The post was inspired by reading Nikolai Leskov’s story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”.

Summary of Leskov's story "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk"
The main character of the story is Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, a young girl married to a wealthy merchant Zinovy ​​Borisovich Izmailov. Zinovy ​​Borisovich is significantly older, works a lot and does not spoil his wife much. Katerina Lvovna lives without any special joys or sorrows.

Once, when Zinovy ​​Borisovich was away for a long time (they were repairing the mill), Katerina Lvovna became interested in her husband’s young and handsome clerk, Sergei. She gives in to his pressure and falls in love with him. Sergei becomes her passion. Katerina Lvovna's father-in-law catches Sergei, who comes down from Katerina Ivanovna's bedroom, punishes him and locks him in the basement. Katerina Lvovna poisons her father-in-law and frees Sergei. The death of the father-in-law did not arouse suspicion, and the lovers moved on with their lives without hiding much.

Meanwhile, Zinovy ​​Borisovich returns from absence. He walked a long distance to try to catch the lovers together, but he failed. He begins to reproach his wife for infidelity, and his lovers kill him and hide his body in the basement. After this, they begin to live together openly, Katerina Lvovna takes over the management of her husband’s enterprise. Soon she becomes pregnant.

The happiness of Katerina Lvovna and Sergei was short-lived: Zinovy ​​Borisovich had a relative who claimed part of the fortune. This relative was Fedya’s nephew, who lived with his grandmother. Katerina Lvovna and Sergei are strangling him so that he does not lay claim to the inheritance. People catch them doing this. The lovers are tried and sent to hard labor.

For many days, criminals go through the stage. Katerina Lvovna is trying to be close to Sergei, but he has completely lost interest in her. Katerina Lvovna's situation worsens as Sergei begins to court other convicts, openly laughing and mocking Katerina Lvovna. The same one, when crossing the Volga, grabs her rival and drags her under the water. Both are drowning.

Meaning
Leskov's story "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" tells about the strong and passionate love of a young woman. This passion swept away everything in its path: decency, morality, human lives. Everything started well, Katerina Lvovna had everything to live an ordinary, unremarkable life. This suited her until she learned what crazy passion and love were. The end result was a completely ugly and gloomy ending that gave everyone what they deserved.

Conclusion
If I remember correctly, Leskov’s story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” was included in the school curriculum. It was at school that I read it for the first time. Now, after a decade and a half, I re-read it with great pleasure. I highly recommend it to you too!

Preview:

MYSTERIOUS WOMAN SOUL

The destructive power of passion

(based on the essay by N.S. Leskov “Lady Macbeth”

Mtsensk district").

Lesson objectives:

Educational – arouse interest in the writer’s work; to intensify the independence of students' research activities; help reveal the essence of the essay by analyzing the behavior and psychological state of the main character.

Educational –Having gone through a certain segment of life’s journey with the heroine, come to an awareness of the extent of responsibility to oneself and other people.

Developmental – develop creative reading skills that deepen understanding and experience of the events of the story; awaken in students the desire to express their own opinion on the events described in the story.

Lesson format:

Portrait of N.S. Leskova;

Video based on the essay by N.S. Leskova “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District”;

Illustrations for the essay by N.S. Leskov by famous artists and made by students.

Epigraph to the lesson:

Sometimes... such characters are given,

What... some of them never

You won’t remember without trembling.

N. Leskov

Teacher: I will now read you my poem, which is directly related to the topic of this lesson, and you will understand that we have to try to uncover another mystery of the female soul.

The female soul is a mystery, and this conclusion, alas, is not new,

It has been fought over for decades

A considerable number of minds.

And before we decide to solve it,

Let me remind you:

For many heroines of literature

Love is the basis of life, being.

Here is Marya in a fairy tale. How she loved!?

She wore out three pairs of iron shoes,

I broke three cast iron staffs,

She ate three loaves of stone out of grief.

And Yaroslavna!? How she cried

How did you grieve for Prince Igor!?

