A.N. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden": description, characters, analysis of the work

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky can rightfully be considered the creator of the repertoire for the national Russian theater. Despite the fact that he became famous most of all for his works about the customs of the Russian merchant class (which the critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov very aptly nicknamed " dark kingdom”), among the gloomy and slightly scary stories from the life of Zamoskvoretsk merchants there is a very bright and fairy tale – "Snow Maiden" written in 1873.

At the core plot playwright used Russian folk tale from the collection of Alexander Afanasiev "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature." That is why Slavic higher and lower deities act in the play: Yarilo, Frost, Spring, Goblin. The peculiarity is that the play "The Snow Maiden", unlike all the previous ones, is written in verse, but without rhyme. However, the unified rhythm of the work made it possible to set it to music. The whole play is a kind of poetic stylization of Russian folklore, which Ostrovsky was then passionate about.

This is explained by the fact that in 1873 the troupe of the Maly Theater was forced to move to Grand Theatre during the repair. So under one roof were opera, ballet and drama troupes. Then the commission of management of the Moscow imperial theaters decided to put on an extravaganza performance with the participation of all the artists. Ostrovsky composed the play in a short time, finishing on the day of his fiftieth birthday. And the music for the performance was written by a young and then little-known composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Thus, Ostrovsky's lyrical play became multi-level, layered work, as it embodied both the folk tale about the snow maiden and the folk legend about ancient tribe Berendey, and mythological features Slavic legends, and ancient rituals and songs. And also " spring fairy tale» Ostrovsky breathes with such purity of poetry that it reminds of Pushkin's fairy tales. Yes, and in terms of meaning, there is a lot of Pushkin in it: life appears as the magic of beauty and tragedy at the same time, and goodness in a person turns out to be a natural basis.

Therefore, the life of nature in the play looks like a realm of harsh contrasts of cold and heat, lifelessness and flowering. Ostrovsky writes about nature as about man. The landscape resembles a portrait in which the artist peers. The abundance of emotional epithets, comparisons that put natural phenomena in line with human feelings, emphasize the closeness of natural and human principles in the mind of the playwright.

The action of the play takes place in the kingdom of Berendey. It is more like a kind of utopian state in which people live according to the laws of honor and conscience, fearing to provoke the wrath of the gods: this is a kind of ideal social structure created by Ostrovsky. Even the tsar, who in Rus' was the sole ruler, autocrat, embodies folk wisdom in the work. He worries about his people in a fatherly way: it seems to him that his subjects have ceased to notice the beauty of nature, but are more experiencing vanity and envy. That's why he got angry with the Berendey Yarilo, who every year freezes people more and more. Then Berendey discovers one of the main laws of nature: "All living things must love". And he asks his assistant Bermyata on Yarilin Day to gather as many grooms and brides as possible in order to sanctify their marriage and make a sacrifice to the Sun God.

However, the main dramaturgical conflict is associated precisely with the confrontation between love and "heart chill" in the soul of the Snow Maiden, who lives in the cold purity of loneliness, and with her soul strives for the fire of love, which is why she must perish. Father Frost warns mother Spring-Krasna about this: he says that Yarilo swore to take revenge on him using their daughter Snegurochka. Say, when she truly loves, Yarilo will melt her with his hot rays.

The Snow Maiden did not immediately know what true love is. Once in the family of a childless Bobyl, the girl expects the same love that from her mother and father. But Bobyl and Bobylikha perceive adopted daughter as a kind of bait for rich suitors. Only the grooms are not the same: many guys quarreled with their girls because of the Snow Maiden, but neither she is ready to give her heart, nor are ordinary berendeys satisfied with adoptive parents.

The Snow Maiden herself likes the shepherd boy Lel, who generously bestows all the girls in the area with his songs. This hurts the heroine: she wants to be loved only by her. When is the rich bridegroom, "trading guest" Mizgir, ready to give up all her wealth for the sake of the Snow Maiden, she cannot find feelings for him in her heart. Everyone is unhappy: Kupava, the failed bride of Mizgir, Mizgir, who can no longer think of anyone but the Snow Maiden, who captivated him with her beauty, and the Snow Maiden herself suffers because she does not know what true love is.

Turning to her mother for help, the heroine gets what she wanted more than anything in the world - the opportunity to love. Vesna-Krasna says that she will love the first person she meets. Fortunately, it turns out to be Mizgir, and the reader can imagine that now everything will end happily. But no, Mizgir, intoxicated with the love of the Snow Maiden, wants to show everyone that he was able to achieve his goal - the reciprocity of the beauty. Not listening to the requests of the girl, he literally drags her up the mountain, where the Berendeys met the dawn, and under the first rays of the sun the Snow Maiden dissolves. Having yielded to human law, she melts "from the sweet feelings of love."

