What feelings does Lel make you feel? Snow Maiden (Spring Tale) A

Below we characterize the fairy tale play by A.N. Ostrovsky, making the necessary, from our point of view, accents.

The extravaganza “The Snow Maiden” appeared one hundred and forty years ago, in 1873, in the magazine “Bulletin of Europe”. Everything was unusual in this play: genre (fairy tale play, extravaganza); a combination of dramatic poetic text with music and ballet elements; plot; heroes - gods, demigods, ordinary residents of the country - Berendeys; fantasy, organically merged with realistic, often everyday paintings; vernacular, which includes elements of vernacular and, on the other hand, turns in some places into lofty poetic, solemn speech.

IN critical literature it has been suggested that the appearance of such a play was due to random circumstances: in 1873, the Maly Theater was closed for renovation, the troupe moved into the building Bolshoi Theater In order to keep the artists of the drama and opera and ballet theater busy, the management decided to ask A.N. Ostrovsky to write a corresponding play. He agreed.

In fact, everything was more serious. The relocation of the Maly Theater was only a pretext, an impetus for the implementation of Ostrovsky’s plans theatrical genre. The playwright's interests have long been connected with plays of this kind, folklore was his favorite and native element, and folk extravaganza occupied his thoughts long before 1873 and much later.

“On a holiday,” he wrote in 1881, “every working person is drawn to spend the evening away from home... I want to forget the boring reality, I want to see a different life, a different environment, other forms of community life. I want to see boyars, princes’ mansions, royal chambers, I want to hear passionate and solemn speeches, I want to see the triumph of truth.”

The action takes place in fairyland Berendeev, as the playwright writes, in “prehistoric times.” The name of the Berendey tribe appears in the Tale of Bygone Years. I heard the writer and oral histories about the ancient city of Berendey and Tsar Berendey."

Mythological characters pass before the viewer - gods (Yarilo), demigods (Frost, Vesna-Krasna), the daughter of Frost and Vesna-Krasna Snegurochka (the child of a marriage opposed to Yarila), goblins, talking birds, animated bushes, ghosts. But all this fantasy is closely combined with realistic, everyday scenes. Great realist, the writer of everyday life could not chain his imagination within the framework of fiction.

Living real life bursts into the play and gives a special brightness to the time and place of its action.

Snegurochka, Kupava, Lel, Moroz, Vesna-Krasna, Mizgir are endowed with unique character traits. There is something in them from the people of Ostrovsky’s time and later years.

The dialogue between Frost and Vesna-Krasna about their daughter’s future is indistinguishable in tone even from the conversations of parents of our time. Bobyl is modeled after a typical peasant slacker, a drinker, even Yarilo appears in the guise of a young pariah in white clothes with a human head in one hand and a sheaf of rye in the other (as he was painted in folk tales in some places in Rus').

There are not so many traces of the primitive communal system in the fairy tale play (mostly mythological images). But there is plenty of evidence for the conventions of “prehistoric time.”

First of all, let us note the social inequality in Berendey’s kingdom. Society is divided into rich and poor, with the latter openly jealous of the former. Not to mention Bobylikha, who dreams of “filling her purse thicker” and commanding the family like Kabanikha, let’s pay attention to the pure and noble Kupava, who, getting ready to marry Mizgir, pictures her future like this: “8 to his house, in the big royal settlement , / In full view, as a rich housewife / I will reign...

The rich Murash refuses to accept the shepherd Lelya for the night, despising him as a poor man and not believing in his honesty: “Deceive others with your bows, / But we, my friend, know you well enough, / What is safe is intact, they say.”

It is no coincidence that in the stage directions to the first act we read: “On the right side is Bobyl’s poor hut, with a rickety porch; there is a bench in front of the hut; on the left side there is a large Murash hut decorated with carvings; in the background there is a street; Across the street is the Murash hop and bee garden.” A small sketch takes on a symbolic character.

In Berendey's kingdom, elements of social hierarchy are strong. Talking birds, singing about their way of life, essentially recreate a picture of the social structure of the Berendeys; they have governors, clerks, boyars, nobles (this is in “prehistoric times”), peasants, serfs, centurions, people different professions and positions: farmers, kissers, fishermen, merchants, masters, servants, privets, youths, buffoons.

The whole feast is crowned by the king and his faithful assistant, boyar Bermyata. Can the life of the Berendeys be considered a kind of idyll, serene and happy, as some researchers say?

Yes, in comparison with the outside world, where there are continuous wars (the buffoons sing about them, depicted in the colors of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”), the land of the Berendeys may seem like a corner of paradise.

For a peaceful life, for relative freedom, for the opportunity to turn to the Tsar in any difficult case, the Berendeys praise beyond measure - wise father his land. And the king takes this praise as due.

Nevertheless, life in the Berendey kingdom is far from ideal. It is not for nothing that the action of the play opens with the words of Spring-Red:

Greets you sadly and coldly
Spring its gloomy country.