Tatyana Larina and her duty-love...

Let me remind you of this work:

“I am writing to you, why lie?

But I was given to someone else and I will be faithful to him forever.”

And the incomprehensible Katyusha from “The Thunderstorm”!?

With such pure and bright love

After all, I escaped from the darkness of darkness,

Let him pay an unimaginable price.

Holy women! They gave love

And they loved everyone recklessly, unselfishly,

They walked along the edge of the abyss more than once,

But they didn’t betray anyone or kill anyone.

And there is another woman's love -

That passion is love: it is painful, evil.

Everything will be crossed, all laws will be bypassed:

Izmailova Ekaterina Lvovna –

Her love is just like that.

We read an essay by N.S. Leskov “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” and, of course, could not help but notice the strangeness of the title of this work. What is this strangeness?

“Lady Macbeth is an association with Shakespeare’s tragedy (high literary genre). “Mtsensk district” is a remote Russian province. Why did the author combine concepts from different stylistic layers in one title? (during the conversation it became clear: in order to expand the scope of what was happening in the essay, that is, such events could unfold in any corner of the world). After understanding the name, a note appears on the interactive board:

"Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk"

Russian tragedy

(high genre of literature) province

What happens in the essay

The main character of the essay is Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, and we will talk about her in class today. This is your sixth year studying literature. We talked about many heroines in class (I named only a small part of the names in my poem). You are accustomed to the type of Russian woman erected on a pedestal by Pushkin, Turgenev, Nekrasov and suddenly... a murderer. Maybe it’s the author’s imagination that a woman for the sake of love and passion can kill four people, go to hard labor, or commit suicide?

“No,” says critic Apollon Grigoriev, “Katerina Izmailova is truly a brilliant, truly passionate, and truly predatory type, who in nature and in history has its own justification for its possibility and its reality.”

Problem analysis of the essay

Leskov begins his essay with a discussion about strong characters: let’s turn to the epigraph. This is a warning: get ready, reader, you will see a terrible drama, a predator in the face of a woman.

Now there will be an artistic retelling-monologue (the story of Katerina Izmailova’s marriage), and you think about what caused the passion? (It turns out that boredom).

Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky – sublimely light, poetic. What was Katerina Lvovna like in the “girls”? (“I had a strong passion for girls... Even a man could not overcome me”). Katerina Lvovna is proud of her strength, but it turned out that the main property of nature is not strength at all, but determination. Read how “Sergei hugged the young mistress,” and she “didn’t even have time to use her vaunted strength.” (passion took over her all)

Very good about determination King Macbeth says:

I dare everything that a man dares,

And only a beast is capable of more.

So beast or man? (Bestial simplicity in man). Confirm with text Leskov’s mention of the animal nature of man. ("Just like rats in the barn, father-in-law died - chapter 15; Zinovy ​​Borisych, as beast bit Sergei's throat - chapter 8; Katerina Lvovna rushed at Sonetka like a strong pike on soft-finned roach” – Chapter 15).

During the lesson, let's try to schematically depict on the interactive board Katerina Lvovna's movement, first along the human road, and then her gradual fall onto the animal path. (Human road:lives, misses; passion covered; cheating on your husband).

Katerina Lvovna is still a person, but, however, with a base vice - betrayal of her husband. The husband is away, and how can the wife live without him now? (“Those nights in Zinovy ​​Borisych’s bedroom, a lot of wine was drunk from his mother-in-law’s cellar, and sweet treats were eaten, and the mistress’s sugary lips were kissed, and black curls were played on the soft headboard.”)

(The 10 commandments of God hang near the board; we will constantly refer to them throughout the lesson.)

One of God's laws has been broken. Which? (Don't commit adultery) Prove in text that passion has begun to outgrow the limits of betrayal. (“It became unbearable for Katerina Lvovna to endure even an extra hour without Sergei. She suddenly turned around to the full extent of her awakened nature and became like this decisive , that it’s impossible to calm it down”).

