The play “A Feast in the Time of Plague” was written in 1930 in Boldin and published in 1832 in the Alcyone almanac. For his “little tragedy,” Pushkin translated an excerpt from John Wilson’s dramatic poem “City of the Plague.” This poem depicts the plague epidemic in London in 1666. Wilson's work has 3 acts and 12 scenes, many characters, among whom the main one is a pious priest.
In 1830, cholera was rampant in Russia. Pushkin could not come from Boldin to Moscow, cordoned off by quarantine, to see his bride. These moods of the poet are consonant with the state of the heroes of Wilson's poem. Pushkin took the most suitable passage from it and completely rewrote two insert songs.
Genre
The cycle of four short dramatic passages began to be called “small tragedies” after Pushkin’s death. Although the characters in the play do not die, their death from the plague is almost inevitable. In "A Feast in the Time of Plague" only Pushkin's original songs are rhymed.
Theme, plot and composition
The passion that Pushkin portrays in this play is the fear of death. In the face of imminent death from the plague, people behave differently. Some live as if death does not exist: they feast, love, enjoy life. But death reminds them of itself when a cart with the dead passes down the street.
Others seek consolation in God, humbly praying and accepting any will of God, including death. This is the priest who persuades the feasters to go home and not desecrate the memory of the dead.
Still others do not want to be consoled; in poetry and in songs they experience the bitterness of separation and come to terms with grief. This is the path of the Scottish girl Mary.
The fourth, like Walsingham, do not resign themselves to death, but overcome the fear of death with the power of spirit. It turns out that you can enjoy the fear of death, because the victory of the fear of death is the key to immortality. At the end of the play, everyone remains to their own opinion: the priest was unable to convince the feasters led by the chairman; they did not in any way influence the priest’s position. Only Walsingham thinks deeply, but most likely not about whether he did well when he did not follow the priest, but about whether he can continue to resist the fear of death with the strength of his spirit. Wilson does not have this final remark; Pushkin introduces it. The climax, the moment of highest tension (Walsingham’s momentary weakness, his impulse towards a pious life and towards God), is not equal here to the denouement, Walsingam’s refusal of this path.
Heroes and images
The main character is the chairman of the feast, Walsingam. He is a brave man who does not want to avoid danger, but faces it head on. Walsingham is not a poet, but at night he composes a hymn to the plague: “There is rapture in battle, And a dark abyss on the edge...” The chairman learns to enjoy mortal danger: “Everything, everything that threatens death, For the mortal heart, conceals inexplicable pleasures - Immortality, maybe collateral!” Even thoughts about his mother who died three weeks ago and his beloved wife who recently died do not shake the chairman’s convictions: “We are not afraid of the darkness of the grave...”
The chairman is contrasted with a priest - the embodiment of faith and piety. He supports at the cemetery all those who have lost loved ones and are in despair. The priest does not accept any other way of confronting death other than humble prayers, which will allow the living to meet beloved souls in heaven after death. The priest conjures those feasting on the holy blood of the Savior to interrupt the monstrous feast. But he respects the position of the chairman of the feast and asks him for forgiveness for reminding him of his dead mother and wife.
The young man in the play is the embodiment of the cheerfulness and energy of youth, which does not resign itself to death. Feasting women are opposite types. Sad Mary indulges in melancholy and despondency, remembering happy life in her home, and Louise is outwardly courageous, although she is scared out of her wits by a cart filled with dead bodies being pulled by a black man.
The image of this cart is the image of death itself and its messenger - a black man whom Louise mistakes for a demon, a devil.
Conflict
In this play, the conflict of ideas does not lead to direct confrontation; everyone remains to their own. Only the deep thoughts of the chairman indicate an internal struggle.
Artistic originality
The plot of the play was completely borrowed, but the best and main parts in it were composed by Pushkin. Mary's song is a lyrical song about the desire to live, to love, but the inability to resist death. The chairman's song reveals his courageous character. She is his life credo, his way of confronting the fear of death: “So, praise be to you, Plague, We are not afraid of the darkness of the grave...”