This remark applies not only to the weather; it further turns out that the supreme deity Yarilo (the Sun) is angry with the Berendeys because Frost and Spring-Red, violating canons and traditions, entered into marriage and gave birth to an unprecedented creature - a beautiful girl. Yarilo swore a terrible oath to destroy both this girl, the Snow Maiden, and her father, and brought all sorts of troubles upon the inhabitants of the country (however, they experienced these troubles even without Yarila’s will).

The Tsar himself is forced to admit that he has not seen prosperity among the people for a long time. And the point is not only that, according to Bermyata, compatriots “steal little by little” (this sin is unforgivable, but we can correct it from the tsar’s point of view), the point is that the moral state of the country’s inhabitants has changed:

The service of beauty has disappeared in them...
But we see completely different passions:
Vanity, envy of other people's outfits...

People envy wealth, lovers often cheat on each other, and are ready to get into a fight with a rival. The Biryuchi, who call the Berendeys to a meeting with the Tsar, jokingly give evil but truthful descriptions to their contemporaries: “The sovereign's people: / Boyars, nobles, / Boyar children, / Cheerful heads / Wide beards! / Do you, nobles, / Have greyhound dogs, / Are barefoot serfs! / Trade guests, / beaver hats, / Thick necks, / Thick beards, / Tight purses. / Clerks, clerks, / Hot guys, / Your job is to drag and reap, / and hold your hand with a hook (that is, take bribes, bribes) / Old old women / Your business; to trouble, to weave, / to separate a son from his daughter-in-law. / Young fellows, / Daring daredevils, / people for work, / You for idleness. / Your job is to look around the towers, / To lure out the girls.”

This “prehistoric time” is not much different from later times - great playwright remains true to himself in exposing human vices and shortcomings. The researcher is hardly wrong when she writes that “Berendey’s society is cruel, it no longer lives according to natural, but human laws, covering up its imperfection with the desires of Yaripa the Sun.”

Here we should add a few words about the king. In critical literature, his figure is assessed positively. He really ensured peace for his people, in any case, he did not go into reckless wars, he thinks a lot about the happiness of young people, does not shy away from communicating with ordinary Berendeys, and to some extent is not alien to art - he paints his palace. But unlimited power, as usual, left its mark on his thoughts, feelings and behavior.

He is convinced that the will of the king has no boundaries. When he decides to gather all the lovers and arrange a collective wedding on the solemn day of Yarilin, and Bermyata doubts the possibility of such a holiday, the king exclaims in anger: What? What can't you do, motherfuckers? Is it impossible to fulfill what the king desires? Are you sane?

Having learned from Kupava that Mizgir cheated on her for the sake of the Snow Maiden, he considers Mizgir a criminal worthy death penalty. But since “there are no laws in our bloody code,” the king, on behalf of the people, sentences Mizgir to ostracism - eternal exile - and calls on those who want to make the Snow Maiden fall in love with them before the end of the night (no later!).

True, loves and disappointments in the Berendey kingdom flare up and go out like a match, but this is the tradition of literature, going back to the Renaissance - let's remember Romeo and Juliet, who fell in love in a matter of seconds, essentially without recognizing each other. But even taking into account this tradition, the king’s order looks like an act of arbitrariness.

Having heard that the appearance of the Snow Maiden on Berendey's land caused a complete commotion among the young people due to jealousy, the Tsar orders Bermyata to “settle everyone and reconcile before tomorrow” (!), and the Snow Maiden to look for herself “a friend after her own heart.”

The promised holiday comes, a friend - Mizgir - is found, the young people are madly in love, but the vengeful Yarilo remembers his oath. Hot passion destroys the Snow Maiden, she melts under the influence sun rays. Mizgir commits suicide, and the Tsar, who shortly before admired the beauty of the Snow Maiden and promised to arrange a feast for the one who “manages to captivate the Snow Maiden with love before dawn,” now solemnly says:

Snow Maiden's sad death
And the terrible death of Mizgir
They can't disturb us. The sun knows
Whom to punish and have mercy on? Finished
Truthful trial! Frost's spawn,
The Cold Snow Maiden died.

Now, the tsar believes, Yarilo will stop his acts of revenge and “look at the devotion of the obedient Berendeys.” The king most of all adores the submission of his subjects to himself and the highest deity - Yaril the Sun. Instead of a funeral song, he suggests singing a funny song, and the subjects gladly fulfill the will of the king. The death of two people does not matter compared to the life of the masses.

In general, Ostrovsky’s entire play, for all its apparent gaiety, is built on an antithesis, creating a contradictory, sometimes joyless picture. Heat and cold, wealth and poverty, love and infidelity, contentment with life and envy, war and peace, in a broader sense - good and evil, life and death are opposed to each other and determine general atmosphere Berendey's kingdom, and the contradictions and disharmony in the characters of the characters.

