The play "Dragon"
The play “Dragon” by Schwartz, a summary of which is given below, is one of the author’s key works. It begins in a spacious kitchen, with a cat warming himself by the burning fireplace. At this time, a passer-by enters the house.
It turns out to be Lancelot. He is looking for his owners, but to no avail. From the cat he learns that the people who live here have left. This is the archivist Charlemagne and his daughter Elsa. The cat is sad because grief has happened in the family. It turns out that four centuries ago a terrible Dragon settled near their city. Once a year he chooses a girl, whom he takes with him to the cave. After that, no one ever saw her again. There are rumors that all women die from disgust. This year it's Elsa's turn.
Other retellings for the reader's diary
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Mo is endowed with a unique gift. When a man reads books aloud, the characters from fairy tales come to life and are transported into our world, but Mo has not yet fully mastered this gift. Therefore, when book heroes appear in our country, in their place - Summary The Lay of Igor's Campaign
"The Lay of Igor's Campaign" tells the story of the Russian princes and their raid on the Polovtsians. Thematically, the entire work is divided into three parts, each of which contains a story.
During the Great Patriotic War, Schwartz wrote the play “Dragon”. A summary of the work can be found in this article. The playwright was in evacuation in Stalinabad at that time.
Meet the Archivist
At this moment the owners return home. They are unexpectedly friendly to an unexpected guest. Outwardly they are calm. Elsa invites Lancelot to dinner. The guest is amazed by their self-control. It soon becomes clear that they have simply resigned themselves to their fate.
They know that resisting the Dragon is useless. About two hundred years ago there were several brave souls, but he killed them all.
Elsa should be taken away the very next day. The father feels that he will die immediately after this. Lancelot tries to awaken in them the will to resist, but he fails. Then he declares that he is ready to kill the Dragon.
At this time, in the play “Dragon” by Evgeniy Lvovich Schwartz, a summary of which you are reading, an eerie whistle and noise is heard. An elderly man appears on the threshold. It turns out that this is the Dragon. From time to time he takes on a human form. After a short conversation, Lancelot challenges him to a fight.
An archivist intervenes in their conversation, reminding them that 382 years ago the Dragon signed a document according to which the opponent, not he, should set the date for the fight. The dragon says that he is not going to follow these rules, when he signed them he was young and foolish. Eventually the Dragon agrees to fight tomorrow.
How to write a term paper on speech therapy
07.09.2010 230072
These guidelines are compiled to help students gain an understanding of the content and structure of coursework in speech therapy.
Logopedia of pedagogical science that studies anomalies of speech development with normal hearing, explores the manifestations, nature and mechanisms of speech disorders, develops the scientific basis for overcoming and preventing them means of special training and education.
The subject of speech therapy as a science is speech disorders and the process of training and education of persons with speech disorders.
The object of study is a person suffering from a speech disorder.
The main task of speech therapy as a science is the study, prevention and elimination of various types of speech disorders.
Coursework in speech therapy is a student's scientific and experimental research. This type of educational activity, provided for by the educational and professional program and curriculum, contributes to the acquisition of skills in working with literature, analyzing and summarizing literary sources in order to determine the range of insufficiently studied problems, determining the content and methods of experimental research, processing skills and qualitative analysis of the results obtained. The need to complete coursework in speech therapy is due to the updating of knowledge concerning the content, organization, principles, methods and techniques of speech therapy work.
As a rule, during their studies, students must write two term papers - theoretical and practical.
The first course work should be devoted to the analysis and synthesis of general and specialized literature on the chosen topic. Based on this analysis, it is necessary to justify and develop a method of ascertaining (diagnostic) experiment.
In the second course work, it is necessary to provide an analysis of the results obtained during the ascertaining experiment, as well as determine the directions and content of speech therapy work, and select adequate methods and techniques of correction.
So, let’s present the general requirements for the content and design of coursework in speech therapy.
The initial and most important stage of working on a course project is the choice of a topic, which is either proposed by the supervisor or chosen by the student independently from a list of topics that are consistent with the areas of scientific research of the department.
Each topic can be modified, considered in different aspects, but taking into account a theoretical and practical approach. Having chosen a topic, the student needs to think through in detail its specific content, areas of work, practical material, etc., which should be reflected both in the formulation of the topic and in the further construction of the study. It should be recalled that the chosen topic may not only have a purely theoretical orientation, for example: “Dysarthria. Characteristics of the defect”, “Classification of dysgraphia”, but also take into account the practical significance of the problem under consideration, for example: “Speech therapy work on speech correction for dysarthria”. It should also be taken into account that when formulating a topic, excessive detail should be avoided, for example: “Formation of prosodic components of speech in preschoolers of the sixth year of life attending a preschool institution for children with severe speech impairments.”