1830 was a triumphant year for Franz Kruger. What was Biedermeier for Pushkin? After all, today, when we say “Biedermeier came to Russia under Pushkin,” we combine these two concepts.
Franz Kruger (1797−1857) was a Prussian artist of the Biedermeier era who became a “completely fashionable painter” at the Russian court. In 1812 (the year of Borodin), a young man who talentedly drew birds entered the drawing school at the Berlin Academy of Arts. Here Kruger finds his “horse”: he draws soldiers, hunting scenes, horses... For which he receives the playful nickname “Pferde Krüger”. But the artist did not lose heart, and in 1820 he exhibited large equestrian portraits of the Prussian Prince August and Count Gneisenau at an academic exhibition. Who knows how long fate would have remained favorable to the artist... If in 1824 Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich had not visited Berlin as the chief of the 6th Prussian cuirassier regiment, and had not led this regiment in a ceremonial march in front of his father-in-law, King Frederick William III . The fact is that the Grand Duke ordered a painting from Franz Kruger. What was Berlin for the Grand Duke? In 1814, the 20-year-old met in Berlin the 16-year-old beauty and daughter of the Prussian King Frederick William III, Charlotte Frederica Louise Wilhemina. In 1824, the Grand Duke and father of three children learned that he would become emperor after the death of his brother Alexander. Six years passed, and in 1830 the painting “Parade in Berlin” was successfully demonstrated at an academic exhibition in the Prussian capital, and then was sent to St. Petersburg.
Franz Kruger - Parade on Opernplatz in Berlin (detail), 1824−31. Old National Gallery (Berlin)
Being a man of the Biedermeier era, Franz kept strict records, and of course had his own “household book”. While shipping the painting he had ordered to St. Petersburg, Kruger rang up a huge bill. “Its size, the complexity of the composition, the difficulties in executing almost 120 portraits and especially the many details required a lot of work and time,” the artist wrote to the Minister of the Imperial Court, Prince Volkonsky. “When working, I don’t use anyone’s help, and I painted this picture alone for two and a half years, refusing other orders. Therefore, I determined the price for it according to my annual income, which reaches 4,000 thalers, therefore 10,000 Prussian thalers. If you take into account the significant costs of painting the picture, the price of the frame and packaging costs, and finally the fact that until now I have not received or asked for anything, then I believe that His Majesty will find this price commensurate with my labors.”
The emperor liked the canvas, and the announced amount was promptly paid. Probably, today the artist’s fee can be compared with the fee of the coach of the national football team... At the then exchange rate, 10,000 Prussian thalers equaled 34,482 rubles 76 kopecks in banknotes. When the Minister of Justice Dmitriev was dismissed at the end of August 1814, Emperor Alexander I granted him a pension of 10,000 rubles in banknotes per year. Kruger bought a house in Berlin, where he lived until the end of his days. On February 22, 1831, the highest decree was issued to the Chapter of the Russian Imperial and Tsarist Orders: “The Royal Prussian professor and court painter Franz Kruger, as a sign of Our special favor and respect for his talent, We most graciously bestowed upon him the Knight of the Order of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, 4th degree. I command the Chapter to deliver him the insignia of the order and issue a certificate for it.” In Pushkin's time, the Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree gave the rights of hereditary nobility and could be granted to an official for 35 years of impeccable service.
This story had an unexpected continuation. The Emperor commissioned the artist Grigory Chernetsov to paint a view depicting the 1831 parade on Tsaritsyn Meadow “to the same extent as Kruger’s painting “Parade in Berlin” was painted.” Grigory Grigorievich Chernetsov (1801−1865) was born into a petty-bourgeois family of an icon painter in the city of Lukha, Kostroma province. The boy studied with his father and older brother, and would have become an icon painter if he had not met the journalist and publisher Pavel Svinin. Who once passed through Luha. At the request of Svinin, Chernetsov became a pensioner of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, and in 1820 he began attending the Academy as an outside student. Among the characters in the picture are: imperial family, military and civil officials, writers, artists, scientists, PEOPLE and peasants. During the work, the artist was twice awarded rings with diamonds, but in the end Chernetsov was paid 1,142 rubles in silver (almost 10 times less than Kruger’s fee). Pushkin posed for Chernetsov on April 15, 1832 in the house of Count Pavel Kutaisov on Bolshaya Millionnaya.
