The image of the hero and the genre originality of the romantic poem by D. G.
George Gordon Lord Byron(1788-1824) was in the first quarter of the 19th century the “ruler of thoughts”, the living personification of romanticism. He, like no one else, embodied the romantic ideal of the complete merging of biography and creativity, when the artist lives by the same laws by which his heroes live, and the events of his life immediately turn into the material of his works. The "Byronic Legend" is still alive today, and it is important to separate myth from fact.
Byron was born into an aristocratic family, at the age of ten he inherited the title of lord and family estate in the north of England, and was educated in privileged educational institutions- at Harrow School and the University of Cambridge. He was preparing for a career statesman And for a long time did not regard poetry as the main work of his life. Despite belonging to the ruling elite, he was a rebel by nature, and his whole life was a challenge to the conventions accepted in society. He considered English society inert and hypocritical, and did not want to make any concessions public opinion and after a short period of glory in his homeland (1812-1816), he left England forever, settling in Italy. His life ended in Greece, where he took part in the national liberation struggle of the Greeks against the Turks.
Byron's poetic heritage is great and varied. Recognition came to him with the publication of the poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" (1812), where he brought out the first romantic hero V English literature and created the genre of romantic lyric-epic poem. Its forms were developed in the cycle of “Eastern Poems” (1813-1816), where romanticism reaches classical forms. With the move to Italy, his work is enriched in terms of genre (the drama “Manfred”, the mystery “Cain”, the poems “Beppo”, “Mazeppa”). Main work recent years Byron's life remained unfinished - this is the novel in verse "Don Juan".
An example of Byron's romanticism can be poem "Corsair"(1814) from the cycle "Oriental Poems". In all six poems of the cycle, Byron draws on impressions of his southern journey, which he undertook through the Mediterranean countries in 1809-1811. For the first time, he presented pictures of southern nature to the reader in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and this was one of the components of the success of this poem; the public expected new exotic landscapes from the young poet, and in “The Corsair” Byron develops the Orientalist motifs so characteristic of romanticism in general. East in romantic art contrasted European civilization as a world of free, natural passions playing out against the backdrop of beautiful, fertile nature. But for Byron, the East is more than a conventional romantic background: the action in “The Corsair” takes place on the islands of the Greek archipelago and in coastal Greece, which is under the rule of the Turks (Seyid Pasha in the poem), and the routes of the pirate raids of the protagonist Conrad are topographically accurate, maybe be traced on the map, and in the descriptions of Greece at the beginning of the third song of the poem, Byron directly relies on his own impressions four years ago. Thus, behind the romantic landscape of the poem, pictures of nature and morals taken from life appear; Byron often gave an accurate reproduction of the historical and ethnographic environment in his poems.
At the heart of "The Corsair", as in all other "Eastern poems", is the conflict of the hero with the world; the plot is reduced to one dramatic situation- the fight for love.
The hero of "Corsair" is the leader of the pirates Conrad, his beloved is the meek Medora. The action in the poem begins with the receipt of some news on the pirate island, which forces Conrad to say goodbye to Medora and give the order to urgently raise the sails. Where the pirates are going and what Conrad's plan is becomes clear from the second song of the poem. The leader of the pirates decides to forestall the blow of his longtime enemy Seid Pasha and, in the guise of a dervish pilgrim, makes his way to a feast in the Pasha's palace. He must strike the enemy in his house, while his pirates set fire to Seid Pasha's fleet on the eve of going to sea, but the fire in the bay begins earlier than agreed, a hot battle breaks out, in which Conrad rescues Seid's beloved wife from the burning seraglio. Pasha, Gulnar. But military fortune is fickle, and now the pirates are fleeing, and Conrad is captured and thrown into prison. In the third song of the poem, Seyid Pasha delays the execution of Conrad, inventing the most painful death for him. Meanwhile, Gulnar, grateful to Conrad and falling in love with him, offers to arrange his escape. At first, Conrad rejects her proposal: he does not want to owe his freedom to a woman whose love he cannot respond to, because he loves only Medora. But when Gulnar sneaks into his dungeon again, he sees a bloody stain on her forehead - she herself killed Seid Pasha, and together they board a ship heading to the pirate island. Upon his return, Conrad learns of Medora's death. The beloved could not bear the news of his captivity, and, having lost the meaning of life with her, Conrad disappears:
Everything is in vain - day after day rolls on, Conrad is gone, and there is no news about him, And there is no trace of his fate anywhere: Did he die or disappeared forever? The pirates cried for him alone... They erected a stone for Medora. A monument to Conrad has not been erected: Who knows, maybe he did not die - the Corsair, whose name again resurrects the Darkness of crimes and one love.