The melting of the Snow Maiden is a victory over the “traces of cold” in the heart. She was ready to die for the right to love with all her heart. Mizgir said about it: "Love and fear fought in her soul". Now fear has been cast aside, and the Snow Maiden is in last minutes her short life is given only to love.

Fearless and Mizgir. He kept his promise: "Trouble will come - we will die together". The death of the Snow Maiden is a disaster for him, so he rushes into the lake to connect with the cool water into which the Snow Maiden has turned, until recently warm in his warm embrace.

But Tsar Berendey calls the death of the Snow Maiden "sad", Then "wonderful". The difference between these epithets suggests to the reader a way out of tragedy into life-affirmation. The death of the Snow Maiden and the holiday of the Berendeys are close by. Its fading brings a flood of light into the world. No wonder the king says:

Snow Maiden sad death
And the terrible death of Mizgir
They cannot disturb us; The sun knows
Whom to punish and pardon ...

Thus the tragedy of the individual is dissolved in the general chorus of nature. In Pushkin's words, the author's sadness is bright because the human soul is bright: it turns out to be free and fearless in love, it is stronger than the fear of self-preservation.

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky is known for his works, which have become an integral part of every person's life. For his perspicacity and very bright, but at the same time with a touch of tragedy, the works they found a response in films and in the theater. He wrote his famous work The Snow Maiden in 1873 based on the collection of fairy tales by Alexander Afanasyev. Special writing in verse and without rhyme and elements of ballet gives the work a certain zest and originality.

After the release of the work on his birthday, on his anniversary, the music for future play written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Thanks to the harmony of text and musical lines, this work has become multi-level and multi-tasking with a story about a snow maiden and legends with rituals and songs. This whole fantastic and magical play is the embodiment of fabulous motives with solemn motives.

The plot of the work develops in the kingdom of Berendey. The main conflict is the desire to love and not be alone. Father Frost notices this and tries to warn mother Vesna-Krasna that Yarilo wants to melt the Snow Maiden with hot rays because of the violated canons of celibacy.

The life of the Snow Maiden was not always joyful and happy. Once in the family of the peasant Bobyl, she does not feel that she is dear to them. For them, she is the bait for a successful party in marriage. She is beautiful and sweet, but the desire to be loved makes itself felt. However, she turns her attention to the shepherd Lel, who gives his songs to everyone in the area. When Mizgir appears on the threshold, she realizes that she does not feel love for him. He is intoxicated with love and, in a passionate impulse, trying to prove that he has achieved his goal, he takes the Snow Maiden to the mountain, where she melts under the rays of the hot sun. All the feelings that overwhelm Mizgir make him throw himself into the lake because of the loss of love. In response to this, Yarilo does not regret the death of two lovers, but on the contrary, punishes them for their disobedience. Instead of mourning, he makes everyone sing a cheerful song, since this death means nothing to him.

The talking birds have their own place in the play. They sing about the completed system

This play is the embodiment of beauty and magic, but at the same time there is a tragedy that is overcome with the help of goodness in the soul of every person. All human vices appear before us, but the shortcomings fade against the background of love and desired happiness. Now the soul of the Snow Maiden is free and happy. In the last minutes of her life, she became loved and cherished just like her mother and father.

Option 2

A.N. Ostrovsky wrote the play "The Snow Maiden" based on the plot of a fairy tale invented by the Russian people, therefore the work describes Slavic deities such as: Yarilo, Frost, Spring - Krasna and Leshy.

The work "The Snow Maiden" is written in poetic form, but without rhyme, thus it is very different from other works by Ostrovsky. It has a single rhythm, which made it possible to combine the text with the music.

The play shows all the colors of the kingdom of nature: harsh winters and hot summers, flowering and lifelessness of plants. The author describes a portrait of nature, as well as a person. There are many different epithets and comparisons in the work, which show that every natural phenomenon is similar to human feelings.

The work describes the actions taking place in the mythical Berendey kingdom. In it, each person observes the law of honor and conscience, they are afraid to anger the gods. The tsar, described by Ostrovsky, worries about his people, he thinks that the inhabitants do not see the true natural beauty, they have become conceited and envious.

The Snow Maiden is lonely, but her soul wants great and pure love, from which she must perish. The girl really liked the shepherd Lel, who gave his beautiful songs to every girl in the village, which hurts the Snow Maiden very much. The main character of the play wants to be loved only by her.

Foster parents want to marry the girl to a rich groom, but the Snow Maiden has no feelings for the young man. Several people become unhappy from this, and the girl herself suffers, because she does not know what true love is.

The Snow Maiden asked her mother Vesna to give her the opportunity to fall in love. To which she received the answer that the girl would fall in love with the first person she met, who turned out to be Mizgir. The young man was in love and is trying to show everyone that he has achieved reciprocity from an adamant beauty. He dragged the Snow Maiden by force to meet the dawn on the mountain and with the first rays of the sun the girl melted. It shows how cold even loving heart unable to listen to others.