“Krylov, Pushkin, Zhukovsky and Gnedich in the Summer Garden”, G. Chernetsov, 1832.
1830 was the year for Russian Empire heavy. The international situation in Europe has become more complicated. Nicholas I described the situation in Russia this way: “... this puts us in a new and isolated, but I dare say, respectable and worthy position. Who dares to attack us? And if he dares, then I will find reliable support among the people...” In a word, Russia found itself isolated in Europe, and then there was an uprising in the Kingdom of Poland. And a cholera epidemic moved from the southeast of the country to the northwest. P. A. Vyazemsky about the constitution in Poland: “Constitutional canopies in despotic barracks are a monstrosity in the art of architecture, and the Poles feel it. It’s not warm for us from their hallway, but it’s very cold for them from our barracks.”
", "Mozart and Salieri", "The Stone Guest".) Below is a summary of it.
London during the terrible plague epidemic of 1665. The city is engulfed in horror and sorrow from many deaths. But in the middle of one of the streets, several men and women are carefreely feasting at a laid table. In the midst of a terrible disaster, these libertines decided to forget themselves, plunging into blasphemous pleasures for everyone to see.
One of those sitting at the table proposes a toast to the recently deceased Jackson - their mutual friend, funny and witty. The chairman of the company, the gloomy Walsingham, gives everyone a sign to drink, and then asks one of the girls, Mary, to sing a song.
Pensive, Scottish-yellow-haired Mary sings plaintively about the past happiness of the former days of her dear homeland. (See Mary's Song.) He was cruelly cut short by a merciless plague, which emptied the village church and school. Now, in the cemetery, the dead are constantly being carried around to the groans of the living. The singer asks: if she herself dies, let her beloved Edmond not approach the infected body, but rather flee from his native village. She will remember him in heaven forever.
Appearance of the Virgin Mary to victims of the plague. Painting by A. Zanki, painted a year after the London epidemic of 1665
Walsingham thanks Mary for the song. Dissatisfied with this, the beauty Louise begins to ridicule Mary’s “shouting voice” and “tearful gaze,” saying that she only fools gullible men with them. At this time, a cart full of dead bodies is driven past the feasters. Looking at her, the rude Louise faints. Mary soothes this “sister of her sorrow and shame” on her breast. The chairman philosophically notes that “the tender is weaker than the cruel, and fear lives in the soul, tormented by passions!”
The feasters ask that Walsingham himself now sing to them - and not a plaintive song, but a bacchanalian one. The chairman says: just yesterday, for the first time in his life, “a strange desire for rhymes came upon him.” He composed a hymn to the plague, which he will now perform.
Pushkin puts one of his most heartfelt poems into Walsingham’s mouth. (See Song of the Chairman.) A terrible plague, like a harsh winter, comes upon people, knocking on the windows not with frost, but with a grave shovel. So let’s not lose heart, but in defiance of the plague, let’s prepare merry feasts and balls, because:
...There is ecstasy in battle,
And the dark abyss on the edge,
And in the angry ocean,
Among the menacing waves and stormy darkness,
And in the Arabian hurricane,
And in the breath of the Plague.
Everything, everything that threatens death,
Hides for the mortal heart
Inexplicable pleasures -
Immortality, perhaps, is a guarantee!
And happy is the one who is in the midst of excitement
I could acquire and know them...