The hostile principle has even penetrated into space. Yarilo-Sun, the blessed sun that gives wealth and joy to earthlings, sends bad weather, crop failures, all sorts of sorrows to the Berendeys and destroys the innocent illegitimate daughter of illegitimate parents, taking revenge not only on Frost, but also on his congenial Spring-Red, depriving her beloved daughter.

If we talk about the philosophical aspect of the play, then what we have before us is not the embodiment of the dream of an ideal “prehistoric” kingdom, but fabulous work, imbued with a thirst for harmony of life in the present and future. The Berendey kingdom is deprived of this harmony, this harmony is not present in the character main character.

She merged physical beauty with spiritual nobility, a kind of almost childish naivety and defenselessness with heartfelt coldness and inability to love. A desperate attempt to go beyond the circle designated by nature causes inhuman tension of strength and emotions and ends in tragedy.

We can say that the playwright’s idea to show “another life, a different environment” so that the audience would at least temporarily forget the “boring reality” was not entirely successful. But the depiction of the truth of life was fully successful, as A.N. Ostrovsky wrote about in the letter quoted above.

What is attractive is the persistent and irrepressible desire of the main character to change her fate, her high understanding of love, for the sake of which one can accept death:

Let me perish, one moment of love
More precious to me are years of melancholy and tears...
Everything that is precious in the world,
Lives in just one word. This word
Love.

At first Lel captivates her with her songs and soft nature. Her mother reminds her that Lel is the beloved son of the Sun, who is hostile to the Snow Maiden’s father.
I’m not afraid of Lelya or the Sun,
she answers...
… Happiness
Whether I find it or not, I’ll look.

Love is above all, more expensive than earthly existence - this is the leitmotif of the play. As noted in the critical literature, “in the late phase of his work (from the second half of the 1870s), the playwright’s main concern became the fate of his lovers.

In the chronological interval between “The Thunderstorm” and “The Dowry,” Ostrovsky creates the extravaganza “The Snow Maiden.” And the unfortunate fate of a woman, albeit in a fairy-tale interpretation, is in the foreground. The physical cold that surrounds Father Frost’s daughter can be endured, but the spiritual cold is unbearable. Love warms, makes a person human. This is a great feeling, but it requires the lover to be ready to fight for his happiness.

Sometimes, unfortunately, a high romantic feeling ends tragically - for a number of reasons, among which is a conflict with society or supermundane forces, as was shown by the classics of distant and closer times and as directly pointed out by A.N. Ostrovsky in his fairy tale play.

But the strength of spirit of the dying hero gives rise to deep respect for him on the part of the perceiver of art and does not pass without a trace for the consciousness and emotional world of the reader and viewer. From these positions he can evaluate the tragedy of the Snow Maiden.

Contents of songs. Heroes. The author's ideals. Beauty of nature. Cold creature. The power and beauty of nature. The nature of the music. Rimsky-Korsakov. Test results. V.M. Vasnetsov. Kupava and Mizgir. Immense power. Music by Rimsky-Korsakov. Magic wreath. Winter's Tale. Folklore. Songs. Musical instruments. Shepherd's horn. Love. Tests for consolidation on the topic. Father Frost. Fantastic characters.

“The Play “Dowry”” - The heroine of “The Thunderstorm” is a more strong-willed person. Paratov's image. Become a rich kept woman?.. “Dowry.” The right decision?... Or maybe this is the right decision: Knurov’s frank proposal... Larisa's world contains both a gypsy song and a Russian romance. Like Katerina, Larisa belongs to women with a “warm heart”. Larisa. It is said about Paratov: “A brilliant gentleman.” But the ability to get carried away and extravagance do not at all reject sober calculation.

“Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”” - Read expressively Katerina’s monologue in the repentance scene. Let's draw a conclusion. Katerina. Dikoy Savel Prokofich - typical representative"dark kingdom" The meaning of names in drama. What is your opinion and why? "Thunderstorm" in Russian criticism. Could Katerina find happiness in her family? Travel along the Volga. Describe the speech, manner of speaking, communicating of the Wild. Katerina's struggle for happiness. What is the reason for the unbridled tyranny of the Wild One?

“Ostrovsky’s play “Dowry”” - Does Paratova need Larisa. Gypsy song. Analysis of the play. Problematic issues. What is Karandyshev like? Ostrovsky. Romance. Cruel romance. What does the gypsy song add to the play and film? Love for Larisa. Acquiring text analysis skills. The mystery of Ostrovsky's play. Larisa's fiance. A sad song about a homeless woman. What kind of person is Paratov? Poetic lines. Skills for expressing your thoughts. Shot by Karandyshev.

“Ostrovsky “Dowry”” - Analysis of the drama “Dowry”. A.N. Ostrovsky Drama "Dowry". What do we learn about Paratov. Usually the names of Ostrovsky's plays are sayings, proverbs. Creative ideas of A.N. Ostrovsky. The symbolic meaning of names and surnames. Paratov Sergey Sergeevich. Characters. Discussion of the image of L.I. Ogudalova. At first glance, the first two phenomena are exposure. Karandyshev. The purpose of the lesson.

