World literature is rich in examples of true kindness, because people tend to create moral guidelines and strive for them. There are especially many of them in the books of Russian writers, who very often reflected on the essence and distinction between good and evil. That is why most of the examples from our list refer to domestic prose.

1. F. M. Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment". Rodion Raskolnikov decides on a terrible crime, because he sees a glaring social injustice when most people live in poverty. He develops the "idea" that "extraordinary" people have the right to commit reprisals against the townsfolk for a good purpose. However, after the murder of the old woman and her sister, he realizes that he has committed a terrible deed and suffers. In the throwing of the protagonist, we see the eternal struggle between good and evil. As a result, Raskolnikov surrenders to the police, and this suggests that he cannot live in peace, remembering his crime. Good wins thanks to the influence of a believing girl, Sonya Marmeladova, who convinces the protagonist to pacify pride and turn on the path of moral and spiritual purification.
2. A. I. Kuprin, "Olesya". Olesya and her grandmother Manuilikha are innocent victims of human hatred and ignorance. The villagers drive them out of the village only because they consider them "witches". In fact, the grandmother and granddaughter do no harm to anyone, but only have a gift from nature. There is a kind of exchange of roles. Those who are initially considered "evil" are in fact good, and the inhabitants who appear to be "good" are actually evil. They boast of their faith, but at the same time they beat a defenseless person on the threshold of the temple. In their souls, malice has long avenged good qualities, but outwardly the peasants still retain the illusion of good intentions.

Lack of kindness

1. M. Gorky, "Old Woman Izergil". In the legend told by Izergil, the son of the eagle Larra was doomed to eternal life in solitude. He did not love anyone, did not feel pity or compassion, did not want to respect anyone. Larra valued only his freedom. He didn’t even need his mother, and he killed mercilessly, without even thinking. So, he dealt with the elder's daughter, who refused him love. And in punishment for this, the people left him alive, and he could not die. It was his own qualities - the lack of any kindness and excessive pride - that became the most cruel punishment for him. He himself doomed himself to eternal suffering in a hermitage.
2. "The Tale of Boris and Gleb". In the old Russian life, Svyatopolk, the heir to Prince Vladimir, the son of Yaropolk, decided to kill his brothers, Vladimir's own sons - Boris and Gleb, because he did not want them to claim the throne. Only those with a hard heart can commit fratricide. Boris and Gleb accepted their death humbly, but after death they ascended to heaven and found peace. I think this means that even the most cruel atrocities are unable to eradicate, destroy the good.

Kindness to save someone else's life

1. I. A. Bunin, Bast shoes. Nefed is an incredibly kind person. He was not afraid to go to a city six miles away in a terrible blizzard just to get the coveted red bast shoes for a sick child. He took out both bast shoes and magenta to dye them, but he could not walk back to the house. Nefed sacrificed his life to please a child who might not live. His act is truly selfless and kind. This is confirmed by the fact that the city men, lost and desperate, escaped only because they found a dead body in the snow and realized that there was housing nearby.
2. M. A. Sholokhov, "The fate of man." Andrei Sokolov went through all the horrors of the war. He spent two years in captivity with the Germans, he knew hellish hunger, cold, inhuman fatigue and homesickness. He lost his entire family, which he built over the years - his beloved wife and three children. He could have completely hardened, but kindness and the ability to sympathize were preserved in his heart. He took in a little orphan boy who had lost his parents in the war. This is an example of real human kindness, which even the most difficult life trials are unable to trample.

sacrificial kindness

1. O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi. Della sells her luxurious hair, which she is proud of, to buy a Christmas present for her beloved husband. John, in turn, sold the expensive family watch to buy Delle's long-awaited combs. Thus, it turned out that their gifts to each other are not needed now - Della does not have long hair to decorate with combs, and John does not have a watch that can be attached to a chain. And it is this contrast that allows us to see the most important thing - the kindness of these young couples in love, who are ready to sacrifice the most precious thing, just to please their loved one.
2. V. F. Tendryakov, "Bread for the dog." The boy, the hero of the story, takes pity on the starving "enemies of the people" - dispossessed peasants, and steals food from his parents. Then he meets, in his opinion, the hungriest, whom no one else will regret - a stray dog, and shares a piece of bread with her. The boy takes food for the hungry from his own lunch, deliberately leaving a part of what his mother serves on the table. Therefore, he himself is malnourished in order to help those who need a piece of bread more. This is a truly kind act that deserves respect.

Kindness as salvation

1. M. Gorky, "At the bottom". Of all the heroes of the play, Luke becomes the personification of kindness and compassion. His neighbors, the inhabitants of the rooming house, have sunk to the very “bottom” of life, but with his kind words, with his inexhaustible faith in man, Luka tries to help everyone who can still be helped. He instills faith in Anna that her soul is immortal, Vaska inspires that you can start living honestly, Nastya - that her dream of bright love can be fulfilled, Actor - that he can stop drinking. Luke preaches love and compassion for a person as opposed to evil, hatred, "cruel truth." His kindness becomes a beacon of light for desperate characters.
2. R. Bradbury, Green Morning. The hero of the story - Benjamin Driscoll - moved to Mars along with the first settlers. Despite losing consciousness due to lack of air, he did not return to Earth, but remained, and began to plant tree seeds. For a month, Benjamin worked tirelessly, and when it finally started to rain, all the trees he had planted grew and began to emit much, much oxygen. Thanks to his good deed, the planet became green, and the settlers were able to breathe deeply and freely. I think only a kind person could do that. Benjamin did what was good for the whole planet, not for him alone.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!

Today it is impossible to open a newspaper and not find in it an article about another murder, rape or fight. Every year crime grows more and more. People are angry and treat each other with hostility. But I believe that even the most evil person has at least a grain of good feelings in his heart, and very rarely, but still, truly kind people are found in our time. But it is very difficult for such people to live, because they are not understood, and often despised and trying in some way to deceive or humiliate. Some authors tried to raise in their works the questions of good and evil, good relations between people.

I believe that the truly kindest person who has never done anything wrong to anyone is Jesus Christ, whom it would even be more correct to call a God-man. One of the authors who wrote about him in their works was M. A. Bulgakov. The writer showed in his novel The Master and Margarita a personal version of the life and death of Christ, whom the author called Yeshua Ha-Notsri. Throughout his short life, Yeshua did good and helped people. It is this kindness of his that leads Ha-Notsri to death, for the people in power saw some evil intentions in his actions. But, despite the betrayal and beatings received from people, Yeshua, bloodied and beaten, still calls all of them, even Mark Ratslayer - "a cold and convinced executioner" - good people. The procurator Pontius Pilate himself, who was never interested in the fate of the criminals who passed through him, admired Yeshua, the purity of his soul and deeds. But the fear of losing power and falling out of favor did their part: Pilate approves Yeshua's death sentence.

Another writer who mentioned Jesus was the great modern author Chingiz Aitmatov. But I would like to draw attention not to Christ, but to a man who deeply loved and believed in him. This is the main character of the novel "The Scaffold" Avdy Kallistratov. The whole short life of this young man was connected with God: his father was a priest, and he himself studied at the theological seminary. All this left a deep imprint on the character of Obadiah: a deep faith in God did not allow him to commit bad deeds. I believe that the author did not in vain turn to the image of Christ, because the fates of him and Obadiah are somewhat similar. Both the one and the other lived a short life; both loved people and tried to put them on the right path; even their death was the same: they were crucified by those whom they wanted to help.

The confrontation between good and evil in the works of Russian literature

Project author:

10th grade student

Daria Sayapina

Meadow Swamp High School

problem question

How does it happen in life: good or evil wins?

Target

to find out whether in all works of Russian literature there is a confrontation between good and evil, and who wins in this fight?

Tasks

• collect historical and literary information on the problem of the confrontation between good and evil in Russian literature

• explore a number of works of classical literature containing the problem of the struggle between good and evil

• make a comparison table

• prepare abstract material on the stated topic

• develop skills in working with different sources

• make a presentation of the project at the literary lounge

• take part in a school conference

My assumptions

Suppose there were no evil in the world. Then life would not be interesting. Evil always accompanies good, and the struggle between them is nothing but life. Fiction is a reflection of life, which means that in every work there is a place for the struggle between good and evil, and, probably, good wins.

The results of the social survey

"Vasilisa the Beautiful"

Good prevailed over evil.