Pushkin. Feast during the plague. Chairman's song. In the role of Walsingham - A. Trofimov
An old priest approaches the feasters. He ardently reproaches the depraved madmen who have fun “amid the horror of mournful funerals,” disturbing the silence of the coffins and shaking the earth over the dead bodies. The participants of the feast drive the priest away. But he recognizes Walsingham and begins to reproach him. Three weeks ago, he fought with a cry over the corpse of his late mother, then he lost his wife Matilda, who selflessly loved him. The priest calls on the chairman to leave the revelry and remember the name of God.
Walsingham rises in a passionate outburst. He admits the priest is right, but says that despair, terrible memory and horror of the dead emptiness in own home They won’t let him return to his old life. He is lost forever, and let no one care about him anymore.
Having asked Walsingham for forgiveness, calling on God's salvation for his soul, the priest leaves. The feast continues amidst the plague. The chairman sits, deep in thought.
1The article examines one of the early replicas of “A Feast in the Time of Plague” - A. V. Timofeev’s mystery “The Last Day” (1835). Its exposition reproduces with amazing completeness the beginning of the “little tragedy,” but as the plot develops, other pretexts turn out to be more significant: Byron’s mystery “Heaven and Earth,” as well as Christian apocalypticism. In Pushkin’s “Feast...” Timofeev was attracted by the combination of themes of death and celebration of life, the problem of human behavior in the face of death. However, their development is polemical in relation to its predecessor: Timofeev’s feast during the plague is replaced by a feast the day before Last Judgment. Timofeev is trying to realize the eschatological potential of Pushkin’s text that has not been revealed, as it seemed to him, within the framework of a work of a different genre (mystery) and a different, from his point of view, philosophical scale.
dramaturgy
eschatology
romanticism
popular literature
intertextual relations
1. Alekseev M. P. J. Wilson and his “City of Plague” // Alekseev M. P. From history English literature: Sketches. Essays. Research. - M.; L.: Goslitizdat, 1960. - P. 390–418.
2. Byron. Heaven and earth. Mystery / Transl. I. A. Bunina // Earth. ― M.: Moscow Book Publishing House, 1909. ― Collection. 2. - pp. 1–44.
3. Zhirmunsky V. M. Goethe in Russian literature. ― L.: Nauka, Leningrad branch, 1981. ― 539 p.
4. Kiselev-Sergenin V.S. Notes // Poets of the 1820–1830s / General. ed. L. Ya. Ginzburg. ― L.: Leningrad branch of the publishing house " Soviet writer", 1972. - T. 2. - P. 733–736.
5. Pushkin A. S. Feast during the plague // Pushkin A. S. Complete. collection cit.: In 20 volumes - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2009. - T. 7: Dramatic works. - pp. 163-174.
6. Pushkin in lifetime criticism. 1831–1833 / Under general. ed. E. O. Larionova. - St. Petersburg: State Pushkin Theater Center in St. Petersburg, 2003. - 544 p.
7. Timofeev A.V. Last day // Experiments of T.M.F.A. ― St. Petersburg: In the printing house of Christian Ginze, 1837. ― Part I. ― pp. 305–347.
Pushkin's "A Feast in Time of Plague" (1830) was first published in 1832 in Baron Rosen's almanac "Alcyone". Soon the author included it in the collection of his “Poems” (St. Petersburg, 1832. Part 3). Critics did not show much interest in “The Feast...” In accordance with the subtitle - “From Wilson’s tragedy “The city of the plague” " - it was perceived as an ordinary translation. For some reviewers, the translation of the scene “is not clear by what respect the poet’s choice attracted attention,” while for others it was a translation, “where the charm and sonority of the verses argue with the depth of thought.” , that in the work of Pushkin’s contemporaries his “little tragedy” almost immediately found a lively response. Evidence of this is the “poetic picture” “The Last Day” by the popular poet and prose writer at that time, a representative of Russian “grassroots” romanticism, A. V. Timofeev, dated 1834. year, Timofeev’s work was published in 1835 (Library for reading. Vol. 10. Dept. 1), with minor changes and the addition of an epigraph, reprinted in the three-volume “Experiments” by Timofeev (St. Petersburg, 1837. Part I).