The course work includes such mandatory parts as: introduction, three chapters, conclusion, bibliography and appendix.
The text of the term paper begins with the title page . An example of its design can be seen here.
Then the content of the work is given, in which the names of chapters, paragraphs, and sections are formulated in strict accordance with the content of the thesis. An example of its design can be seen here.
In the text, each subsequent chapter and paragraph begins on a new page. At the end of each chapter, the materials are summarized and conclusions are formulated.
The introduction reveals the relevance of the problem under consideration in general and the topic being studied in particular; the problem, subject, object, and purpose of the study are defined. In accordance with the goal and hypothesis, objectives and a set of research methods aimed at achieving the objectives must be defined.
The relevance of the topic lies in reflecting the current level of pedagogical science and practice, meeting the requirements of novelty and usefulness.
When defining the research problem, it is important to indicate what practical tasks it will help to implement in training and educating people with speech pathology.
The object of research is understood as certain aspects of pedagogical reality, perceived through a system of theoretical and practical knowledge. The ultimate goal of any research is to improve this object.
The subject of research is some part, property, element of an object, i.e. the subject of research always indicates a specific aspect of the object that is to be studied and about which the researcher wants to gain new knowledge. An object is a part of an object.
You can give an example of the formulation of the object, subject and problem of research:
– The object of the study is the speech activity of preschool children with phonetic-phonemic speech disorders.
– The subject of the study is the features of intonation speech of children with phonetic-phonemic speech disorders.
– The research problem is to determine effective directions for speech therapy work on the formation of intonation expressiveness of speech in the system of correctional intervention.
The purpose of the study contributes to the specification of the object being studied. The goal of any research is to solve a specific problem. The goal is specified in tasks taking into account the subject of research.
The research objectives are formulated in a certain sequence, which determines the logic of the research. The research objectives are set on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the problem and an assessment of the state of its solution in practice.
The first chapter is an analysis of literary sources, which examines the state of this problem in historical and modern aspects, and presents the most important theoretical principles that formed the basis of the study.
When writing the first chapter, you should pay attention to the fact that the text of the course work must be written in a scientific style. When presenting scientific material, it is necessary to comply with the following requirements:
– Specificity – a review of only those sources that are necessary to disclose only a given topic or solve only a given problem;
– Clarity – which is characterized by semantic coherence and integrity of individual parts of the text;
– Logicality – which provides for a certain structure of presentation of the material;
– Reasoning – evidence of thoughts (why this and not otherwise);
– Precision of wording, excluding ambiguous interpretation of the authors’ statements.
A literary review of the state of the problem being studied should not be reduced to a consistent presentation of literary sources. It should present a generalized description of the literature: highlight the main directions (currents, concepts, points of view), analyze in detail and evaluate the most fundamental works of representatives of these directions.
When writing a work, the student must correctly use literary materials, make references to the authors and sources from which the results of scientific research are borrowed. Failure to provide required references will reduce your coursework grade.
As a rule, in coursework on speech therapy, references to literary sources are formatted as follows: the number of the cited source in the general list of references is placed in square brackets. For example: General speech underdevelopment is a speech pathology in which there is a persistent lag in the formation of all components of the language system: phonetics, vocabulary and grammar [17].
When using quotations, in square brackets, in addition to indicating the source number, the page number from which this excerpt is taken is indicated, for example: Speech rhythm is based on a physiological and intellectual basis, since, firstly, it is directly related to the rhythm of breathing. Secondly, being an element that performs a communicative function, “correlates with meaning, i.e. controlled intellectually” [23, P.40].
However, course work should not be of a purely abstract nature, so you should not abuse the unreasonable abundance of citations. Quoting should be logically justified, convincing and used only when really necessary.
In the second chapter , devoted to experimental research, the organization should be described and the program of the ascertaining experiment should be presented. The survey methodology, as a rule, consists of a description of several series of tasks, with detailed instructions, visual and lexical material, the procedure for completing tasks by experiment participants, and scoring criteria. This chapter also provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results obtained.