Stepmother and her daughters

turned into coal

and Vasilisa began to live

happily ever after

with the prince in contentment

and happiness

"Ivan the Peasant's Son and the Miracle Yudo"

“Here Ivan jumped out of the forge, grabbed the snake and hit it with all his might on a stone. The snake crumbled into small dust, and the wind scattered that dust in all directions. Since then, all miracles and snakes have hatched in that land - people began to live without fear "

"The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Bogatyrs" A.S. Pushkin

Evil, says the poet, is not omnipotent, it is defeated. The evil queen-stepmother, although she “took it with her mind and everything,” is not confident in herself. And if the queen mother died from the power of her love, then the queen stepmother dies from envy and longing. By this Pushkin showed the inner failure and doom of evil.

"Eugene Onegin" A.S. Pushkin

Kind, pure and sincere Tatyana deserves happiness and mutual love, but Onegin's coldness, arrogance destroy all her dreams.

• The kindness and sensitivity of Dunya, embedded in her character by loving parents, disappears under the influence of another feeling.

• Selfishness and lies destroyed the family, made Dunya unhappy, and led to the death of Samson Vyrin.

"Mtsyri" M.Yu.Lermontov

• Obsessive goodness turns around

for Mtsyri suffering,

grief and ultimately death

"Inspector" N.V. Gogol

"Thunderstorm" A. N. Ostrovsky

Everything is against Katerina, even her own ideas about good and evil. No, she will not return to her former life.

But how can death be a victory over evil?

"Dowry" A.N. Ostrovsky

• Amazing girl carries

good beginnings. Unfortunately,

Larisa dies ... and her death -

this is the only worthy way out,

because only then she

cease to be a thing

"Crime and Punishment" F.M. Dostoevsky

The main philosophical question of the novel

- frontiers of good and evil

conclusion

Project prospects

The work on the project led to the idea:

Are there concepts of good and evil in the literature of the 20th century and in modern literature, or is there only the concept of evil in modern literature, and good has completely eradicated itself?

Social significance of the project:

materials of the work can be used in literature lessons, extracurricular activities. The work needs to be continued: studies of the problem of good and evil in the literature of the 20th century and in modern literature

Page 12

Federal Agency for Railway Transport

Siberian State Transport University

Chair " Philosophy and cultural studies»

THE PROBLEM OF GOOD AND EVIL IN THE MODERN WORLD

abstract

In the discipline "Culturology"

Head Designed

Student gr._D-113

Bystrova A.N. ___________ Leonov P.G.

(signature) (signature)

_______________ ______________

(date of inspection) (date of submission for inspection)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The problem of choosing between good and evil is as old as the world, but meanwhile it is still relevant today. Without understanding the essence of good and evil, it is impossible to understand either the essence of our world or the role of each of us in this world. Without this, such concepts as: conscience, honor, morality, morality, spirituality, truth, freedom, decency, holiness lose all meaning.

Good and evil are two moral concepts that accompany a person throughout his life, these are the main, basic concepts of morality.

Good is opposed to evil. There has been a struggle between these categories since the very foundation of the world. Unfortunately, in this struggle, evil sometimes turns out to be stronger, because it is more active and requires less effort. Good requires hourly, everyday patient labor of the soul, goodness. Good must be strong, active. Kindness is a sign of strength, not weakness. A strong person shows generosity, he is truly kind, and a weak person is kind only in words and inactive in deeds.

The eternal questions of the meaning of human life are closely connected with the understanding of the meanings of good and evil. It's no secret that these concepts are interpreted in countless possible variations, and moreover, each individual person is comprehended in different ways.

The purpose of the work will be to highlight the problem of good and evil.

We consider it important to solve the following tasks:

Consider the problem of understanding good and evil;

To identify the problem of evil and good in literature based on the works of E.M. Remarque "A time to live, a time to die", B. Vasilyeva "The dawns here are quiet" and A.P. Chekhov "Lady with a Dog"

The work consists of an introduction, two main main parts, a conclusion and a bibliography.

CHAPTER 1. The problem of understanding good and evil

The problem of destructive tendencies, manifested at the individual and collective level, is devoted to the works of prominent Russian thinkers: V.V. Rozanova, I.A. Ilyina, N.A. Berdyaeva, G.P. Fedotova, L.N. Gumilyov and many others.(And you read all of them, of course? And if not, what do they have to do with it?)They give an ideological and philosophical characterization and assessment of the negative, destructive phenomena of the human soul, it is shown that one of the most important topics of Russian literature from the moment of its inception to the present day is the problem of good and evil, life and death. Classics of Russian literature Х I 10th century not only managed to convey the acuteness of the problem of evil, the tragic existence of a person who has lost touch with nature and spiritual roots, but also predicted the destructive tendencies in the development of civilization. Many of their predictions came true in the past millennium.

Representatives of Russian and foreign literature of the twentieth century have already encountered the negative manifestations of modern civilization: wars, revolutions, terror, environmental disasters. Treating and evaluating destructive phenomena differently, they nevertheless reflected them in their art, introducing their own, subjective, vision of the world into the objective images of reality. M. Gorky, M. Bulgakov, A. Platonov Russian classics
The twentieth century left us an artistic image of the tragic events in the history of Russia, its people, individual destinies.(Where, in what books, and on what pages exactly did they do this?)The depiction of the crisis processes of the decay of cultural values ​​required from writers not only a creative rethinking of the artistic heritage of literature X I X century, but also attracting new poetic forms of expression.

Good in the broad sense of the word as a good means a value representation that expresses the positive value of something in relation to a certain standard or this standard itself. Depending on the accepted standard, good in the history of philosophy and culture was interpreted as pleasure, benefit, happiness, generally accepted, appropriate for the circumstances, expedient, etc. With the development of moral consciousness and ethics, a more rigorous concept of proper moral good is developed.

First, it is perceived as a special kind of value, not related to natural or elemental events and phenomena.

Secondly, good marks free and consciously correlated with the highest values, ultimately, with the ideal, actions. The positive normative-value content of good is connected with this: it consists in overcoming isolation, disunity and alienation between people, establishing mutual understanding, moral equality and humanity in relations between them; it characterizes the actions of a person from the point of view of his spiritual exaltation and moral perfection.

Thus, good is associated with the spiritual world of the person himself: no matter how the source of good is defined, it is created by a person as a person, i.e. responsibly.

Although good seems to be commensurate with evil, their ontological status can be interpreted differently:

1. Good and evil are principles of the same order of the world, which are in constant combat.

2. The real absolute world principle is the divine Good as Good, or absolute Being, or God, and evil is the result of erroneous or vicious decisions of a person who is free in his choice. Thus good, being relative in opposition to evil, is absolute in the fulfillment of perfection; evil is always relative. This explains the fact that in a number of philosophical and ethical concepts (for example, Augustine, V.S. Solovyov or Moore), goodness was considered as the highest and unconditional moral concept.

3. The opposition of good and evil is mediated by something else God (L.A. Shestovin which book, on which page?), "the highest value" (N.A. Berdyaevin which book, on which page?), which is the absolute beginning of morality; thus asserting that goodness is not a finite concept. It can be clarified that the concept of good is indeed used in a twofold "application", and then Moore's difficulties(Who else is this?)related to the definition of good can be resolved by taking into account the difference between good as an absolute and simple concept and good as a concept correlated in the system of ethical concepts with others. In elucidating the nature of goodness, it is useless to look for its existential basis. The explanation of the origin of goodness cannot serve as its justification, therefore the logic of value reasoning itself can be the same for someone who is convinced that basic values ​​are given to a person in revelation, and for someone who believes that values ​​have an “earthly” social and anthropological origin .

Already in antiquity, the idea of ​​an irresistible connection between good and evil was deeply comprehended; it runs through the entire history of philosophy and culture (in particular, fiction) and is concretized in a number of ethical provisions.

First, good and evil are mutually determined and are known in antithetical unity, one through the other.

However, secondly, the formal transfer of the dialectic of good and evil to individual moral practice is fraught with the temptation of man. "Testing" (even only in the mental plane) of evil without a strict, albeit ideal, concept of good can much more quickly turn into vice than actual knowledge of good; the experience of evil can be fruitful only as a condition for the awakening of the spiritual power of resistance to evil.

Thirdly, the understanding of evil is not enough without the readiness to resist it; but opposition to evil does not in itself lead to good.