Apparently, for the first time communication " Last day"with Pushkin's dramatic scene was noted by M. P. Alekseev. Later, regardless of its predecessor, V.S. Kiselev-Sergenin also drew attention to it. Unfortunately, both researchers limited themselves to only a laconic statement of Timofeev’s dependence on Pushkin. Meanwhile, the nature of the reflection of “The Feast during the Plague” in the text of Timofeev’s “poetic picture” deserves the closest attention.
Related to the “little tragedy” general situation feast, the beginning of “The Last Day” testifies to its careful reading. True, unlike Pushkin’s play, Timofeev’s “poetic picture” is a drama for reading, which does not have any stage prospects. In particular, extensive stage directions play a special semantic and pictorial role in it, the purpose of which is far from ordinary staged explanations. This also applies to the description of the scene of action that opens the text of “The Last Day”: it both resembles Pushkin’s and differs significantly from it in volume and content: "Lovely valley . The sky is clear. Dawn. Light morning breeze. From all sides the fragrance of flowers and the singing of birds.
The valley is lined with tables laden with food and wine. There are many people of both sexes around the tables. In the distance there is a city, several villages and fields covered with harvest." .
Home pages The “paintings” are essentially tracings of Pushkin’s text. The very first remark is the address of the main character of the work, the Chairman of the feast, to his friend: “Well, Emma, sing us something! / It’s somehow more fun when singing / And you talk, and eat, and drink. / Look, the morning is just getting light, / And we are all dozing, as if the night / We were lulled to sleep like a nanny...") - at the same time it also reminds us of Walsingham’s request: “Sing, Mary, we are sad and drawn-out, / So that we can then turn to joy / Crazier, like one who was excommunicated from the earth / Was excommunicated by some vision,” and the call to him from Pushkin’s Young Man: “...sing / To us a song, a free, living song, / Not inspired by Scottish sadness, / But a riotous one, a bacchanalian song, / Born over a boiling cup." The role of both Mary’s “plaintive song” and, in part, the expected “Bacchanalian” song of Walsingham in “The Last Day” is played by a rather primitive text that reproduces the commonplaces of Anacreontic poetry - the motives of value and at the same time the transience of life and its pleasures: “E mma (sings). Friends, this light is beautiful, / Even more beautiful is the inspiration; / Beautiful glory youth, - / The most beautiful thing is pleasure. / Life does not bloom forever for us; / So let’s stock up on flowers! / Otherwise the wind will blow them away / And we will trample them under our feet. / Life doesn’t care about us, - / It flies like an arrow... Catch it quickly! / Friends, wake up! The hour is precious: - / It will pass, - it will die... Do not return it.”
The feasters perceive Emma's song as programmatic, exactly corresponding to their philosophy of life. They enthusiastically repeat her lines, respond to her with the same words with which Pushkin’s heroes express their readiness to listen to Walsingham’s hymn to the Plague: “Lovely! - Bravo, bravo! - Handicap! / “Life doesn’t bloom forever for us!” ...", without hesitation they follow the calls contained in the song: "Emma's health! - Yours. - Drink! - / "Friends, wake up! The hour is precious!" - / Guilt! I'm as cheerful as a child! / More! More! - Hurry!.. Glass! - / Well, our music has stopped! - / Hey, musicians!..” .
The fun of the participants in the feast is temporarily interrupted by the ringing of bells and the sight of a funeral procession (analogous to Pushkin’s “cart filled with dead bodies"). It turns out that one of the recent participants in the feast is being buried (an obvious parallel to the memories of the late Jaxon in the “little tragedy”). This event leads those gathered to think about the frailty of everything earthly: “Poor Iorik / Was very ill, they say. /<...>This is our life. / How long ago, it seems, between us / He sat here and said, / What if he wants get hold of, / That will outlive the whole world!..” So in “The Last Day”, along with the call “carpe diem”, the theme of “mento mori” also arises, dotted through the next few episodes of the feast.