The Snow Maiden was ready to give her life, just to feel love. Mizgir, having promised his beloved about a joint death, when trouble comes, rushed into the lake with cold water. The human soul is free and has no fear when in love.

Analysis of the work Snow Maiden 3

By genre, the work belongs to a lyrical fairy tale, called by the author spring, the basis of the plot of which the writer borrows from folk legends.

The action of the play takes place in the kingdom of Berendey invented by the writer, in which main character works of the Snow Maiden, presented by the author in the form of a young girl, having Frost and Spring-Krasna as parents. Berendey's kingdom is portrayed by the author as a utopian state dominated by the laws of conscience and honor, as well as worship of the will of the gods.

Girl leaving Father's house due to the excessive guardianship of Frost, he lives in the family of Bobylikh and Bobyl, who are eager to successfully marry the Snow Maiden in order to get rich. However, the girl dreams of a strong and sincere feeling of love, which is beyond her control.

The meeting with the young shepherd Lel, who, unlike other male representatives, is indifferent to the Snow Maiden, changes the girl, and she persuades her mother to give her the opportunity to enjoy wonderful moments of love. Spring-Krasna yields to her daughter's request, giving her the opportunity to experience love, but mother and father Frost foresee the imminent disaster that comes with the appearance of the first rays of the spring sun, melting the heart of the Snow Maiden, who only realized the beauty and power of love, to her death. Beloved Mizgir, who turned out to be the very object of the girl's first feeling, unable to bear her loss, ends his life by throwing himself into a pond, dreaming of reunion with the Snow Maiden who turned into water.

A distinctive feature of a complex and multifaceted piece is its unique rhythm and melodiousness, creating the impression of a rhymed verse, while there are no rhymes in the text of the piece. In addition, the play uses numerous colloquial phrases borrowed from Russian folk tales. In addition, the storyline of the play has a variety of secondary themes, including Slavic legends, legends about the Berendey tribe, ancient rituals, dances and songs.

As a means artistic expressiveness Numerous emotional epithets and comparisons are used in the work, emphasizing the close connection between nature and man.

The central role in the narrative is given to the dramatic conflict associated with the opposing force of love and the coldness of the soul of the Snow Maiden, who seeks to hide from the chilling loneliness in a love fire.

The semantic load of the play demonstrates the interconnection of natural and human phenomena in the form of light and darkness, cold and heat, which, being in eternal struggle and contradictions, do not exist without each other, and also asserts the meaninglessness of life in the absence of love.

"Snegurochka" - "spring tale" by A.N. Ostrovsky. Written in March-August 1873. First publication: Vestnik Evropy (1873, No. 9). Upon completion of work on the play, A.N. Ostrovsky told N.A. Nekrasov: "In this work I go out on a new road." The novelty of the play, perceived as the playwright's "prelude to the historical galleries", did not meet with unequivocal approval. I.S. Turgenev was "captivated by the beauty and lightness of the language of the play", highly appreciated the poetry of the national tradition contained in it. But those who appreciated the gift of a satirist and accuser in Ostrovsky were disappointed. Criticism ironically noted the similarity of some motifs of the "spring tale" with Shakespeare's comedy "Dream in midsummer night". The habit of perceiving Ostrovsky as an everyday writer of the "dark kingdom" led to the rejection of the "ghostly-meaningless" images of the play and the assessment of the Berendeys as "a people as stupid as fantastic" (V.P. Burenin).

The source of the poetic imagery of the play "The Snow Maiden" by Ostrovsky was Slavic mythology. The plot was based on a folk tale about a snow maiden (published by I.A. Khudyakov in 1862). information about beliefs and religious beliefs ancient Slavs Ostrovsky drew from fundamental research A.N. Afanasyev "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature" (1865-1869). Ritual songs, games, figurative motifs of lyrical monologues were compiled from the records of folklorists and ethnographers A.V. Tereshchenko, T.I. Filippova, P.N. Rybnikova and others. The poetic meter of the song of the guslar choir, which begins the second act, was brought closer by the playwright to the rhythm of the prose "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". The Snow Maiden can be regarded as a mythological and poetic prologue to Ostrovsky's late dramaturgy, the result of his reflections on the spiritual foundations of Russian life. The author's definition of the genre as a "spring tale" gives the key to the content of the play about the spring of folk life.

