Hermann is the hero of A.S. Pushkin’s story “ Queen of Spades"(1833). G. is a military engineer, the son of a Russified German, who did not receive much capital from his parent, and therefore was forced to live on one salary, not allowing himself the slightest whim. A player at heart, he never sits down at the card table. However, G.’s “strong passions and fiery imagination” are ignited by the story of his friend Tomsky about three cards that once allowed his grandmother, Countess Anna Fedotovna, to pay off a large gambling debt. From now on, the Countess's house attracts G. like a magnet. He wants to fall into the favor of the countess, to become her lover, he is ready to do anything just to master the secret of the three cards, which will bring him wealth. “Calculation, moderation and hard work” on which he built his former life are losing their former attractiveness for G.
A meeting with Lizaveta Ivanovna, a poor pupil of the old countess, decides his fate. Using the girl’s love as the key to the countess’s house, G. enters her bedroom and conjures the old woman with “the feelings of a wife, mistress, mother” to reveal to him the secret of the three cards. The frightened countess dies without saying anything. True, three days later, on the day of the funeral, the ghost of the countess appears to G. in a dream and names the cards: three, seven, ace. From now on, three cards completely occupy G.’s imagination. For three days in a row he comes to the house of Hussar Chekalinsky and places one card at a time, as the countess ordered. The first two days bring him winnings; on the third day, instead of an ace, the queen of spades falls on the table, in G.’s imagination, endowed with a fatal resemblance to the countess. Lost, G. goes crazy and ends his days in the Obukhov hospital.
Such is the character of G. - a man who, being “unable to sacrifice what is necessary in the hope of acquiring what is superfluous,” succumbed to destructive passion and, in the pursuit of wealth, lost his mind.
E.G. Khaichenko Pushkin G. served as the prototype for the hero of P.I. Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Queen of Spades” (1890); libretto by P.I. Tchaikovsky, written in 1887-1889. originally for composer N.S. Kpenovsky.
The hero of the opera is called Herman - this is a first name, not a surname, like Pushkin. The librettist changed the time of action, which was assigned to XVIII century Catherine's era. His Herman, who had “strong passions and a fiery imagination,” was rewarded with the gift of love. The intrigue around the three cards has lost its primary significance. The sober and prudent ambitious man with the profile of Napoleon was replaced by a lonely and restless hero, overwhelmed by the elements love passion and gambling. The hero of the opera is endowed with melancholy and a nervous imagination, subject to ecstatic impulses. The opera retained the name of Pushkin's story. This is explained by the peculiarities of the fatalist composer’s worldview: the theme of rock, embodied in the musical image of the Countess, highlights the idea of life as a game in the hands of an omnipotent fate (the famous aria “What is our life? A game!”). This level of conflict dictates a different outcome compared to the original source - the death of Herman. But the theme of love that concludes the opera sounds like the triumph of true passion over false one.
In the theatrical history of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, there are examples of a “return” to Pushkin’s original. Thus, V.E. Meyerhold, in a production in 1933, tried to “Pushkinize” the opera. For this purpose, V. Stenich wrote a new libretto, in which Pushkin’s plot was restored.
Hermann is a character in A. S. Pushkin’s story “The Queen of Spades”, an officer. He is the son of a Russified German, who left him a small fortune, which Hermann is afraid to waste, so he does not play cards himself, but only watches how others play, although he dreams of a big win.
Hermann is rather reserved, silent, and aloof, which Count Tomsky explains by the fact that he, like all Germans, is calculating, and therefore does not waste his time over trifles, looking only for benefits for himself. Perhaps here Pushkin uses national stereotypes, describing a person of German origin as businesslike, hardworking, and prudent. It is his cold mind that does not allow him to play cards, risking losing what he already has.
At the same time, having heard about a secret, knowing which one can play without the risk of losing, he calls it a fairy tale, because it is not in his nature to count on miraculous success if he did not come to it on his own. But still, the prospects that this secret promises capture Hermann’s imagination, and he thinks about how he can master it and become an invincible player. To find out this secret, he uses Lisa, a pupil of the old countess, who, according to Tomsky, was revealed the secret many years ago. But the desire to figure out a way to win one hundred percent does not mean that Hermann lost his rationality and allowed the legend to rule his life.