When analyzing the results of an experiment, it is necessary to use a scoring system. Examples of various criteria for quantitative and qualitative assessment are presented in the following works:
– Glukhov V.P. Formation of coherent speech in preschool children with general speech underdevelopment. - M.: Arkti, 2002. - 144 p.
– Fotekova T.A. Test methodology for diagnosing oral speech of primary schoolchildren. - M.: Arkti, 2000. - 56 p.
– Levchenko I.Yu. Pathopsychology: Theory and practice. - M.: Academy, 2000. - 232 p.
In order to visually present the results obtained during the experimental study, it is recommended to use tables, graphs, diagrams, etc. Histograms can be used in a variety of ways - columnar, cylindrical, planar, volumetric, etc. An example of the design of tables, figures, and histograms can be found here.
The third chapter provides a rationale for the proposed methods and techniques and reveals the content of the main stages of correctional work.
The conclusion contains a summary of the material presented and the main conclusions formulated by the author.
The bibliography must contain at least 25 sources. The list includes bibliographic information about the sources used in preparing the work. An example of its design can be seen here.
In the application you can present bulky tables or illustrations, examination protocols, observation records, products of activity (drawings, written works of children), notes from speech therapy classes, etc.
The volume of one course work must be at least 30 pages of typewritten text.
In general, coursework in speech therapy is the basis for a future thesis, in which the study of the begun problem can be continued, but from the standpoint of a different approach or a comparative analysis of the disorders being studied in different age categories of people with different types of speech disorders.
The content and format of theses in speech therapy can be found here.
Literature:
1. How to write a term paper on speech therapy: Methodological recommendations. Educational and methodological manual / Comp. Artemova E.E., Tishina L.A. / Ed. Orlova O.S. – M.: MGOPU, 2008. – 35 p.
2. Research work of students in the system of higher professional pedagogical education (specialty 031800 - Speech therapy). Methodological recommendations for completing the thesis / Compiled by. L.V. Lopatina, V.I. Lipakova, G.G. Golubeva. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A. I. Herzen, 2002. - 140 p.
Elsa and Lancelot
Elsa tries to convince Lancelot that he started all this in vain, because she is not at all afraid of dying. But Lancelot is determined to get even with the villain.
Suddenly a cat appears and says that the whole city already knows about the upcoming fight. On this occasion, the Burgomaster does not keep himself waiting. Along with him comes Heinrich, his son and Elsa's former fiancé, who has become the Dragon's personal secretary. When Henry is alone with the girl, he gives her his master’s order - to kill Lancelot. For this purpose, Henry even brought a poisoned knife with him. Elsa takes the knife, but decides to kill herself with it, and not her noble protector.
In the play “Dragon” by Evgeniy Schwartz, a brief summary of which allows you to get acquainted with the main points of the work, the meeting of the Burgomaster with his son in the central square turns out to be important. Discussing the upcoming events, Heinrich claims that his master is very nervous, so he even asks his father if he doubts that the Dragon will win. The burgomaster realizes in time that this is a secret interrogation initiated by the main villain himself.
Article on the topic “Folklore origins in the play “Dragon” by Evgeniy Schwartz
Article
FOLK SOURCES IN EVGENY SCHVARTZ'S PLAY “DRAGON”
Introduction.
Fairy tale plays are E. L. Schwartz’s favorite genre. He reworked many stories by H. H. Anderson, such as “The Naked King,” “The Snow Queen,” and “The Shadow.” But “Dragon” (1944) is perhaps the most poignant play by E. L. Schwartz.
This work is devoted to the study of the problem of the influence of folklore on the work of E. L. Schwartz “Dragon”. Addressing this topic is connected with the ever-deepening interest of modern philological science in the folk-national sources of writers’ creativity.
There are many scientific works devoted to the work of the playwright and his various works. The plays of E. L. Schwartz attracted the attention of such scientists as S. B. Rubina [8], M. N. Kholodkova [9], E. Sh. Isaev [5], M. N. Lipovetsky [6]. N.K. Chukovsky, a researcher of the work of E. L. Schwartz, wrote: “Lies, meanness, slander, slander, espionage became... the basic laws of life... And Schwartz said to all this with each of his plays: no. No - meanness, no - cowardice, no - envy. He said no to all the baseness of people... with every new play" [11, p. 210]. Although the problem of the interaction of Schwartz’s plays with folklore was posed, it was not studied monographically, this determines the relevance of our work.
The object of this study is folklore origins.