The "initial", "early" time of the action is the right time Slavic tribe. The space of life of the Berendeys (the name is taken from The Tale of Bygone Years, but there it belongs to the allied Rus' Turkic tribe) spiritualized and animated, material and beautiful. This is the dawn of the universe - the golden age: "Cheerful are the cities in the country of the Berendeys, joyful are the songs in the groves and dales / The world is red with Berendey's power." The fabulously utopian kingdom of Berendey is built on the principles of truth and love. The religion of the Berendeys is the “natural”, “natural” religion of the people, in which the cause of the law is “written in the hearts” and sacredly observed by all. The wise and fair guardian of the law is Berendey, “the great king of happy Berendeys”, “intercessor for all orphans”, “father of his land”.

The children of nature, the Berendeys live with her in happy harmony, joyfully obeying her basic law - the law of love: “Nature invariably sets the time for love for everyone ...” Love for the Berendeys is the beginning of life; “lovely ardor” is a necessary condition for its continuation. It binds together all the elements of the universe, ensures its epic balance. Ritual, ritual love is the earthly embodiment of the sacred marriage of earth and Heaven, the key to the well-being of the Berendey kingdom. In sacred time (Yarilin Day) in the reserved forest, the marriage celebration is performed to the glory of the supreme deity Yarila: “There is no more pleasing Yarila sacrifice!”. As children of nature, the Berendeys are paganly indifferent to the “personal” principle in love. (This is especially noticeable in the impersonal affectionateness of the “favorite of the sun” the shepherd Lel, in the “lovefulness” of Elena the Beautiful, etc.) This is where the grain lies. tragic conflict.

The appearance of the Snow Maiden among people threatens to destroy the natural order of life. The daughter of Spring and Frost, she does not “know love at all” and therefore, in the eyes of the Berendeys, she acts as a violator of the natural law: “Every living thing in the world must love ...”. The coldness of the heroine, her "otherworldly" beauty gives rise to jealousy, abuse, and strife among the Berendeys. There comes a "great chill in the hearts", the religious "service to beauty" disappears, the whole way of life of people is violated. In anger, Yarila knows no mercy and deprives the Berendeys of fertile warmth: the short summer "year by year becomes shorter, and the springs are colder ...".

The grain of the tragic conflict sprouts when the "proud spirit" Mizgir, carried away by the beauty of the Snow Maiden, cheats on the beautiful Kupava. This unheard-of violation of human law heralds the end of a carefree and trouble-free golden age. The personal self-will of love feelings encroaches on the very essence of the religion of love of the Berendeys. Mizgir and Snegurochka, alien to the tribal unity of the Berendeys, bring chaos and destruction into their harmonious and orderly existence. The “personal” enters into an insoluble contradiction with the “generic” and its death becomes inevitable. The Snow Maiden dies, having begged the gift of love from Mother Spring for the sake of initiation to the human race. Her "otherworldly" beauty melted under the furious rays of the supreme patron of the local world. Mizgir, “deceived by the gods,” dies, throwing himself into the lake from Yarilina Mountain: “If the gods are deceivers, it’s not worth living in the world!”

Cruelty to the lawless manifestations of personal feelings sounds in the words of the reigning sage Berendey: “The snow maiden’s sad death and the terrible death of Mizgir cannot disturb us. The sun knows whom to punish and pardon. A true judgment has been made!..” The conflict between “law” and “will”, “one's own” and “alien” leads to the final catastrophe. This is how “the birth of tragedy from the spirit of the epic” takes place.

Ostrovsky's The Snow Maiden was staged for the first time on May 11, 1873 at the Maly Theater (Moscow). The music for the performance was written by P.I. Chaikovsky. The title role was played by G.N. Fedotov. IN Alexandrinsky theater(Petersburg) the play was staged for the first time on December 27, 1900 - for the benefit performance of K.A. Varlamov, the performer of the role of Tsar Berendey. The title role was played by V.F. Komissarzhevskaya. Among other productions, it is worth noting the performance of the New Theater (Moscow), which premiered on September 8, 1900. Directed by A.P. Lensky's play sounded like a drama of love. IN Art Theater(Moscow) the play was staged by K.S. Stanislavsky (first performance - September 24, 1900, the role of Berendey was played by V.I. Kachalov).

In 1881 N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the opera The Snow Maiden, first staged on January 29, 1882 at the Mariinsky Theater (Petersburg), conducted by E.F. Guide. Among other productions of the opera, one should note the premiere on October 8, 1885 of the Private Russian Opera by S.I. Mamontova ( decoration performance - B.M. Vasnetsov, I.I. Levitan, K.A. Korovin). At the Bolshoi Theater (Moscow), the first premiere of the opera took place on January 26, 1893.

The play by A. N. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden" and the opera of the same name by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov created on its basis is a kind of anthem to Russian folklore, a tribute of respect and admiration for the richest heritage pagan Rus', her beliefs, traditions, rituals and wise attitude to life in harmony with nature.