Before dreaming about the money that will bring him constant victories, he makes sure that the card secret really works and is not due to a random coincidence. This suggests that prudence was so firmly ingrained in his character that even when intending to take a risk and use a legend to enrich himself, Hermann first checked whether this risk was justified.
But, despite his foresight, Hermann still turns out to be defeated: it was not he who subordinated the secret to his interests, but it captured his mind, as evidenced by both the dream about money and Hermann’s appearance at the countess’s house. And here a game of numbers is woven into the narrative, which can be both supernatural and somehow explainable.
When explaining Hermann to the Countess, trying to find out the secret from her, Hermann uses all his arguments, all his resourcefulness and cunning, but achieves nothing: the Countess dies.
Thus, the image of Hermann reflects the new bourgeois world, in which there is no place for sincere feelings, and money, wealth, and calculation play a role. But, on the other hand, Hermann’s defeat may also mean that Pushkin does not accept such a world and does not believe in the duration of its existence.
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So, the action is transferred to the century of Catherine II. Main character not at all similar to its prototype. This is an enthusiastic romantic, endowed with a sublime soul. He idolizes Lisa, his “beauty, goddess,” without daring to kiss her footprint. All his ariosos in the first act are passionate declarations of love. The desire to get rich is not a goal, but a means to overcome the social abyss that separates him and Lisa (after all, Lisa in the opera is not a hanger-on, but the rich granddaughter of the Countess). “Know three cards and I’m rich,” he exclaims, “and with it I can run away from people.” This idea takes possession of him more and more, displacing his love for Lisa. The tragedy of Herman's mental struggle is aggravated by his collision with the formidable force of fate. The embodiment of this power is the Countess. The hero dies, and yet love triumphs in Tchaikovsky’s music: in the finale of the opera the bright theme of love sounds, like a hymn to its beauty and powerful impulse human soul to light, joy and happiness. Herman's dying appeal to Lisa, as it were, atones for his guilt and inspires hope for the salvation of his rebellious soul. The plot of the story plays on the theme of unpredictable fate, fortune, and rock, beloved by Pushkin (as well as other romantics). A young military engineer, German Hermann, leads a modest life and amasses a fortune; he does not even play cards and limits himself only to watching the game. His friend Tomsky tells a story about how his grandmother, the countess, while in Paris, lost a large sum at cards on her word. She tried to borrow from the Count of Saint-Germain,
but instead of money, he told her a secret about how to guess three cards at once in a game. The Countess, thanks to the secret, completely won back.
Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna - prototype of the Countess from "The Queen of Spades"
Hermann, having seduced her pupil, Lisa, enters the countess’s bedroom and, with pleas and threats, tries to find out the cherished secret. Seeing an unloaded pistol in his hands, the Countess dies from heart attack. At the funeral, Hermann imagines that the late countess opens her eyes and glances at him. In the evening her ghost appears to Hermann and says, that three cards (“three, seven, ace”) will bring him a win, but he should not bet more than one card per day. Three cards become an obsession for Hermann:
The famous millionaire gambler Chekalinsky comes to Moscow. Hermann bets all his capital on three, wins and doubles it. The next day he bets all his money on seven, wins and again doubles his capital. On the third day, Hermann bets money (already about two hundred thousand) on the ace, but the queen falls out. Hermann sees the smiling and winking queen of spades on the map, which reminds him Countess. The ruined Hermann ends up in a mental hospital, where he does not react to anything and constantly “mutters unusually quickly: “Three, seven, ace!” Three, seven, queen!..”
Prince Yeletsky (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)
I love you, I love you immensely,
I can’t imagine living a day without you.
And a feat of unparalleled strength
I'm ready to do it for you now,
Oh, I'm tormented by this distance,
I sympathize with you with all my heart,
I'm saddened by your sadness
And I cry with your tears...
I sympathize with you with all my heart!
The seventh picture begins with everyday episodes: a drinking song of the guests, Tomsky’s frivolous song “If only dear girls” (to the words of G. R. Derzhavin). With the appearance of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited.
The anxiously wary septet “Something is wrong here” conveys the excitement that gripped the players. The rapture of victory and cruel joy can be heard in Herman’s aria “What is our life? A game!". In the dying minute, his thoughts are again turned to Lisa - a reverently tender image of love appears in the orchestra.
Herman (from the opera "The Queen of Spades")
That our life is a game,
Good and evil, just dreams.
Work, honesty, old wives' tales,
Who is right, who is happy here, friends,
Today you, and tomorrow me.