The subject of the study is the play “Dragon” by E. Schwartz
The purpose of this work is to study the play “Dragon” by Evgeny Schwartz in the context of folklore tradition.
Tasks:
– reveal the folk poetic origins of the images of Lancelot, Dragon, Elsa in the play “Dragon”;
– analyze the influence of oral folk art in the construction of the work.
Main part.
The poetics of the play “Dragon” are, of course, based on the traditions of fairy tales. In it, the system of characters is usually built as follows: a hero, an opponent, a victim and her father, magical helpers-givers or animal helpers [7]. In Schwartz's play there are all the traditional heroes of a fairy tale: the hero (Lancelot), his opponent (Dragon), the victim (Elsa), and helper-givers (weavers, blacksmiths, hat maker).
Let's look at the main characters in comparison with folklore characters.
The wandering knight Lancelot, who represents good in “Dragon,” resembles the hero of Russian epics, a good fellow who defeated the Serpent Gorynych, who is distinguished by courage, the desire to save the city, justice, and the desire to seek adventure.
The epic “About Dobrynya Nikitich and the Serpent Gorynych” says: “She had a beloved son, the hero Dobrynushka. Throughout Kyiv, fame spread about Dobrynya: he was stately, and tall, and learned to read and write, and was brave in battle, and cheerful at the feast. He will compose a song, play the harp, and say a clever word. And Dobrynya’s disposition is calm, affectionate, he will never say a rude word, he will never offend anyone in vain. No wonder they nicknamed him “quiet Dobrynyushka” [3].
In the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” the following description of the main character is given:
From somewhere in the city of Muroml,
From that village and from Karachirov,
A burly, kind fellow went out on a remote trip [3].
The three-headed dragon goes back to the fairy-tale-epic image of the Serpent Gorynych. Let's compare the descriptions of the Dragon and the Serpent Gorynych.
E. Schwartz says about the Dragon: “Before this, they often fought with him, but he killed all his opponents. He is an amazing strategist and a great tactician. He attacks the enemy suddenly, throws stones from above, then rushes vertically down, right on the horse’s head, and hits him with fire, which completely demoralizes the poor animal. And then he tears the rider with his claws. Well, in the end, they stopped speaking out against him...” [1, p. 381].
The dragon is characterized by his own words: “Okay. (He makes a slight movement with his shoulders and suddenly changes amazingly. A new head appears on the Dragon’s shoulders. The old one disappears without a trace. A serious, reserved, high-browed, narrow-faced, graying blond man stands in front of Lancelot)” [1, p. 429].
The Cat says about the Dragon: “Don’t be surprised, dear Lancelot. He has three heads. He changes them whenever he wishes [1, p. 429].
The author draws attention to the evil roar of the Dragon: “The Dragon bursts into a roar again, this roar is just as powerful, but this time wheezing, groans, and hacking coughs are clearly audible. This is the roar of a huge, ancient, evil monster [1, p. 440].
In the Russian folk tale “The Serpent Gorynych” the fantastic creature is described as follows: “But hunger, although not an aunt, is still not so terrible. Another misfortune is a hundred times worse. About three fire-breathing heads with an arrow on their tail. And her name is the Serpent Gorynych, the Reptile Podkolodnaya” [4].
The fairy tale “Ivan Bykovich” also contains a description of an evil monster: “Suddenly the waters on the river became agitated, the eagles screamed in the oak trees - a six-headed miracle Yudo rides out; under him the horse stumbled, the black raven on his shoulder started, the hort bristled behind him.” Ivan enters into battle with the serpent three times: in the 2nd battle the serpent appears with nine heads, and in the 3rd - with twelve” [2, p. 112].
In the play, the dragon appears before us in the form of a man who alternates heads (and he has three of them) and only in exceptional cases, such as the battle with Lancelot, takes on his true appearance of a flying lizard:
«Human
. Ha ha! I am a dragon.
Lancelot
. You? And they told me that you have three heads, claws, enormous height!
The Dragon
. Today I am simply, without ranks.
Charlemagne
. Mr. Dragon has been living among people for so long that sometimes he himself turns into a human and comes to visit us in a friendly way” [1, p. 426].
In this regard, a parallel can be drawn between him and Koshchei the Immortal, who often replaces the snake in Russian folk tales.
