Miserly knight problematic. Comparative analysis of the tragedy The Miserly Knight by A.S. Pushkin and Molière's comedy The Miserly

The theme of "The Miserly Knight" is the terrible power of money, that "gold", which back in 1824 in Pushkin's "Conversation of a Bookseller with a Poet" urged people of the "Iron Age", the "age merchant" a sober bourgeois merchant. In the monologue of Baron Philip, this knight-usurer, in front of his chests, Pushkin draws a deeply inhuman character of the “immediate emergence of capital” - the initial accumulation of piles of “gold”, compared by a miserly knight with the “proud hill” of some ancient king who ordered his soldiers to “demolish the lands a handful in a pile": * (Looks at his gold.) * It seems not much, * And how many human worries, * Deceptions, tears, prayers and curses * It is a ponderous representative! * There is an old doubloon here... here it is. * Today the Widow gave it to me, but before * With three children half a day in front of the window * She was on her knees howling. * It rained, and stopped, and went again, * The pretender did not touch; * I could drive her away, but something whispered to me, * That she brought me a husband's debt, * And she won't want to be in prison tomorrow. * And this one? this one was brought to me by Thibaut * Where could he get a sloth, a rogue? * Stole, of course; or maybe *There on high road, at night, in a grove. * Yes! if all the tears, blood and sweat, * Shed for everything that is stored here, * From the bowels of the earth all suddenly came out, * It would be a flood again - I would choke b * In my cellars of the faithful. Tears, blood and sweat - these are the foundations on which the world of "gold", the world of the "age merchant" is built. And it is not for nothing that Baron Philip, in whom "gold" has suppressed and disfigured his human nature, simple and natural movements of the heart - pity, sympathy for the suffering of other people - compares the sensation that seizes him when he unlocks his chest with the sadistic sensations of a perverted killers: * ... my heart is oppressing * Some unknown feeling ... * Doctors assure us: there are people * Finding pleasantness in murder. * When I put the key into the lock, the same * I feel that they should feel * They, plunging a knife into the victim: nice * And scary together. Creating the image of his "stingy knight", giving bright picture his experiences, Pushkin shows the main features, the features of money - capital, everything that he brings with him to people, brings into human relations. Money, gold for Baron Philip is, in the words of Belinsky, an object of super-possession, a source of supreme power and might: * What is not subject to me? like a Demon * From now on I can rule the world; * Only I want - halls will be erected; * Into my magnificent gardens * Nymphs will run in a frisky crowd; * And the muses will bring me their tribute, * And the free genius will be enslaved to me, * And virtue and sleepless work * They will humbly await my reward. Here, the peculiar figure of Pushkin's usurer-knight acquires gigantic dimensions and outlines, grows into an ominous, demonic prototype of the coming capitalism with its boundless greed and insatiable lusts, with its insane dreams of world domination. A prime example disruption of such superpower of money, is the same "stingy knight". Completely alone, secluded from everything and everyone in his cellar with gold, Baron Philip looks at own son - the only person, who is vitally close to him on earth, as his worst enemy, a potential killer (the son really can’t wait for his death) and a thief: he will squander, squander all the wealth he selflessly accumulated after his death. This culminates in the scene where the father challenges his son to a duel and the joyous readiness with which the latter "hurriedly raises" the glove thrown to him. Marx noted, among other things, the special aesthetic properties of the so-called "noble metals" - silver and gold: "They are to a certain extent native light, extracted from the underworld, since silver reflects all light rays in their initial mixture, and gold reflects the color highest voltage, red. The feeling of color is the most popular form of aesthetic feeling in general. Baron Philip Pushkin - we know - a kind of poet of passion, which he seized. Gold gives him not only intellectual (the thought of his omnipotence, omnipotence: “Everything is obedient to me, but I am nothing”), but also purely sensual pleasure, and precisely with its “feast” for the eyes - color, brilliance, sparkle: today I will arrange a feast: * I will light a candle in front of each chest, * And I will open them all, and I will myself * Among them look at the shining piles. * (Lights a candle and unlocks the chests one by one.) * I reign! .. * What a magical brilliance! Very expressively shown by Pushkin in the image of a “stingy knight” is another consequence that naturally follows from the accumulation of the “damned thirst for gold” characteristic of capitalist capitalism. Money, as a means, for a person obsessed with a damned thirst for gold, turns into an end in itself, the passion for enrichment becomes stinginess. Money, as “an individual of universal wealth”, gives its owner “universal domination over society, over the whole world of pleasures, labor. It is the same as if, for example, the discovery of a stone gave me, completely independent of my individuality, the mastery of all sciences. The possession of money puts me in exactly the same relation to wealth (public) as the possession of philosopher's stone with regard to the sciences.