As in all "Eastern Poems", Conrad is a loner rebel who professes extreme individualism. Byron does not show his past, the poem only says that his innate virtues were so high that the world was jealous of him and slandered him:
He was pure until he began his battles with people and the Almighty; He was wise, but the world considered him stupid and spoiled him with his training; He was too proud to drag out his life, humbled, And too firm to fall into the dirt before the strong. Instilling fear, slandered with youth, He became a friend of Anger, but not of Humility, He considered the call of anger to be a call from the Divine to take revenge on the majority for the machinations of the minority.
Conrad is a strong, courageous nature, he rules the pirates with an iron fist, everyone respects and fears him for his unparalleled courage and success in business:
Around, on all the seas, the name alone sows fear in souls; He is stingy in speech - he knows only the order, The hand is firm, the eye is sharp and keen; He does not give their feasts any joy, But he is a favorite beyond reproaches.
Conrad's first appearance in the poem is typical of a romantic hero. He stands on the top of a cliff, leaning on a sword, looking at the waves, and his very position in space at this moment - he is higher than the others, pirates are rising up to him with a report - this spatial solution of the scene emphasizes the exclusivity of the hero. The same idea of exclusivity is carried out in the portrait of Conrad (ninth stanza of the first canto). This detailed portrait, based on a combination of opposites, where each external feature becomes an expression of the character traits of the hero. Byron creates such a vivid portrait of a romantic hero that some of his features will forever become part of the characteristic appearance of a romantic literary character:
A tanned cheek, a white forehead, A wave of curls - like a crow's wing; The curl of the lip involuntarily reveals a secret passage to an arrogant thought; Although his voice is quiet, and his appearance is straight and bold, there is something in him that he would like to hide. Seeing faces sharp features, You will be captivated and you will be confused. It’s as if in him, in his soul, where the darkness has frozen, the work of terrible, vague forces is in full swing.
Contempt for people, cruelty, and the habit of violence did not completely dry out Conrad’s soul. For the first time in the history of world literature, when creating his romantic hero, Byron justifies in him actions and feelings that are far from the Christian ideal, and a substitution occurs moral values— the author endows the criminal Conrad, who sheds human blood without hesitation, with irresistible charm. The only feeling connecting the hero with humanity, the last living string in his soul, which he therefore values so much, is love.
In love, the character of the romantic hero is most fully revealed; love in romanticism is an uncompromising passion, highest value life, so the romantic hero fights for love against any hostile forces. The plot in all “Eastern Poems” is based on that episode in the hero’s life where he enters into the last, fatal battle for love. Only death separates the hero of "Eastern Poems" from his beloved, like Conrad and Medora. Both female images The poems - the meek Medora, who is all devotion and adoration, and the ardent Gulnar, capable of committing a crime for the sake of love - are contrastingly opposed to each other.
As in other Byronian poems, the main way to create the character of the hero is through action. Conrad is an active nature, his ideal is anarchic personal freedom, and the plot of the poem is characterized by increased drama. The reader is presented with a series of colorful, spectacular scenes, contrasted with each other on the principle of contrast: the song of pirates glorifying the sea space and freedom opens the poem; the opposite is the sad song of the lonely Medora; the picture of a feast in the luxurious palace of Seyid Pasha is replaced by a picture of a bloody battle; the despondency of Conrad in prison during a night visit to Gulnar and the cheerful freshness of the sea during their flight. The poem amazes with its richness of moods and colors.