In the fairy tale “Koshey the Immortal,” Koschey goes to war every day, but at the same time leaves the beauty he stole to grieve at home and wait for the groom. And when he returns in the evening, he begins to swear: “Ah! - speaks. – It smells like Russian braid; I know you had Ivan Tsarevich.” - “What are you, Koschey the Immortal! You yourself flew around Rus', picked up the Russian spirit - you smell of the Russian spirit” [2, p. 143 – 144]. This means that Koschey does not walk, does not drive, but flies, which reminds him of the Serpent Gorynych.
The image of Elsa also has a folklore basis. She (the Beautiful Lady of the Heart) bears resemblance to the beautiful girl kidnapped by the Serpent/Koshchei. Lancelot, seeing Elsa for the first time, says: “If only I liked her, oh, if only I liked her! This helps so much... (Looks out the window.) I like it! Cat, she’s a very nice girl” [1, p. 383].
The dragon characterizes Elsa this way: “That’s good to hear. I really, really like her too. Great girl. Obedient girl. <…> Come, come here, my dear. Look into my eyes. Like this. Very good. The eyes are clear. You can kiss my hand. Like this. Nice. The sponges are warm” [1, p. 441].
In the perception of her friends, Elsa is “the smartest” (1st friend), “the most nice” (2nd friend). The third friend says about her: “And yet she loved us more than anyone else. And he’ll sew it up when you ask, and he’ll help you solve a problem, and he’ll console you when it seems to you that you’re the most unhappy person” [1, p. 451].
In the Russian folk tale “The Frog Princess,” the beauty is endowed with the following features: “A gilded carriage, harnessed to six horses, flew up to the royal porch, and Vasilisa the Wise came out of there - such a beauty that you couldn’t even think of it, couldn’t guess it, only say it in a fairy tale!” [2, p. 300]. This heroine had wisdom, cunning and the ability to work miracles. She was an excellent housewife and craftswoman: she could sew a shirt, bake a loaf, and weave a carpet.
Marya from the folk tale “Marya Morevna” is a beautiful princess, a brave warrior who remained devoted in separation from her husband and even helped him defeat Koshchei. Everyone envied Ivan and said that “if you look for such a beauty in the whole world, you won’t find another” [2, p. 153].
The relationship of “Dragon” with oral folk art is determined by the significance of the fantastic principle in the poetics of the play. The work contains unusual characters traditional for folklore: a dragon, mermaids, talking animals (Cat, Donkey); there are traditional magical objects (a flying carpet, an invisibility hat, a magical musical instrument that knows when to play and when to be silent); there are also miracles that the heroes themselves perform (the human dragon has the gift of fire breathing).
As you can see, the composition of this play is similar to the structure of folk tales. The author creates a fairy-tale situation by placing the action of “Dragon” in the conventional chronotope of “a certain kingdom” and “a certain time.”
The plot of the play contains many established fairy-tale motifs and situations. For example, the fairytale motif of a miraculous appearance. As soon as Lancelot voices his desire to challenge the Dragon to battle, “An ever-increasing whistle, noise, howl, roar is heard. The glass is shaking. A glow flashes outside the windows" [1, p. 425], - and finally the Dragon in human form enters the room.
This motif is also found in the epic “Dobrynya and the Serpent”. The appearance of the evil monster is described as follows:
There is no wind, but a cloud has blown over,
There are no clouds, but it’s like rain,
But there is no rain, but only thunder roars,
Thunder rumbles and lightning whistles.
How the Serpent Gorynishche flies
And you twelve about trunks [4].
Another fairytale motif associated with the Dragon is the motif of successful or unsuccessful deception. Thus, the Dragon, trying to avoid an open fight, is thinking of killing the unarmed Lancelot by deception: immediately incinerate the enemy upon announcing a challenge to battle, or using the help of Elsa, who is given a knife for this purpose.
Folklore also uses this motif to reveal the image of the Serpent. In the fairy tale “The Wonderful Shirt,” the Serpent Gorynych becomes the servant of Ivan Tsarevich after he defeats him. But in return for the prince’s kindness, the Serpent seduces his wife and, with her help, tries to kill Ivan [2]. In the popular consciousness, the Serpent Gorynych gradually became associated with a cunning and vile person.
Also, it is precisely the situation of the abduction or collection of a beautiful girl in the form of an annual tax in Schwartz’s play that becomes the starting point for the development of the fundamental plot of the work. “He imposed tribute on our city. Every year the dragon chooses a girl for himself. And we, without meowing, give it to the dragon. And he takes her to his cave. And we never see her again. They say that they die there from disgust" [1, p. 369], - the Cat tells Lancelot, who came to the city on the eve of the wedding of the Dragon and Charlemagne’s daughter Elsa.