Fourthly, good and evil are functionally interdependent: good is normatively significant in contrast to evil and is practically affirmed in the rejection of evil; in other words, real goodness is a deed of goodness, i.e. virtue as a practical and active fulfillment by a person of the requirements imputed to him by morality.

CHAPTER 2. The problem of good and evil in creativity
EM. Remarque, B. Vasilyeva, A.P. Chekhov

2.1 The problem of good and evil in the work
EM. Remark "A time to live and a time to die"

E.M. Remarque is one of the most significant German writers of the 20th century. Devoted to the burning problems of modern history, the writer's books carried hatred for militarism and fascism, for a state system that gives rise to deadly massacres, which is criminal and inhuman in its essence.

The novel A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1954) about the Second World War is the writer's contribution to the discussion about the guilt and tragedy of the German people. In this novel, the author achieved such a merciless condemnation, which his work has not yet known. This is an attempt by the writer to find in the German people those forces that fascism could not break.(Why didn't you say that when you answered?)

Such is the communist soldier Immermann, such is Dr. Kruse, who is dying in a concentration camp, his daughter Elisabeth, who becomes the wife of the soldier Ernst Graeber. In the image of E. Graeber, the writer showed the process of awakening anti-fascist consciousness in a Wehrmacht soldier, comprehending by him the extent to which he "lies with the guilt for the crimes of the past ten years."

An involuntary accomplice to the crimes of fascism, E. Graeber, having killed the Gestapo executioner Steinbrenner, frees the Russian partisans brought to execution, but he himself dies at the hands of one of them. Such is the harsh verdict and retribution of history.

2.2 The problem of good and evil in the work
B. Vasilyeva "The Dawns Here Are Quiet"

The characters in the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” find themselves in dramatic situations, their fates are optimistic tragedies(And what does it mean?). Heroes yesterday's schoolchildren(and not schoolgirls?)and now participants in the war. B. Vasiliev, as if testing the characters for strength, puts them in extreme circumstances. The writer believes that in such situations, the character of a person is most clearly manifested.

B. Vasiliev brings his hero to the last line, to the choice between life and death. Die with a clear conscience or stay alive, staining yourself. The heroes could save their lives. But at what cost? You just need to step back a little from your own conscience. But the heroes of B. Vasiliev do not recognize such moral compromises. What is needed to save the girls? Quit without Vaskov's help and leave. But each of the girls performs a feat in accordance with her character. The girls were somehow offended by the war. Rita Osyanina's beloved husband was killed. The child was left without a father. The Germans shot the whole family in front of Zhenya Komelkova.

Almost no one knows about the exploits of heroes. What is the feat? In this cruel, inhumanly difficult struggle with enemies, remain human. Achievement is the overcoming of oneself. We won the war not only because there were brilliant commanders, but there were also such invisible heroes as Fedot Vaskov, Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Liza Brichkina, Sonya Gurvich.

What did the heroes of the work of B. Vasiliev do - good or evil, killing people, even enemies - this question remains, in the modern concept, unclear. People defend their homeland, but at the same time they kill other people. Of course, it is necessary to repulse the enemy, which is what our heroes do. For them there is no problem of good and evil, there are invaders of their native land (evil) and there are its defenders (good). Other questions arise: whether specific invaders came to our land of their own free will, or whether they want to seize it, etc. However, good and evil are intertwined in this narrative, and there is no single answer to the question what is evil and what is good.

2.3 The problem of good and evil in the work
A.P. Chekhov "The Lady with the Dog" th »

The story "The Lady with the Dog" was conceived at a turning point, both for Russia and for the whole world. Year of writing 1889th. What was Russia of that time? A country of pre-revolutionary sentiments, tired of the ideas of Domostroy that have been put into practice for centuries, tired of how wrong everything is, and how little a person means by himself, and how little his feelings and thoughts mean. In just some 29 years, Russia will explode and inexorably begin to change, but now, in 1889, thanks to A.P. Chekhov, appears before us in one of its most threatening and terrifying guises: Russia a tyrant state.

However, at that time (by the way, we note that the time of writing the story and the time depicted by the author coincide) few people could still see the impending, or rather, close approaching threat. Life went on as before, for everyday worries are the best remedy for clairvoyance, because behind them you see nothing but themselves. As before, quite wealthy people go on vacation (you can go to Paris, but if funds do not allow, then to Yalta), husbands cheat on their wives, owners of hotels and inns earn money. In addition, there are more and more so-called “enlightened” women or, as Gurov’s wife used to say to herself, “thinking” women, to whom men treated, at best, condescendingly, seeing in this, firstly, a threat to patriarchy , and secondly, the obvious female stupidity. Later it turned out that both of them were mistaken.

The author shows seemingly insignificant, but entailing so much life situations, depicts integral, extremely realistic characters with all their shortcomings and knows how to convey to the reader not only the content, but also the ideas of the story, and also makes us feel confident that true love, faithfulness can do a lot.

CONCLUSION

Good is the highest moral value. The opposite of good is evil. It is an anti-value, i.e. something incompatible with moral behavior. Good and evil are not "equal" principles. Evil is “secondary” in relation to good: it is only the “reverse side” of good, a retreat from it. It is no coincidence that in Christianity and Islam, God (good) is omnipotent, and the devil (evil) is only able to tempt individuals to violate the commandments of God.

The concepts of good and evil underlie the ethical assessment of human behavior. Considering any human act as “good”, “good”, we give it a positive moral assessment, and considering it “evil”, “bad”, we give it a negative one.

In real life, there is both good and evil, people do both good and bad deeds. The idea that in the world and in man there is a struggle between the "forces of good" and the "forces of evil" is one of the fundamental ideas that pervade the entire history of culture.

In all the works we have chosen, we see the struggle between good and evil. In the work of E.M. The remark "A time to live, a time to die" the author presents a hero who overcomes his evil, who is trying with all his might to bring peace to the earth.

In B. Vasiliev, the problem of good and evil turns out to be somewhat hidden: there is an enemy that needs to be defeated, and there is a force that defeats him (even if this force turns out to be weak).

A.P. Chekhov in "The Lady with the Dog" it is very difficult to consider the forces of good and the forces of evil. However, the author considers ambiguous, but real life situations, describes the whole, extremely realistic characters of the characters with all their shortcomings and tries to convey to the reader not only the content, but also the ideas of the story, and also makes us feel confident that true love, loyalty can do a lot.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Vasiliev, B. And the dawns here are quiet ... / B. Vasiliev. M.: Eksmo, 2008. 640 p.
2. Karmin, A. Culturology / A. Karmin. M.: Lan, 2009. 928 p.
3. Tereshchenko, M. Such a fragile cover of humanity. The banality of evil, the banality of good / M. Tereshchenko; Per. from French And Pigaleva. M.: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 2010. 304 p.
4. Remarque, E.M. Time to live and time to die / E.M. Remarque. M.: AST, 2009. 320 p.
5. Houser, M. Moral and reason. How nature created our universal sense of good and evil / M. Hauser; Per. from English: T. Maryutina. M.: Drofa, 2008. 640 p.
6. Chekhov, A.P. Stories and novels / A.P. Chekhov. M.: Children's Library, 2010. 320 p.

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Plan

Introduction

1. Good and evil in the ethical space

2. Good and evil in the fairy tale "Cinderella" by Evgeny Schwartz

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The purpose of the work: to reveal the concepts of good and evil in Russian literature, to explain how these qualities are interconnected, what they mean in ethics, and what place they occupy in literature.

The concepts of good and evil are closely related to such a science as ethics, but few people have thought about how much these qualities mean in life, and what they teach us in books. There is a common notion that good always triumphs over evil. It's nice to read a book or watch a movie when you realize that justice will prevail, the good will triumph over the bad, and the story will end with the usual happy ending. At the psychological level, we learn from domestic works to be good and honest people, alas, not everyone succeeds, but they give us hope for a bright and happy, for what is called good.

Ethics is one of the oldest theoretical disciplines, the object of study of which is morality. Ethics studies the history of the development of human morality, explores morality as a form of social relations and consciousness, its role in society. Ethics reflects on what is good and what is evil, what is the purpose and meaning of human life, what kind of people we should be and how to live our only and rather short life correctly. A thinking person cannot do without thinking about these questions, and ethics - the theory of morality - will help him in this.