Tragedy Miserly knight” Pushkin was written in 1830, in the so-called “Boldino autumn” - the most productive creative period writer. Most likely, the idea of ​​the book was inspired by the difficult relationship between Alexander Sergeevich and his stingy father. One of Pushkin's "little tragedies" was first published in 1936 in Sovremennik under the title "Scene from Chenstone's tragicomedy".

For reader's diary And better preparation for the literature lesson, we recommend reading the online summary of The Miserly Knight chapter by chapter.

Main characters

Baron- a mature man of the old school, in the past a valiant knight. He sees the meaning of all life in the accumulation of wealth.

Albert- A twenty-year-old youth, a knight, forced to endure extreme poverty due to the excessive stinginess of his father, the baron.

Other characters

Jew Solomon is a pawnbroker who regularly lends money to Albert.

Ivan- a young servant of the knight Albert, who serves him faithfully.

duke- the main representative of the authorities, in whose subordination are not only ordinary residents, but also all the local nobility. Acts as a judge during the confrontation between Albert and the baron.

Scene I

Knight Albert shares his problems with his servant Ivan. Despite noble birth and a knighthood, the young man is in great need. At the last tournament, his helmet was pierced by the spear of Count Delorge. And, although the enemy was defeated, Albert is not too happy about his victory, for which he had to pay a price that was too high for him - damaged armor.

The horse Emir was also injured, which after a fierce battle began to limp. In addition, the young nobleman needs a new dress. During dinner party he was forced to sit in armor and make excuses to the ladies that "he got to the tournament by accident."

Albert confesses to the faithful Ivan that his brilliant victory over Count Delorge was not due to courage, but to the stinginess of his father. The young man is forced to make do with the crumbs that his father gives him. He has no choice but to sigh heavily: “O poverty, poverty! How it humiliates our hearts!”

To buy a new horse, Albert is forced once again to turn to the usurer Solomon. However, he refuses to give money without a mortgage. Solomon gently leads the young man to the idea that "what time is it for the baron to die", and offers the services of a pharmacist who makes an effective and fast-acting poison.

Enraged, Albert chases away the Jew who dared to suggest that he poison his own father. However, he is no longer able to drag out a miserable existence. The young knight decides to seek help from the duke so that he can influence the stingy father, and he will stop holding his own son, "like a mouse born underground".

Scene II

The baron descends into the basement to pour "a handful of accumulated gold" into the still incomplete sixth chest. He compares his savings to a hill that has grown thanks to small handfuls of earth brought by soldiers on the orders of the king. From the height of this hill, the ruler could admire his possessions.

So the baron, looking at his wealth, feels his power and superiority. He understands that, if desired, he can afford anything, any joy, any meanness. The feeling of one's own strength calms a man, and he is quite "enough of this consciousness."

The money that the baron brings to the cellar has a bad reputation. Looking at them, the hero remembers that he received the “old doubloon” from an inconsolable widow with three children, who sobbed in the rain for half a day. She was forced to give the last coin in payment of the debt of her dead husband, but the tears of the poor woman did not pity the insensitive baron.

The miser has no doubts about the origin of the other coin - of course, it was stolen by the rogue and rogue Thibaut, but this in no way worries the baron. The main thing is that the sixth chest of gold is slowly but surely replenished.

Every time he opens the chest, the old curmudgeon falls into "heat and trepidation." However, he is not afraid of the attack of the villain, no, he is tormented by a strange feeling, akin to the pleasure that an inveterate killer experiences, plunging a knife into the chest of his victim. The baron is “pleasant and scared together”, and in this he feels true bliss.

Admiring his wealth, the old man is truly happy, and only one thought gnaws at him. The Baron understands that his last hour is near, and after his death, all these treasures, acquired through years of hardship, will be in the hands of his son. Golden coins will flow like a river into “satiny pockets”, and a careless young man will instantly spread his father’s wealth around the world, squander it in the company of young charmers and cheerful friends.

The Baron dreams that even after death, in the form of a spirit, he will guard his chests with gold with a “guard shadow”. A possible separation from the dead weight acquired by good falls on the soul of an old man, for whom the only joy of life lies in increasing his wealth.