Because of her passion, Katerina Lvovna loses her mind, and gradually the bestial nature prevails in her. (“She is now ready for Sergei into fire, into water, into prison and to the cross. He fell in love with her to the point that there was no measure of her devotion to him.She went crazy with her happiness, her blood was boiling, and she could no longer listen to anything." Another commandment of God has been broken (Do not make yourself an idol.)

But happiness comes in different forms. There is righteous happiness, and there is sinful happiness. The righteous will not step over anyone, but the sinful will step over everything.

And she “stepped over.” The first murder of the father-in-law (we listen and watch an excerpt from Dmitry Shostakovich’s opera “Katerina Izmailova”).

FRAGMENT FROM DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH’S OPERA “KATERINA IZMAILOVA”

Boris Timofeevich:

I'm hungry. Is there anything left from dinner? Well, who am I telling!?

Katerina:

The fungi remain.

Boris Timofeevich:

This is the case. Give me some mushrooms here.

Sergei was locked in the storeroom. Here are the keys. Ride to the mill and find Zinovy ​​Borisovich. Tell him to come home soon. Say: a sin happened at home.

Katerina:

She added poison. The old man will die from rat poison.

Boris Timofeevich:

Fungi. Delicious. You are a master, Katerina, in preparing mushrooms. Go get dressed. Stop, it burns me inside. Water! Bring it!

Katerina:

I won't bring it!

Boris Timofeevich:

What, what did you say? Do you dare?

Katerina: - I dare! Boris Timofeevich:- Do you dare!? Katerina: - I dare!

Boris Timofeevich:

Do you dare? What's wrong with me?

Katerina:

That means they ate mushrooms at night. Many people die after eating them.

Boris Timofeevich:

Call the priest, dear Katerina, call the priest. Maybe my death really is coming? It burns, burns, burns, like a fire. I have lived a lot, I have sinned a lot. Get your butt here! Get your butt here! God! God! What a pain! What a pain!

Katerina:

Don't shout!

Pop:

Wonderful thoughts come before death. Boris Timofeevich said that he, like a rat, was dying. But this can’t be true: the rat dies, and the man introduces himself. However, it does not interfere with the service of a memorial service: “Now you are releasing your servant from the ruler...”

About the death of a person in passing. It's scary. Three commandments of God were violated at once:Do not kill, Honor your father and mother, Do not lie.With the murder of her father-in-law, Katerina Izmailova left the human road - we reflect this in the diagram).

Katerina Lvovna “stepped over” and for the second time, with the same calmness, she killed her husband (we read by role “murder of a husband”).

According to the Bible, the law of marriage is: “Two are one flesh.” And Katerina Lvovna crushed this flesh with her own hands - calmly, even with impudent pride in her invincibility (we reflect this in the diagram).

Let's read the epigraph to the story: “Sing the first song, blushing.” How was he understood? (this is only the first song “murder”, when you blush, sing “commit”, and then it will go on its own).

And here Katerina Lvovna lives and “reigns” (with a child in her womb), everything seems to have happened according to the ideal (I remember she wanted to “give birth to a child for fun”). This ideal logically clashes with other high Christian ideals: do not commit adultery, do not kill. But Katerina Izmailova’s soul is empty, there is only animal passion, however, wonderful dreams began to disturb her. (Let us remember these dreams. In the first dream the cat is still just a cat, and in the second dream the cat looks like the murdered Boris Timofeich (read by the student)).

It turns out that it’s not so easy to “sing a song.” Something inside constantly reminds me of this. Even according to Shakespeare: “Sleep, the death of earthly worries, Balm for a sick soul” - but this does not make it any easier. So dreams symbolic (the definition of the symbol is written on the board: Symbol - something that serves as a conventional sign of some concept, phenomenon, idea:dove is a symbol of peace; anchor - a symbol of hope). Is it possible that conscience is awakening in the young merchant’s wife? (Not yet).