The words of V.G. are quite applicable to Conrad and other heroes of “Eastern Poems”. Belinsky, what he said about the poet himself: “This is a human personality, indignant against the common and, in its proud rebellion, relying on itself.” A.S. also speaks about the same extreme individualism of Byron’s heroes. Pushkin:
Lord Byron, by a lucky whim, clothed himself in dull romanticism and hopeless selfishness...
And although" Prisoner of the Caucasus“Pushkin contains many elements directly borrowed from Byron; Pushkin does not exalt, but condemns the individualism of the romantic hero.
Thus, "Corsair" is a lyric-epic poem in which the lyrical principle is fused together in the image central character and an epic, narrative beginning, which manifests itself in the richness and variety of action. Conrad is a hero who represents the purest example of a romantic worldview in all of Byron's work, and the poetics of "The Corsair" is a characteristic example of the construction romantic poem. The plot is based on climactic episode from the life of a hero, deciding his fate; neither his past nor further development his life is not described, and in this sense the poem is fragmentary. In addition, the plot is built as a chain of bright paintings-fragments, the cause-and-effect relationships between which are not always clearly stated in the poem, and fragmentation becomes the structure-forming principle of a romantic poem. The hero is taken at the moment high voltage vital forces, in circumstances that were exceptional even for his robber life. At such moments, a person’s character is revealed to the end, and the demonic, gloomy, majestic character of Conrad is created in the poem with the help of various artistic means: a portrait, the author’s characteristics, the attitude of the women who love him towards him, but mainly through a description of his actions. One of the leitmotif images of the poem is the image of the sea, so characteristic of all of Byron’s poetry; The free sea element becomes a symbol of freedom for him. The pirate song that opens the poem contains these words:
In the midst of the jubilation of dark blue waters, the thought is boundless, the soul is free to fly Above the foamy, endless wave - Here is our kingdom, here is our home!
The lyrical element that permeates the poem is most clearly revealed in the end-to-end image of the sea.
Byron's "The Corsair" is a work written in 1814. It develops a genre such as a romantic poem. Byron's "Corsair" is written in rhymed pentameter. In this article we will describe a brief summary of the work. The poem "Corsair" consists of three songs. Each of them will be presented by us.
First song
The piece begins as follows. Pirates are feasting on the island. Their kingdom is above the endless foamy wave. Joy is a fight, a storm. They know no fear, death is boring for them, because among pirates it is quick, souls instantly break ties with the world, as their song says. Conrad is the leader of the pirates. He knows only orders and is stingy with speech. This hero's hand is strong, his eye is keen and sharp. Conrad behaves like a righteous man - he does not participate in feasts, does not eat luxurious food, is an enemy of everything sensual - simple and stern. He enjoys enormous prestige among pirates. Not one of them not only dares to challenge the orders of their commander, but does not even bother him without any particular reason.
Meet the main character
Byron's Corsair continues. Now the pirates notice a ship in the distance. It soon turns out that the brig, sailing under a blood-red flag. The arrivals brought good news. A Greek spy writes that an excellent opportunity has finally arisen to rob the rich fleet of the Turkish Pasha himself. Conrad, having read his message, decides to hit the road immediately. He orders the team to prepare for battle and check their weapons. Nobody dares argue with Conrad. The author describes this most skillful strategist, the ruler of souls, isolated from everyone by a secret. This hero was not always a pirate. The reason for his current anger at the world lies in the past. Conrad was wise, but the world thought differently and spoiled him with its training. The hero did not want to resign himself to drag out a miserable life. He was too proud for that. Nor could he humiliate himself in front of others.
Conrad's Love
Conrad is susceptible only passion- love. He loves Medora mutually and happily, while not paying attention to the numerous beautiful captives living on the pirate island. Before a dangerous journey, he is going to say goodbye to his beloved, so he goes to her castle. Near Medora's room the hero hears sad song. The girl sings about her love for Conrad, which knows no peace, because the lovers are forced to constantly part, and Medora lives, always fearing for the life of the pirate. The girl dreams that one day peace will bring them into a peaceful home. She wonders why her gentle lover is so cruel to people. He tells Medora that he is forced to hit the road again. She gets upset and invites her lover to at least taste the holiday meal together. The hero, however, cannot stay. It's time to go: he hears the cannon signal. Conrad leaves after kissing the girl. Medora, left alone, cries.