Like Pushkin’s Young Man, who in a similar situation tries to distract those around him from sad thoughts and turns to Walsingham with a request to perform a “violent, bacchanalian song,” Timofeev’s Chairman calls on those present to “drown” the blues: “Fill the cups full!”, “Let’s have a fun story” : “So let each of the guests / Tell us<...>when I was happy." The answering reasonings of numerous characters in the “poetic picture” occupy the entire middle part of this rather great work. Each speaker offers his own understanding of happiness. For some it is love, art, modest income, the joy of motherhood, for others it is fame, wealth, power, honors... The Chairman of the feast sums up the discussion with a story about his own life. It turns out that in the past he experienced much of what the participants of the feast strive for - from frantic love passion before fame, he wore royal purple, but in the end he was disappointed in everything, finding satisfaction only in a cheerful friendly circle. Like Walsingham's hymn, the Chairman of the Feast's monologue dramatically elevates central character works over his surroundings.
An extensive fragment of a “poetic picture” dedicated to the topic happiness, means that its author retreated from the original principle of consistent copying of Pushkin’s text. However, the connection between the two works is not interrupted. Immediately before the Chairman’s speech, another character appears on the pages of “The Last Day” - closely reminiscent of Pushkin’s Old Priest, an Old Man in Rags. He calls on the feasters: “Repent! The hour is near!<...>Open your eyes; wake up / From your sinful sleep,” and immediately after the Chairman’s story, he denounces the whole modern world: “Debauchery is all around, temptations are all around, / Shamelessness and shame are all around; / There is no religion, no honor.” However, Timofey’s hedonists, like the characters in the “little tragedy,” remain deaf to his invective and apocalyptic prophecies: “Away with him! - Get out! - Get out! - / Let him preach to the stones!..”
Despite the striking difference in the artistic level of the works under consideration, the degree of closeness between “The Last Day” and “The Feast during the Plague” is impressive. It is obvious that the attention of the author of the “poetic picture” was attracted by the combination in the “little tragedy” of the themes of death and celebration of life, the problem of human behavior in the face of terrible danger. However, he tries to develop these themes within the framework of a different plan, further moving far away from his source. And the main thing here is an attempt to philosophically deepen Pushkin’s situation, giving it a new scale, sharpening and directly bringing to the fore the eschatological theme. Within this new plot, the portion of the text from “The Last Day” that duplicates “The Feast in the Time of Plague” plays the role of exposition.
As already mentioned, when reprinting his dramatic poem, Timofeev preceded its text with a previously missing epigraph - a fragment of the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (vv. 37-39): “As it was in the days of Noah: so will the coming of the son of man.
For as in the days before the flood I ran, eating and drinking, marrying and committing violence, until the day before Noah went into the ark, and did not see, but the water came and took it all: so will the coming of the son of man be.”
It is very likely that the above lines served as the impetus for the birth of the idea for “The Last Day.” The epigraph not only points to the worldwide cataclysm depicted in the work, but also emphasizes the mysterious nature of the “picture”, defines its plot and two-part composition: immersed in earthly joys and worries, Timofeev’s numerous heroes (and with them humanity as such) are not ready for already very close to the Last Judgment.
The fragment of the Gospel also predetermines the nature of the rethinking of Pushkin’s work: the feast during plague under the pen of Timofeev it turns into a feast the day before The Last Judgment. Without hesitating in places to almost copy the text of the “little tragedy” (one can assume that this was due to its perception as an ordinary translation, that is, not a completely original text that does not actually belong to Pushkin), the author of “The Last Day” tries to see its central situation, to realize, as it apparently seemed to him, the not fully identified eschatological potential of “The Feast...”. He proposed his development of Pushkin's themes within the framework of a work of a different genre (mystery) and, from his point of view, a different philosophical scale.