“Heroes of the Thunderstorm” - I. Levitan. Small Academic Art Theater. Controversy surrounding the play. Moscow State University. Reception of contrast. The concept of mirror images. Dictionary. N.A. Dobrolyubov. Columbus Zamoskvorechye. Most famous plays A.N. Ostrovsky. Ostrovsky House-Museum in Moscow. The meaning of the title of the play "The Thunderstorm". Features of Ostrovsky's style. How Katerina was raised. Drama "Thunderstorm". The idea of ​​the drama "The Thunderstorm".

“The Snow Maiden” is perhaps the least typical of all Alexander Ostrovsky’s plays, which stands out sharply among his other works for its lyricism, unusual themes (instead of social drama the author paid attention to personal drama, identifying it as central theme theme of love) and absolutely fantastic surroundings. The play tells the story of the Snow Maiden, who appears before us as a young girl desperately yearning for the only thing she never had - love. Remaining true to the main line, Ostrovsky simultaneously reveals several more: the structure of his half-epic, half-fairy-tale world, the morals and customs of the Berendeys, the theme of continuity and retribution, and the cyclical nature of life, noting, albeit in an allegorical form, that life and death always go hand in hand.

History of creation

The appearance of the play in Russian literary world owes it to a happy accident: at the very beginning of 1873, the Maly Theater building was closed for major repairs, and a group of actors temporarily moved to the Bolshoi. Deciding to take advantage of opportunities new scene and attract spectators, it was decided to organize an extravaganza performance, unusual for those times, using the ballet, drama and opera components of the theater team at once.

It was with the proposal to write a play for this extravaganza that they turned to Ostrovsky, who, taking the opportunity to implement a literary experiment, agreed. The author changed his habit of looking for inspiration in unsightly sides real life, and in search of material for the play turned to the creativity of the people. There he found a legend about the Snow Maiden girl, which became the basis for his magnificent work.

In the early spring of 1873, Ostrovsky worked hard to create the play. And not alone - since stage production is impossible without music, the playwright worked together with the then very young Pyotr Tchaikovsky. According to critics and writers, this is precisely one of the reasons for the amazing rhythm of “The Snow Maiden” - words and music were composed in a single impulse, in close interaction, and were imbued with each other’s rhythm, initially forming one whole.

It is symbolic that last point Ostrovsky staged The Snow Maiden on his fiftieth birthday, March 31. And a little more than a month later, on May 11, the premiere performance took place. It received quite different reviews among critics, both positive and sharply negative, but already in the 20th century literary scholars firmly agreed that “The Snow Maiden” is the brightest milestone in the playwright’s work.

Analysis of the work

Description of the work

The plot is based on - life path the Snow Maiden girl, born from the union of Frost and Spring-Red, her father and mother. The Snow Maiden lives in Berendey's kingdom, invented by Ostrovsky, but not with her relatives - she left her father Frost, who protected her from all possible troubles, - but in the family of Bobyl and Bobylikha. The Snow Maiden longs for love, but cannot fall in love - even her interest in Lelya is dictated by the desire to be one and only, the desire for the shepherd boy, who equally gives warmth and joy to all the girls, to be affectionate with her alone. But Bobyl and Bobylikha are not going to shower her with their love; they have a more important task: to cash in on the girl’s beauty by marrying her off. The Snow Maiden indifferently looks at the Berendey men who change their lives for her, reject brides and violate social norms; she is internally cold, she is alien full of life Berendeys - and therefore attracts them. However, misfortune also befalls the Snow Maiden - when she sees Lel, who is favorable to another and rejects her, the girl rushes to her mother with a request to let her fall in love - or die.

It is at this moment that Ostrovsky clearly expresses the central idea of ​​his work: life without love is meaningless. The Snow Maiden cannot and does not want to put up with the emptiness and coldness that exists in her heart, and Spring, which is the personification of love, allows her daughter to experience this feeling, despite the fact that she herself thinks it’s bad.

The mother turns out to be right: the beloved Snow Maiden melts under the first rays of the hot and clear sun, having, however, managed to discover a new world filled with meaning. And her lover, who had previously abandoned his bride and was expelled by Tsar Mizgir, gives up his life in the pond, striving to reunite with the water, which the Snow Maiden has become.

Main characters

(Scene from the ballet performance "The Snow Maiden")

Snow Maiden - central figure works. Young woman extraordinary beauty, desperately wanting to know love, but at the same time cold at heart. Pure, partly naive and completely alien to the Berendey people, she turns out to be ready to give everything, even her life, in exchange for knowledge of what love is and why everyone craves it so much.
Frost is the father of the Snow Maiden, formidable and strict, trying to protect his daughter from all kinds of troubles.

Vesna-Krasna is the mother of a girl who, despite a premonition of trouble, could not go against her nature and her daughter’s pleas and endowed her with the ability to love.