Talking about the folklorism of these works is both easy and difficult. It's easy because folklore, ethnography constitute the essence, content, language of both plays and operas. Many facts lie here on the surface, so it is not difficult to find the primary sources of images, storylines, episodes in fairy tale, song, ritual material. We are amazed and delighted by the author's penetration into the world of Russian archaic and contemporary playwright and composer folk art, surprisingly careful and at the same time brightly individual, bold processing of this layer national culture and the creation on the basis of his greatest beauty, depth of thought works, consonant with the past and the present.

The difficulty, and no small one, lies in the fact that the folklorism of the "Snow Maiden" is fraught with many mysteries and hidden meaning. This always puzzles and fascinates, this is the enduring value and power of art, its eternal relevance and novelty. Let's take the accepted genre definition of "The Snow Maiden" - a spring fairy tale. It seems that everything is clear, but, strictly speaking, it is not true: what is happening before us is by no means a fairy-tale action, if only because it ends with the death of the main characters, which classic fairy tale not typical at all. This is pure mythology, seen through the thickness of centuries, understood and processed artists of the XIX centuries. Even more precisely, the plot of The Snow Maiden could be described as an ancient calendar myth, saturated with later texts of ritual, song, epic content, which preserved, if not entirely, then partially, the features of the archaic view of the world, the place and role of man in the cosmo-natural universe.

By the way, what we habitually call a folk tale about a girl molded from snow melting under the rays of the summer sun is also not a fairy tale. Let us note in parentheses: the story about the Snow Maiden stands alone in the traditional fairy tale repertoire, it has practically no options and is very short, rather reminiscent of a parable about the natural punishment for neglecting the rules of behavior due to the laws of nature, and the unviability of artificial, unnaturally created contrary to the laws of life.

The main thing in the plot of the play and opera is the idea of ​​harmony between man and nature, admiration for the beauty of the surrounding world and the expediency of the laws of natural life. All this, in the opinion of many representatives of the Russian intelligentsia of the 19th century, was once characteristic of human society and lost with the advent of civilization of the Western European, urban type. Today one can see how strong the nostalgia for the “ideal past” was in Russian society and how much this was based on the desire, characteristic of Russia, to find out one’s roots, where everything “has gone”, to understand and comprehend today’s self through its historical and mythological past, to heal and to correct modern society through an appeal to the precepts of the gray-haired antiquity.

without touching author's intention and purely professional techniques of composer creativity, I will limit myself to a few comments on the folklore and ethnographic realities reflected in the libretto of the opera by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Separate details, plot twists, motivations, now perceived as secondary, or even simply strange, in fact turn out to be extremely important and help to penetrate into the depths of the people's worldview, to understand the symbolism and logic of actions actors operas.

The Red Hill is mentioned several times in the play and in the libretto. First, Spring appears here, then young Berendeys - girls and boys - go here to dance. On Krasnaya Gorka she meets Kupava Mizgir and falls in love with him. This, of course, is not accidental. Firstly, it has long been on the heights, the hills, that the girls called spring, going there to sing stoneflies and meet the arrival of birds. It was called Krasnaya Gorka, and in some places it is still called the first spring festivities of young people on the street after winter hut gatherings. The first Sunday after Easter is also called Red Hill; it is considered a happy day for marriage. Yarilina Gora "Snow Maiden", one might say, takes over the baton of the Red Hill, realizing its marriage, erotic orientation and enhancing the motives for the flourishing of the productive forces of nature, the productivity of the land.

The Snow Maiden brilliantly reflects the mythological idea of ​​the eternal cycle of life and the strict laws of nature: everything has its own time, everything is inevitably born, matures, grows old and dies; winter should be followed by spring, which will surely be replaced by summer, then, in strict order, autumn and winter. Such an order is a condition for the eternal existence of the Universe, man and culture. Violation of the order and the correct course of things, interference in the once and for all established stream of life is fraught with tragic events - both in the sphere of natural phenomena and in the fate of man. However, centuries-old experience has shown that there is practically no smooth, calm transition from one state to another, breakdowns and violations are inevitable, therefore the great mission of a person is not only to strictly follow the routine, but also to restore the lost balance. In pagan times, as, indeed, in those closer to us, rituals and ceremonial complexes, which necessarily included sacrifices, were a powerful mechanism for regulating life processes.

If you look at The Snow Maiden from this position, then it becomes obvious that it is literally permeated with the theme of sacrifice for the sake of highest good, motives of purification and transformation through death, destruction. This is the burning of Maslenitsa with crying and laughter, and the joy of the Berendey on the occasion of the death of the Snow Maiden and Mizgir. Finally, this is the final apotheosis - the appearance of Yarila-Sun with symbols of life and death, end and beginning - a human head and a sheaf of rye ears. Here it is necessary to emphasize again Ostrovsky's and Rimsky-Korsakov's excellent knowledge of folk traditions, rituals and images that underlie the pre-Christian agricultural picture of the world.

