Famous Russian writer Silver Age L. Andreev remained in the history of Russian literature as the author of innovative prose. His works were distinguished by deep psychologism. The author tried to penetrate such depths human soul, where no one looked. Andreev wanted to show the real state of affairs, tore off the cover of lies from the usual phenomena of the social and spiritual life of man and society.
The life of Russian people turn of XIX-XX centuries has given little reason for optimism. Critics reproached Andreev for incredible pessimism, apparently for the objectivity of showing reality. The writer did not consider it necessary to artificially create blissful pictures, to give evil a decent appearance. In his work, he revealed the true essence of immutable laws public life and ideology. Evoking a barrage of criticism against himself, Andreev risked showing a person in all his contradictions and secret thoughts, revealed the falsity of any political slogans and ideas, wrote about doubts on issues Orthodox faith in the form in which the church presents it.
In the story “Judas Iscariot” Andreev gives his version to the famous gospel parable. He said that he wrote “something on the psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal.” The story examines the problem of the ideal in human life. Jesus is such an ideal, and his disciples must preach his teachings, bring the light of truth to the people. But Andreev makes the central hero of the work not Jesus, but Judas Iscariot, an energetic, active and full of strength man.
To complete the perception of the image, the writer describes in detail the memorable appearance of Judas, whose skull was “as if chopped from the back of the head.” double strike sword and newly composed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety... Judas’s face also doubled.” The eleven disciples of Christ look expressionless against the background of this hero. One eye of Judas is alive, attentive, black, and the other is motionless, like a blind one. Andreev draws the readers’ attention to Judas’s gestures and manner of behavior. The hero bows low, arching his back and stretching his lumpy, scary head forward, and “in a fit of timidity” closes his living eye. His voice, “sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes loud, like old woman", then thin, "unfortunately liquid and unpleasant." When communicating with other people, he constantly grimaces.
The writer also introduces us to some facts from Judas’ biography. The hero got his nickname because he came from Kariot, lives alone, left his wife, has no children, apparently God does not want offspring from him. Judas has been a wanderer for many years, “he lies everywhere, makes faces, vigilantly looks out for something with his thief’s eye; and suddenly leaves suddenly.”
In the Gospel, the story of Judas is short story about betrayal. Andreev shows the psychology of his hero, tells in detail what happened before and after the betrayal and what caused it. The theme of betrayal did not arise by chance for the writer. During the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907, he observed with surprise and contempt how many traitors suddenly appeared, “as if they came not from Adam, but from Judas.”
In the story, Andreev notes that the eleven disciples of Christ constantly argue among themselves, “who paid more love” in order to be closer to Christ and ensure their future entry into the kingdom of heaven. These disciples, who would later be called apostles, treated Judas with contempt and disgust, just like other vagabonds and beggars. They are deep in questions of faith, engaged in self-contemplation and have isolated themselves from people. L. Andreev’s Judas does not have his head in the clouds, he lives in real world, steals money for a hungry harlot, saves Christ from an aggressive crowd. He plays the role of mediator between people and Christ.
Judas is shown with all the advantages and disadvantages, like any living person. He is smart, modest, and always ready to help his companions. Andreev writes: “...Iscariot was simple, gentle and at the same time serious.” Shown from all sides, the image of Judas comes to life. He also has negative traits that arose during his time of wandering and searching for a piece of bread. This is deceit, dexterity and deceit. Judas is tormented by the fact that Christ never praises him, although he allows him to conduct business and even take money from the common treasury. Iscariot declares to his disciples that it is not they, but he who will be next to Christ in the kingdom of heaven.
Judas is intrigued by the mystery of Christ, he feels that under the guise ordinary person something great and wonderful is hidden. Having decided to betray Christ into the hands of the authorities, Judas hopes that God will not allow injustice. Until the death of Christ, Judas follows him, every minute expecting that his tormentors will understand who they are dealing with. But a miracle does not happen; Christ suffers beatings from the guards and dies like an ordinary person.
Coming to the apostles, Judas notes with surprise that on this night, when their teacher died a martyr's death, the disciples ate and slept. They grieve, but their lives have not changed. On the contrary, now they are no longer subordinates, but each independently intends to bring the word of Christ to people. Judas calls them traitors. They did not defend their teacher, did not recapture him from the guards, did not call the people to their defense. They “crowded together like a bunch of frightened lambs, not interfering with anything.” Judas accuses the disciples of lying. They never loved the teacher, otherwise they would have rushed to help and died for him. Love saves without doubt. Material from the site
John says that Jesus himself wanted this sacrifice and his sacrifice is beautiful. To which Judas angrily replies: “Is there such a beautiful sacrifice as you say, beloved disciple? Where there is a victim, there is an executioner, and there are traitors! Sacrifice is suffering for one and shame for all.<…>Blind people, what have you done with the land? You wanted to destroy her, you will soon kiss the cross on which you crucified Jesus!” Judas, in order to finally test his disciples, says that he is going to Jesus in heaven to persuade him to return to earth to the people to whom he brought light. Iscariot calls on the apostles to follow him. Nobody agrees. Peter, who was about to rush, also retreats.