Lel is a windy and cheerful shepherd who was the first to awaken some feelings and emotions in the Snow Maiden. It was precisely because she was rejected by him that the girl rushed to Vesna.

Mizgir is a trade guest, or, in other words, a merchant who fell in love with the girl so much that he not only offered all his wealth for her, but also left Kupava, his failed bride, thereby violating the traditionally observed customs of the Berendey kingdom. In the end, he found reciprocity with the one he loved, but not for long - and after her death he himself lost his life.

It is worth noting that despite the large number of characters in the play, even minor characters turned out to be bright and characteristic: that Tsar Berendey, that Bobyl and Bobylikha, that the former bride of Mizgir Kupava - all of them are remembered by the reader, have their own distinctive features and features.

“The Snow Maiden” is a complex and multifaceted work, including both compositionally and rhythmically. The play is written without rhyme, but thanks to the unique rhythm and melodiousness present in literally every line, it sounds smoothly, like any rhymed verse. “The Snow Maiden” is also decorated with the rich use of colloquial expressions - this is a completely logical and justified step by the playwright, who, when creating the work, relied on folk tales telling about a girl made of snow.

The same statement about versatility is also true in relation to the content: behind the seemingly simple story of the Snow Maiden (she went out into the real world - she rejected people - she received love - she was imbued with human world- died) hides not only the statement that life without love is meaningless, but also many other, no less important aspects.

Thus, one of the central themes is the interrelation of opposites, without which the natural course of things is impossible. Frost and Yarilo, cold and light, winter and the warm season outwardly oppose each other, enter into irreconcilable contradiction, but at the same time, a red line through the text runs the idea that one does not exist without the other.

In addition to the lyricism and sacrifice of love, the social aspect of the play, displayed against the backdrop of fairy-tale foundations, is also of interest. The norms and customs of the Berendey kingdom are strictly observed; violation is punishable by expulsion, as happened with Mizgir. These norms are fair and to some extent reflect Ostrovsky’s idea of ​​an ideal old Russian community, where loyalty and love for one’s neighbor, life in unity with nature are valued. The figure of Tsar Berendey, the “good” Tsar, who, although forced to make harsh decisions, regards the fate of the Snow Maiden as tragic, sad, definitely evokes positive emotions; It is easy to sympathize with such a king.

At the same time, in Berendey’s kingdom, justice is observed in everything: even after the death of the Snow Maiden as a result of her acceptance of love, Yarila’s anger and dispute disappears, and the Berendeyites can again enjoy the sun and warmth. Harmony triumphs.

Lel or Lelya, Lelyo, Lyubich, in the mythology of the ancient Slavs, god love passion. The word “cherish” still reminds us of Lela, this cheerful, frivolous god of passion, that is, undead, love. He is the son of the goddess of beauty and love Lada, and beauty naturally gives birth to passion. This feeling flared up especially brightly in the spring and on Kupala night. Lel was depicted as a golden-haired, winged baby, like his mother: after all, love is free and elusive. Lel threw sparks from his hands: after all, passion is fiery, hot love! IN Slavic mythology Lel is the same god as the Greek Eros or the Roman Cupid. Only ancient gods strike the hearts of people with arrows, and Lel kindled them with his ardent flame.
The stork was considered his sacred bird. Another name for this bird in some Slavic languages ​​is leleka. In connection with Lelem, both cranes and larks were revered - symbols of spring.
MAGIC PIPE
In time immemorial, there lived a silver-haired shepherd boy. His father and mother loved each other so much that they named their firstborn after the god of love passion - Lel. The boy played the pipe beautifully, and the heavenly Lel, enchanted by this game, gave the namesake a magic reed pipe. They even danced to the sounds of this pipe wild animals, the trees and flowers danced in circles, and the birds sang along with Lelya’s divine play.

And then the beautiful shepherdess Svetana fell in love. But no matter how she tried to kindle passion in his heart, it was all in vain: Lel seemed forever carried away by his magical power over nature and did not pay any attention to Svetana. And then the angry beauty lay in wait for the moment when Lel, tired of the midday heat, dozed off in the birch forest, and unnoticed took the magic pipe away from him. She took her away, and in the evening she burned her at the stake - in the hope that the rebellious shepherd boy would now finally love her.
But Svetana was wrong. Not finding his pipe, Lel fell into deep sadness, became sad, and in the fall it completely died out, like a candle. They buried him on the river bank, and soon reeds grew around the grave. He sang sadly in the wind, and the birds of the sky sang along with him.
Since then, all the shepherds skillfully play reed pipes, but are rarely happy in love...