So give up the fight
Seize the moment of luck
Let the loser cry
Let the loser cry
Cursing, cursing my fate.
What is true is that there is only death,
Like a seashore of bustle.
She is a refuge for us all,
Which of us is dearer to her, friends?
Today you, and tomorrow me.
So give up the fight
Seize the moment of luck
Let the loser cry
Let the loser cry
Cursing my fate.
Chorus of guests and players (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)
Youth doesn't last forever
Let's drink and have fun!
Let's play with life!
Old age is not long to wait!
Youth doesn't last forever
Old age is not long to wait!
We don't have to wait long.
Old age is not long to wait!
Not long to wait.
Let our youth drown
In bliss, cards and wine!
Let our youth drown
In bliss, cards and wine!
They are the only joy in the world,
Life will fly by like in a dream!
Youth doesn't last forever
Old age is not long to wait!
We don't have to wait long.
Old age is not long to wait!
Not long to wait.
Lisa and Polina (from the opera "The Queen of Spades")
Lisa's room. Door to balcony overlooking the garden.
The second picture falls into two halves - everyday and love-lyrical. The idyllic duet of Polina and Lisa “It’s Evening” is shrouded in light sadness. Polina’s romance “Dear Friends” sounds gloomy and doomed. It is contrasted by the lively dance song “Come on, Little Svetik Mashenka.” The second half of the film opens with Lisa’s arioso “Where do these tears come from” - a heartfelt monologue full of deep feeling. Lisa's melancholy gives way to an enthusiastic confession: “Oh, listen, night.”
Lisa at the harpsichord. Polina is near her; friends are here. Lisa and Polina sing an idyllic duet to the words of Zhukovsky (“It’s already evening... the edges of the clouds have darkened”). Friends express delight. Lisa asks Polina to sing alone. Polina sings. Her romance “Dear Friends” sounds gloomy and doomed. It seems to resurrect the good old days - it’s not for nothing that the accompaniment in it sounds on the harpsichord. Here the librettist used Batyushkov’s poem. It formulates an idea that was first expressed in the 17th century in the Latin phrase that then became popular: “Et in Arcadia ego,” meaning: “And in Arcadia (that is, in paradise) I (death) am”;
The edges of the clouds have faded,
The last ray of dawn on the towers dies;
The last shining stream in the river
With the extinct sky it fades away,
Fading away.
Prilepa (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)
My dear little friend,
Dear shepherd,
For whom I sigh
And I wish to open passion,
Oh, I didn't come to dance.
Milovzor (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)
I'm here, but I'm boring, languid,
Look how much weight you've lost!
I won't be modest anymore
I hid my passion for a long time.
Will no longer be modest
He hid his passion for a long time.
Herman’s tenderly sad and passionate arioso “Sorry, heavenly creature" is interrupted by the appearance of the Countess: the music takes on a tragic tone; sharp, nervous rhythms and ominous orchestral colors emerge. The second picture ends with the affirmation of the bright theme of love. In the third scene (second act), scenes of metropolitan life become the backdrop of the developing drama. The opening chorus in the spirit of welcoming cantatas of Catherine’s era is a kind of screensaver of the picture. Prince Yeletsky’s aria “I love you” depicts his nobility and restraint. Pastoral "Sincerity"
shepherdesses" - a stylization of 18th century music; elegant, graceful songs and dances frame the idyllic love duet of Prilepa and Milovzor.
Forgive me, heavenly creature,
That I disturbed your peace.
Sorry, but don’t reject a passionate confession,
Don't reject with sadness...
Oh, have pity, I'm dying
I bring my prayer to you,
Look from the heights of heavenly paradise
To the death struggle
A soul tormented
Love for you... In the finale, at the moment of the meeting of Lisa and Herman, a distorted melody of love sounds in the orchestra: a turning point has occurred in Herman’s consciousness, from now on he is guided not by love, but by the persistent thought of three cards. The fourth picture
central to the opera, full of anxiety and drama. It begins with an orchestral introduction, in which the intonations of Herman’s love confessions are guessed. Choir of the hangers-on (“Our Benefactor”) and the Countess’s song (melody from Grétry’s opera “Richard Lion Heart") are replaced by music of an ominously hidden nature. It contrasts with Herman’s arioso, imbued with a passionate feeling, “If you ever knew the feeling of love”
How does Herman expect to achieve happiness? Introduce himself to the countess, win her favor, perhaps become her lover.” The rules of calculation are frankly immoral - what is this willingness to become the lover of an eighty-seven-year-old woman for selfish purposes worth? In these reflections, it is not only the sincerity itself that is scary, but the calm, business-like tone in which these plans and these intentions are expressed...