In folklore, this motif of the abduction of a beauty by a monster is also often found. In the fairy tale “The Serpent Gorynych”: “How the Serpent got into the habit of stealing girls - there is no salvation. Every year in the spring he flies around villages and villages. He looks and seems to see right through everything. Don't hide, don't deceive. As it is, he recognizes the most beautiful young maidens and takes them with him. And what next, only God knows” [4].
In the fairy tale “Nikita Kozhemyaka,” the Serpent kidnaps the Tsar’s daughter and forcibly holds him captive: “A serpent appeared near Kyiv, he took considerable taxes from the people: from each courtyard a red girl; He will take the girl and eat her. It was the turn of the king’s daughter to go to that serpent. The snake grabbed the princess and dragged her to his den, but did not eat her: she was a beauty, so he took her as his wife” [2, p. 126 – 127].
The traditional fairy tale motif also appears here - the hero’s falling in love with a girl whom he sets out to save from an evil monster:
«Lancelot
. If only I liked her, oh, if only I liked her! This helps so much... (Looks out the window.) I like it!” [1, p. 372].
For example, in the fairy tale “Koschei the Immortal,” Ivan Tsarevich, who was only nine days old, went to look for the Beloved Beauty, who was kidnapped by Koschey. But Ivan managed to find the hidden death of Koshchei and free his bride, with whom they soon got married [2].
In addition, in E. Schwartz’s fairy tale there are situations of “sabotage” to the hero. The Burgomaster and his son Henry, being in the service of the Dragon, are trying to destroy Lancelot, supplying him, for example, with weapons that are not operational:
“The pipes are blaring. Servants enter. The first servant hands Lancelot a small copper basin, to which narrow straps are attached.
Lancelot
. This is a basin from a barber.
Burgomaster
. Yes, but we have appointed him as acting helmet. The copper tray is designated as a shield. Do not worry! Even things in our city are obedient and disciplined. They will perform their duties quite conscientiously. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any knight’s armor in our warehouse. But there is a spear. (Hands Lancelot a sheet of paper.) This certificate is given to you that the spear is really under repair, which is verified by a signature and a seal” [1, p. 449].
The motif of “sabotage” is found in the fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” [10]. When Ivan lay down to rest, his brothers came upon him, sleepy. They saw that the prince had obtained everything: both the Firebird and Elena the Beautiful decided to kill him and take away all the loot. Only the gray wolf, with the help of living and dead water, was able to revive Ivan, catch up with his brothers and tear them to pieces.
The writer also equips the narrative with a threefold repetition of one plot, various comic techniques (irony (“He’s completely insolent? <…>He’s eating you up! <…>But the others, in my opinion, have all been killed long ago” [1, p. 381]), phraseological units (the donkey “loves spicy”, during the battle the Dragon “tucked its tail between its legs”), humorous names - miracle-yudushko, darling-chick, flyer-busser).
Conclusion.
The play “Dragon” is one of the most outstanding works of E. L. Schwartz, in which the playwright turns to folklore images and motifs.
Knight Lancelot echoes the people's hero who defeated the Serpent Gorynych. The three-headed dragon goes back to the fairy-tale-epic image of the Serpent Gorynych, as well as Koshchei the Immortal (in the play the dragon appears before us in the form of a man alternating heads. Elsa (the Beautiful Lady of the Heart) bears resemblance to the beautiful girl kidnapped by the Serpent/Koshchei.
In the play, the hero is helped by magical animal assistants - Mashenka the Cat and Donkey, as well as fairy-tale objects (a flying carpet, an invisible hat, a sword and a spear, a musical instrument).
The compositional outline of this play is also consonant with the structure of folk tales. The plot of the play contains many well-established fairy-tale motifs and situations: the motif of snake fighting; the situation of kidnapping or levying an annual tax on a beautiful girl; the motive of the hero falling in love with a girl whom he goes to save from an evil monster; a situation of “sabotage” to the hero; the fairytale-like traditional ending of the play.
Thus, turning to oral folk art helps to more clearly reveal the images of the main characters and convey the idea of the work - the eternal struggle between good and evil.