Good and evil are the most important concepts of ethics. Good is understood as what society in a given historical period considers moral, worthy of respect, imitation. We, people, invest in this concept everything that contributes to the improvement of life, the moral elevation of a person, justice, mercy, and love for one's neighbor. When we say "kind" about a person, we mean that he is ready to help another person not for the sake of profit, but disinterestedly, out of conviction, out of moral duty. The creation of good is the meaning of life for every person. In all cases when a person has to make a responsible decision, he is guided by the main practical guideline - the value of good.

Everything that is opposite to good is evil. This is a violation of morality, it is immoral, reprehensible, inhumane. This concept generally expresses everything that deserves contempt and must be overcome by people, society, and an individual. Evil is where a person is humiliated, insulted. The concept of evil covers all negative phenomena: violence, deceit, rudeness, meanness, theft, betrayal, etc. Every day a person can face evil that has become commonplace, has become a habit - rudeness, rudeness, selfishness, indifference to suffering, someone else's pain, drunkenness, cunning, etc. Unfortunately, evil is very common and many-sided, and often insidious. It does not declare itself: "I am evil! I am immorality!" On the contrary, evil can hide behind the mask of good.

So, good and evil are the basic concepts of ethics. They serve as our guide in the vast moral world. A moral person strives to build his activity in such a way as to suppress evil and create good. Man is a moral being, he is called to live according to the laws of morality, which are comprehended in ethics, and not according to the laws of the jungle, where the strong is always right. The concepts of good and evil underlie the ethical assessment of human behavior. Considering any human act "good", "good", we give it a positive moral assessment, and considering it "evil", "bad" - negative

So it is with E. Schwartz. The theme of good and evil is widely disclosed in the fairy tale, one can say that the whole essence of the above is based on these two qualities. We observe the ethical behavior of the two main characters. Stepmothers - supporters of evil and Cinderella - supporters of good.

Cinderella is a sweet, meek, modest, responsible, sincere, honest girl, always ready to help, who fulfilled all the whims of her stepmother because of her great love for her father. These qualities that we value so much in a person are good, it is worthy of respect, and the stepmother is a formidable, stern woman with a "poisonous" character, looking for benefits in everything, doing everything for herself, evil, cunning, envious, greedy. By her behavior, she shows us an immoral attitude, contempt for people, i.e. negative phenomena and evil.

In invented works, good always triumphs over evil, unfortunately in life this is not always the case, but as they say: "in a fairy tale of lies, but there is a hint in it ...".

All our actions, actions, morality evaluates from the point of view of humanism, determines whether it is good or bad, good or evil. If our actions are useful to people, contribute to the improvement of their lives - this is good, this is good. They do not contribute, they interfere - this is evil. The English philosopher I. Bentham formulated such a criterion of goodness: "The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people." They become good only when they lead an intensive moral life (do good). And the road to good will be mastered by the walking one.

1. Goodand evil in ethical space

Ethics (lthicb from thos - custom, disposition, character) is a set of principles and norms of behavior adopted in a given era and in a given social environment. The main subject of study of ethics is morality.

Morality is the norms and rules imposed on a person, the implementation of which is voluntary. Solonitsyna A.A. Professional ethics and etiquette. Publishing House Dalnevost. un-ta, 2005. Pp. 7

In the understanding of Aristotle, ethics is a special practical science of morality (virtue), the purpose of which is to teach a person how to become virtuous (and happy). Ethics should help a person realize the main goals of his life and solve the question of the possibility of educating virtuous citizens in the state.

Good is the highest moral and moral value, in relation to which, all other categories are secondary. Good: Source: http://ethicscenter.ru/dobro.html

Evil is the actions of a person or many people aimed at destroying or ignoring the moral principles accepted in society, causing harm to other people and oneself, it brings with it moral suffering and leads to the destruction of the individual.

Evil, as well as good, are the fundamental concepts of ethics. According to many religious doctrines, these two concepts stood at the origins of the creation of the world. Only evil is the turning side of good, a lesser part of it. In religion, good is the prerogative of God, his power in creating good is undeniable. On the contrary, evil is in the hands of the Devil (in translation, this means the enemy), who is weaker than God. All the religions of the world teach that evil will be ended by the will of God. All phenomena of this world go through the struggle between the categories of good and evil. Evil: Source: http://ethicscenter.ru/zlo.html

In a broad sense, good and evil denote positive and negative values ​​in general. Good and Evil are among the most general concepts of moral consciousness, delimiting the moral and the immoral. Good is usually associated with the concept of the Good, which includes what is useful to people. Accordingly, that which is useless, unnecessary or harmful to no one is not good. However, just as the good is not the benefit itself, but only that which brings benefit, so the evil is not the harm itself, but that which causes harm, leads to it.

Ethics is not interested in any, but only in spiritual goods, which include such higher moral values ​​as freedom, justice, happiness, love. In this series, Good is a special kind of good in the sphere of human behavior. In other words, the meaning of goodness as a quality of actions is how these actions are related to the good.

And then good is love, wisdom and talent.

"Let those who do not know this state, imagine from the experience of love in this world, what should be the meeting with the most beloved being" See: Ado P. Plotinus, or the simplicity of the look.

What is love? As beautiful as the object is, is that enough to explain our love for it?

"The soul can be attracted to objects very distant and much lower than it. If it feels strong love for them, it is not because they are what they are, but because an additional element joins them, descending from above."

If we love, it is because something inexplicable is combined with beauty: movement, life, brilliance, which make the object desirable and without which beauty remains cold and inert. See: Ado P. Plotinus, or simplicity of sight. The ancient philosopher-idealist Plotinus spoke.

If religious ethics considers Good and Evil, first of all, as the foundations of the moral behavior of the individual, then the philosophical analysis of these categories is aimed rather at revealing their essence, origins and dialectics. The desire to understand the nature of good and evil, combining the efforts of different thinkers, gave rise to a rich classical philosophical and ethical heritage, in which the consideration of these concepts by F. Hegel stands out. From his point of view, the interconnected and mutually supporting concepts of good and evil are inseparable from the concept of individual will, independent individual choice, freedom and sanity. In the Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel wrote: “Since good and evil stand before me, I can choose between them, I can decide on one or the other, I can accept both into my subjectivity. The nature of evil, therefore , is such that a person can want it, but it is not necessary to want it" See: Hegel G.V. F. Philosophy of law. Page 45.

Good is also realized by Hegel through the individual will: "... good is a substantial being for the subjective will, - it must make it its goal and accomplish ... Good without subjective will is only a reality devoid of abstraction, and it should receive this reality only through the will of the subject, who must have an understanding of the good, make it his intention and implement it in his activity" See: Hegel G.W. F. Philosophy of law. Page 41. Hegel extends the concept of will not only to the area of ​​external realization, the area of ​​actions, but also to the internal area, the area of ​​thinking and intentions.

Therefore, he assigns an important role to self-consciousness, which acts as the source of self-creation of the human personality through a free choice between good and evil. In Hegel, "self-consciousness has the ability ... to put one's own peculiarity above the universal and realize it through actions - the ability to be evil. Thus, it is self-consciousness that plays the most important role in the formation of evil will, as well as good will." See: Hegel G.W. F. Philosophy of law. Page 58

Good is good only when it has in mind the good of the human race as such, that is, a good deed and thought are far from direct personal benefit and push the boundaries of any particular interest.

In contrast to good, evil is that which destroys the life and well-being of a person. Evil is always destruction, suppression, humiliation. Evil is destructive, it leads to disintegration, to the alienation of people from each other and from the life-giving sources of being, to death. Solonitsyna A.A. Professional ethics and etiquette. Publishing House Dalnevost. un-ta, 2005. P.8

Evil includes such qualities as envy, pride, revenge, arrogance, crime. Envy is one of the main components of evil. The feeling of envy spoils the personality and relationships of people, it arouses in a person the desire for the other to fail, misfortune, discredit himself in the eyes of others. Envy often pushes people to commit immoral acts. It is no coincidence that it is considered one of the most serious sins, for all other sins can be considered as a consequence or manifestation of envy. Arrogance is also evil, characterized by a disrespectful, contemptuous, arrogant attitude towards people. The opposite of arrogance is modesty and respect for people. One of the most terrible manifestations of evil is revenge. Sometimes it can be directed not only against the one who caused the initial evil, but also against his relatives and friends - blood feud. Christian morality condemns revenge, opposing it with non-resistance to evil by violence.