Start of the battle
Byron's Corsair continues. The hero returns to the ship. He does not want to lose honor because of "women's torment." Once again he turns into a decisive commander, gives orders, gives orders so that his comrades are waiting for them in three days for a victory feast. Conrad opens the nautical charts, looks at them, and suddenly notices a Turkish galley fleet. But the hero is unperturbed. He calmly calls on his comrades, saying that it is time to start the massacre.
Second canto
Let's move on to the description of the second song of the work that Byron created ("Corsair"). Summary her events are as follows. Seyid Pasha arranged a feast in honor of his future victories. He wants to defeat the pirates, capture these sea robbers, and then divide the rich booty among his people. Many Muslims gathered under his banner. A dervish who escaped from a pirate ship is brought to Seyid Pasha. It turns out to be Conrad in disguise. Seid Pasha begins to interrogate him. But it’s as if the dervish is stalling for time. He says that he is a worthless spy, since his gaze is fixed only on escape. Pirates, according to the dervish, are careless and stupid. The guards slept through his flight, and therefore the pasha’s fleet also slept through. The latter orders to feed the disguised Conrad, but he does not eat anything, explaining that this is his vow. After all, if he begins to taste the pleasures of life, the Prophet will block his way to Mecca. But it seems from the outside that for someone sentenced to work and fasting, he behaves strangely, as Byron notes (“The Corsair”). At this time, the pirate heroes attack the Turks, putting them to flight, taking them by surprise.
Victory and defeat
Conrad tears off the dervish's robes and reveals himself as a demon of evil. This pirate fights heroically, the pasha himself retreats before him, forgetting about the harem. Conrad forbids offending women, saying that pirates are born to die and kill, but the gentle sex must always be spared. He himself takes away Gulnar, the decoration of the harem. Seid Pasha sees how few pirates there are. He becomes ashamed that such a detachment managed to defeat him, and he orders an attack. There are many more Muslims, and therefore almost the entire detachment of pirates is soon killed, only a few manage to escape. Conrad is captured.
Lyubov Gulnar
IN safe place this pirate hid Gulnar. She thinks that this robber in blood seems more tender to her than Seid in love. The girl understands that the latter was only saving himself, and Conrad primarily cared about women. Seid Pasha decides to execute this pirate with a painful execution. He thinks of impaling him and imprisoning him until the morning. Conrad is alone and defeated, but his will managed to breathe courage into his chest. The prisoner, shackled, behaves with dignity.
Byron (“Corsair”) continues to talk about further events. Their summary is as follows. Gulnar sneaks up to Konrad at night. The girl thanks the pirate for saving her. Unable to respond in kind, she promises to influence Seid Pasha with the help of her feminine charms, thereby delaying the execution for at least a day. Conrad informs Gulnar about Medora, their mutual love, says that he is not afraid of death, but does not want to cause grief to his beloved. He asks the girl if she loves her master. She says that she is indifferent to him.
Third canto
George Gordon Byron admires the sunset over the islands of Greece. His heart was given forever to Athens.
"Corsair" continues as follows. Miraculously, the surviving pirates come to Medora and tell her that Conrad was captured. She accepts the blow of fate with restraint, without screams or tears. Having learned the details, Medora loses consciousness. The pirate's friends take care of her, and then tell Anselmo, who remained in Conrad's place, about what happened. He wants to go to rescue the pirate from captivity, and if he has already died, then to avenge his death.
Gulnar wants to soften the pasha, convince him that he will only benefit if he does not execute this pirate. After all, he will find out where the untold riches are and will be able to take possession of them. But the pasha is adamant. He is not interested in treasures. Pasha agrees to postpone the execution for a day, but only in order to have more time and come up with a new execution, even more sophisticated. He humiliates Gulnar, suspecting that she stands up for Conrad for a reason, and reminds her that her life is in his power.