Lelya

Lelya or Lyalya, in Slavic mythology, the goddess of spring, the daughter of the goddess of beauty, love and fertility Lada. According to myths, she was inextricably linked with spring revival nature, the beginning of field work. The goddess was imagined as a young, beautiful, slender and tall girl. B.A. Rybakov believes that the second goddess depicted on the Zbruch idol and holding a ring in her right bow is Lada. In folklore, Lada is often mentioned next to Lelya. The scientist compares this mother-daughter pair with Latona and Artemis and with Slavic women in labor. Rybakov correlates the two horsewomen on Russian embroideries, behind whose backs a plow is sometimes depicted, located on either side of Mokosh, with Lada and Lelya.
In the spring spell song there are the following words dedicated to Lela-Spring:

Eat Spring, eat.
On a golden horse
In the green sayan
Gray hair on the plow
Soak the earth with aruchi
Right hand now.

The cycle of spring rituals began on the day the larks arrived - March 9 (March 22, new style). People met birds, went out to the tops of the hills, lit fires, boys and girls danced in circles. There was also a special girl's holiday– lyalnik - April 22 (May 5). The most beautiful girl, crowned with a wreath, sat on a turf bench and played the role of Lelya. Offerings (bread, milk, cheese, butter, sour cream) were placed on both sides of it. The girls danced around the solemnly seated Lelya.

The existence of the goddess Lelya and the god Lelya is based solely on the chorus of wedding and other folk songs - and modern scholars have erased Lelya from the number of Slavic pagan gods. Chorus, in different forms- lelyu, lelyo, leli, lyuli - found in Russian songs; in the Serbian "Kralitsky" (Trinity) songs of greatness related to marriage, it is found in the form of leljo, lele, in the Bulgarian velikodnaya and Lazar - in the form of lele. Thus the chorus goes back to ancient times.

Potebnya explains the ancient Polish refrain lelyum (if it really existed in this form with “m”) through the addition of lelyu with “m” from the dative case “mi”, as in the Little Russian “schom” (instead of “scho mi”). In the chorus "polelum" (if it is correctly conveyed by Polish historiographers) "by" can be a preposition; Wed Belarusian choruses: lyuli and o lyulushki" (Shane "Materials for studying the life and language of the Russian population of the North-Western Territory"). Considerations about the etymological meaning of the lelyu chorus were expressed by V. Miller ("Essays on Aryan mythology").

Among Slavic runes There is also a rune dedicated to the goddess Lele:

This rune is associated with the element of water, and specifically - Living, flowing water in springs and streams. In magic, the Lelya rune is the rune of intuition, Knowledge beyond Reason, as well as spring awakening and fertility, flowering and joy.
http://godsbay.ru/slavs/lel.html
http://godsbay.ru/slavs/lela.html
http://dreamworlds.ru/intersnosti/11864-slavjanskie-runy.html

In The Snow Maiden, lyricism is combined with epic, the poetry of nature is combined with human experiences, serious passions, “purified” from modern ones. social conditions. History intertwined with fairy tale. At the same time, the play, with its pathos and its entire focus, was addressed to modern man, his spiritual world, for in it rise the eternal and always modern moral issues: love and happiness, life and death, good and evil.

Dramatic action is enriched with elements of oral folk art, ritual games and amusements that came from the hoary centuries and survived into people's memory. The text combines tragic and comic episodes, monologues alternate with short, dynamic lines of characters, recitation with pantomime, ballet with singing. All this is based on a rhymeless, but variedly rhythmic poetic text.

The modern reader, from whom Russian rituals are moving away more and more, seems to be taking part in the farewell to Maslenitsa and the wonderful, fantastic Kupala night; turns out to be in fairy tale kingdom Berendeev, meets the pagan god Yarila, assimilates folk ideas about Spring, Winter, the Sun... “The Snow Maiden” is woven from folklore motifs, which came from fairy tales, songs and works of other genres of folk art.

Where did the author get the material for his brainchild? A.N. Ostrovsky seriously studied the works of folklorists, ethnographers, and historians. He read Russian chronicles, became acquainted with expedition materials, and talked with experts ancient life, consulted with archaeologists and listened sensitively to their advice.

Whole line plot situations are similar to the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden girl; This tale was published in the collection of I.A. Khudyakov "Great Russian Tales". The image of the Berendey kingdom is associated with folk legend O ancient tribe Berendeev. The Berendey tribe is mentioned in the chronicles of the 11th-13th centuries. The image of the Sun-Yarila goes back to ancient calendar rituals, and the god Yarila himself is one of the main gods of the Slavs.

The infinitely distant past in “The Snow Maiden” is recreated with the help of folk poetry. The folklore principle is carefully preserved by Ostrovsky as a fact of the deepest respect for our distant ancestors, their life, their way of life, their ideas and beliefs. The image of “past times” is not an end in itself, and certainly not a background. The play naturally intertwines the motifs of antiquity with the shift of time and characters closely related to history. Only modernity is not presented directly; it must be felt by the reader of the play and the viewer. theatrical performance. “The Snow Maiden” anticipated the discoveries of new art of the coming 20th century.

The artistic originality of “The Snow Maiden” is an organic, natural combination of words and music, but the poetry of the word is at the center of the play.