Bibliography
I. Fiction
1. Schwartz, E. L. Prose. Poems. Dramaturgy / E. L. Schwartz. – Moscow: Olympus, 1998. – 640 p.
II. Folklore sources
2. Afanasyev, A. N. Russian folk tales / A. N. Afanasyev. – Leningrad: Lenizdat, 1983. – 446 p.
3. https://lukoshko.net/storyList/byliny.htm
4. https://lukoshko.net/storyList/russkie-narodnye-skazki.htm III. Research
5. Isaeva, E. Sh. Great common truths / E. Sh. Isaeva // Shvarts E. L. Fairy tales for the theater. – Moscow: Mainland Alpha, 1999. – 516 p.
6. Lipovetsky, M. N. Rethinking the “alien plot”: On the genre and style originality of E. Schwartz’s play “Shadow” / M. N. Lipovetsky // Interaction of style and genre in Soviet literature. – Sverdlovsk. – 1984. – P. 91–95.
7. Propp, V. Ya. Poetics of folklore / V. Ya. Propp. – Moscow: Labyrinth, 1998. – 352 p.
8. Rubina, S. B. Irony as a system-forming principle in the dramaturgy of E. Schwartz (“The Naked King”, “Shadow”, “Dragon”, “An Ordinary Miracle”): abstract. dis. ...cand. Philol. Sciences: 10.01.02 / Rubina Sofya Borisovna. – Gorky, 1989. – 16 p.
9. Kholodkova, M. N. The genre of literary fairy tales in the works of Evgeny Schwartz (Based on the plays “The Naked King”, “The Snow Queen”, “Shadow”, “Dragon”, “An Ordinary Miracle”) / M. N. Kholodkova // Voices of young scientists. – Moscow, 2003. – P. 66–89.
10. Chernets, L. V. Types of image in a literary work / L. V. Chernets // Philological Sciences. – 2003. – No. 4. – P. 3–13.
11. Chukovsky, N.K. Evgeny Schwartz / N.K. Chukovsky // Literary memories. – Moscow, 1989. – 336 p. 22.
Presentation of weapons
In the play “Dragon” by E. Schwartz (a summary can be found in this article), the presentation of weapons to Lancelot takes place on the same square. All this is organized with poorly hidden falsity. Instead of a shield, he is presented with a copper basin, and instead of a spear, a certificate that it is being repaired. They also report that there was no knightly armor in the warehouse.
Only the cat brings good news, but Lancelot does not have time to find out, because at that moment the Dragon flies in howling and whistling. He orders Elsa to say goodbye to Lancelot one last time and then kill him. Instead of saying goodbye, there is a declaration of love, which ends with a kiss. After this, Elsa throws the poisoned dagger into the well. The dragon realizes that he is forced to fight. Those who have read Schwartz's play "Dragon" claim that this is one of the most intense and climactic episodes.
Fight with the dragon
Finally, Lancelot gets a real weapon. These are the sword, spear, flying carpet and cap of invisibility, which are brought to him by the donkey drivers. The knight immediately disappears, putting on his hat.
Giant Dragon heads appear, engulfed in flames. He can't find Lancelot anywhere. Suddenly, the Dragon hears the sound of a sword and heads fall from the villain's shoulders one after another. They beg for help, but no one pays attention to them.
When everyone leaves, a seriously wounded Lancelot appears. He is sure that death is already close.
Power lies with the Burgomaster
In the play “Dragon” by Schwartz, a brief summary of which we are now describing, after Lancelot kills the Dragon, power passes to the Burgomaster. He orders everyone to call himself the president of the free city, and appoints his son as burgomaster. Anyone who opposes goes to jail.
The new ruler proclaims himself the winner of the Dragon and, as a reward, wants to marry Elsa. The only thing stopping him is the fear that Lancelot might return. Therefore, the former Burgomaster sends his son to the girl to find out if she has any information about Lancelot.
When communicating with Elsa, Heinrich pretends in every possible way that he sympathizes with her, but Elsa believes this and tells everything she knows. Readers of the play “Dragon” by E. Schwartz (a summary of the chapters is in this article) will learn that Lancelot will not return. A cat found him wounded and took him out of the city on a donkey. The hero died on the way. The cat wanted to go back so that Elsa could say goodbye to the deceased and bury him with dignity. But the donkey became stubborn.
Ending of the play
The burgomaster is now sure that there will be a wedding. He invites guests from all over the area, but suddenly the bride refuses to marry him. She addresses the audience with a bright speech that the Dragon did not actually die, but was reincarnated into many people and now again there is no one to protect her.