If we associate good with life, prosperity and well-being for all people (and in the limit - for all living beings), then evil is that which destroys the life and well-being of a person. Evil is always destruction, suppression, humiliation. Evil is destructive, it leads to disintegration, to the alienation of people from each other and from the life-giving sources of being, to death.

Speaking about the empirical life of man, we must note that the evil that exists in the world can be divided into at least three types.

The first is physical or natural evil. These are all natural elemental forces that destroy our well-being: earthquakes and floods, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, epidemics and ordinary diseases. Historically, natural evil does not depend on human will and consciousness, biological and geological processes occur in addition to human desires and actions. However, from ancient times there were teachings that claimed that it was negative human passions - anger, anger, hatred - that create special vibrations on the subtle levels of the universe, which provoke and cause natural disasters. Thus, the spiritual world of people turned out to be essentially connected with supposedly purely natural evil. A similar view found expression in religion, which has always said that physical misfortunes that suddenly fell on people are the result of God's wrath, because people have done so many outrages that punishment followed.

In the modern world, many phenomena of natural evil are directly related to the large-scale activities of mankind, with the violation of the ecological balance. And yet, storms and tornadoes, downpours and droughts - above all, the action of objective elements - an inevitable evil and beyond our control.

The second type of objective evil is evil in social processes. The concept of evil: Retrieved from: http://bib.convdocs.org/v28791

True, it takes place with the participation of human consciousness, but still in many respects apart from it. Thus, social alienation, which finds expression in class hatred, violence, in heavy feelings of envy, contempt, is born from the objective process of the division of labor, which inevitably leads to private property and exploitation. In the same way, an objective confrontation of interests - the struggle for land, sources of raw materials - turns into aggression, wars, in which many people are drawn against their will. Social cataclysms erupt as spontaneously and uncontrollably as storms, and the heavy wheel of history ruthlessly drives through thousands and millions of destinies, breaking and maiming them. The resultant, arising from the interaction and collision of many wills, reveals itself in historical events as a blind and powerful force that cannot be tamed by individual effort, cannot be diverted from oneself. Being an exemplary moral, good, decent person, one can, by the will of fate, find himself in the epicenter of social evil, which is war, revolution, slavery, etc. The concept of evil: Source: http://bib.convdocs.org/v28791

The third kind of evil is evil, subjective in origin, actually moral evil. Of course, in reality it does not always exist "in its pure form", and yet we are obliged to talk about it. We call moral evil that evil that is committed with the direct participation of the human inner world - his consciousness and will. This is evil that occurs and is done by the decision of the person himself, by his choice.

There are two varieties of such evil - hostility and licentiousness.

By hostility we include the desire for destruction, aggression, violence, anger, hatred, the desire for death, the suppression of others. This evil is active, energetic, seeking to destroy someone else's existence and well-being. It is directed outward. A hostile person consciously seeks to inflict harm, damage, suffering, humiliation on others.

Often, the trigger mechanism for active hostility is fear: those who have switched from defense to attack no longer experience this painful and humiliating feeling.

Debauchery - another kind of moral evil - combines such human vices: cowardice, cowardice, laziness, servility, inability to control one's inclinations, desires and passions. A dissolute person easily succumbs to temptations; it is not for nothing that Christianity claims that the devil takes possession of the soul in two ways - either by force or by seduction. Greed, gluttony, lust, an irrepressible passion for a variety of pleasures can be attributed to promiscuity. The concept of evil: Retrieved from: http://bib.convdocs.org/v28791

The licentious person does not observe the imperatives of benevolence towards others, because he is not able to give up his pleasures, no matter how gross, unhealthy and perverted. Egoism and bodily desires predominate in him and crowd out any active concern for others. He is weak before his own desires, he is their servant and slave. In fact, it is much easier to yield to one's desires than to resist them, and a licentious one indulges in his weaknesses with a light heart. A dissolute person is likened to an animal that does not know socio-cultural restrictions and prohibitions, he is afraid and avoids effort, overcoming, strict discipline, seeks to avoid any discomfort, is not able to show patience. Such people easily become traitors and obsequious serfs, they are ready to sacrifice anyone and anything for their own convenience, satiety and well-being. The concept of evil: Retrieved from: http://bib.convdocs.org/v28791

In this world, everything pushes us to evil, and nothing pushes us to good, except freedom itself.

Freedom is the ability of a person to act in accordance with his interests and goals, to make a choice. People are not free to choose the objective conditions of their activity, but they have concrete and relative freedom when they retain the opportunity to choose the goals and means of achieving them sanctioned by the norms and values ​​of a given society. Solonitsyna A.A. Professional ethics and etiquette. Publishing House Dalnevost. un-ta, 2005. P.8

Friedrich Engels, a German philosopher, wrote: "The ideas of good and evil have changed so much from people to people, from century to century, that they often directly contradict one another." This is what educated young people argued about at the beginning of the last century (Onegin and Lensky in the second chapter of "Eugene Onegin" by A.S. Pushkin). Everything between them gave rise to disputes and led to reflection:

Tribes of past treaties, Fruits of science, good and evil, And age-old prejudices, And fatal secrets of the coffin, Fate and life in its turn, Everything was subjected to their judgment "See Pushkin A.S. Evgeny Onegin

These concepts are eternal and inseparable. In their imperative value content, good and evil are, as it were, two sides of the same coin. They are mutually determined and in this they are, as it were, equal. Good and evil are principles of the same order of the world, which are in constant and irremovable single combat. Already in antiquity, the idea of ​​an irresistible connection between good and evil was deeply comprehended. An old Chinese parable tells of a young man who turned to the sage with a request to take him as his disciple in order to guide him on the path of truth. - Can you lie? - asked the sage. - Of course not! - answered the young man. - What about stealing? - Not. - What about killing? - No - So go, - the teacher exclaimed, - and know all this. And when you know, don't do it! Parable: Source: http://znanija.com/task/1757765 What did the sage want to say with his strange advice? After all, it is not that one must plunge into evil and vice in order to gain a true understanding of goodness and comprehend wisdom. Probably, for the sake of gaining wisdom, the young man should not have learned to be hypocritical, to trick, to kill. The sage's thought was different: whoever has not recognized and experienced evil cannot be truly, actively good. In Eden, the knowledge of good and evil was on the same tree, that is, it was impossible to know good without evil. This idea runs through the entire history of philosophy and is concretized in a number of ethical provisions. First, good and evil are substantive dialectically mutually determined and are known in unity, one through the other. This is what was suggested to the young man in the Chinese parable. A person recognizes evil because he has a certain idea of ​​good; he appreciates the good, having experienced firsthand what evil is. It seems logical to wish only for the good, and one cannot completely renounce evil without at the same time risking losing the good. The existence of evil is sometimes presented as a kind of condition or indispensable concomitant of the existence of good.

The basic position of ethics, which understood the paradox of good and evil, can be formulated as follows: act as if you hear God's call and are called to participate in God's work in a free and creative act, reveal in yourself a pure and original conscience, discipline your personality, fight with evil in oneself and around oneself, but not in order to push the evil and evil into hell and create a hellish kingdom, but in order to really defeat evil and contribute to the enlightenment and creative transformation of evil ". Morality is based on the highest value of Good, Good It regulates a person's behavior and his attitude precisely from the position of good or evil.

Good and evil are the ultimate ethical concepts, the center and "nerve" of all ethical problems.

The problems of Good and Evil, justice and injustice, violence and non-violence have been and remain the central and eternal problems of ethics. A. Schweitzer expressed a wise thought: "Kindness should become the real force of history and proclaim the beginning of the century of humanity. Only the victory of the humanistic worldview over anti-humanism will allow us to look to the future with hope." Zelenkova I.L., Belyaeva E.V. Ethics, Minsk, 2000.

2. Goodand evil in the tale of Evgeny Schwartz" Cinderella"

Consider the work of Evgeny Schwartz "Cinderella". She is a great example for us. It teaches us to act according to our conscience, to be kind and honest people. The theme of good and evil is widely disclosed in the fairy tale, one can say that the whole essence of the above is based on these two qualities.