In the Prologue, Berendeys, exactly in accordance with the age-old tradition, see off Maslenitsa in the form of an effigy of straw, dressed in women's clothing. In real ritual practice, Maslenitsa was burned, in the "Snegurochka" she is taken (driven away) into the forest. The latter is justified by the circular structure of the play and opera: in final scene On the 4th act, the straw of Maslenitsa turns into ears of rye poured with grain, which Yarilo holds; the dark cold forest is replaced by the sun-drenched, open space of the Yarilina Valley; people come out of the forest, out of darkness into the light, and their eyes are turned upwards - to a mountain with a sharp peak, where the hot god of the Sun appears. IN folk tradition the connection between Shrove Tuesday and Kupala lights was strengthened by a wheel symbolizing the sun. The effigy of Maslenitsa was put on a wheel and burned along with it, on the Kupala night from the heights, where bonfires were kindled, burning wheels were rolled up.

Even more striking is the almost quotation in The Snow Maiden of real rituals. Most a prime example: the final appearance of Yarila with a human head and a sheaf of bread and the rite of invoking summer, recorded more than once. By April 27, the following action was timed in Belarus: a young woman was chosen who was supposed to portray a young handsome man(apparently, Yaril). Barefoot, she was dressed in a white shirt, a wreath of wild flowers flaunted on her head. The woman was holding right hand symbolic image human head, and in the left - rye ears. In other places, a dressed-up girl with the same attributes was put on a white horse tied to a tree. The girls danced around her. Voronezh residents performed a similar ritual on the eve of Petrovsky Lent and dressed up not a girl, but a young man.

Recall that Yarila is a Slavic mythological and ritual character, embodying the idea of ​​fertility, primarily spring, as well as sexual power. The name of this deity is derived from the root yar. A wide range of meanings is revealed in single-root words, for example, spring bread, fury, bright, bright (sheep), in the Russian North there is the term “yarovuha”, which means a joint walk of boys and girls and their spending the night in a hut during Christmas time.

Completely in the spirit of folk ideas, the images of Bobyl and Bobylikh are given. In fairy tales, legends, folk songs beans - outcasts, flawed people who were unable or unwilling to perform natural social functions- Start a family and have children. They were pitied but shunned. It is not for nothing that in folklore texts, beans live on the outskirts of the village, in last home, and customary peasant law deprived them of a number of privileges and rights, in particular, they were forbidden to participate in rituals associated with the producing beginning, elderly male beans were not included in the council of elders. Bobyls, as socially inferior peasants, often became shepherds, the generally accepted disdain for which is well known from the mass of ethnographic observations, descriptions, and studies. It is clear why the Snegurochka, herself half a man, gets to such “non-humans”, it is with them that she must go through, in today's language, a period of adaptation to new conditions. According to the laws fairy tale and rituals of an initiatory type, a house on the outskirts and its owner (owners) must perform the function of a mediator, help the heroine transform, move from one world to another through a system of trials. Berendey's bobs are clearly a ludicrous, reduced image of the classic "testers" of fairy-tale heroines: Babyyagi, Metelitsa, witches, etc. The bobs did not find a magic ball or cherished word for the adopted daughter that would help a girl from another world turn into a full-fledged member of the human community. But it's not a fairy tale before us...

Bobyl and Bobylikha are deprived Shepherd's trumpets and horn life force, with the heat of love, therefore they are greedy for imaginary, deceptive values ​​(the wealth of Mizgir) and are cold in relation to the Snow Maiden. There is one essential detail in the depiction of the image of Bobylikha, which today eludes attention, but which was well understood by our compatriots in the 19th century and was used as a bright additional touch that made Bobylikha funny and pitiful in their claims. It's about about the horns of that kichka, which, finally, after wooing her adopted daughter and receiving a ransom, Bobyli-ha found. The fact is that kitsch is not just a traditional female headdress. Horned kichka (with elevations on the front in the form of a horse's hoof, a shovel or horns pointing up and back) could be worn by women who had children, and the height of the "horns" usually directly depended on the number of children. So, having got a kichka, Bobylikha, as it were, equated herself with other Berendeyks-"boyars" and could claim a different attitude towards herself. By the way, A. S. Pushkin used the same technique in the same laughter function in The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish, where the Old Woman, having acquired a new status, sits in a decorated horned kichka.

The image of Mizgir is mysterious in its own way. His role in the plot, the attitude of the Berendeys towards him, the motivation for behavior and the tragic, from our point of view, death become more understandable when referring to beliefs and ideas, some of which survived almost until the beginning of the 20th century.