As in “A Feast in the Time of Plague,” in Timofeev’s dramatic poem the table merriment of the characters is constantly overshadowed by reminders of death and suffering. In addition to the already mentioned funeral of “poor Yorick”, these are the complaints of the sick Old Man, the melancholy of the unfortunate young man, a song of dancers about “evil Saturn”, prophecies of the Old Man in rags, ominous natural omens. But if characters"little tragedy", being in mortal danger, consciously respond to this threat - trying to forget, showing humility and self-sacrifice, or challenging the Plague - then the characters in “The Last Day” simply do not notice the impending disaster, mindlessly immersing themselves in fun. Their “last day” is hectic. They drive away the thought of a departed brother, drive away the accusatory prophet with laughter, frivolously explain the burning in the West morning dawn by natural causes, and what rises after that second the sun is perceived as a comet. They find themselves not ready to meet their end, and remember faith and mercy only at the very moment of universal catastrophe.
The final part of “The Last Day” depicts this cataclysm - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, prayers of the human crowd, the destruction of humanity and the planet itself, disintegrating into many fragments. Extensive remarks play a decisive role in creating a picture of general destruction: “ Water turns into blood.<...>Everywhere there is deep darkness and solemn silence, interrupted by groans, roars and gnashing of teeth. The coffins open with a bang; the dead rise and join the living". “The earth is cracking terribly and splitting in different places. Masses of fire with sulfuric suffocating smoke begin to flare up from huge chasms, and from time to time they illuminate the crowds of people gathered in the darkness.” .
If for the beginning of the “poetic picture” Pushkin’s pretext is most relevant, then in its second part Timofeev focuses on Christian apocalypticism and the associated tradition of European eschatological literature - first of all, on Byron’s mystery “Heaven and Earth”, also based on the Holy Scriptures and directly dedicated global flood- the very times of Noah, which are mentioned in the epigraph to the “Last Day”. Timofeev borrows from Byron genre form works with its conventionally mythological plan and cosmic arena of action. The picture of the destruction of the world presented by Timofeev in its details resembles both “Heaven and Earth” by Byron and the famous poem English poet"Darkness." Timofeev's Chorus of earth spirits from Byron's mystery corresponds to the Chorus of fiery spirits and the Chorus of black spirits representing the forces of evil, and Byron's Chorus of mortals - the Chorus of spirits in a bloody pillar (innocent victims of the world) and the Chorus of the righteous. The final flight of the Chairman of the feast and his beloved Emma (“ The wind blows them off the cliff. They circle for a while in the fog and disappear") evokes Byron's remark: "Carrying with them Ana and Agolibama, Azaziel and Samiaz disappear into the sky."
The image of the universal cataclysm also contains numerous references to the Holy Scriptures - the Revelation of St. John the Theologian, the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, the Gospel of Matthew... But it is curious that in this part of the “Last Day” his connection with the “Feast in Time of Plague” is not interrupted. At the moment of the collapse of the world main character Timofeeva perceives only the poetic side of what is happening: “Look! When should we expect / Such a picture?.. Never!” . Literally finding himself in the situations that Walsingham sings in his hymn - “a gloomy abyss on the edge, / And in an angry ocean / Among the menacing waves and stormy darkness,” he also experiences Walsingham’s “rapture” of the disastrous: “ (The earth shakes. Volcanoes flare up in different places.<...>The chairman of the feast and Emma escape to the cliff(i.e. they really find themselves on the edge of the abyss . - A.K.)). <...>Chairman.<...>Look here / At this wonderful picture! / See how chaos began to boil, / Exploding in stormy waves, / The airy, terrible ocean, / And suddenly, scattering into mountains, / Like an endless hurricane, / Roared, waved, rose up and proudly / Rested against the formidable vault of heaven.” Truly, “Everything, everything that threatens death / For the mortal heart conceals / Inexplicable pleasures...”.
Much like Walsingham, Timofeev's character clearly surpasses him in his titanism. Characteristic for romantic literature The motive of the hero's affinity with the raging elements appears in the author of the mystery in its hyperbolized, extreme possible expression. The chairman of the feast is also endowed with demonic contempt for humanity (“Look! What is there blackening in the distance / And swarming like worms? - / Ah! These are people! - Here they are / Heroes - in festive caftans, / And pathetic cowards - in trouble!.. “Timofeev’s above-mentioned desire to “enlarge” the problematics of “A Feast in the Time of Plague” also determines the transformation of the image of his main character.