"There are different people in the world: blacksmiths, cooks, doctors, schoolchildren, teachers, coachmen, actors, watchmen. And here I am - a storyteller. And everything, and actors, and teachers, and blacksmiths, and doctors, and cooks, and storytellers - we all work, and we are all necessary, necessary, very good people" See Schwartz E. The Snow Queen. These words of the hero of the play "The Snow Queen" are fully applicable to its author, Yevgeny Lvovich Schwartz, who has worked talentedly, honestly and selflessly in literature for several decades.

Yevgeny Schwartz knew a secret that allowed him, without violating the laws of a fairy tale, to let in the most modern everyday reality into it. Unlike many interpreters of old fairy tales, he never allowed self-will in relation to the main thing - the interpretation of good and evil. He would never have made Baba Yaga kind, and the Snow Maiden repulsively cheeky. The traditional fairy tale ethics were sacred to Schwartz, he honored the eternal moral law embodied in fairy tales, according to which evil always remains evil, and good - good - without fluidity and psychological shifters. And even if his Cinderella says about herself: "I'm terribly proud!" everyone understands that this is not so. Her behavior throughout the story shows what a kind, modest and meek girl she is.

Here is the first reason for the permanence of the 1947 film. No wonder it ends with the following monologue of the king: "Connections are connections, but you also need to have a conscience. Someday they will ask: what can you present, so to speak? And no connections will help you make your leg small, your soul - big, and your heart - fair". How healthy these words sound for all time! Quote: Source: http://www.russkoekino.ru/books/ruskino/ruskino-0047.shtml

However, a wise text in itself has a much greater chance of immortality than an easily obsolete cinematographic work. It happens, after all, that such things happen - phrases from films exist, passing from mouth to mouth, when these films themselves ordered a long life. Not that - "Cinderella". It is worth pronouncing the name of the film, and the memory will prompt not only funny remarks or the song "About the old beetle", but also a completely lively visual image: soft silver-pearl tones, the comfort of a fairy-tale kingdom, a whimsically winding road along which, accompanied by a breathless retinue, skipping rushes long-legged, eccentric king.

Yevgeny Lvovich Schwartz is a writer whose fate, even in the context of the fates of his contemporaries, is perceived as a kind of fate of an artist, seemingly made up of various kinds of accidents and vicissitudes, capable of serving as a truthful mirror, which accurately reflects his unique originality, his moral position, his belief in the importance of his chosen life field. The creative fate of Schwartz reflected with unusual clarity his insatiable seeker, his passion for comprehending various, complex, instructive human characters and, most of all, a burning and selfless artistic desire to present to people the world in which we live, explained, unraveled, open in all its multicoloredness.

Writers follow very different paths towards literary success. For many of them, the trials of life that have befallen them become literary universities.

In these trials, passionate and militant writers are forged, whose high destiny is to endow readers with their own life experience. Their creative motto is: I teach others what life has taught me. Others are directed to literature itself, so to speak, by literature with its inexhaustible spiritual potential and incalculable inner riches. The third - Evgeny Schwartz belonged to their number - their tireless imagination, fantasy, in which worldview and analytical talent, deep knowledge of life and the eternal need to know it even better, deeper, wider, merged into one, make them become writers.

E. Schwartz began his professional literary work as an adult and involved in art. Stories: Source: http://www.bestreferat.ru/referat-172984.html In his youth, Schwartz performed in a small experimental, or, as they said in those days, studio theater, and I must say, criticism took quite seriously his acting abilities. Reviews of his performances by the "Theater Workshop" - that was the name of the theater - invariably noted his plastic and voice abilities, he was promised a happy stage future.

Schwartz left the stage long before he became a writer, poet, playwright. The temperament of a stubborn observer, a brilliant storyteller, in his stories to the full extent of his individuality, the enthusiasm of an imitator, a parodist and a mockingbird were probably an obstacle to acting reincarnation. Working on the stage, he was deprived to a large extent of the opportunity to remain himself, and any self-denial was not in his nature.

Be that as it may, he parted with acting quite calmly, as if it was destined for him by fate itself. Saying goodbye to the stage, he, of course, did not suspect in those distant times that he would conquer the theater stage in the future as one of the brightest and most daring playwrights of the century, that the fairy tales he created would sound in many theatrical languages ​​​​of the world. But that's how life works - difficult decisions often turn out to be the happiest decisions. At that moment, the actor Yevgeny Schwartz left the stage, the ascent of Yevgeny Schwartz, the playwright, began on it. good evil literature fairy tale

Dramaturgy E.L. Schwartz contains plots and images that made it possible to define the genre of many of his plays as "play-fairy tale", "fairy tale play", "dramatic fairy tale", "comedy fairy tale".

His plays based on fairy tales brought him worldwide fame, although there were very few of them in the author's piggy bank. And he himself treated his own plays, according to his contemporaries, "without any aspiration." Although, in fact, it was they who sounded like a tuning fork of the era, while remaining relevant. So the performance based on his play "The Naked King", created by the author in 1943, was staged in Sovremennik after the death of the author, marking the period of the "thaw". And the play "Dragon", written as an anti-fascist pamphlet in 1944, sounded in a new way during the perestroika period. It turned out that the themes chosen by Schwartz for creativity, in essence, are eternal themes. The play "Shadow" does not leave the theater stage, inspiring directors for new staged interpretations.

Personality, worldview E.L. Schwartz is clarified by numerous memoirs of his contemporaries. Director N. Akimov writes: "E. Schwartz chose for his comedy a special genre, which he is currently developing alone - a comedy-fairy tale. Every adult has an idea of ​​something unusual, wonderful, expensive and irrevocably associated with the word "fairy tale". Lost History: Source: http://www.bestreferat.ru/referat-172984.html We remember our childhood impressions of fairy tales, and when many years later we are smart, educated, equipped with life experience and a formed worldview, we again try to penetrate into this wonderful world, the entrance to which is closed for us. And yet there was a magician who, having retained power over children, managed to conquer adults too, to return to us, former children, the magical charm of simple fairy-tale characters. "

So Evgeny Schwartz conquered us with his fairy tale about Cinderella. But there are other Cinderella tales. Let's try to compare them.

"Cinderella, or the Crystal Slipper" by C. Perrault, "Crystal Slipper" and "Cinderella" by E. Schwartz have been peacefully coexisting for almost half a century. There is much in common between them. It's no secret that T. Gabbe and E. Schwartz relied on Ch. Perrault's fairy tale, but they created original dramatic works that have become part of our national culture. And, obviously, here we should talk about the so-called "wandering" plot, because the source for both works was a literary fairy tale.

The appeal of many children's writers to the fairy tale genre in the second half of the 1930s has many reasons. One of them is the social atmosphere, the dominance of censorship. E. Schwartz's thoughts about time and about himself in his diary entries of 1945-1947, when the script was written and the film "Cinderella" was filmed, help to better understand the artist's attitude, his intention. In an entry dated January 16, 1947, we read: “... My heart is vague. I am a master of seeing nothing, discussing nothing and believing, even believing that everything will work out. close." Schwartz E. I live restlessly... From the diaries. M., 1990. P.25. Today, diaries tell about what contemporaries, researchers could only guess about. The storyteller, no matter how difficult and scary it may be, seeks to make his young "companions" "cheer up" in order to save their souls: after all, what has become funny ceases to be scary. E. Schwartz chose the genre of lyrical comedy for his screenplay. At first glance, there is nothing unexpected or original in this. Both the Cinderella theme and the lyrical comedy genre have been widely used in cinema. Suffice it to recall the housekeeper Anyuta ("Merry Fellows"), the postman Strelka ("Volga-Volga"), the nanny Tanya Morozova ("Bright Way") Purposeful, kind, sympathetic, they achieve the realization of the most cherished desires: one becomes a singer, the other - a composer , the third - a weaver famous throughout the country, each at the same time gaining her own prince. Interestingly, the film "The Bright Path" was originally called "Cinderella", but under pressure from above, G. Alexandrov had to change the name. True, traces of this plan have been preserved, not only in the theme, but also in the heroine's song that ends the film: "And Kalinin himself handed the order to Cinderella."