At the most unexpected moment, Lancelot appears, miraculously cured by his friends. The guests hide under the table, and the former Burgomaster flatters and fawns over him. The knight admits that he missed the girl very much, and she realizes that she loves him even more than before.
The burgomaster and his son try to escape, but Lancelot catches up with them. It turns out that he walked around the city for a whole month in an invisibility hat, he knows what they brought the city to. Henry and his father are imprisoned. Lancelot is preparing for the hard work of killing the dragon in the mutilated human souls.
Summary
The wandering knight Lancelot came to one city. There he meets the Cat, who talks about the misfortune of the archivist Charlemagne. For four hundred years now, the Dragon has ruled the city. Once a year he takes a local girl as his wife. This time the choice fell on Elsa, Charlemagne's daughter.
Lancelot decides to put an end to this, but first meets the archivist's family. Charlemagne and his daughter dissuade the wanderer. Attempts to convince them to resist are unsuccessful.
Suddenly a Dragon comes to the house. Contrary to Lancelot's expectations, he is not a monster, but an ordinary person. After a short conversation, the wanderer challenges the Dragon to a fight. He got angry and agreed.
The next day the hero comes to the square . They give him a copper basin, since the armor has been gone for a long time, and the spear is being repaired. After this, the Dragon appears. He orders Elsa to say goodbye to Lancelot and then kill him. But the girl declares her love for the wanderer and throws away the dagger. The dragon is angry because he will have to fight.
Suddenly the Cat returned, he attracted the attention of Lancelot. Several donkey drivers arrived. They presented the hero:
- sword and spear;
- Magic carpet;
- Invisibility hat.
Lancelot managed to kill the Dragon, but he himself was seriously wounded . In the city, power passes to the burgomaster. He began to call himself president, and his son became burgomaster. Everything returned to its place: the residents were powerless. The new ruler decides to marry Elsa, but he is afraid of Lancelot's return. According to rumors, the wanderer died. Then the new ruler was delighted and ordered preparations for the wedding.
At the time of the ceremony, Elsa asks people: did the Dragon really not die, but reincarnate? Suddenly Lancelot appears. He was cured by friends in the mountains. The frightened president tried to escape, but he was detained and sent to prison. Lancelot told how he walked around the city for a year wearing an invisibility cap and saw how people lived.
Now he vowed to cleanse their souls of the Dragon, but first he had to marry Elsa.
Characteristics of the play
The play “Dragon” by Schwartz, a summary of which does not replace the work itself, is an example of a classical allegory. It was just that what exactly it symbolized was unclear for a long time. Soviet censorship deciphered Schwartz’s images in their own way, while underground writers did so in a completely different way.
Soviet critics saw a clear depiction of fascism in the play “Kill the Dragon” by Schwartz, a summary of which you already know. In their opinion, the Burgomaster with his son and his assistants are the big bourgeoisie, and the numerous small inhabitants are petty, peculiar philistines.
The idea of the allegory was also seen in the fact that the destruction of fascism did not at all mean the liberation of everyone around from the dark forces that still remained in the world. Lancelot looked like a conscious proletarian who crushes the fascist vermin, but cannot free the world from all evils with one blow.
During the times of the post-Soviet intelligentsia, the perception of the novel became completely different. This time the Dragon was associated exclusively with communism, or more precisely with the party that was in power. The burgomaster and his comrades were officials standing at the foundations of the state, and ordinary urban inhabitants were the Russian people, who were trying to squeeze themselves out drop by drop, as Gorky bequeathed.
The post-Soviet intelligentsia saw themselves in Lancelot. Those who managed to crush 70 years of communist oppression. It was precisely this perception that was close to the filmmakers who filmed Schwartz’s work in 1988.
History of creation
The play was written in 1942-1944, when the playwright was evacuated from Leningrad to Stalinabad. There, in Tashkent, Schwartz wrote a fairy tale. This was surprising, since most creative people created works about the war at that time.
But the playwright hid a deep meaning in his work . He based the play on a myth that was found among different peoples of the world. The main character destroys the dragon in the name of saving the world. In the play, the mythical creature has the appearance of a man who changes heads (there are three in total) and only at the end does he appear in the form of a flying lizard.
If you carefully study the work, you can see many references to historical events. The playwright began writing the text while the war was going on.
The second front opened with a delay; Western countries did not know who to side with - the USSR or Nazi Germany. Schwartz understood that even after the end of the war, everything would be difficult in the world.
