An Ideological and Compositional Role of the Monologues in “The Little Tragedies” by A. Pushkin

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the study of Pushkin's “Little Tragedies" and the consideration of the ideological and compositional role of monologues in them. Monologues are analyzed in unity with the ideological content and artistic structure of the whole work; the aesthetic and dramatic functions of the monologue are determined. The material for the study was the monologue of Baron (“The Miserly Knight"), the monologues of Salieri (“Mozart and Salieri"), the song of Mary and the hymn of the Chairman (“Feast during the Plague"). Monologue is considered as the form of self-identity of the character, his feelings and thoughts in their most extreme terms (stinginess, envy, internal opposition to the fear of death). The monologues clearly reveal the contradictory complexity of the characters; therefore, the monologue is considered as a form of psychological analysis of the various feelings of the character in their development. Special attention is paid to the internal connection of monologues with the system of artistic images of the play. The monologue of Baron indirectly corresponds with the other characters of the play; Salieri's monologues express not only his thoughts about himself, but equally about Mozart; the ending of Mary's song is intimately connected to the hymn of the Chairman. An important dramatic function of the characters' monologues of the “Little Tragedies" is to predetermine the plot development of the play. The monologue of Baron in the first scene motivates the behavior of the characters in the third act. Mary's song and the hymn of the Chairman, being the ideological and culminating centers of the tragedy, organize the rest of the material of the play. When solving the problems posed in the work, Pushkin does not give a moral assessment of them. The “open" monologue finale allows the reader to do this.