So how does Katerina Lvovna live now, having killed her father-in-law and husband? (two students show a dramatization of the episode “Sergei and Katerina Lvovna about the capital they received”; the scene ends with the words: “the boy got sick”).

Grandmother turns to Katerina Lvovna with a request to care for a sick boy. symbolic her words sound: “Work hard, Katerinushka, - you yourself are an overweight person, mother, you yourself are waiting for God’s judgment; work hard").

How hard did Katerina Lvovna “work”? (Killed Fedya).

Before the next murder, Leskov will draw a very important symbolic detail. Which one? (“Katerina Lvovna suddenly turned pale, her own child suddenly turned under her heart, and there was a feeling of coldness in her chest”). Is this a coincidence? (No, nature itself, feminine nature warns her against the planned crime). But no: “He who began with evil will wallow in it” (Shakespeare)). Unlike the first two murders, retribution came immediately. Why? (A pure, angelic, sinless soul has been destroyed).

Next, two students who worked with Ilya Glazunov’s illustrations present two portraits and compare them: the dying portrait of Fedya and the portrait of the murdered young Tsarevich Dmitry. Aren't these two portraits an eternal reproach for what they did before God?

But Katerina Izmailova hasn’t even mentioned God yet. What is this? Maybe all the people in Mtsensk are atheists and don’t know how to take a cross on themselves? (“Our people are pious, diligent towards the Church of God...”). The commandment of God has been violated:Give the Sabbath day to God.

The highest moral law, the commandment of God - do not kill, has been violated three times, for the highest value on earth is human life. That is why the depth of the moral decline of Katerina and Sergei is so great. (Diagram: Katerina Izmailova has now firmly taken the animal path and will move along it).

There are two forces - two fatal forces,

We've been at their fingertips all our lives,

From cradle days to the grave,

One is Death, the other is Human Judgment. (F. Tyutchev)

So, human judgment, earthly judgment, has been completed. Did he make a special impression on Katerina Lvovna? (“When they gave her her child, she just said: Well, that’s it!” (diagram) “For her there was no light, no darkness, no good, no boredom, no joy; she understood nothing, loved no one and she didn’t love herself. She was only looking forward to the party going on the road, where she again hoped to see her Seryozhechka, but she forgot to even think about the child... she sees Sergei again, and with him the convict path blossoms with happiness” - diagram).

So what can a ruptured freedom passion , who knows no moral restrictions. They will turn into their opposite -imprisonment, hatred. But what will happen to the most passionate nature that finds itself in the grip of the “freedom” of crime? (She will inevitably die.)

Yevgeny Yevtushenko once said very correctly: “Next to the Statue of Liberty, I would put the statue of Responsibility.”

And here is Katerina Izmailova in hard labor. Did hard labor change her? (Yes, this is no longer a cold-blooded killer, but a rejected woman suffering from love). Do you feel sorry for her? (Yes) Why? (She is a victim, an outcast, but she still loves, even stronger. “She wanted to say to herself: I don’t love him, and she felt that she loved him even more passionately, even more.”) The more reckless her love, the more frank and cynical Sergei’s abuse of her and her feelings. (give some examples)

The abyss of the former clerk's moral decline is so terrible that even seasoned convicts are trying to reassure him (the scene that the students are acting out).

Bernard Shaw warned: “Fear the man whose God is in heaven.” How do you understand these words? (God is conscience, an internal judge. There is no such God in the soul - man is terrible. This was Katerina Lvovna before hard labor. This is how Sergei remained. But the heroine has changed. What interests Leskov more now: passionate nature or the soul of a rejected woman? (Of course, the soul ) Shakespeare in his tragedy about Lady Macbeth will say: “She is sick not in body, but in soul.” Is it possible to say the same about Katerina Izmailova? An appeal to the symbolism of landscape scenes will help answer this question.