Scene III

Albert complains to the duke that he has to experience "the shame of bitter poverty", and asks to reason with his overly greedy father. The duke agrees to help the young knight - he is remembered a good relationship native grandfather with the miser baron. In those days, he was still an honest, brave knight without fear and reproach.

Meanwhile, the duke notices in the window the baron, who is heading to his castle. He orders Albert to hide in the next room, and receives his father in his chambers. After an exchange of mutual pleasantries, the duke invites the baron to send his son to him - he is ready to offer the young knight a decent salary and service at court.

To which the old baron replies that this is impossible, because the son wanted to kill him and rob him. Unable to bear such impudent slander, Albert jumps out of the room and accuses his father of lying. The father tosses the glove to the son, who picks it up, indicating that he accepts the challenge.

Stunned by what he saw, the duke separates father and son, and in anger drives them out of the palace. Such a scene causes the death of the old baron, who in the last moments of his life thinks only about his wealth. The duke is in dismay: "A terrible age, terrible hearts!".

Conclusion

In "The Miserly Knight" close attention Alexander Sergeevich turns out to be such a vice as greed. Under its influence, irreversible personality changes occur: the once fearless and noble knight becomes a slave to gold coins, he completely loses his dignity, and is even ready to harm his only son, if only he does not take possession of his wealth.

After reading the retelling of The Miserly Knight, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with full version Pushkin's plays.

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"- Pushkin depicts stinginess, turned into an all-consuming passion, with all its repulsive ugliness. The baron is not only "lord" and master of his wealth, but also slave his. He himself says that he is "above desires", but in fact this is not true, because the passion for acquisition does not stop in its development.

The highest pleasure of a stingy knight, his "happy day", when he can pour a handful of gold "into the sixth chest, not yet full." It is clear that his desires are not satisfied with this, not satiated; while he is alive, he would like to accumulate gold more and more, to fill chests. There is something demonic in the gloomy figure of the baron; when he wants to open the chest in order to pour a handful of gold into it, he says terrible words:

My heart is throbbing
Some strange feeling...
Doctors assure us: there are people
Finding pleasure in killing.
When I put the key in the lock, the same
I feel like I should feel
They, plunging a knife into the victim: nice
And scary together...

Pushkin. Stingy knight. radio theater

As always, from one major vice, others are born. We see this clearly in the miserly knight. From stinginess, ruthlessness developed in him; suffice it to recall the unfortunate widow with three children, who brought her husband's debt and begged the baron to have pity on her. Looking at the handful of gold in his hand, he recalls:

There is an old doubloon here... here it is. Today
The widow gave it to me, but before
With three children half a day in front of the window
She was on her knees, howling.
It was raining, and stopped, and went again,
The pretender did not move; I could
Drive her away, but something whispered to me,
What a husband's debt she brought me
And he doesn't want to be in jail tomorrow...

What ruthlessness, what heartlessness in this callous soul! From stinginess in the baron, both complete lack of principle and unscrupulousness in means developed; he doesn’t care how Thibault, the “sloth, rogue,” got the money that he owed him: “stole, of course,” or maybe robbed, killed someone

"There on the high road, at night, in the grove..."
…………………………
Yes [says the baron] if all the tears, blood and sweat,
Shed for all that is stored here,
From the bowels of the earth all suddenly came out,
That would be a flood again - I would choke
In my cellars of the faithful...

Greed is joined by passion lust for power , intoxication with one's strength: - "I reign!" exclaims the baron, admiring the glitter of gold in the open chest. But this passion for power is aimless, empty, not like Tsar Boris, who sought to use his power for the good of the people, for the good of home country. "The miserly knight" is intoxicated only consciousness strength and power, the consciousness that he "like a demon can rule the world", that he can enslave himself with his gold "and a free Genius" - "both virtue and sleepless work." -

I whistle, and to me obediently, timidly
Bloodied villainy will creep in,
And he will lick my hand, and into my eyes
Look, they are a sign of my reading will.
Everything is obedient to me, but I am nothing ...

He enjoys the consciousness of this power, the consciousness of the availability of all the pleasures of the world to him, but because of his stinginess he will never spend a single handful of the accumulated treasures; on the contrary, he would like to hide his basement from the “eyes of the unworthy” until his death and even after death:

Oh, if only from the grave
I could come, guard shadow
Sit on the chest and away from the living
Keep my treasures as now!

