Essay Theme of freedom in Lermontov's lyrics

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Lermontov
The theme of freedom in Lermontov's lyrics

The theme of freedom is very important for Lermontov. His own character is reflected in his creativity.

Mikhail Yuryevich speaks about freedom in different verses; it is difficult to divide his work into “about freedom” and “about something else.” However, you can find several poems specifically about freedom.

Lermontov often talks about the free Slavs. For example, that their bells rang only for freedom. Naturally, in those days it was necessary to defend against the yoke. In the poem “Novgorod” the author reproaches the sons of the Slavs for losing their courage.

The theme of freedom also appears in poems about the individual. For example, “Leaf”. Here the plants are animated. The oak leaf was torn off by a storm, and in its free wanderings it withered. He began to ask to see a young tree on the seashore, as if to a girl. But she proudly refused: why does she need this wanderer with his stories? Now, such will has a downside. There is no guarantee that the wanderer will be given shelter.

You feel freedom more clearly if you lack it. Here Lermontov’s “Prisoner” is suffering behind bars. He calls for a horse to be given to him to escape, but in reality the hero of the house is simply lonely.

In the poem “The Neighbor,” the hero turns to a beautiful captive with a request to escape together, comes up with a plan, and compares them to birds in a cage. There is also the poem “The Neighbor”, where the prisoner simply looks at his brother - without much hope of release. Both verses describe in detail the prison with its damp walls, cold, darkness, guards... And the “Captive Knight” from the dungeon sees only death as liberation. And yet, as the author admits, feelings are alive in the chest, the blood boils, there are a lot of thoughts, and they carry any prisoner to freedom. Thoughts cannot be put in prison!

In “Will” the hero is poor and free, he, in fact, has nothing but will. But he communicates with the steppe, with all of nature, even the trees are his brothers. Again, a strange moment in which freedom brings loneliness with it.

This most important theme is evident throughout Lermontov’s work. His heroes are often deprived of it, but, as they say in the poem “M.P. Solomirskaya,” freedom comes, even if the hero is in captivity, comes thanks to a dream.

Essay on the theme of freedom in the works of Lermontov

The theme of freedom occupies one of the main places in Lermontov's lyrics. This is the poem “Mtsyri”, the poems “Prisoner”, “The Lonely Sail Whitens...”, “Clouds”. The poet wants to find freedom and peace.

...A menacing raging sea, the wind roars in the sails, the mast of a lonely boat creaks and bends. Only in the fog does the sail glow like a white spot. Who dared to leave the harbor in such a storm, when other ships were pressing against the pier? What is a lonely wanderer looking for in this raging element? Running towards happiness? Or is he running from happiness? But why?

The weather has improved. And a ray of sunshine appeared. But the lonely sailor doesn't like it. He wants to rush into the storm again. He is calmer there, no one bothers him there, no one bothers him. Apparently, it’s better for him in a storm than on solid ground. How was it necessary to “get” a person that he was ready to wander around the stormy sea on a fragile boat?

After all, in the poem the poet expresses his attitude towards life. It is he who imagines himself tossing about on a stormy sea under this white sail. But it’s better this way than living on a hated land.

A person cannot be deprived of his freedom. Without it, he withers like a flower without life-giving moisture. Here is the beautiful Circassian Bella from the story “Maksim Maksimych”. She was fading and wasting away before our eyes. Maxim Maksimych walked with her and treated her like a daughter. But “pulled out” like a flower from its native land, even with good care and care, it dies.

Just as the highlander boy from the poem “Mtsyri” dies without freedom. Yes, the monks saved him, went out and raised him. But his freedom-loving nature cannot come to terms with the ascetic life in the monastery. There you have to live according to a routine, suppress your instincts and desires.

And Mtsyri grew up in freedom, among wild nature, among the children of the mountains - simple mountaineers who loved freedom more than anything else. So he runs to his small homeland, to his village, to his family, risking his life in the process. It’s better to have a breath of freedom, even if it’s raining, and thunderstorms, and the sun is mercilessly scorching, and you’re surrounded by wild animals, than to sit in the dull four walls of a monastery, but to be well-fed and protected from everything.

Even in the face of death, he does not stop dreaming of freedom. The poor child finally finds such desired freedom, but in another world.

The poem “Prisoner” was written before exile, practically while the poet was under arrest. The theme of freedom also runs through it.

And “Clouds” reveal what Lermontov means by the word “freedom”. This means thinking, dreaming, not depending on the opinions and principles accepted in society.

“I'm looking for freedom and peace. » Lyrics by M. Yu. Lermontov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov worked in a difficult historical period - the era of “timelessness”, which began after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising. At this time, society was hungry for change. These problems were reflected in Lermontov's work. The famous critic V. G. Belinsky wrote that when “for a person everything old is destroyed, but there is nothing new yet,” Lermontov powerfully reflected this “transitional state of the human spirit.”

In Lermontov's lyrics, the concept of “freedom” is closely related to the concept of “loneliness”. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Mikhail Yuryevich lost his mother early and from an early age he felt his own specialness and exclusivity.