1 option “Golden Night” (paradise)

Option 2 “The most bleak picture” (hell)

text	word-image	color	symbolism
"Golden Night" (Paradise)	a blooming apple tree, a clear sky, moonlight, light spots, a delicate aroma...	blue, pale pink	light pure color in nature (heaven) – dirt, darkness in the soul (hell)
“The most bleak picture” (hell)	cold black mud, leafless wet willows; the wind groans, gets angry, howls, roars; heartbreaking sounds	black	dirt, darkness on the street (hell) - awakening of guilt in the soul (cleansing pain)

As Leskov showsawakening feelings of guilt ( scheme) in Katerina? (...a roar and a groan could be heard from the opening and clapping of the shafts. And suddenly, from one broken shaft, the blue head of Boris Timofeich appeared to her, from the other the husband looked out and swayed, hugging Fedya with his head drooping. Katerina Lvovnawants to remember the prayer(diagram) and moves his lips... Katerina Izmailova has a sick soul. The limit of her own suffering and torment awakens glimpses of moral consciousness in Leskov’s heroine, who previously knew neither guilt nor remorse. “Katerina Lvovna trembled, her hands once or twice mysteriously stretched out into space and fell again. And suddenly she grabbed Sonetka by the legs and in one fell swoop threw her over the side of the ferry. Let's look at the diagram. So what was it? A failed leap to people or assertion of oneself in animal quality? At home, you must answer the question in writing: Is Katerina Izmailova an animal or a person?

SCHEME

Passion lives, misses

Cheating on my husband

HUMAN

1 father-in-law murder

1__________________

2 murder of husband

Stretched out her hands

3 Fedya's murder

Wants to remember the prayer

BEAST awakening feelings of guilt

child abandonment hard labor blooms

Happiness

1 Failed jump to people? Beast or Man?

2. Affirmation of oneself in animal quality?

This work. Speaking about the history of writing the story, we note that it is known from Leskov’s biography: the author himself was involved in criminal cases, and this suggests that the story of “Lady Macbeth” could well have been based on real events, because we are talking about crimes and concepts of morality. The work was written in 1864.

Genre, composition and main theme

Although this article has already noted that the work is a story, Nikolai Leskov himself defined the genre as an essay, since it contains elements of the narration of real events and has its own backstory. Therefore, it would not be a mistake to call both an essay and a story a genre of work.

Since any classical work has certain problems, when analyzing “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”, we also will not miss the mention of the problems raised by the author. And the main one is a moral problem, which the heroes of the work do not talk about, but this theme is clearly expressed if you follow the events and dialogues taking place. The analysis is provided to readers, because everyone can have their own understanding of morality, but there are certain standards, to deviate from which means to act immorally.

Another problem is the manifestation of love, or rather, consideration of what a passionately loving woman is capable of. What is the main theme of the work?

Of course, this is the theme of love. Intoxicated with feelings, but cold at the moment of committing the crime, Katerina shows by her example what she is ready for for the sake of her own happiness. Although we can't call her happy after everything she's done. That is why this is an essay - there is no assessment of the characters and characteristics of their personalities, but only terrible crimes are described, which can be assessed from the outside.

Basic images

• Katerina. The main character of the essay. She was not beautiful in appearance, but she was an attractive woman, charismatic. Single, living without children and husband. From the description of her life, we understand that she is not a potential criminal. And she is ready to enter into a relationship with the first person she meets who pays attention to her.
• Sergey. A clerk who did not love Katerina, but played with her and her feelings.
• The father-in-law who mocked Sergei. He was later killed by Katerina.
• Fedya Lyamin. The son of a murdered husband, a little boy. It was his murder that gave the heroine the idea that it was difficult for her to stop killing.

Important details of the analysis of "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District"

Of course, Lady Macbeth is a morally difficult work about the consequences of love for an eternally lonely woman. Each murder is described in detail. Love was not a rush of feelings in the life of the main character; she was withdrawn and boring, spent all her time at home and was idle. Katerina Lvovna understood that love is a certain characteristic of a person that everyone, including her, should have. But then she did not realize what such reasoning would lead her to.