The knight slanders his son, blackens him in the eyes of the duke only out of fear that he will spend the money saved up by his father.

At the same time, the baron alive soul, it still has human feelings; remorse has not yet died in him, he knows their torments:

Conscience,
Clawed beast, scraping the heart, conscience,
Uninvited guest, annoying interlocutor,
The creditor is rude; this witch,
From which the moon and the grave fade
They are embarrassed and the dead are sent away!

It is evident that the baron suffered a lot in the struggle with his conscience, trying to drown out her voice.

Stingy knight. Painting by K. Makovsky, 1890s

Next to the baron, in contrast to him, stands before us a much more attractive image of his son Albert. The ardent young man suffers from the miserable position in which his father keeps him, from "the shame of bitter poverty." But this poverty does not develop in him stinginess, which would be so easy to infect "under the same roof with his father"; Albert does not become a miser: he has no money, but we see that he sends the last bottle of wine presented to him through his servant to a sick blacksmith. He cannot love his father, but how indignant, how shocked, when he takes the hint of a Jewish usurer who suggests that he poison his father! Driven to despair by this terrible, vile proposal of a Jew, Albert decides to go to the duke, complain and "seek justice." The same ardent, stormy indignation seizes his honest, noble soul when he hears the disgusting slander of his father raised against him. Such injustice and lies bring him to the point that he shouts in the face of his father: "You are a liar!" - and accepts the challenge thrown to him by the baron.

With a few strokes, the figure of the Jew Solomon with his unprincipled mercenary little soul is depicted unusually brightly and realistically. This knows the value and power of money! The fear of the weak before the strong and at the same time the greed of his petty soul is felt in his cautious expressions, reservations: when it is unclear, in semi-hints, he talks about the “wonderful bargaining” of his friend, Tobias, Albert impatiently asks:

"Your old man sells poison?" "Yes -
AND poison..."

Solomon answers. This " And The Jew is trying to soften his vile proposal to poison the baron.

In three short scenes of The Miserly Knight, Pushkin concisely, vividly and realistically depicts the characters of all actors, a deep tragedy of a man who has hardened in his vices and perishes from them.

All Pushkin's works are filled with galleries of various images. Many conquer the reader with their nobility, self-esteem or courage. On wonderful work Alexander Sergeevich has grown more than one generation. Reading his poems, poems and fairy tales, people of the different ages get great pleasure. The same can be said about the work "The Miserly Knight". His heroes and their actions make even the youngest lover of Alexander Sergeevich's creativity think.

Acquaintance with a brave but poor knight

In our article, only a brief summary will be presented. "The Miserly Knight", however, is worthy of familiarizing yourself with the tragedy in the original. So let's get started...

A young knight, whose name is Albert, is going to the next tournament. He asked Ivan's servant to bring his helmet. As it turned out, he was pierced through. The reason for this was the previous participation in the battle with the knight Delorge. Albert is upset. But Ivan tries to comfort his master, saying that one should not be sad because of the damaged helmet. After all, young Albert still repaid the offender. The enemy has not yet recovered from the terrible blow.

But the knight replies that it was the damaged helmet that gave him heroism. It was stinginess that became the reason to finally defeat the enemy. Albert complains about his poverty and modesty, which did not allow him to take off his helmet from Delorge. He tells the servant that during dinners at the duke's, all the knights sit at the table in chic outfits that are sewn from expensive fabrics, while Albert, due to lack of money to buy new clothes have to be present in armor ...

This is how the tragedy itself begins, and from this we began to present its summary.

"The Miserly Knight": the emergence of a new hero of the work

Young Albert, in his conversation with a servant, mentions his father, who is such a stingy old baron that he not only does not allocate money for clothes, but also regrets new weapons and a horse. There is also an old Jewish moneylender, whose name is Solomon. The young knight often used his services. But now this creditor refuses to give him a loan. Only with a deposit.

But what can a poor knight bail out but his uniform and good name! Albert even tried to persuade the moneylender, saying that his father was already very old and would probably die soon, and, accordingly, all the huge fortune that he owns would go to Albert. Then he will definitely be able to pay off all his debts. But Solomon was not convinced by this argument either.

The meaning of money in a person's life, or his attitude towards them

Solomon himself mentioned by the knight appears. Albert, taking this opportunity, wants to beg him for another amount. But the usurer, though gently, but firmly refuses him. He explains to the young knight that his father is still quite healthy and will live even thirty years. Albert is crushed. After all, then he will be fifty years old and the money will no longer be needed.