Mizgir is one of the names of the spider. In traditional culture, a spider is a creature close to a host of evil spirits, insidious, evil, aggressive. There are strong beliefs that the killer of a spider is forgiven of seven sins. On the other hand, the mizgir is also perceived as one of the incarnations of the brownie, it is believed that the spider in the house cannot be killed, since it brings wealth and prosperity. Surprisingly, both relationships converge in the image of Mizgir the merchant. Merchants have long been respected in Rus', endowed with special qualities and knowledge, almost magical, and even magical, thanks to their stay in distant lands, on the edge of the earth, which means proximity to the unknown, otherworldly and dangerous. (Remember the Novgorod epic Sadko, a merchant from " scarlet flower”, etc.) Money, gold, wealth were usually perceived as a sign of either a miraculous gift or an accident, or as a result of robbery, an unclean and dishonest transaction.

Among the people, marital and love themes are associated with the spider. In the wedding rituals of Belarusians, residents of the Western Russian provinces, weaving from straw is used. complex figures- symbols of happiness and strong union. Such an object was called a spider, it was attached to the ceiling of the hut, often above the table where marriage feast. Mizgir is an overseas merchant, though from a Berendey family, but a stranger, cut off from his roots. In this sense, he is a real fairy-tale groom - unknown and rich, giving happiness to the heroine, but also a wedding "foreigner" - a groom who arrived from across the sea, "from beyond the forest, from beyond the mountains" and associated primarily with the - ideas about separation and captivity. The ardor, selfishness, aggressiveness of Mizgir is akin to the opposite pole - the coldness and passivity of the Snow Maiden. Both in their extreme manifestations are alien to simple Berendeys and dangerous for the community of people.

We add that there is a well-known ritual dedicated to the end of summer - the expulsion of insects from the house by means of ears of a new crop. Cockroaches, spiders, bedbugs are collected in boxes and buried (buried) in the ground with the words: “Rye sheaf - into the house, cockroaches - out!”.

Thus, the very theme of getting rid of insects, taking on the guise of a nursery rhyme, and once, perhaps, a serious ritual, was relevant for traditional society. And in certain situations, the expulsion, the killing of a spider (mizgir) was considered a good and necessary deed. Another addition is that magic rituals for making rain with the help of spiders are known, which emphasizes the original, mythological involvement of the spider in the water element, in the non-human world. In the context of the "Snow Maiden", everyone seems to agree folk performances about the spider, which justifies the expulsion of Mizgir from the borders of the Berendey kingdom and makes him consider his death as a return to his native (out-of-human) element, to the other world, which, of course, was understood as the restoration of the lost order and justice and contributed to called for the return of normal life, the arrival of Yari-la-Sun and summer. Water turns out to be the native element of the Snow Maiden, her essence and normal natural existence in the spring-summer period, so the death of lovers is a return to nature. Merging in one element unites them - different, but identical in alienation in relation to people and in the doom of death for the sake of eliminating disharmony in the world.

There are a lot of similar examples of a subtle, precise, deeply meaningful approach to traditional Russian culture in Snegurochka.

The opera created by Rimsky-Korsakov, at the level of the libretto, retained both the plot and the poetic basis of Ostrovsky's work.

Of course, the folklorism of the opera is more obvious and vivid due to the inclusion of authentic folk songs and tunes, folklore techniques of onomatopoeia, folk cries and cries, thanks to musical imagery, amazing system leitmotifs, rich and juicy instrumentation.

N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov repaid a hundredfold the people, who generously revealed to them a thousand-year spiritual wealth, giving in the new, modern form his ingenious creative fantasy on the themes of Ancient Rus'.

"Snegurochka" Ostrovsky

"Snow Maiden" analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, heroes, problems and other issues are disclosed in this article.

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky can rightfully be considered the creator of the repertoire for the national Russian theater. Despite the fact that he became famous most of all for his works about the customs of the Russian merchants (which the critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov very aptly called the "dark kingdom"), among the gloomy and slightly scary stories from the life of Zamoskvoretsk merchants there is a very bright and fabulous work - "Snow Maiden" written in 1873.

At the core plot The playwright used a Russian folk tale from Alexander Afanasiev's collection "Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature" for the play. That is why Slavic higher and lower deities act in the play: Yarilo, Frost, Spring, Goblin. The peculiarity is that the play "The Snow Maiden", unlike all the previous ones, is written in verse, but without rhyme. However, the unified rhythm of the work made it possible to set it to music. The whole play is a kind of poetic stylization of Russian folklore, which Ostrovsky was then passionate about.