The heroes of Ostrovsky’s “spring fairy tale” live in a world of nature inspired by their beliefs, in the world of a fairy tale. At the same time, unlike a folk tale, the living conditions of the heroes, their “life” are conveyed by the writer quite definitely and specifically. Already from the “Prologue” it is obvious that the country where the events take place is located in the middle zone of the Slavic lands. Its nature is long, harsh winters, a slowly coming and initially cold spring, which approaches gradually, not suddenly. It is replaced by summer bloom, but it is also interspersed with hot and cool summer months. The Slavic people, living in the lap of nature, bearing the code name “Berendei”, are full of unspent, primordial spiritual and physical forces. For his tireless work he is rewarded by the fertility of the lands.

The world of the Berendeys is cozy. In the second act of the play, it is contrasted with the internecine wars waged by “close neighbors and surrounding kingdoms.”

Heroes of Ostrovsky real people unreal land. They are related, close modern people. The capital of Tsar Berendey stands on the banks of the river. Behind it, on a hill in the forest, is the sanctuary of the main, but not the only god of the pagan Berendeys - Yarila, the god of the Sun, fertility and warmth. There are settlements around the capital's suburbs. Farmers live across the river; They also raise livestock. Among them is a trade guest from Berendeyev Posad, Mizgir. Their distance from us in time and their inclusion in fairy-tale circumstances allow Ostrovsky to create characters in a deeply generalized and symbolic way when depicting life poetically. The motives that emerge in the Prologue largely determine the further action and its outcome.

Snow Maiden. The motive for the miraculous birth of the Snow Maiden is one of the oldest fairy tales. But the story of the Snow Maiden in the play does not entirely coincide with any of the versions of the folk tale - Ostrovsky interprets the folklore plot in his own way. From a fairy-tale story about an “unlucky” man, whose miraculous birth from the fragile material of clay, sand, snow predetermines his rapid destruction, the writer creates a story about a “dangerous” birth that contains seeds tragic fate. The image of the Snow Maiden combines two opposite principles: beauty, inner purity, divine virginity, on the one hand, and the need for reckless love, on the other. This is the basis of the “spring fairy tale”. The heroine is tested by human indifference and love, which are equally destructive. These tests are real.

IN fairy tale one of the techniques is a prohibition that is violated central character, but it is important that this prohibition is not justified psychologically in folklore works. He is a given, which is accepted by both the narrator and the listener (reader). The Snow Maiden also violates the ban. But her action is deeply justified: following the insurmountable laws of youth and nature, she strives for communication with people, warmth, and love. Her purity and innocence are cold, but she is painfully aware of the indifference and coldness of others. The “spring”, awakening, “spring” principle lives in it. Perhaps that is why her appearance disrupts the usual and decorous, seemingly forever established order of life in the Berendey settlement: the guys “went crazy, in hordes, herds / They rushed without memory” after her.

The Snow Maiden brings confusion into the hearts of the simple-minded Berendeys. Moroz's simple calculation is not justified. Her divine essence, the unusualness is visible to everyone and recognized by everyone. “The Snow Maiden doesn’t look like our women and girls,” says the rich Sloboda resident Murash, meaning that in her moral fortitude you can be sure. Snegurochka is reproached for her excessive severity and modesty, which is “indecent” for a poor girl, by her adoptive father Bobyl. He also understands that she is different from other girls in the settlement: “Some rich man is ready to buy for money / For his daughter, at least a little modesty...”, and the Snow Maiden - poor girl- it's in abundance. Her beauty attracts the attention of suburban guys, but these are only external, superficial, fleeting feelings. Not getting what they want, they easily return to their previous hobbies, brides, because “the new bribe makes them smooth.”

Co fairy-tale characters The Snow Maiden is united by ideal purity, chastity and spiritual generosity. The heat of the soul, awakened in spring, gives it the ability to love. Berendey’s comparison of the Snow Maiden with a modest, “thoughtfully bowed” lily of the valley, lost in the wilderness, is unusually close to folklore ideas about beauty and goodness. But the difference is that the “lily of the valley essence” is one side of the heroine’s character; there is another - “ice”, coldness that can melt under the bright rays of the sun. It is no coincidence that one of the main words of the Prologue is precisely this: “melt.” Maybe the heroine is comparable to everyone else northern nature who slowly, with difficulty wakes up after a long winter sleep, V short term blooms wildly and almost unexpectedly suddenly fades.

Mizgir. Even more unpredictable, at least unusual for a fairy tale, is the image of the beloved Snow Maiden Mizgir. IN folk tales a hero of this type is certainly a savior; he saves his beloved from the magical evil action, revives her, his love is ardent, faithful and always saving. So it is here: it seems that it is Mizgir who is obliged to snatch the Snow Maiden from the cold captivity of Frost, to save her from the threat of the burning and cruel warmth of Yarila the Sun.