To which the Jewish usurer reprimands the young man that he is wrong. At any age, a person needs money. Just in every period of life, people relate to wealth in different ways. The young are mostly too careless, and the elderly find true friends in them. But Albert argues with Solomon, describing his father's attitude towards wealth.

He denies himself everything, and puts the money in chests, which he then guards like a dog. And the only hope for young man- that the time will come when he will be able to use all this wealth. How do the events that our summary describes develop further? The Miserly Knight will tell the reader about the terrible advice that Solomon gives to the young Albert.

When Solomon sees the plight of the young knight, he advises him in hints to hasten his father's departure to the other world, giving him poison to drink. When the meaning of the usurer's hints reached Albert, he was even about to hang him, he was so indignant. The frightened Jew tries to offer him money to avoid punishment, but the knight kicks him out.

Frustrated, Albert asks the servant to bring some wine. But Ivan says that he is not left in the house at all. And then the young man decides to turn to the duke for help and tell him about his misfortunes, as well as about his stingy father. Albert cherishes the hope that he will at least be able to get his father to support him, as it should be.

The greedy baron, or a description of a new character

What happens next in the tragedy? Let's continue with the summary. The miserly knight finally appears to us in person: the author introduces the reader to the father of poor Albert. The old man went to the basement, where he hides all his gold, in order to carry another handful of coins. Having opened all the chests full of wealth, the baron lights a few candles and sits nearby to admire his fortune. All Pushkin's works very vividly convey the images of the characters, and this tragedy is no exception.

The Baron remembers how he got each of these coins. Many of them brought people a lot of tears. Some even caused poverty and death. It even seems to him that if you collect all the tears shed because of this money together, then a flood will certainly happen. And then the thought comes to his mind that after his death, the heir, who did not deserve it at all, will begin to use all this wealth.

Leads to resentment. This is how Alexander Sergeevich describes Father Albert in his work The Miserly Knight. An analysis of the entire tragedy will help the reader figure out what the baron's attitude towards money and neglect of his own son led to.

The meeting of a greedy father and a poor son

In fashion, the knight at this time tells the duke about his misfortunes, about his greedy father and lack of maintenance. And he promises the young man to help convince the baron to be more generous. After some time, the father himself appeared in the palace. The duke ordered the young man to hide in the next room, and he himself began to inquire about the health of the baron, about why he appeared so rarely at court, and also about where his son was.

The old man suddenly begins to complain about the heir. Allegedly, young Albert wants to kill him and take possession of the wealth. The Duke promises to punish the young man. But he himself runs into the room and calls the baron a liar. Then the angry father throws the glove to his son, and the young man accepts it. The Duke is not only surprised, but outraged. He took away this symbol of the upcoming duel and drove both of them out of the palace. But the health of the old man could not withstand such shocks, and he died on the spot. Thus ends the last events of the work.

"The Miserly Knight" - which not only introduced the reader to all his characters, but also made him think about one of the human vices - greed. It is she who often destroys the relationship between close friends and relatives. Money sometimes makes people go to inhuman acts. Many of Pushkin's works are filled with deep meaning and point the reader to one or another shortcoming of a person.

The action of the tragedy "The Miserly Knight" takes place in the era of late feudalism. The Middle Ages has been portrayed in various ways in literature. Writers often gave this era a harsh flavor of strict asceticism in gloomy religiosity. ( This material will help to write competently on the topic Tragedy The Miserly Knight character and image of Albert. Summary does not make it clear the whole meaning of the work, so this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, short stories, stories, plays, poems.) Such is medieval Spain in Pushkin's Stone Guest. According to other conventional literary ideas, the Middle Ages is the world of knightly tournaments, touching patriarchy, worship of the lady of the heart. The knights were endowed with feelings of honor, nobility, independence, they stood up for the weak and offended. Such an idea of ​​the knightly code of honor is a necessary condition for a correct understanding of the tragedy "The Miserly Knight".