Incident - I saw a “fresh face” in the window of the countess’s house unknown girl- “decided his fate”, he took the path of adventure. An immoral plan instantly matured: to penetrate the countess’s house with the help of a “fresh face”, make a person unknown to him an accomplice in the crime and force the countess at any cost to reveal to him the secret of the three cards, begging her or threatening to kill her.
After the story with Lizaveta Ivanovna, the meeting with the Countess is the culmination of Herman’s scam game. Appearing before the old woman in her bedroom after midnight, Herman carries out his previously planned plan - “to introduce himself to her, to gain her favor.” Seeing unknown man, the countess was not afraid - her “eyes perked up.” The young officer “introduces himself”: “I have no intention of harming you; I have come to beg you for one favor.” Let's pay attention to the Countess's reaction. Pushkin emphasizes one motive - the silence of the old woman. After German’s first phrase, Pushkin reports: “The old woman looked at him silently and did not seem to hear him. Herman imagined that she was deaf, and, leaning close to her ear, repeated the same thing to her. The old woman remained silent as before.”
Continuing to “wish for her favor,” Herman begins to beg to give him the secret of the three cards. To this speech, for the first and last time, Countess Tomskaya reacts vividly and rejects the tale of the three true cards: “It was a joke,” she finally said, “I swear to you!” it was a joke!"
This is the only testimony of a living witness to ancient events, who in Tomsky’s story appeared as a character in the legend. The Countess's confession destroys the legend. One can hardly doubt the veracity of her words. Besides" an old man swears the three-card version was a joke. It is impossible to believe that the countess is cunning, deceiving, dodging, not wanting to give away the secret. She had nothing to give away - there was no secret. The secret existed for Herman, for Tomsky and his friends. The countess's mind was formed in the skeptical 18th century; in the 1770s, Voltairianism was widespread in Russia, and the young countess who appeared in Paris, of course, was attuned to the spirit of the times. The losing countess paid off the gambling debt, and since the name of Saint-Germain was shrouded in mystery, then, apparently, this legendary version of three cards arose as a joke: the famous adventurer and mystic revealed the secret of three cards to Moscow Venus!
It is fundamentally important for Pushkin that the reader understands that there was no secret! The Countess herself swore that the whole conversation about three cards was a joke. This secret is a mirage, a “fairy tale”, an old “anecdote”. It is also significant that the prudent Herman believed in this secret. Belief in otherworldly forces is alien to him, but the gambler’s passion and adventurous nature prevailed - he succumbed to the temptation to instantly get rich. And this is the historically and socially conditioned traits of Herman’s character and beliefs. The pursuit of a ghostly secret, which should also open the path to happiness - capital - expresses the essential side of the image of Herman.
Herman once again changes tactics: it seems to him that he needs to beg the countess again and again, appeal to her past, remind her of the long past, of the years of passion and happiness: “your heart knew the feeling of love,” “I beg you with the feelings of your wife, mistress, mother, - to all that is sacred in life, - do not refuse me my request! “Tell me your secret.” “The old woman did not answer a word.”
In monologue form, Pushkin conveyed the duel between representatives of two eras, two consciousnesses, two wills. The form of monologue construction of the scene of the duel between Herman and the Countess is deeply meaningful. Its meaning is a demonstration of the murderousness of egoism, the passion of an adventurer. The nature of the monologue changes all the time - it escalates, hardens and finally turns into a crude threat, into a readiness to kill a person resisting his will. Herman shouts, “Old witch!.. So I’ll make you answer... With this word, he took a pistol out of his pocket.”
The Countess remained silent - she died from overexertion, from fright. Behind her silence one can discern the spiritual strength, arrogance, and contempt of the aristocrat for the vile actions of the plebeian. At the very first attack of the night stranger who burst into her bedroom, she responded with recognition - she told the truth, with an oath she dispelled the children of the legend. They didn’t believe her, and she fell silent.
