel between Romashov and Nikolaev is not described in the story. The death of Romashov is reported by the dry, official, soulless lines of the report of Captain Dietz (Chapter XXIII). This the duel, the death of the hero are a foregone conclusion: Romashov is too different from everyone else to survive in this society. Several times in the story duels are mentioned, a painful, stifling situation is escalated. In the nineteenth chapter, it is described how drunken officers draw a funeral tune, and the clear sounds of a memorial service are suddenly interrupted " terrible, cynical curse "Osadchy. Offended Romashov tries to reason with people. After that, a scandal is played out, which led to the fact that Romashov challenges Nikolaev to a duel. But the name also has a metaphorical, symbolic meaning.)
VI. Teacher's closing remarks
Kuprin wrote: “With all the strength of my soul, I hate the years of my childhood and youth, the years of the corps, the cadet school and service in the regiment. All that I have experienced and seen, I must write. And with my novel, I will challenge the tsarist army to a duel. The story is Kuprin's duel with the whole army, with the whole system that kills the personality in a person and kills the person himself. In 1905, this story, of course, was taken by the revolutionary forces as a call to fight. But even almost a hundred years after the writing, the story remains a call for respect for the human person, for reconciliation and brotherly love.
Lessons ##3-4
Lesson topic: The world of army relations in the story "Duel". Moral confrontation between the hero and the environment in the story.
1. How is the atmosphere of army life depicted in the story?
General atmosphere cruelty and impunity that prevailed among the officers, creates the prerequisites for the emergence of a conflict.
“Non-commissioned officers brutally beat their soldiers for an insignificant mistake in literature, for a lost leg while marching ...” Violence in the story is an integral attribute of the spirit of the army: military subordination and discipline rest on it, the entire army was created by violence.
Kuprin writes about the recruits: “They stood in the regimental yard, huddled together in the rain, like a herd of frightened and submissive animals, looked incredulously, frowningly.” Once in the army, these young boys quickly lose their individuality: "They danced, but in this dance, as in singing, there was something wooden, dead, from which I wanted to cry." They themselves begin to beat the soldiers: “They beat him (Khlebnikov) every day, laugh at him, mock him ...”
2. Who are the officers of the regiment? How do they relate to the service, to subordinates? What is their leisure time filled with?
Kuprin raised in his story the painful, acute problem of the Russian army in the early 1900s. Alienation, dull misunderstanding between officers and soldiers, narrow-mindedness, caste isolation, poverty educational level Russian officers are outlined by Kuprin harshly, but accurately.
The more weapons of murder are improved, the more important becomes the question of the state of morality of those who hold these weapons in their hands. Reading Kuprin's story, we find that among the officers there is the following concept of army life: “Today we will get drunk drunk, tomorrow in the company - one, two, left, right. In the evening we will drink again, and the day after tomorrow in the company. Is it really all life?
But nothing else was offered. The officers and their wives had to be content with such a routine of life. How miserable are their entertainments and hobbies: “A rather naive, boyish game was widespread among young officers in the regiment: to teach batmen various outlandish, unusual things.” And a man, cut off from his environment, often lost his face and succumbed to the general army "decomposition." Most of the officers are on a low morale. Their conversations are dirty and vulgar. High matters do not interest them. I fully agree with Nazansky's opinion: “They laugh: ha-ha-ha, this is all philosophy! .. It is ridiculous, and wild, and it is not permissible for an army infantry officer to think about sublime matters. This is philosophy, damn it, therefore - nonsense, idle and absurd chatter.
The creators of the army machine are deliberately lowering the morale of officers. And this is not surprising. In order to force a person to kill his own kind, it is necessary to destroy his ideas about good and evil, about justice. But the officers are the core of the army. Consequently, the whole army was subjected to moral decay.
3. What episodes of army life appear in the story as culminating? (Review and drunken brawl.)
4. How does Romashov feel in the military environment? Why serve? What is the dream at the beginning of the story? How does Romashov feel about soldiers?