Assassination of Seyid Pasha
Gulnar realizes that she is only a thing in the hands of Seyid Pasha. At midnight, the girl comes to the Corsair, bribing the guard, persuades the pirate to kill the master (brings a knife for this) and escape together. Conrad again refuses: the sword is his weapon, not a knife, and he does not want to attack from around the corner at night. The pirate understands that he deserves to be executed because he has sinned a lot. He calls on the girl to leave him, to be happy, and not to darken her life with murder. Gulnar says that her well-being with the pasha is illusory - at any moment he can get tired of her. The girl decides to kill Seid, and if she cannot do this, then die on the scaffold along with Conrad. Gulnar leaves.
Conrad discovers that the door to his dungeon is unlocked. He walks through the palace at night, picking up the shackles, and sees Gulnar. She turns around, and the pirate notices the mark of murder on her forehead. It seems to him that beauty has gone with him. Gulnar reports that she has gathered people and that a ship is waiting for him. She takes him to the shore through a secret passage. While swimming, Gulnar notices that his icy, empty gaze is like a sentence. She cries, but Conrad does not blame her, but rather reproaches himself, which Byron notes (“The Corsair”). The author conducts a rather in-depth analysis of the characters’ internal motives. The ship of Anselmo and his comrades, who were going to free him, is moving towards them. Everyone happily heads back. Gulnar did not say that it was she who saved Conrad. Conrad knows that Heaven will punish her, but he takes pity on the girl. He hugs and kisses her, knowing that Medora would forgive this kiss.
Death of Medora
A ship is approaching the island. Conrad does not see the light in Medora's window. He goes up to her and sees that the girl is dead. The pirate understands that this is punishment for sins. Medora will go to heaven, but the road there is closed to Conrad, and they will never see each other again. He's sobbing.
Anselmo enters the girl's room in the morning. But the leader disappeared. No one knows since then whether he is alive or not. The glory of this pirate lives on for centuries, just like the glory that George Gordon Byron earned for his work.
Joseph Conrad - British writer, from whose pen came such fascinating works, like “Heart of Darkness”, “Typhoon”, “The Negro from Narcissus”.
Consciously distancing yourself from literary trends of his time, Joseph, with his works, was able to radically change the face of literature. Conrad, a Pole by birth, learned English as an adult and mastered it so well that he taught it to people who spoke it from birth.
Joseph Conrad: biography
Mine life path, which is a shining example to others, Joseph was not considered anything extraordinary. Two decades spent on the high seas, getting to know different countries and cultures, meeting new people - isn't this a life full of adventures?
Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski was born on December 3, 1857. Hometown- Berdichev (Ukraine). His father, the Polish nobleman Apollon Kozheniowski, was a participant in the Polish liberation movement, for which he was arrested by the Russian authorities and exiled to Vologda in 1861. His wife Evelina and Yuzef, who was 4 years old at the time, followed her husband. In 1865, due to his wife’s illness, Apollo achieved a transfer to Chernigov. However, this did not save the family from a heavy loss: Evelina died of consumption. Father and son moved first to Lviv, then to Krakow. In 1869, Jozef's father died, leaving the 11-year-old boy an orphan. took the maternal uncle - Tadeusz Bobrovsky.
Life on the sea
At the age of 16, tired of school life, Jozef decided to become a sailor. The young man went to Marseille, where he joined a French ship as a sailor.
Over the years of travel, Jozef had the opportunity to sail on various ships; I even had to smuggle weapons. He thoughtlessly squandered the money he earned. Being an avid gambler and a big reveler, after a big loss he tried to shoot himself, but was unsuccessful: the bullet passed near his heart.
Since 1878, he switched exclusively to English ships, since Russian citizenship did not allow him to sail on ships of the French fleet. During these 16 years of sailing I mastered English language; in 1886 he received the rank of captain and British citizenship, and therefore officially changed his name to Joseph Conrad.
In 1890 he committed an amusing trip During the same period, he fell ill with rheumatism and malaria, which reminded him of himself for the rest of his life.
Meet John Galsworthy
Years of sailing allowed Joseph to stock up on a huge amount of knowledge about the inhabitants different countries. First story English writer was called “The Black Navigator,” and the most important novel, “Heart of Darkness,” was based on impressions from a trip to Africa.
In 1893, Joseph met the writer, which grew into many years of sincere friendship. An aspiring author gave me a read famous writer manuscript of the novel "Ohlmeyer's Caprice", which was published in 1895. Then the novels “Exile”, “Lord Jim”, “The Negro from Narcissus”, “Nostromo” and “Heart of Darkness” were released.