The Snow Maiden received a magical gift from her mother, a wreath of “love” enchanting flowers. According to the fairytale motif, she must fall in love with the first person she meets. However, the meeting with Mizgir is not an accident. Mizgir was looking for her, for this he was in the forest, struggling with obstacles - obsession and Leshim. But what distinguishes Mizgir is that he does not seek salvation, the deliverance of the girl, as happens in a folk tale, but only thinks of mastering her and saving himself. To her timid plea: “Save your Snow Maiden!” - he emphatically prosaically, cruelly, although in form he answers “politely”:

Child,
Save you? Your love is salvation
To the exile. At sunrise
Mizgir will show you as his wife,
And the king’s truthful anger will be tamed.

This is his main benefit: marriage with the Snow Maiden should save him from the royal wrath. He doesn't even allow the thought that higher power can interfere in his fate and the fate of his beloved, which can only be saved by sincere and selfless love. These reasonings are especially significant because they are not put into the mouth of a coward, not weak person, but a powerful and courageous hero.

Mizgir evaluates the Snow Maiden as a commodity: she can be exchanged for a rare unique pearl mined in distant seas and countries. He expresses this idea frankly, referring to the appreciation of beauty in markets in Eastern countries, where robbers trade in slaves.

The Snow Maiden objects to Mizgir: “I value / My love inexpensively, but I will not sell it.” The difference from others, the uniqueness of not only his face, but also his personality, only fuels Mizgir’s interest, forcing him to achieve his goal at any cost. The Snow Maiden becomes for him the goal of life, the subject of an all-encompassing passion. Ostrovsky does not simplify anything, does not make Mizgir an ordinary tempter-villain. Everything is more complicated. At the strict trial before Tsar Berendey, Mizgir does not betray his love for the Snow Maiden. “Mizgir’s bride is the Snow Maiden,” he calmly and adamantly declares and promises the king:

The fire of my love will ignite
The Snow Maiden's untouched heart.
I swear to you by the great gods,
The Snow Maiden will be my wife,
And if not, let him punish me
The king's law and terrible anger gods!

Mizgir violates the law of the Berendey kingdom, abandons Kupava, explaining to her the reason: his former beloved can no longer correspond to his ideas about feminine ideal. The meeting with the Snow Maiden changed his life values.

For Kupava, Mizgir is desirable because he is stately, strong, and handsome; she admires the “coarse male blush” of her loved one.

The Snow Maiden, who received the gift of love from the hands of Spring, has a different idea about her beloved. The Snow Maiden not only sees in front of her a curly-haired guy, a “father of a son,” “the Mizgiry family,” similar to the others, but with all her soul she feels exactly this, a one-of-a-kind man, proud, brave, courageous, who has experienced a lot and is powerful. The Snow Maiden in Mizgir appreciates his courage, his imperious will, ready to bow before her feminine charm- and this is precisely the most important thing for her.

Lel. In the original plan, Ostrovsky wrote: “Lel is the sunny son.” In the final text of the play, Moroz’s speech contains the words: “The Sun’s beloved son is a shepherd.” He is truly the son of the Sun and is not afraid of its burning rays; he lies down “when all living things flee from the Sun.” This is what makes it so unusual. But Lel acts in the play as a simple resident of the Berendey settlement. He differs from other villagers only in that he is less tied to the land, but is closer to nature than they are.

The image of Lel may evoke in the reader’s mind an association with cupid, but there are no direct indications in this regard in “The Snow Maiden”. Ostrovsky did not liken him to anyone. Lel is only pleasing to the god Yarila, he is his favorite, because Yarilo patronizes the herds. Shepherd Lel is named after the deity. The gods gifted him with another wonderful quality: he composes songs and hymns.

Lel in the play is a poetic image that plays an important artistic role: connects concrete imagery with artistic metaphor. He is a man for whom the impossible is familiar. The poet Lel seems to demonstrate the confidence of ancient people in the correctness of their understanding of the world, for example, he tells that the day has eyes and opens them: “The day has woken up and opens the eyelids / Of shining eyes.” At the same time, there is another thought of the writer here: ancient man was capable of a poetic attitude towards life. Lelya's speech is bright and figurative. His singing attracts girls, and Tsar Berendey is sure: the young man’s singing was gifted by the gods.

Lelya's songs have a strong connection with both folklore and myth. This is most clearly manifested in the song “A cloud conspired with thunder...”. It was performed during a ritual celebration at the request of the priest-king. In the spirit of folk symbolism, clouds meet thunder (thunderstorm) here. This meeting symbolizes a love union that encourages nature to bear fruit and man to love.

Berendey. Often in folk tales the image of the king is unusual, sometimes even funny. He is also unusual in “The Snow Maiden”. Berendey is shown surrounded by buffoons and guslars. This is a kind and intelligent ruler who knows how to appreciate beauty in art and nature. He considers the greatest good for the state to be the increase in natural resources and the preservation of a reasonable and fair order.

Love, according to Berendey, is “a great gift of nature” that should be protected and appreciated. That is why breaking love vows is a state crime for him. Berendey is extremely democratic: he believes that love “does not tolerate coercion.”