The Miserly Knight depicts that historical moment when the feudal order had already cracked and life had entered new shores. In the very first scene, in Albert's monologue, an expressive picture is drawn. The Duke's palace is full of courtiers - gentle ladies and gentlemen in luxurious clothes; heralds glorify the masterful blows of knights in tournament fights; vassals gather at the overlord's table. In the third scene, the Duke appears as the patron of his loyal nobles and acts as their judge. The baron, as his chivalrous duty to the sovereign tells him, is at the palace at the first request. He is ready to defend the interests of the Duke and, despite his advanced age, "groaning, climb back on the horse." However, offering his services in case of war, the Baron shied away from participation in court amusements and lives as a recluse in his castle. He speaks with contempt of the "crowd of petters, greedy courtiers."

The Baron's son, Albert, on the contrary, rushes to the palace with all his thoughts, with all his soul ("By all means, I will appear at the tournament").

Both the Baron and Albert are extremely ambitious, both strive for independence and value it above all else.

The right to freedom was provided to the knights by their noble origin, feudal privileges, power over lands, castles, and peasants. Free was the one who had full power. Therefore, the limit of knightly hopes is absolute, unlimited power, thanks to which wealth was won and protected. But the world has already changed a lot. In order to maintain their freedom, the knights are forced to sell their possessions and maintain their dignity with the help of money. The pursuit of gold has become the essence of time. This rebuilt the whole world of knightly relations, the psychology of knights, inexorably invaded their intimate life.

Already in the first scene, the splendor and splendor of the ducal court is just the outward romance of chivalry. Previously, the tournament was a test of strength, dexterity, courage, will before a difficult campaign, and now it amuses the eyes of illustrious nobles. Albert is not very happy about his victory. Of course, he is pleased to defeat the count, but the thought of a pierced helmet weighs on a young man who has nothing to buy new armor.

O poverty, poverty!

How it humiliates our hearts! -

He complains bitterly. And admits:

What was the fault of heroism? - stinginess.

Albert obediently submits to the stream of life that carries him, like other nobles, to the Duke's palace. Thirsty for entertainment, the young man wants to take a worthy place among the overlord and stand on a par with the courtiers. Independence for him is the preservation of dignity among equals. He does not at all hope for the rights and privileges that the nobility gives him, and ironically speaks of "pigskin" - a parchment certifying belonging to a knighthood.

Money pursues Albert's imagination wherever he is - in the castle, at the tournament duel, at the Duke's feast.

The frantic search for money formed the basis of the dramatic action of The Miserly Knight. Albert's appeal to the usurer and then to the Duke are two acts that determine the course of the tragedy. And it is no coincidence, of course, that it is Albert, for whom money has become an idea-passion, that leads the tragedy.

Three possibilities open up before Albert: either to get money from the usurer on a mortgage, or to wait for the death of his father (or hasten it by force) and inherit wealth, or to “force” the father to adequately support his son. Albert tries all the ways leading to money, but even with his extreme activity, they end in complete failure.

This is because Albert is not only in conflict with individuals, he is in conflict with the century. Knightly ideas of honor and nobility are still alive in him, but he already understands the relative value of noble rights and privileges. Naivety is combined in Albert with insight, chivalrous virtues with sober prudence, and this tangle of conflicting passions dooms Albert to defeat. All Albert's attempts to get money without sacrificing his knightly honor, all his calculations for independence are a fiction and a mirage.

Pushkin, however, makes us understand that Albert's dreams of independence would remain illusory even if Albert had succeeded his father. He invites us to look into the future. Through the lips of the Baron, the harsh truth about Albert is revealed. If “pigskin” does not save you from humiliation (Albert is right in this), then the inheritance will not save you from them, because you have to pay for luxury and entertainment not only with wealth, but also with noble rights and honor. Albert would have taken his place among the flatterers, the "greedy courtiers." Is there any independence in the "palace front"? Having not yet received the inheritance, he already agrees to go into bondage to the usurer. The baron does not doubt for a second (and he is right!) that his wealth will soon move into the pocket of the usurer. And in fact - the usurer is no longer even on the threshold, but in the castle.

Thus, all paths to gold, and through it to personal freedom, lead Albert to a dead end. Carried away by the flow of life, he, however, cannot reject chivalric traditions and thus opposes the new time. But this struggle turns out to be powerless and in vain: the passion for money is incompatible with honor and nobility. Before this fact, Albert is vulnerable and weak. Hence, hatred for the father is born, who could voluntarily, by family duty and knightly duty, save his son from poverty and humiliation. It develops into that frenzied despair, into that bestial rage ("tiger cub" - Herzog calls Albert), which turns the secret thought of the father's death into an open desire for his death.

If Albert, as we remember, preferred money to feudal privileges, then the Baron is obsessed with the idea of ​​power.