The best books by Joseph Conrad
The story "Lord Jim" tells about the ship "Patna", carrying pilgrims to Mecca. The bad weather leads to the fact that the panicked crew, together with the first mate Jim, decides to secretly leave the ship and leave the helpless passengers to their fate. The pilgrims were saved. The crew is awaiting trial. Jim, deprived of his license, was forced to move to a remote village on one of the Indonesian islands.
The story “Heart of Darkness,” written under the influence of an 8-year stay in Africa, talks about the confrontation between nature and civilization. The script for the film Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola was written based on the work.
In The Negro of the Narcissus, Lord Jim Joseph Conrad tells the story of a merchant ship returning to Britain. Negro James Waite, in order to avoid doing routine work, pretended to be sick and believed in his own illness so much that upon arriving home he actually became ill and left the real world.
The last years of the author's life
Joseph Conrad, whose books aroused genuine interest among a wide range of readers, became a popular writer in Europe, settled in London, leaving the sea due to poor health, and started a family. His wife was Jessie George. The couple had sons Boris and John.
In 1914, at the invitation of Jusuf Retinger, a Polish writer, Conrad visited Poland, from where he had difficulty escaping after the outbreak of the First World War. In 1921, while preparing to write a novel about Napoleon, “Waiting,” he visited Corsica, and in 1923, to the USA.
Characteristics of Joseph Conrad
Conrad was described by his contemporaries as a man with the excellent manners of a Polish nobleman, who in moments of calm was like a philosopher with an eagle profile. Being in a state of enthusiasm or irritation, he changed in appearance, became like a tiger, but very quickly calmed down and plunged into himself.
Raised as a nobleman, Joseph Conrad, after spending about 20 years in the navy, always remained a stranger among sailors. Therefore, the main themes of his works were the problem of loneliness, awareness of the futility of human existence, madness and obsession. The author contrasted them with indifference to difficulties, iron fortitude and pride. In his work, Conrad devoted an important place to the ordinariness of heroism, which is part of everyday life for the heroes of his works.
Joseph Conrad died of a heart attack on August 3, 1924. He, at the zenith of his fame, failed to complete the novel “Waiting” about Napoleon’s flight from Elba. The heroes of Conrad's works, as well as himself English classic, are a vivid example of how you need to treat life circumstances in order to emerge victorious from them, while saving face and remaining honest with yourself.
1. Main characteristics of a romantic hero.
2. The work of J. G. Byron as one of the founders of romanticism.
3. The image of Conrad in Byron’s poem “The Corsair”.
...And he, the rebellious one, asks for a storm,
As if there is peace in the storms!
M. Yu. Lermontov
Romanticism as a movement in literature and art began to take shape in late XVIII century as a result of the crisis of the ideas of rationalism that dominated the Enlightenment. Unlike the rationalists, the romantics appealed not to reason, but to feelings, giving priority to the personal over the social, the ordinary over the unusual, and often the supernatural. Romantics placed the individual, her aspirations and experiences at the center of attention. It should be noted that the romantics, whose attention was attracted by everything out of the ordinary, introduced into literature the image of a person endowed with extraordinary abilities and strong passions, misunderstood and persecuted by society. The hero of romanticism, as a rule, defiantly opposes himself to other people, the crowd, and often challenges more powerful forces, even God. The adventures of the romantic hero unfold against a background that is quite consistent with his demonic charm: this is either an exotic landscape of distant countries, or an ominous old castle, or something equally powerful on the imagination.
The ideas of romanticism had and continue to have a huge influence on European literature and art. One of the classics of romanticism, its founders, is English poet J. G. Byron, who himself lived a life worthy of a romantic hero. Byron's work had a huge influence on many outstanding writers and poets. The tendencies that clearly manifested themselves in his work were called Byronism. This word is usually understood as a gloomy flavor of disappointment and loss of ideals, a feeling of collapse and protest against the gray routine and evil reigning in the world. Byron's hero is always a convinced individualist, despising the crowd, but at the same time suffering from loneliness and incomprehensibility by others, as well as from a deep internal conflict.