Sergei, being her accomplice, hiding his father-in-law’s body together, committed crimes for the sake of profit. But Katerina was obsessed, she was unstoppable. After this murder, she felt like the mistress of the house, she gave orders to everyone, but at the same time Sergei was always with her. For the sake of him and their love, she was ready to do anything. Which she confirms by following his lead and not daring to say a word against him.

When Fedya arrived at their house, Sergei became the initiator of the murder. He convinced the woman that the boy was an obstacle to their family happiness. In his opinion, the boy will destroy their union. The image of Fedya is one of the most significant in the essay “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” which we are analyzing. Together with the boy, Catherine’s soul dies. She decides to brutally kill, even while pregnant.

Committing murder after murder, changes are noticeable in Sergei’s portrait, such as trembling lips, tremor of the chin and others, but Katerina remains completely soulless. But in the denouement of the essay, Katerina herself becomes a victim, and you even feel sorry for her. She no longer loves anyone, including herself.

The work caused a storm of condemnation and indignation. It did not fit the literary criteria and political mood of the time. The image of Katerina was not recognized as a typical Russian female image.

In this article we have presented you with a brief analysis of the story "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", you will find more information on the topic by visiting our literary

The idea of ​​the work “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by N. S. Leskov The idea of ​​the work and problems. and got the best answer

Answer from Alain Sokratov[guru]
Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, the main character of the story, is a tragic heroine. She is usually perceived as a selfish predator, destroying everything in her path in satisfying her own passion. But there is no reason for such an understanding. This is a very one-sided and biased interpretation of the image.
At the very beginning of the story, there are no hints of Katerina Lvovna’s selfishness and predation. She was married without love to a rich merchant. Such an environment is “too small” for her. She is bored, her strength of character is not in demand, and her rich spiritual potential requires an outlet. And this solution is in love: Katerina Lvovna falls in love with the clerk Sergei. She throws herself into this love without looking back. Love-passion, love-hate becomes the main thing in her life. Before this love, her entire past fades. And Katerina Lvovna will spare nothing and no one to preserve this passion. In the fight for her, she kills her father-in-law, husband, and nephew. In terms of willpower, she is similar to Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The destructive power of this passion ultimately destroys itself. But she does this not out of cruelty or self-interest. She is controlled by the hidden forces put into her by God. But at the same time, Katerina Lvovna is not Anna Karenina. Leskov has a question: could she have protected herself from these crimes? And he answers it: no, she couldn’t.
The heroine can also be compared with Katerina Kabanova from “The Thunderstorm”. Leskov nowhere talks about her morality. In her soul there are no moral boundaries that cannot be crossed, and this leads her to crime. And Katerina Kabanova just found the strength not to cross the line that a person should not cross. She is committed to God, she has a deep moral feeling, a sense of sin. This moral boundary must always be present in a person, otherwise he is doomed to death - this is Leskov’s main idea.
Much space in the story is devoted to the description of the love of Katerina and Sergei. There are also many lyrical landscapes in it, against the backdrop of which this love unfolds. It seems that the heroes have gone to heaven. And Katerina Lvovna will kill anyone for this paradise on earth. And this is the main mistake of the heroine - after all, according to true Christian dogmas, there cannot be heaven on earth. This concept is extraterrestrial. You can have it in your soul while improving spiritually. And all attempts to build heaven on earth end in bloody crimes. This was confirmed by the subsequent history of Russia with attempts to establish a new socialist government. But Leskov, long before this, had shown the impossibility of implementing and the criminality of such plans using the example of the fate of an individual. In accordance with this Christian idea, Leskov builds his story.
The story has a two-part structure. In the first part, the heroine tries to build heaven on earth by committing crimes. Already in this part, the motive of repentance and atonement occasionally arises (in a dream she sees a cat turning into a father-in-law or husband and demanding retribution. A cat, according to mythological ideas, is a symbol of death). In the second part, the heroine is punished, she is tried, she is sent to hard labor and dies on the stage. In this part, Katerina Izmailova finds herself in the role of a victim. Her lover refuses her, everyone laughs at her. It was impossible to imagine any other end other than death in relation to her, because she never repented and did not even realize her crimes, and only by death can she atone for her sins.
Leskov needs the name “Lady Macbeth” as a symbol: he shows that the story is about the tragedy of the human soul, endowed with incredible power, directed towards evil. The “eternal”, universal theme is transferred by Leskov to Russian soil. But this does not make the scale of the tragedy any less. Katerina Izmailova directs all her potential, all the heroic power of her soul towards destruction.
But K.I. never came to her senses (