A comparison of Pushkin’s “little tragedy” and Timofeev’s mystery allows us to use specific material to describe one of the options for mastering the peak achievements of modern Russian literature by “mass” literature. Taken in its relation to The Feast of the Plague, The Last Day reveals a paradoxical combination of derivativeness and originality, epigonism and polemic. Based on Pushkin's dramatic scene, the ambitious Timofeev clearly did not intend to appear before the reader as a successor, much less an imitator, of his famous predecessor. He sought to surpass him, to become an artist of a different type, a “poet of thought” - a “Russian Byron.”
Reviewers:
Bagno V.E., Doctor of Philology, Professor, Director of the Institute of Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg;
Virolainen M.N., Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head. Department of Pushkin Studies, Institute of Literary Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg.
Bibliographic link
Karpov A.A. “A Feast IN TIMES OF PLAGUE” by A. S. PUSHKIN IN “POETIC PICTURE” by A. V. TIMOFEEV “THE LAST DAY” // Contemporary issues science and education. – 2014. – No. 6.;URL: http://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=16505 (access date: 02/06/2020). We bring to your attention magazines published by the publishing house "Academy of Natural Sciences"
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- Select design and packaging
- Click the "add to cart" button and proceed to checkout
In the shopping cart you can edit your order, connect additional options, such as: urgent order, use of a special offer, receiving a discount on the Erarta Museum Subscription and other options.
Next, proceed to selecting a convenient payment method for you. The Erarta Shop online store operates only on 100% advance payment of the order. The standard production time for reproductions of paintings and souvenirs is up to 7 working days.
The Erarta Shop online store operates only on 100% advance payment of the order. The standard production time for reproductions of paintings and souvenirs is up to 7 working days.
We deliver goods anywhere in the world.
You can choose one of the following delivery types:
- Pickup (St. Petersburg)
You can pick up your order at the Erarta Museum building at the address: St. Petersburg, V.O. 29th line, no. 2, ticket office No. 1 at the reception: daily from 10:00 to 20:30.
- Delivery of goods by courier (in St. Petersburg)
Courier delivery in St. Petersburg within the Ring Road is usually carried out on the next business day after the order is transferred to the courier. You will see the delivery cost when your order is placed. You can pay for delivery along with your order.
For an order that includes an original, sculpture or piece of furniture, only “Premium” delivery is possible - it includes insurance of the goods.
- Delivery of goods by courier service (delivery to Moscow, throughout Russia and abroad)
We work with transport companies EMS and TNT. Transport companies deliver orders to your door. Before delivery, they will contact you to confirm delivery time.
You can pay for your order in the following ways:
- Cash or by bank card in the store (St. Petersburg)
- By bank card online
- Paypal
- Bank transfer on an account for a legal entity
- Bank transfer to account using receipt
When ordering in the online storeErartaShopyou can be sure that:
- Buy reproductions of paintings of the highest quality
- All images are valuable. Paintings from our assortment have been carefully selected by specialists knowledgeable in contemporary art.
- Do not violate copyright. We have copyright on all images.
- Do you support Russian contemporary art, because we direct all income to the development of the Erarta project.
Since all our products are created according to the Client’s order, that is, according to the parameters chosen by him, the cases of its return have restrictions, some of which are listed below.
Please read them carefully!
We we guarantee refund for the received product if it does not correspond to what was ordered. The customer has the right to return such a product and receive a refund or replace it with a product of good quality that meets the parameters of a previously placed order.
We we don't guarantee refund (but we always try to accommodate the client halfway) for the received product if the shade of the main image, its elements or the frame of the product does not correspond to what was expected, the product was not liked or does not fit into the interior.
The right to return or replace goods does not apply to goods of proper quality. In addition, the Client cannot refuse the ordered goods before receiving it, and after receiving it - only in the cases indicated above. We hope for your understanding.