The theme of freedom and peace is clearly reflected in the poem “The Prisoner” (1837), written before exile, when Lermontov was under arrest. The entire work is permeated with the suffering of the poet, who is burdened by his imprisonment and loneliness:

But does the author only want to talk about physical lack of freedom? No, imprisonment for Lermontov is also spiritual slavery. The author protests against internal and external confinement. The symbol of freedom in the poem is “good horse”:

The lyrical hero experiences pain because he cannot also be free:

In his later work “Clouds” (1840), the poet reveals to the reader what freedom means in his mind. This is freedom to think, act, dream and fly, independence from public opinion and foundations. The poem is an unusual combination of literary genres such as elegy and romance. As an element of the romance, Lermontov used a melodic three-part structure, characterized by a relatively even intonation in the first stanza, a rise in the questions of the second and a lowering intonation in the answer to them in the third stanza. This is the so-called semantic turning point, going from comparison to opposition.

Clouds are a symbol of freedom in this work. Lermontov identifies himself with them - they rush over the open spaces aimlessly, wherever the wind blows.

In the middle of the work, asking questions to the clouds, the poet lists a number of problems that are most important to him and outlines the situation around himself:

At the end of the poem, Lermontov contrasts himself with the clouds. It is not the wind that drives him, but the rejection of society. He is not a “wanderer”, but an exile:

It was difficult for Lermontov to find his place in modern society. Even among people he felt lonely. The poet's loneliness was not imposed on him by the world, but was chosen by him voluntarily as a natural state of soul.

In his work, Lermontov M.Yu. more than once mentions the longing for a place where he would feel peace. For example, in the poem “Leaf,” an oak leaf seeks shelter:

And then the leaf finds what it was looking for, a heavenly place for itself where it could find peace:

But the plane tree does not need his company, she chases the leaf away:

The leaf remains alone again. It is not difficult to guess that the poet draws a parallel between himself and the leaf. Lermontov also looked for shelter, but never found it.

Poem “I go out alone on the road. “, about which N. Dobrolyubov said: “A masterpiece written in blood,” was written in 1841. In it, all the emotional pain and bitterness reaches its apogee, the work is permeated with Lermontov’s melancholy and sadness. He is lonely, he has no friends and no beloved. The poet feels alone within the universe, the universe:

The poet is tired of bitterness and disappointment, because he could not achieve harmony with the world and himself:

The poet wants to forget and immerse himself in an eternally cloudless and ideal world, in which there is no pain or loneliness:

At the end of his work, Lermontov finds a place in which he is at peace. This is nature, it is there that for the poet all the harmony and fullness of being is concentrated. In his work, he directly says that he wants to merge with her:

Lermontov did not find a person who understood and shared his views. And he turns away from the poet’s contemporary society, finding peace of mind only with nature. Lermontov's lyrics reflected the entire complex spiritual world of the poet, the feeling of his chosenness, which doomed Lermontov to wander.

Author: M. Yu. Lermontov
Work: Lyrics by Lermontov
This essay has been copied 21,808 times

Let us ask ourselves the question: “What is freedom?” Everyone will have their own answer, because every person has a different view of the world. But if you think about it, we are all not free. We are all limited by social boundaries, beyond which we cannot go. But at the same time, we are free, since we have the right to vote, no one limits our communication and freedom of movement. A person can never decide whether he is free or not.

I believe that freedom is something unknown and unfamiliar to us. Only birds soaring in the sky, not limiting themselves in anything, can know what freedom actually is.

Not freedom is the complete opposite. The same thing that each of us knows. Freedom is not our life, our boundaries set by society.

Many writers have raised the topic of freedom. For example, M.Yu. Lermontov in his work “Mtsyri” clearly expresses this idea:

I knew only one power of thought, One - but fiery passion She, like a worm, lived in me, Gnawed my soul and burned it.

That is, by worm Lermontov means thoughts about freedom, that it was gnawing at Mtsyri’s soul.

Also, during his escape, when the main character saw a strange village and could have gone there, but did not. And all because freedom for Mtsyri can only be on his native side.

Based on all this, we can conclude: a person needs freedom, and if he does not receive it, then the thought of freedom gnaws away every second, leaving no opportunity to think about anything else. As a result, the person, or rather the soul, dies. But what could be more important and valuable? Probably nothing. A person can feel freedom only where his home is.

Finally, I draw a laconic conclusion: happiness is a consequence of freedom.

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Prisoner

Open the prison for me, Give me the radiance of the day, The black-eyed maiden, The black-maned horse! First I will kiss the young beauty sweetly, then I will jump on the horse, and fly to the steppe like the wind.

But the prison window is high, The door is heavy with a lock; Black-eyed is far away, In her magnificent mansion, A good horse in a green field Without a bridle, alone, at will, Gallops cheerfully and playfully, Spreading its tail in the wind.

I am alone - there is no consolation: The walls are bare all around, The ray of the lamp shines dimly With a dying fire; You can only hear: behind the doors, With resounding steps, An unanswered sentry walks in the silence of the night.

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