Lesson 10. Topic:N.S. Leskov "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk"

Target:

problem analysis of the story

comparative analysis of the heroines of Leskov’s story and Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”

mastering the concept of literary polemics

Lesson progress:

I love literature as a medium that

gives me the opportunity express everything that I

I think it's true and for good...

N.S.Leskov

I. Updating knowledge

Are you familiar with the wordcontroversy? literary controversy?

(Students will remember the articles by Dobrolyubov and Pisarev dedicated to Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm.” The result of the conversation is a table reflecting the starting point of critics’ approach to A.N. Ostrovsky’s play—the question of the driving force of the Russian revolution—and the positions taken by Dobrolyubov and Pisarev in the dispute.

Teacher's word : N.S. Leskov was a passionate person. And in nothing, perhaps, was this passion more evident than in the literary polemics that he waged (more precisely, into which he threw himself) from his first steps in literature. “Without knowing Russia, do not undertake to start revolutions in it,” Leskov said to his contemporaries Herzen and Chernyshevsky. “Without knowing Russia, don’t presume to judge the Russian national character,” Leskov said to his contemporaries Ostrovsky, Pomyalovsky, and Pisemsky.

A challenge to modern playwrights and novelists came the words about what kind of love there is in Russia: “... Love is not yours, not brainy, our Russian, convict, splintered love, about which these hellishly painful songs are sung, for which they are strangled and cut.” ("Nowhere"). And in “Lady Macbeth...”, in a direct polemic with Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm,” this love is shown and, most importantly, the original Russian female character.

II. Understanding the name

What is strange about the title of Leskov’s essay? (A clash of concepts from different stylistic layers: “Lady Macbeth” is Shakespeare’s tragedy, Mtsensk district is a remote Russian province)

Genre? –(Essay) - Why?(It is important for the author to convince the reader that everything described actually happened)

III. Problem analysis of the story

Artistic retelling - monologue "The story of the marriage of Katerina Izmailova" (chapter I)

From the image of Katerina Izmailova we constantly turn to the image of Katerina Kabanova, the comparison results are recorded in the table

poetry

nature

songs

simplicity and freedom

Find the keyword in Chapter I.(Boredom)

Boredom was the cause of passion. Scene from ch. 3 - reading.

We compare the date scene with “The Thunderstorm” and record the observations in the table.

Volga expanses

nature, songs

afraid of sin

dark corner

boredom, yawning

not afraid of anything

“Unbearable” for Katerina for her awakened love-passion, which easily overcomes any obstacles, everything is simple. And Leskov persistently emphasizes the bestial, demonic nature in his heroine, as if echoing the words of the king from Shakespeare’s tragedy: “I dare everything that a man dares, and only a beast is capable of more.” Confirm with text the author’s mention of the animal principle (chapter 5, chapter 8, chapter 15).

Chapter 5. “And by morning he [Boris Timofeevich] died, and just like the rats died in his barns.

Chapter 8 “...Zinovy ​​Borisovich...rushed terribly..., like an animal, he bit his [Sergei] throat with his teeth.

Chapter 15. “Katerina Lvovna rushed at Sonetka like a strong pike at soft flesh, and neither of them showed up again.”