5. What is revealed in the hero through his comparison with the soldier Khlebnikov and through his attitude towards this unfortunate man?
The plot of the work is everyday tragic: Lieutenant Romashov dies as a result of a duel with Lieutenant Nikolaev. An urban intellectual in the uniform of a second lieutenant, Romashov suffers from the vulgarity and nonsense of life, "monotonous as a fence, and gray as a soldier's cloth."
Romashov feels “a surge of warm, selfless, endless compassion” for the hunted soldier Khlebnikov. The author does not idealize the young Romashov and does not at all make him a fighter against the way of army life. Romashov is only capable of timid disagreement, of hesitant attempts to convince that decent people should not attack an unarmed man with a saber: “Beating a soldier is dishonest. That's shameful".
6. How does the duel theme arise and develop in the work? What is an officer's court of honor?
7. How do Romashov's colleagues understand officer honor?
8. What happens in Romashov's soul after the social collapse? How does he deal with his shame? How does he re-evaluate himself, a person in general? How does he see his future life?
9. What brings Romashov closer to Nazansky and what opposes them to each other?
10. How does Romashov behave before the “court of honor”?
The situation of contemptuous alienation tempers Lieutenant Romashov. By the end of the story, he reveals firmness and strength of character. The duel becomes inevitable. His love for a married woman, Shurochka Nikolaeva, who was not ashamed to conclude a cynical deal with a man in love with her, in which his life became the stake, hastened the denouement.
Romashov nevertheless found the strength to break with the army, although he was unable to bring his break to the end due to death in a duel. Romashov did not let the army machine erase his personal "I". Main character The story does not see and does not feel the meaning in the very existence of the army.
11. Why is Romashov dying? Who and what is pushing him to death? What details of the narrative grow into symbols of the hero's fate?
Kuprin warned humanity about the danger lurking in the army.
The prophecy and undoubted talent of Kuprin is that he saw in the hatred of the military for the “shpaks” the beginning of the future civil war. His book, bearing a true word, fraught with such a brilliant prophecy, is immortal.
"Duel" was published in the days of the defeat of the Russian fleet at Tsushima. The cruel, shameful reality of the Russo-Japanese War of the years confirmed the pathos of the story and Kuprin's diagnosis. "Duel" became a literary and social sensation in 1905, the first months of the first Russian revolution. The story was highly appreciated by Gorky, Stasov, Repin.
In 1918, Kuprin wrote with anger and sorrow about the collapse of the front of the First World War: “We had a wonderful army that amazed the whole world. She melted, leaving behind dirty traces ... "
12. Which heroes of Russian classics X I Does the hero of Kuprin look like the tenth century?
Homework: p.
Literature. Grade 11
Lessons ##3-4
Theme of the lesson: The world of army relations in the story of A.I. Kuprin "Duel". Moral confrontation between the hero and the environment in the story.
How is the atmosphere of army life depicted in the story?
The general atmosphere of cruelty and impunity that prevailed among the officers creates the prerequisites for a conflict.
“Non-commissioned officers brutally beat their soldiers for an insignificant mistake in literature, for a lost leg while marching ...” Violence in the story is an integral attribute of the spirit of the army: military subordination and discipline rest on it, the entire army was created by violence.
Kuprin writes about the recruits: “They stood in the regimental yard, huddled together in the rain, like a herd of frightened and submissive animals, looked incredulously, frowningly.” Once in the army, these young boys quickly lose their individuality: "They danced, but in this dance, as in singing, there was something wooden, dead, from which I wanted to cry." They themselves begin to beat the soldiers: “They beat him (Khlebnikov) every day, laugh at him, mock him ...”
Who are the officers of the regiment? How do they relate to the service, to subordinates? What is their leisure time filled with?
Kuprin raised in his story the painful, acute problem of the Russian army in the early 1900s. Alienation, dull misunderstanding between officers and soldiers, narrow-mindedness, caste isolation, the scarcity of the educational level of Russian officers are outlined by Kuprin harshly, but accurately.