This is explained by the fact that in 1873 the troupe of the Maly Theater was forced to move to the Bolshoi Theater for the duration of the renovation. So under one roof were opera, ballet and drama troupes. Then the commission of management of the Moscow imperial theaters decided to put on an extravaganza performance with the participation of all the artists. Ostrovsky composed the play in a short time, finishing on the day of his fiftieth birthday. And the music for the performance was written by a young and then little-known composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Thus, Ostrovsky's lyrical play became a multi-level, multi-layered work, as it embodied both the folk tale about the Snow Maiden, and the folk legend about the ancient Berendey tribe, and the mythological features of Slavic legends, and ancient rituals and songs. And Ostrovsky's "spring tale" breathes with such purity of poetry that it reminds of Pushkin's fairy tales. Yes, and in terms of meaning, there is a lot of Pushkin in it: life appears as the magic of beauty and tragedy at the same time, and goodness in a person turns out to be a natural basis.

Therefore, the life of nature in the play looks like a realm of harsh contrasts of cold and heat, lifelessness and flowering. Ostrovsky writes about nature as about man. The landscape resembles a portrait in which the artist peers. The abundance of emotional epithets, comparisons that put natural phenomena on a par with human feelings, emphasize the closeness of natural and human principles in the playwright's mind.

The action of the play takes place in the kingdom of Berendey. It is more like a kind of utopian state in which people live according to the laws of honor and conscience, afraid to provoke the wrath of the gods: this is a kind of ideal of a social structure created by Ostrovsky. Even the tsar, who in Rus' was the sole ruler, autocrat, embodies folk wisdom in the work. He worries about his people in a fatherly way: it seems to him that his subjects have ceased to notice the beauty of nature, but are more experiencing vanity and envy. That's why he got angry with the Berendey Yarilo, who every year freezes people more and more. Then Berendey discovers one of the main laws of nature: "All living things must love". And he asks his assistant Bermyata on Yarilin Day to gather as many grooms and brides as possible in order to sanctify their marriage and make a sacrifice to the Sun God.

However, the main dramaturgical conflict is associated precisely with the confrontation between love and "heart chill" in the soul of the Snow Maiden, who lives in the cold purity of loneliness, and with her soul strives for the fire of love, which is why she must perish. Father Frost warns mother Spring-Krasna about this: he says that Yarilo swore to take revenge on him using their daughter Snegurochka. Say, when she truly loves, Yarilo will melt her with his hot rays.

The Snow Maiden did not immediately know what true love is. Once in the family of a childless Bobyl, the girl expects the same love that from her mother and father. But Bobyl and Bobylikha perceive their adopted daughter as a kind of bait for rich suitors. Only the grooms are not the same: many guys quarreled with their girls because of the Snow Maiden, but neither she is ready to give her heart, nor are ordinary berendeys satisfied with adoptive parents.

The Snow Maiden herself likes the shepherd boy Lel, who generously bestows all the girls in the area with his songs. This hurts the heroine: she wants to be loved only by her. When is the rich bridegroom, "trading guest" Mizgir, ready to give up all her wealth for the sake of the Snow Maiden, she cannot find feelings for him in her heart. Everyone is unhappy: Kupava, the failed bride of Mizgir, Mizgir, who can no longer think of anyone but the Snow Maiden, who captivated him with her beauty, and the Snow Maiden herself suffers because she does not know what true love is.

Turning to her mother for help, the heroine gets what she wanted more than anything in the world - the opportunity to love. Vesna-Krasna says that she will love the first person she meets. Fortunately, it turns out to be Mizgir, and the reader can imagine that now everything will end happily. But no, Mizgir, intoxicated with the love of the Snow Maiden, wants to show everyone that he was able to achieve his goal - the reciprocity of the beauty. Not listening to the requests of the girl, he literally drags her up the mountain, where the Berendeys met the dawn, and under the first rays of the sun the Snow Maiden dissolves. Having yielded to human law, she melts "from the sweet feelings of love."

The melting of the Snow Maiden is a victory over the "traces of cold" in the heart. She was ready to die for the right to love with all her heart. Mizgir said about it: "Love and fear fought in her soul". Now the fear is cast aside, and the Snow Maiden in the last minutes of her short life is given only to love.

Fearless and Mizgir. He kept his promise: "Trouble will come - we will die together". The death of the Snow Maiden is a disaster for him, so he rushes into the lake to connect with the cool water into which the Snow Maiden has turned, until recently warm in his warm embrace.

But Tsar Berendey calls the death of the Snow Maiden "sad", Then "wonderful". The difference between these epithets suggests to the reader a way out of tragedy into life-affirmation. The death of the Snow Maiden and the holiday of the Berendeys are close by. Its fading brings a flood of light into the world. No wonder the king says:

Snow Maiden sad death
And the terrible death of Mizgir
They cannot disturb us; The sun knows
Whom to punish and pardon ...

Thus the tragedy of the individual is dissolved in the general chorus of nature. In Pushkin's words, the author's sadness is bright because the human soul is bright: it turns out to be free and fearless in love, it is stronger than the fear of self-preservation.