Let us consider the features of the Byronic hero using the example of Conrad from the poem “The Corsair”. The name itself speaks about the occupation of the main character of the work: Conrad is a pirate, a sea robber. However, in the 18th century this type of activity was not yet regarded as absolutely criminal and deserving of severe condemnation. The activities of corsairs were often secretly encouraged and supported by the governments of European powers: in this case, dashing sailors received special patents for privateering and were obliged to attack the ships of the enemy country, but not the ships of their fellow citizens.
However, there were also those among the pirates who acted at their own peril and risk. There is no doubt that the hero of Byron's poem also belongs to this category of corsairs. So, we find the first correspondence with the canons of romanticism: the hero of the work is an outcast, an outlaw. We can have different attitudes to the poeticization of the image sea robber, however, it should be remembered that it is precisely such individuals, who have broken with society, challenging it with all their behavior, that are the object of attention of the romantic writer, who is absolutely not interested in the correct, pharisaically righteous life of a respectable burgher.
In addition, we will easily discover that the hero of Byron's poem is by no means some kind of bandit ready to cut his throat for a couple of gold coins. Not at all! Severe discipline reigns in Conrad's squad; he himself not only does not drink wine, but is also unshakably faithful to his only beloved. In relation to women, Conrad is generally a true knight: during a raid on the pasha’s palace, he saves the wives of his enemy from a burning building, and not at all with the selfish goal of using the charming “live goods” for the entertainment of himself and his team. This is the image of a “noble robber”. It should be noted that such heroes are found in the legends of many nations. So we discover a few more characteristic features romanticism: the hero of the poem is an exceptional person in his organizational, moral and other qualities. In addition, a certain rapprochement with the legendary " noble robbers"is also a feature of romanticism - an appeal to folklore traditions and myths are not uncommon for romantic writers.
It is clear that such bright personality Such a person as Conrad is, according to the laws of romanticism, is simply obliged to live and act against a background that will better highlight the unique originality of this irresistible individual. In fact, the secret refuge of the proud exile is located on a picturesque island (probably somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea). A desperate corsair valiantly fights Muslim warriors against the backdrop of oriental nature and magnificent palaces - almost like a crusader knight fighting the “infidels.” However, the romantic flavor of the poem makes you almost forget how prosaic the purpose of Conrad’s raid is: it is just gold, vain earthly treasures, and not the shrine of the Holy Sepulcher. Byron's hero has a rather cool attitude towards God: Conrad is aware that in his illegal activities he is far from God, for which God does not help him. Conrad does not at all deny the existence of God and does not seek to challenge him demonically. It’s just that he and God, in the hero’s opinion, are immeasurably far from each other, and this state of affairs seems quite natural to Conrad. Therefore, in captivity, in prison, when Conrad awaits a painful execution, he is supported not by the thought of God’s mercy, but by pride and hatred of his enemies.
However, Byron's hero is not completely rejected by people and God. In the heart of Gulnara, the pasha's beloved, saved by Conrad, love for her savior suddenly flares up. The extremity of the situation and the extraordinary personality of the corsair awaken a feeling that is exceptional in its strength. Although Conrad does not promise Gulnara mutual love, he is faithful to Medora, even having lost hope of seeing her. The pasha's beloved, moreover, severely insulted by her high-ranking lover, arranges for the corsair to escape, taking the life of her master.
So we see unexpected turn in the fate of Conrad: just now he was awaiting death in chains, and now he is free again, like the wind blowing the sails of a ship. However, the gloomy spirit of romanticism looms like a black cloud on the horizon. Although Conrad attracted the hearts of two women, neither he nor either of them found happiness. His beloved Medora, short life who was worried about her beloved, died of grief when news of Conrad’s captivity reached her. Gulnara, who stained herself with murder in order to save the corsair, does not find an answer to her feeling, and Conrad himself... The poem ends suddenly: we do not know where Byron’s hero will go, how his life will turn out further fate, And this is also in the tradition of romanticism. The stern and proud hero, like a comet, flashed before us for a moment in the rapid flight of the author’s imagination, and we are free to imagine his past and future as we please.