The more weapons of murder are improved, the more important becomes the question of the state of morality of those who hold these weapons in their hands. Reading Kuprin's story, we find that among the officers there is the following concept of army life: “Today we will get drunk drunk, tomorrow in the company one, two, left, right. In the evening we will drink again, and the day after tomorrow in the company. Is it really all life?
But nothing else was offered. The officers and their wives had to be content with such a routine of life. How miserable are their entertainments and hobbies: “A rather naive, boyish game was widespread among young officers in the regiment: to teach batmen various outlandish, unusual things.” And a man, cut off from his environment, often lost his face and succumbed to the general army "decomposition." Most of the officers are on a low morale. Their conversations are dirty and vulgar. High matters do not interest them. I fully agree with Nazansky's opinion: “They laugh: ha-ha-ha, this is all philosophy! .. It is ridiculous, and wild, and it is not permissible for an army infantry officer to think about sublime matters. It is philosophy, damn it, therefore nonsense, idle and absurd chatter.
The creators of the army machine are deliberately lowering the morale of officers. And this is not surprising. In order to force a person to kill his own kind, it is necessary to destroy his ideas about good and evil, about justice. But the officers are the core of the army. Consequently, the whole army was subjected to moral decay.
What episodes of army life appear in the story as culminating? (Review and drunken brawl.)
How does Romashov feel in the military environment? Why serve? What is the dream at the beginning of the story? How does Romashov feel about soldiers?
What is revealed in the hero through his comparison with the soldier Khlebnikov and through his attitude towards this unfortunate man?
The plot of the work is everyday tragic: Lieutenant Romashov dies as a result of a duel with Lieutenant Nikolaev. An urban intellectual in the uniform of a second lieutenant, Romashov suffers from the vulgarity and nonsense of life, "monotonous as a fence, and gray as a soldier's cloth."
Romashov feels “a surge of warm, selfless, endless compassion” for the hunted soldier Khlebnikov. The author does not idealize the young Romashov and does not at all make him a fighter against the way of army life. Romashov is only capable of timid disagreement, of hesitant attempts to convince that decent people should not attack an unarmed man with a saber: “Beating a soldier is dishonest. That's shameful".
How does the duel theme arise and develop in the work? What is an officer's court of honor?
How do Romashov's colleagues understand officer honor?
What happens in Romashov's soul after the social collapse? How does he deal with his shame? How does he re-evaluate himself, a person in general? How does he see his future life?
What brings Romashov closer to Nazansky and what opposes them to each other?
How does Romashov behave before the “court of honor”?
The situation of contemptuous alienation tempers Lieutenant Romashov. By the end of the story, he reveals firmness and strength of character. The duel becomes inevitable. His love for a married woman, Shurochka Nikolaeva, who was not ashamed to conclude a cynical deal with a man in love with her, in which his life became the stake, hastened the denouement.
Romashov nevertheless found the strength to break with the army, although he was unable to bring his break to the end due to death in a duel. Romashov did not let the army machine erase his personal "I". The protagonist of the story does not see and does not feel the meaning in the very existence of the army.
Why is Romashov dying? Who and what is pushing him to death? What details of the narrative grow into symbols of the hero's fate?
Kuprin warned humanity about the danger lurking in the army.
The prophecy and undoubted talent of Kuprin is that he saw in the hatred of the military for the "shpaks" the beginning of a future civil war. His book, bearing a true word, fraught with such a brilliant prophecy, is immortal.
"Duel" was published in the days of the defeat of the Russian fleet at Tsushima. The cruel, shameful reality of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 confirmed the pathos of the story and Kuprin's diagnosis. "Duel" became a literary and social sensation in 1905, the first months of the first Russian revolution. The story was highly appreciated by Gorky, Stasov, Repin.
In 1918, Kuprin wrote with anger and sorrow about the collapse of the front of the First World War: “We had a wonderful army that amazed the whole world. She melted, leaving behind dirty traces ... "
What heroes of the Russian classics of the 19th century are similar to the hero of Kuprin?
Homework: pp. 95 -100