As you can see, Shvartsev's "Cinderella", created in the late 40s, is based on two primary sources: the plot - the fairy tale by Charles Perrault and the genre - lyrical comedies about the fate of the Soviet woman. A literary fairy tale, as follows from the term itself, combines literary and folklore (fabulous) beginnings. This was remarkably shown by T. Gabbe in the prologue of the fairy tale-comedy "Tin Rings". After a long clarification of the relationship, the Author and the Old Woman (Fairy Tale) conclude an agreement: “Just keep in mind: the characters must remain mine. Old woman. And my adventures "Gabbe T. City of Masters: Plays-tales. M., 1961

With mutual consent, jokes, feelings and morals are shared. In the characters, as we see, the reality that surrounds the artist and makes the literary tale modern and topical is most clearly expressed. It is in the characters that the author's will is most fully revealed. The figurative system of the Schwartz fairy tale differs significantly from the literary source. There are twice as many actors: here are the characters from other fairy tales by Ch. Perrault - Puss in Boots, Boy-with-a-finger; and completely new, playing an important role - Page, Minister of Ballroom Dances, Marquis Padetrois, Forester; episodic, often nameless characters with whom the King speaks - soldiers, gatekeepers, an old servant, etc. Some characters of the fairy tale by Ch. Perrault are either absent from E. Schwartz (Queen), or their role and functions have been significantly changed (King, Corporal, trying on a shoe, etc.) See. Schwartz E. I live restlessly… From the diaries. M., 1990

It seems that this is due to E. Schwartz's rethinking of the main conflict of Ch. Perrault's tale. What is Ch. Perrault's tale about? About "such a quarrelsome and arrogant woman as the world has never seen." In her husband's house, "everything was not to her liking, but most of all she disliked her stepdaughter," because next to the kind, friendly and beautiful Cinderella, "the stepmother's daughter seemed even worse."

Kindness, long-suffering of Cinderella, in the end, are rewarded: the prince marries her. The conflict fits perfectly into the family framework and Christian morality: be kind, patient and the Lord will reward you. E. Schwartz carefully transfers the motif of the evil Stepmother, who oppresses her stepdaughter and husband, but turns the family conflict into a social one: It is not enough for a stepmother to rule in her own house, she wants to rule the whole kingdom: “Well, now they will dance in my palace! order! Marianna, don't worry! The king is a widower! I'll build you too. We'll live! Oh, it's a pity - the kingdom is not enough, there's nowhere to roam! Well, nothing! I'll quarrel with the neighbors! Schwartz E. Cinderella

In both fairy tales, the evil inclination is embodied in the image of the Stepmother. However, if in Ch. Perrault she is a "grumpy and arrogant woman", then in E. Schwartz, in addition, dictatorial habits are clearly expressed. Thus, an updated theme enters the old fairy tale - the theme of power, despotism. The Fairy-tale Stepmother under the pen of E. Schwartz acquires quite realistic and even concrete historical features. Not only the stepdaughter, but also her father - "a desperate and brave man", who is not afraid of robbers, monsters, or an evil wizard, constantly shudders and looks around, fearing to anger his wife. “My wife,” he says to the king, “is a special woman. Her own sister, just like her, was eaten by a cannibal, poisoned and died. See what poisonous characters this family has.” This "special woman" spends all her strength, energy on achieving certain privileges in the ways that were in use when the fairy tale was written, and which have not yet gone into the past today: "I work like a horse. I run, I bustle "I charm, I intercede, I demand, I insist. Thanks to me, in the church we sit on the court benches, and in the theater - on the director's stools. The soldiers salute us! My daughters will soon be written in the velvet book of the first beauties of the court! Who turned our nails into rose petals "A kind sorceress, at the door of which titled ladies wait for weeks. And a sorceress came to our house. In a word, I have so many connections that you can go crazy with fatigue, supporting them" (421). Contemporaries, and not only adults, easily recognized the Soviet "secular" lady in Stepmother.

The word "connections" acquires special meaning in a fairy tale context. Even a fairy cannot but reckon with the phenomenon indicated by him: "I hate the old forester, your evil stepmother, and her daughters too. I would have punished them long ago. But they have such great connections!" . Wizards have no power over connections! The only thing the author can do is give a moral assessment at the end of the tale through the mouth of the King: “Well, friends, we have reached the very happiness. Everyone is happy, except for the old forester. Well, you know, she herself is to blame. one must also have a conscience. Someday they will ask: what can you present, so to speak? And no connections will help you make your foot small, your soul large, and your heart pure.

The entire text of the script, associated with the depiction of the character of the Stepmother, is riddled with irony. Many of her remarks, monologues are self-disclosures. E. Schwartz shows that kind words and intonations addressed to Cinderella are always harbingers of trouble: “Oh yes, Cinderella, my little star! darling, but first tidy up the rooms, wash the windows, mop the floor, whiten the kitchen, weed out the garden beds, plant seven rose bushes under the windows, know yourself and shovel coffee for seven weeks. This whole list is clearly mocking. In the process of filming, the character of the Stepmother has undergone some changes, and, I think, they are quite natural and highlight his essence better. In the screenplay, the Stepmother, with affectionate words, makes Cinderella put on Anna's shoe, in the movie, after affectionate words that had no effect, there is a threat to kill her father from the world. The change in motivations makes it possible to more clearly clarify the despotic nature of the Stepmother: a stick and a carrot are tried and tested means of big and small tyrants. As soon as her cherished dream of taking possession of the kingdom collapses, the mask is thrown off, and the Stepmother shouts to the King: "Schemer! And put on the crown!" See Schwartz E. Cinderella. The viewer becomes a witness of a metamorphosis: the fabulous villain turns into a petty apartment intriguer. What was scary became funny and everyday, from real life. A few years later, in the prologue of "An Ordinary Miracle", E. Schwartz will say this openly: in the king "you can easily guess an ordinary apartment despot, a frail tyrant who deftly knows how to explain his outrages by considerations of principle." As you can see, E. Schwartz's fairy-tale and real-life evil are one, inseparable. Carefully transferring the motif of confrontation between stepdaughter and stepmother from the literary source, E. Schwartz surrounds Cinderella with like-minded friends. On one pole of the conflict is the Stepmother with her daughters (the role of the latter in the script is extremely narrowed), on the other - Cinderella, her father, the Fairy, the Page, the King, the Prince and even the Corporal, in a word, all good, honest, decent people. Evil, although strong, is lonely, the good beginning unites everyone. This trend has been observed in the literary fairy tale since the 1920s. Together with Cinderella, the bearer of a good beginning, the fairy tale includes one of the main themes of E. Schwartz's work - the theme of love, understood by the playwright very broadly.

The opposition between good and evil thus appears as an opposition between love and despotism and tyranny. Such an interweaving of the themes of love and despotism is a characteristic feature of the work of E. Schwartz ("The Snow Queen", "Cinderella", "An Ordinary Miracle", etc.). The ability to love E. Schwartz usually deprives the carriers of the evil inclination (the Stepmother and her daughters). But the rest of the characters are sure to love someone: the Prince, the Prince and the Page - Cinderella, the King and the Forest Warden - their children, the latter, according to him, is generally amorous, the Corporal and the soldiers also know what love is for the Fairy, Cinderella's godmother, and her student's love and creativity are inseparable. If we compare the heroine of Ch. Perrault and E. Schwartz, it is easy to notice very significant differences. Initially, the characterization given by Charles Perrault - "kind, friendly, sweet", with good taste - is almost not specified, the reader knows almost nothing about the psychological state of the heroine. The character is revealed in the proposed circumstances, but does not develop. C. Perrault comes from a folk tale and is much closer to its canons than the authors of a later time. E. Schwartz relies not only on the folklore tradition, but also takes into account the new features that the literary fairy tale acquired in the 20-30s of our century. The Shvartsevo heroine is also kind, affable, gentle, endures slander. However, (kindness and friendliness were not given to her from birth, but are the result of the daily labor of the soul: “While rubbing the floor, I learned to dance very well. I learned to think very well while sewing. Enduring vain insults, I learned to compose songs. I learned to sing. Nursing chickens, I became kind and gentle "(420). Sometimes she is overcome by doubts:" Can I really not wait for fun and joy? birthday and on holidays. Good people, where are you?". Her only interlocutors are kitchen utensils and flowers in the garden, which always sympathize with her, she shares joy and sorrow with them. Cinderella dreams of happiness, but for the sake of achieving it she never will not sacrifice her own dignity: “I so want people to notice what kind of creature I am, but only by all means themselves. Without any requests and troubles on my part. Because I am terribly proud, you understand?” As you can see, here she is full P the opposite of Stepmother.

