Essays on literary works - 2023
Disclosure of images and understanding of the main conflict of the fairy tale “The Snow Queen”
Andersen Hans Christian
The queen is depicted by the author in a fairy tale with a certain irony: “In the kingdom where we are with you, there is a Queen, so smart that it’s impossible to say! She has read all the newspapers in the world and has already forgotten everything she read - how smart!” Such an event as the choice of a groom happened through a boring life: “One day she was sitting on the throne - and there is little fun in this, as people say - and she sang a song: “Why don't I get married? ” “And indeed!” - she thought, and she wanted to get married. The queen is the mistress of the world into which Gerda has fallen. In order to understand this world, one should learn more about its mistress. The author emphasizes that, unlike Gerda, who is looking all over the world for her named brother, the princess does not even need to rise from the throne to find her betrothed. Although, unlike the heroines of the work of S. Ya. Marshak,
While working on a fairy tale play by S. Ya. Marshak, one can pay attention to this fact and propose to conduct an analytical study and find out what is the secret of the fact that heroines from such different worlds in one fairy tale come into conflict, in another, on the contrary, they find mutual language? Author's intention: It is important for S. Ya. Marshak to show the conflict between the "artificial" world and the light of natural harmony, in the fairy tale of H. X. Andersen, the author's attention is directed to Gerda's inner strength, her ability to change people for the better, awaken Goodness and Love in their hearts.
The heroine sincerely loves her named brother, considers the best, and the young man described by the raven is smart and witty, he conveniently differs from other contenders for the princess’s hand: “He was generally very free and sweet and said that he had come not to woo, but only to listen smart talk princess. “
Gerda lives only in search of Kai, this is the purpose of her life, this is the main reason that the girl immediately believed the raven. Gerda came barefoot, which means that she is not a noble person and cannot interest the princess.
Why did the Queen, who sat on the throne all her life and was not particularly imbued with the fate of others, helped Gerda? Maybe love changed her. The author constantly emphasizes how great the power of this feeling is. Sophistication, elegance, idleness - on the one hand, and savagery, self-will, cruelty - on the other: “In the middle of a huge hall with dilapidated smoky walls and a stone floor, a fire was burning ...”
How did Gerda's story affect the little robber? Why exactly? They won't kill you even if I get mad at you. “I’d rather kill you myself!” The little robber for the first time saw real sincere feelings with her own eyes, saw how a fragile girl is ready to give her life for the one she loves. The soul of the little robber begins to awaken for Good. Animals for the little robber are only living toys, she keeps them for fun. The little robber feels lonely, doves and deer are her only consolation, and she behaves cruelly with them because no one taught her to take care of her neighbors.
The little robber was as tall as Gerdu, but stronger, broader in the shoulders and darker. Her eyes were completely black, but somehow sad.” The little robber from the outside is the complete opposite of Gerda, who is blond, with a delicate pink face, and this dissimilarity in appearance leads the reader to the conclusion that the inner world of the heroines is diametrically opposed, nevertheless, the sad eyes of the little robber (students single out this word as a key word in the description appearance) speak rather about the fact that we have before us an unfortunate girl who once did not meet with love, kindness and mercy. The maternal “caresses” of the old robber cannot be an example of a loving relationship. Before the last, most difficult test of her heroine, the author brings the reader to an understanding of his own authorial position, which is real strength: the warmth of a loving heart or a cold soulless mind? (antithesis again!)
What happened in the Snow Queen's castle and what happened afterwards. “Cold, deserted, dead!” This world, which is dominated by order and cold, is dead, there are no feelings, no warmth, no life, even such an amazingly beautiful phenomenon as the northern lights flashes “... so correctly that you can ... accurately calculate at what minute the light will increase and into which it will weaken.”
In Scandinavian mythology, one can find a description of the oldest of the worlds: “Niflheim is one of the nine worlds of the Scandinavian mythological universe, a country of cold that existed before the beginning of creation. Poisonous icy streams of Niflheim filled the abyss of the world. The country of cold has always existed, Gerda belongs to fight the original evil. The palace is a symbol of its world, it is not just a building where its rulers live, it is a space in which everything that this world lives is concentrated: the luxury of the princess’s palace, where barefoot is not allowed, the dilapidated castle of robbers with wolves and ravens and the dead ice palace of Snezhnaya queens.
The old world is locked, it is only her world, it does not affect the lives of other people, because the grandmother conjures only for her own satisfaction, and therefore instead of the palace there is a small hut, nevertheless surrounded by a wall. And the small houses of the Lapland and the Finns are oases in the middle of the icy desert of the Snow Queen. In the middle of the lake stood the throne of the Snow Queen; on it she sat when she was at home, saying that she was sitting on the mirror of her mind; as she believed, it was the only and best mirror in the world. The connection is obvious - a frozen lake, the ice on which has cracked for “a thousand shmats, for a miracle of equal and correct ones” - a twin brother to the devil's mirror with its splinters. In this cold and dead world, such a mirror that turns human hearts into a piece of ice is the only correct one.
composition feature. A fairy tale is a work of one hero, the reader meets the heroes of the fairy tale only when Gerda meets them, and gets to one or another world when the heroine gets there. Little has changed in Kai's life since his heart turned to ice: an icy heart cannot feel pain, happiness, inspiration, love. “Cold, deserted, dead…” - this can be said about the soul of Kai.
The reader has already seen the power of Gerda's tears in the world of her grandmother, who knew the spell - Gerda raised roses from the ground, also revived the flowers with a certain measure. In Gerda's tears, not just sincere feelings, now, in the world of cold and death, Gerda's strength reaches its climax - in the heroine's tears, all the love for Kai, for the living world, for warm human relationships. In Gerda's tears - non-perception of what the world of the Snow Queen brings. Gerda radically changed the life of the little robber, the world of robbers was “alien” for the little robber, and now she is in search of “her” world, meeting with Gerda and Kai only supports the girl in her search; “Then she set off on her way, and Kai and Gerda on theirs.”
Thus, the author singles out Kai and Gerda as the main characters. In the German folk tale "Pani Metelitsa", the Ukrainian folk tale "Grandfather's daughter and woman's daughter", the Russian folk tale "Morozko" and other heroes also do not have names (stepmother, stepdaughter, sisters, grandfather, woman, etc.) . The folklore tradition in their work is continued by C. Perrault (“Cinderella or the Crystal Slipper”), A. Pushkin (“The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Bogatyrs”), S. Marshak (“The Twelve Months”) and others.