The Baron needs gold not to satisfy the vicious passion for money-grubbing and not to enjoy its chimerical splendor. Admiring his golden "hill", the Baron feels like a ruler:

I reign!.. What a magical brilliance!

Obedient to me, my power is strong;

Happiness is in it, my honor and glory are in it!

The Baron knows well that money without power does not bring independence. With a sharp stroke, Pushkin exposes this thought. Albert is delighted with the outfits of the knights, their "satin and velvet." The baron, in his monologue, will also remember the atlas and say that his treasures will "flow" into "satin pockets". From his point of view, wealth that is not based on the sword is "squandered" with catastrophic speed.

Albert also acts for the Baron as such a “squanderer”, before which the building of chivalry that has been erected for centuries cannot resist, and the Baron has invested in it with his mind, will, and strength. It, as the Baron says, was "suffered" by him and embodied in his treasures. Therefore, a son who can only squander wealth is a living reproach to the Baron and a direct threat to the idea defended by the Baron. From this it is clear how great the Baron's hatred for the heir-squanderer, how great his suffering at the mere thought that Albert "takes power" over his "power".

However, the Baron also understands something else: power without money is also insignificant. The sword was placed at the feet of the Baron of possession, but did not satisfy his dreams of absolute freedom, which, according to knightly ideas, is achieved by unlimited power. What the sword did not complete, gold must do. Money thus becomes both a means of protecting independence and a path to unlimited power.

The idea of ​​unlimited power turned into a fanatical passion and gave the figure of the Baron power and greatness. The seclusion of the Baron, who retired from the court and deliberately locked himself in the castle, from this point of view can be understood as a kind of protection of his dignity, noble privileges, secular life principles. But, clinging to the old foundations and trying to defend them, the Baron goes against the times. The feud with the age cannot but end in a crushing defeat for the Baron.

However, the causes of the Baron's tragedy also lie in the contradiction of his passions. Pushkin reminds us everywhere that the Baron is a knight. He remains a knight even when he is talking with the Duke, when he is ready to draw his sword for him, when he challenges his son to a duel and when he is alone. Knightly valor is dear to him, his sense of honor does not disappear. However, the freedom of the Baron presupposes undivided domination, and the Baron knows no other freedom. The Baron's lust for power acts both as a noble property of nature (thirst for independence), and as a crushing passion for the people sacrificed to her. On the one hand, lust for power is the source of the will of the Baron, who curbed "desires" and now enjoys "happiness", "honor" and "glory". But, on the other hand, he dreams of everything obeying him:

What is not under my control? like some kind of demon

From now on I can rule the world;

If I only want, halls will be erected;

To my magnificent gardens

The nymphs will run in a frisky crowd;

And the muses will bring me their tribute,

And the free genius will enslave me,

And virtue and sleepless labor

They will humbly await my reward.

I whistle, and to me obediently, timidly

Bloodied villainy will creep in,

And he will lick my hand, and into my eyes

Look, they are a sign of my reading will.

Everything is obedient to me, but I am nothing ...

Obsessed with these dreams, the Baron cannot find freedom. This is the reason for his tragedy - seeking freedom, he tramples it. Moreover: love of power is reborn into another, no less powerful, but much more base passion for money. And this is not so much a tragic as a comic transformation.

The baron thinks that he is a king to whom everything is “obedient”, but unlimited power does not belong to him, the old man, but to the pile of gold that lies in front of him. His loneliness is not only a defense of independence, but also the result of a fruitless and crushing stinginess.

However, before his death, chivalrous feelings, withered, but not completely disappeared, stirred up in the Baron. And it sheds light on the whole tragedy. The Baron had long convinced himself that gold represented both his honor and his glory. However, in reality, the honor of the Baron is his personal property. This truth pierced the Baron at the moment when Albert offended him. Everything collapsed in the Baron's mind at once. All the sacrifices, all the accumulated treasures suddenly appeared meaningless. Why did he suppress desires, why did he deprive himself of the joys of life, why did he indulge in “bitter restraints”, “heavy thoughts”, “day cares” and “sleepless nights”, if before a short phrase - “Baron, you are lying” - he is defenseless, despite great wealth? The hour of impotence of gold has come, and a knight woke up in the Baron:

So rise, and judge us with a sword!

It turns out that the power of gold is relative, and there are such human values ​​that are not sold or bought. This simple idea refutes life path and beliefs of the Baron.