E. Schwartz shows not just a kind, sympathetic and hard-working girl, but a talented, gifted, inspired person. For her, any work is an inspired work, the creative atmosphere in which she is immersed is contagious. In the depiction of the love of Cinderella and Prince E. Schwartz is so original that there is no question of any resemblance to C. Perrault. He emphasizes that the King and the Prince are struck not so much by the beauty of the girl (this is only the first impression), but mainly by naturalness, simplicity, truthfulness, sincerity, so rare at court. It is no coincidence that the King remarks with delight twice: "What a joy! She speaks sincerely!" "Ha-ha-ha! - the king rejoices. - Sincerely! You notice, son, she speaks sparks!" See: Schwartz E. Cinderella

In the depiction of the love of Cinderella and the Prince, the main emphasis is on their spiritual closeness, a partial similarity of fate. Both he and she grew up without maternal affection, the Prince is also lonely (his father did not notice that he grew up and treats him like a child), they understand each other perfectly, both are creatively gifted natures. Love transforms young people, they don’t understand their actions, they become unpredictable: “What happened to me!” Cinderella whispers. “I’m so truthful, but I didn’t tell him the truth! I’m so obedient, but I didn’t obey him! and trembled when she met me, as if a wolf had come across me. Oh, how simple everything was yesterday and how strange today "

The prince also does not behave according to brackets: he becomes easily vulnerable, touchy (why Cinderella did not explain the reason for leaving), distrustful (neglects the wise advice of his father), runs away from people, trying all the same "to find one girl and ask her why she offended him so much. And at the same time, E. Schwartz shows the spiritual vigilance of the Prince in love: "There is something very familiar in your hands, in the way you lowered your head ... And this golden hair." In Dirty Cinderella, he recognizes the girl he fell in love with. He is not deterred by her poor outfit: In the movie, this moment is strengthened. When Cinderella is offered to perform something, and she immediately agrees, the King remarks shockedly: "It does not break!". In the scene in the forest, the Prince says that all princesses are crackers. “If you are a poor, humble girl, then I will only be glad about this.” For the sake of his beloved, he is ready for any hardships and exploits. According to E. Schwartz, true love can destroy all barriers. The writer will create a hymn to the recklessness of brave men in love in The Ordinary Miracle. In Cinderella, which is directed to children, he does this in a thinly veiled manner. We must not forget that in the children's literature of that time the theme of love was persecuted, forbidden. It is no coincidence that in the movie the word "love" in the mouth of the page boy is replaced by the word "friendship". See: Schwartz E. I live restlessly ... From the diaries

The author also puts Cinderella to the test, though not in the script, but in the movie. The girl is faced with a choice, by no means of a fabulous nature: if you put on Anna's glass slipper, you can lose your loved one, if you don't put it on, you can lose your father. The heroine cannot betray her father, who, because of his amorousness and kindness, was at the mercy of the evil Stepmother. It is impossible to build happiness on the misfortune of others, especially the father - this idea is expressed by E. Schwartz extremely frankly, it runs through the whole work and is very relevant for a time when they tried to turn renunciation of loved ones into the norm. Here everything is interconnected: the character of the heroine determines her moral choice, and this choice, in turn, illuminates the character in a new way.

Love ennobles, inspires those who come into contact with it and who are themselves able to love. In this regard, the image of the Forester, the father of Cinderella, is interesting. As you know, in Ch. Perrault's fairy tale, the father "looked at everything through the eyes" of his wife "and, probably, would only scold his daughter for ingratitude and disobedience," if she took it into her head to complain about her stepmother. According to E. Schwartz, the Forester understands that, together with his daughter, he fell into bondage to a "pretty, but harsh" woman, he feels guilty before his beloved daughter. With just a few details, the author shows that the father sincerely loves Cinderella, is the first to notice a change in her behavior and, driven by feelings of love and guilt, "straightens up". This motif is reinforced in the movie: it is the Woodward who brings Cinderella to the palace and shows the shoe he found from her. Neither the menacing look of his wife, nor the angry shout no longer stops him and does not tremble him. A father's love is stronger than fear. And most importantly, before the eyes of the viewer, a timid kind person becomes bold, unsteady, that is, character development occurs. And this is clearly the author's, and not a fabulous beginning.

In Schwartz's fairy tale, a theme appears that Ch. Perrault does not even hint at: love can work miracles, and creativity is such a miracle. The fairy loves to perform miracles and calls it work: "Now, now I will do miracles! I love this work!" She creates joyfully and selflessly, and each of her gestures is accompanied by music: this is a “jolly ringing”, when, obeying the rotational movements of a magic wand, a huge pumpkin rolls up to her feet; then it is "ballroom music, soft, mysterious, quiet and affectionate", accompanying the dressing of Cinderella in a ball gown; the appearance of the Fairy is accompanied by music "light, light, barely audible, but so joyful." Petrovsky M. Books of our childhood. M., 1986

The page boy looks at Cinderella with loving eyes. For the Fairy and the author, this is a creative stimulus: "Excellent," the Fairy rejoices. "The boy fell in love. It is useful for little boys to fall hopelessly in love. Then they start writing poetry, and I love it."

When the boy says that "love helps us to do real miracles", and gives Cinderella glass shoes, the Fairy remarks: "What a touching, noble act. That's what we call in our magical world - poetry." E. Schwartz puts "love", "poems" and "miracles", "magic" in one row. The artist and the magician, therefore, turn out to be equivalent concepts, which was especially clearly manifested later in the "Ordinary Miracle". The theme of creativity, joy and happiness to create, combined with the themes of love and power, first appears in Cinderella. The roll calls, the parallels with the "Ordinary Miracle" are not only not accidental, but are quite natural. The first act of the "Ordinary Miracle" E. Schwartz wrote in 1944, the last - in 1954.

Work on "Cinderella" (script and film) fell on 1945-1947, that is, at the time when the "Ordinary Miracle" was postponed for a while, but the thoughts that worried the writer, taking into account the age address, were partially realized here. This often happens with writers who work simultaneously for children and adults: M. Petrovsky discovered a similar roll call between The Golden Key and the third part of A. Tolstoy's Pain.

It is impossible to ignore one more feature of the fairy tale by E. Schwartz: fairy-tale images, objects and situations are noticeably reduced, and ordinary ones, or those close to it, are made magical. Puss in Boots takes off his boots and sleeps by the fireplace, Little Thumb plays hide-and-seek for money, seven-league boots are carried past the target, etc. On the contrary, the seemingly natural properties of the human character are absolutized. In the final monologue, the King says: "I adore the beautiful properties of his (boy.) Soul: fidelity, nobility, the ability to love. I adore, adore these magical feelings that will never, never come to an end." Obviously, the lack of these magical properties is too palpable if the artist talks about them in the key phrase of the script. See: Schwartz E. I live restlessly ... From the diaries

Even a cursory analysis shows that the writer turns to the "wandering" plot only when he sees an opportunity to express his "own", innermost in the "alien". For the fact that in the darkest times E. Schwartz, K. Chukovsky, A. Tolstoy, A. Volkov, N. Nosov, A. Nekrasov could convey the truth to the reader, keep a living soul in him, it is necessary. as the poet advised, before them "kneel humbly." Petrovsky M. Books of our childhood. M., 1986

Conclusion

Directed by N.P. Akimov spoke wonderful words about the dramaturgy of E.L. Schwartz: "... There are things in the world that are produced only for children: all sorts of squeakers, skipping ropes, horses on wheels, etc. Other things are manufactured only for adults: accounting reports. Cars, tanks, bombs, alcoholic drinks and cigarettes. However it's hard to decide for whom the sun, the sea, sand on the beach, blooming lilacs, berries, fruits and whipped cream exist? Probably - for everyone! Both children and adults love it equally. So it is with dramaturgy. There are plays exclusively for children. They are staged only for children, and adults do not attend such performances.Many plays are written specifically for adults, and even if the adults do not fill the auditorium, the children are not very eager for empty seats.

But the plays of Yevgeny Schwartz, in whatever theater they are staged, have the same fate as flowers, the surf and other gifts of nature: everyone loves them, regardless of age ...

Most likely, the secret of the success of Schwartz's fairy tales lies in the fact that, talking about wizards, princesses, talking cats, about a young man turned into bears, he expresses our thoughts about justice, our idea of ​​​​happiness, our views on good and evil. The fact that his fairy tales are real modern actual plays. " Quote.