Joseph Conrad, who entered English literature as the author of psychological adventure novels, was a Pole by origin (his real name was Theodor Józef Konrad Korzeniewski), who mastered the English language when he was already an adult. Conrad served as a sailor for a long time, then as a ship captain, and knew the life of sailors perfectly. In many of his works he glorified the romance of the sea (“Typhoon” - Typhoon, 1902, “Nostromo” - Nostromo, 1904).
Most of the writer's works take place far from bourgeois European civilization, in tropical countries. His heroes, who find themselves at sea or in the jungle, reveal bright spiritual qualities. These courageous and strong-willed people dream of exploits and friendship. Conrad contrasts the high moral values of his wandering heroes with the lowlands of bourgeois society (novel "Victory" 1915). Romantic tendencies in Conrad's work are combined with a realistic depiction of the psychology of his contemporaries and the cruelty of the bourgeois world.
In the novel " Lord Jim"(Lord Jim, 1900) Conrad poses the moral and psychological problem of conscience. The hero of the work, the young sailor Jim, is tormented by the consciousness of a dishonorable act he committed in the past (he once left a sinking ship, although there were still people on it), and wants to atone for his guilt. Jim is tried for jumping ship, while others who also left the ship managed to avoid prosecution. Judges conduct the process out of habit, without delving into the circumstances. And only Jim himself judges himself by the court of conscience and longs to find himself in a situation in which he could prove his courage and save his honor. This situation arose, and Jim dies. IN common man the author showed a sensitive soul and noble motives. Through suffering, Jim gained faith in human dignity.
An important role in the novel is played by the image of the narrator - the sailor Marlow. He tries to understand the meaning of Jim's behavior, because he himself is also looking for the truth. In Marlow's stories, the emphasis is not on the facts of Jim's life, but on moral sense his actions. In Marlow's lyrical story, the thematic fate of man arises. Psychological problems are subordinated here to the important idea of \u200b\u200bthe search for and affirmation of human dignity in a world full of complex contradictions.
The image of the narrator Marlow also appears in the story " Heart of Darkness"(1902). Here it plays a primary role in the composition and structure of the narrative. Marlow recounts his journey to Africa, where he met the cruel Kurtz, an ivory miner in the colonies. Kurtz's depiction of the contradictory character is inferior in significance to the description of the life of the oppressed population of the colonies. The story “Heart of Darkness” is one of Conrad’s most striking anti-colonialist works. The story was written based on personal impressions from a trip to the Congo, where the writer was in 1890. During the trip, he kept a diary. The story “Heart of Darkness” tells how Europeans penetrate into the depths of the Congo on a steamboat. This journey to the “heart of darkness”, that is, into the depths of Africa, is like the road to hell. Conrad sympathetically portrays the plight of the blacks, who die from hunger and disease. The story tells how a French warship shelled the coast of Africa, where blacks in shackles were working on the construction of a railway; they died as if in a bloody battle. The accusatory nature of the story is also reflected in the contrast in the depiction of blacks and European colonizers. The portrait of the company's accountant, an official in a starched collar, snow-white trousers, polished shoes and an umbrella, is given immediately after a terrible scene in which the death of blacks is shown. The story also indicates the main reason for this cruelty and inhumanity: the colonialists are trying to get more ivory.
That's the principle new feature literature of the coming twentieth century - an unprecedented degree of concentration of problems and pluralism, ambiguity of their ideological and artistic solutions. After a century of dominance of positivist self-confidence, when it seemed that science and literature had already found or were about to find final answers to all questions, there comes a century of doubt about the knowability of the world and the human soul. The world in the literature of modernism appears as chaos eternally hostile to man, knowledge of this world is difficult, and in its entirety inaccessible, and only art (and in literature - the word) acts as a means of ordering the world. One of the creators of modernism, Conrad, combines a penchant for a spectacular adventure plot, characteristic of an ordinary adventure novel, with an amazing richness of content and a sharp complication of the narrative structure.
Researchers classify Conrad as neo-romanticism, a special movement in English literature at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. It is characterized by strong personalities, exotic settings, turbulent events, and the ideal of achievement. All this is present in the works of Conrad.