Katerina Lvovna knew the happiness of loving and being loved. “There is righteous happiness, and there is sinful happiness. The righteous will not step over anyone, but the sinful will step over everything” (Leskov “The Immortal Golovan”). What is Katerina going through?

"Death of Father-in-Law" - retelling

"The Death of a Husband" - expressive reading by role

Compare the behavior of Sergei and Katerina during the murder.(“Sergei’s lips trembled, and he himself had a fever. Katerina Lvovna’s lips were only cold,” ch. 8.)

According to the Bible, the law of marriage is “Two are one flesh.” And Katerina Lvovna crushed this flesh with her own hands - calmly, even with impudent pride in her invincibility.

Leskov's heroine has no feelings of guilt, she only has disturbing dreams. Expressive reading of dreams (chapter 6 - first dream, chapter 7 - second dream. Compare.)

And yet dreams are symbolic. How symbolic are the words in the mouth of grandmother Fedya: “Work hard, Katerinushka, you, mother, are a heavy person yourself, you yourself are waiting for God’s judgment, work hard.”

Decipher these words.

How did Katerina work? (Committed another murder)

How does nature, feminine nature warn her against her plans? (Chapter 10, “Katerina Lvovna suddenly turned pale, her own child turned under her heart for the first time, and there was a cold feeling in her chest”)

Who is the initiator of this murder?(Sergey)

What does the name Fedor mean?(God's gift)

The angelic soul is destroyed, and therefore retribution comes immediately (chap. 11)

There are two forces - two fatal forces,

We have been at their fingertips all our lives.

From lullabies to the grave, -

One is death, the other is human judgment.

Human judgment, earthly judgment, has been completed. Did he make a special impression on Katerina Lvovna? (chapter 13)(No, only one thing is important to her - her beloved is nearby)

Did hard labor change the heroine?(She suffers, but repentance never comes to her)

Is our attitude towards heroine changing?(Yes, we feel sorry for her)

B. Shaw warned: “Fear the man whose God is in heaven.” How do you understand these words?

Work in groups. Episode analysis.

Find keywords, decipher symbolism.

Golden night

white

young apple blossom

Dirt

darkness gray sky

the wind moans

PARADISE - in nature

HELL all around

In the shower - ?

There is a cleansing pain in the soul

How does Leskov show the awakening of guilt in Katerina? (Chapter 15, “And suddenly from one broken shaft the blue head of Boris Timofeevich appears, from another the husband looked out and swayed, hugging Fedya with his head hanging down. Katerina Lvovna wants to remember the prayer and moves her gums, and her lips whisper: “how you and I walked, sat through the long autumn nights, sent people away from the world with a cruel death”)

Volga immediately makes me remember another Katerina - from "The Thunderstorm". Identify the differences in the tragic outcome of the heroines’ destinies.

Sergei

Sonnetka

Monologue - impulse to freedom

repentance

changed life in Kalinov

pulled the body out of the water

tragic ending

Suicide and revenge at the same time

didn't change anything

didn't pull it out

People like Katerina Izmailova will follow their passion to the end. Here is Russian dirt, and Russian soul, here are the deepest beginnings of the Russian national character.

IV. Return to the concept of "controversy"

So, “Lady Macbeth...” is the central link in the dispute between Leskov and Ostrovsky. Is Leskov not a participant in the literary dispute between Dobrolyubov and Pisarev? (Return to the diagram created at the beginning of the lesson)

Neither Dobrolyubov nor Pisarev imagined what would happen when the very bottom “broke off their chains” and unfolded to the full breadth of their awakened nature. It will be scary. What will come is not the apotheosis of freedom, but a chain of sinister atrocities. Both prophecy and warning. This is how Leskov looks into the twentieth century.

V. Let's summarize.

Let's return to the image of Katerina Izmailova. Who is she? Write it down (passionate nature, sick soul, etc.)

VI. Homework

For everyone: Miniature essay (optional): “Katerina Izmailova or Katerina Kabanova: who is closer to me?” or “What I felt after reading “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”