Herman came to the countess to find out the secret - therefore, a dialogical form of the meeting was assumed. Dialogue connects two people, even opponents. The Countess, having told the truth, fell silent. The dialogue turned into a monologue. The monologue of this scene clearly reveals Herman’s selfish isolation. With all the laconicism of the narrative, Pushkin finds economical, but means of expression psychological disclosure spiritual world Herman. Already in the scenes considered, we discover the moral deafness of the engineering officer, his murderous concentration on himself, which does not allow the opportunity to listen to the opinion of another person.
That is why all the actions of the German are of a dual nature; they also conceal the idea of \u200b\u200bretribution. Artistically, as we will see, it could be expressed symbolically. By revealing the inevitability of the German catastrophe, Pushkin thereby condemns his hero and his philosophy.
G. A. Gukovsky was right when he saw in the image of Hermann the last link in Pushkin’s struggle against romanticism, with its perversion of human philosophy. “Hermann is truly a romantic, petrified in soul, rejecting all the norms of evil and good for the sake of the only good - the triumph of his “I.” Hermann felt no remorse at the thought of the dead countess. “This is the essence of Pushkin’s analysis of romanticism in the image of Hermann; not only is it organically combined with the philistinism of the hoarder, its deepest basis in Hermann’s soul is egoism, and in the conditions of the social environment in which Hermann is placed, egoism takes on the features of a manic thirst for money.” “All this does not at all “reduce” the image of Hermann, does not make him petty; he remains a titanic image, for the evil contained in him and destroying him is not the vulgar vice of an individual, but the spirit of the era, the ruler of the world, the modern Mephistopheles, or, at the same time, the meaning of the legend of Napoleon.”
The new century imposed its ideal of life on the German. But circumstances did not force him to betray, to commit a crime. Therefore, Hermann is not a victim of a society where money is beginning to rule, but a bearer of its ideologies, a typical figure of modernity, belonging to a tribe of people with the profile of Napoleon. Hermann’s readiness to kill everything human in himself in the name of gaining illusory happiness, whose name is capital, is Hermann’s fault, for which there is no justification. “A man who has no moral rules and nothing sacred,” is the epigraph to the chapter where Hermann’s shameless game with Lizaveta Ivanovna’s feelings is revealed. Therefore, Hermann is the very source of evil in society, a man capable of committing crimes, a cruel practitioner of an inhuman society, who chose selfishness as a means of self-affirmation.
Self-exposure occurred: we were brought to the very edge of a terrible abyss - the abyss of the soul of a person who betrays his human nature. Betrayal is one of the most savage crimes of the bourgeois century; The masters of the new legal order turned the revivalist philosophy of individualism into a poisoned weapon of human corruption. The fate of Germanz psychologically reliably revealed the disastrous nature of individualism for humans. It not only corrupts the individual, but gives rise to a furious and blind thirst for self-destruction, and causes betrayal of one’s nature.
Hermann's soul was illuminated by Pushkin, but we did not see a sick conscience there. This lifeless, like a conflagration, soul of Hermann is amazing and terrible; nothing Living grows on it. Nothing? But it is clearly said that “his heart was also tormented...”. Is Hermann's heart capable of torment? What was it tormented by at that moment? One thing terrified him: the irretrievable loss of the secret from which he expected enrichment.” Lizaveta Ivanovna seemed to overhear the secret voice of Hermann’s grief: “You are a Monster! “- Lizaveta Ivanovna finally said.”
Hermann is a living person, not a soulless machine. The voice of conscience can sometimes make itself felt, albeit dully, but will immediately be mercilessly suppressed and drowned out. This was the case before the explanation with the Countess. But after his threats, she died. Hermann understands his guilt. He informs Lizaveta Ivanovna: “The Countess has died... And it seems,” Hermann continued, “I am the cause of her death.” Lizaveta Ivanovna realized that she was nothing more than the blind assistant of the robber, the murderer of her old benefactress!.. She cried bitterly in her late, painful repentance.”
And this, I would add, is another feature of Hermann’s symbolic image. The illusory nature and madness of the German's wild pursuit of the secret of three cards, which should bring him wealth, is highlighted with particular brightness by the discovery that there is no secret, that this whole story with the cards is a simple joke... Calculating and Cruel person with Napoleon's profile straight ahead, without sparing the people around him, he strives for the secret - the symbol of his happiness, but there is no secret for her! And all his efforts and betrayals are to no avail, there is nothing ahead, emptiness, a black hole of inevitable catastrophe. This whole collision is deeply symbolic.
