Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin Peru owns many excellent works, some of which were included in the school curriculum, thanks to which we are familiar from childhood. One of such works of the famous poet was “Demons”. The work is based on folklore motifs and reflects the mood of Pushkin during the Boldin autumn. It is the analysis of the poem "Demons" that is the topic of this article.
History of creation
In 1830, Alexander Sergeyevich began preparations for the wedding, and for this he needed to visit the family estate of Boldino, where he had to settle matters related to the inheritance. But because of the cholera epidemic that began in Moscow, the poet is forced to spend several months on the estate. Later, this period of Pushkin's work was called Boldinsky in the fall. At this time, the writer creates many lyrical and philosophical works, one of which is “Demons”.
Pushkin's poem is saturated with folklore motifs, so beloved by the poet. In the center of the story is a trip to a blizzard, which is accompanied by the appearance of demons, brownies and other mythical creatures.
Plot, theme and idea
Pushkin was always lively and with great interest in stories in which there was evil spirits and other folklore elements, considering them to be part of national culture. So, among the people there are stories in which demons knock travelers out of the way, fool them and lead them in a circle. It was a similar bike that Pushkin took as the basis for his poem. However, when analyzing the poem "Demons", it must be borne in mind that the poet was an educated person, and it is doubtful that he seriously believed such stories. Any natural phenomenon can always be found a logical explanation. Why, then, did Pushkin take this mythical plot as the basis and even call the poem the name of fictional evil spirits?
Everything is explained very simply. The image of demons is, of course, allegorical; it symbolizes those in whose hands power over Russia is concentrated. And the traveler, wandering in a snowstorm, is the Russian people, who are prevented from finding the road to prosperity, freedom and happiness.
An analysis of Pushkin’s poem “Demons” is interesting in that the work itself can be interpreted from two perspectives: political and philosophical. Political is directly related to the problem of serfdom. The Russian people cannot get to happiness and freedom, because the “demons," that is, those in power, do not want to give up free labor and do not want to give people freedom that could negatively affect their situation. From this point of view, demons are the government of Russia, which fools, confuses, humiliates and intimidates ordinary people. The lines of the poem show an analogy with social balls, which continued even during the outbreak of cholera in Moscow: "The demons spun differently."
From a philosophical point of view, any person can be a stray traveler, and demons can be his own passions and vices that prevent him from finding a way to his goal. Such an interpretation is inherently close to the previous one, since “demons” in power were admitted by “demons” in human souls. The people themselves allowed themselves to be treated like this, nurtured their tormentors and continue to humbly endure all their whims.
Composition
Compositional analysis of the poem "Demons" allows us to conclude that the main plot technique is repetition. So, the same quatrain sounds at the beginning, middle and end of the work:
Clouds rush, clouds curl;
Invisible moon
The flying snow illuminates;
Cloudy sky, night cloudy.
This suggests that the composition of our poem is circular. Moreover, the passage cited as an example is also based on the repetition: “clouds - clouds”, “muddy - muddy”. And in the rest of the text of the work there are many repeating words and phrases: “turbidity”, “circles”, “bell dean-din-din”, “blizzard”, “month” and “moon”.
Reception is present at the syntactic level: contextual synonyms and identical sentences. For example: “Is a brownie buried? Will they betray a witch? ”
The main plot element of the poem is the conversation between the master and the coachman. It begins with a remark of the master, then the coachman’s monologue goes on, then the speech breaks off and resumes at the end of the work. From the conversation it becomes clear that they both see the same thing. Consequently, a simple peasant and representative of the nobility suffer equally from rampant demons (imperial power and their own weaknesses). In this episode, the idea is concluded that the Russian people are not only serfs, but also the nobility, the upper class. And of course, only Pushkin could dare to make such a comparison.
Key Images
An analysis of Pushkin’s poem “Demons” (literary exposition of folklore is not uncommon in the works of poets and writers) is impossible without a description of the main images that contain a symbolic meaning that helps to uncover the themes of the entire work.
As noted above, the main image in the poem is the image of demons. It is these spirits that set the rhythm of the whole poem - whirling, senseless walking in a circle, inability to find the right path.
Another significant image is a blizzard. In itself, it is in tune with the ring composition and the circle of demons. The blizzard causes confusion, enhances the confusion and chaos of what is happening. She envelops travelers and entangles them.
Verse size
Structural analysis of the poem "Demons" makes it possible to determine the size of the poem - four-foot trochae. It was not in vain that Pushkin chose this particular size, since his dynamism and rhythm create an even greater sense of whirling a snowstorm.
Also, the poet often resorts to the use of alliterations, that is, sound recordings.
Output
Versatile, richly symbolic images and subtexts poem A.S. Pushkin's “Demons” (an analysis of the poems of the great Russian poet, and in particular the one examined by us, will help to study the curriculum more deeply). The poet managed to fully convey the confusion and loss of the traveler who fell into a snowstorm and did not know how to get out of it.