The story ends with a description of Judas' suicide. He decided to hang himself on the branch of a tree growing over the abyss, so that if the rope broke, he would fall onto the sharp stones and surely ascend to Christ. Throwing a rope onto a tree, Judas whispers, turning to Christ: “So meet me kindly. I am very tired". The next morning, Judas' body was taken from the tree and thrown into a ditch, cursing him as a traitor. And Judas Iscariot, the Traitor, remained forever in the memory of people.
This version of the gospel story caused a wave of criticism from the church. Andreev’s goal was to awaken people’s consciousness, to make them think about the nature of betrayal, about their actions and thoughts.
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On this page there is material on the following topics:
- Leonid Andreev Judas Iscariot problem of betrayal
- Judas Iscariot essay
- Judas Iscariot problem of love and betrayal
- the problem of betrayal in the work Judas Iscariot
- Judas Iscariot analysis
Topic: about the psychology of the betrayal of Judas, the betrayal of the cowardly disciples of Christ, the masses of people who did not come out in defense of Christ.
Idea: the paradoxical nature of Andreev’s story is Judas’s unlimited love for his Teacher, the desire to be constantly nearby, and betrayal is also a way to get closer to Jesus. Judas betrays Christ to find out whether any of his followers are capable of sacrificing their lives to save their teacher. His betrayal is predetermined from above.
Artistic features: comparison of Judas and Christ. The writer equates two such apparently opposite images, he brings them together. The images of the students are symbols.
Peter is associated with a stone, even with Judas he enters into a stone-throwing competition.
Reader's position: Judas is a traitor, he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver - this name is fixed in the minds of people. After reading Andreev’s story, you wonder how to understand the psychology of Judas’s act, what made him violate moral laws? Knowing in advance that he will betray Jesus, Judas struggles with this. But it is impossible to defeat predestination, but Judas cannot help but love Jesus, he also kills himself. Betrayal - actual question and at the present time, a time of misunderstanding between people.
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“The psychology of betrayal” is the main theme of L. Andreev’s story “Judas Iscariot”. Images and motives of the New Testament, ideal and reality, hero and crowd, true and hypocritical love - these are the main motives of this story. Andreev uses gospel story about the betrayal of Jesus Christ by his disciple Judas Iscariot, interpreting it in his own way. If the focus of the Holy Scripture is the image of Christ, then Andreev turns his attention to the disciple who betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver into the hands of the Jewish authorities and thereby became the culprit of the suffering on the cross and the death of his Teacher. The writer is trying to find a justification for the actions of Judas, to understand his psychology, the internal contradictions that prompted him to commit a moral crime, to prove that in the betrayal of Judas there is more nobility and love for Christ than in the faithful disciples.
According to Andreev, by betraying and taking on the name of the traitor, “Judas saves the cause of Christ. True love turns out to be betrayal; the love of the other apostles for Christ - through betrayal and lies.” After the execution of Christ, when “horror and dreams came true,” “he walks leisurely: now the whole earth belongs to him, and he steps firmly, like a ruler, like a king, like one who is infinitely and joyfully alone in this world.”
Judas appears in the work differently than in the gospel narrative - sincerely loving Christ and suffering from the fact that he does not find understanding of his feelings. Change traditional interpretation The image of Judas in the story is supplemented with new details: Judas was married, abandoned his wife, who wanders in search of food. The episode of the apostles' stone-throwing competition is fictional. Judas' opponents are other disciples of the Savior, especially the apostles John and Peter. The traitor sees how Christ treats them great love, which, in the opinion of Judas, who did not believe in their sincerity, is undeserved. In addition, Andreev portrays the apostles Peter, John, and Thomas as being in the grip of pride - they are worried about who will be first in the Kingdom of Heaven. Having committed his crime, Judas commits suicide, because he cannot bear his act and the execution of his beloved Teacher.
As the Church teaches, sincere repentance allows one to receive forgiveness of sin, but Iscariot’s suicide, which is the most terrible and unforgivable sin, forever closed the doors of heaven to him. In the image of Christ and Judas, Andreev confronts two life philosophies. Christ dies, and Judas seems to be able to triumph, but this victory turns into tragedy for him. Why? From Andreev’s point of view, the tragedy of Judas is that he understands life and human nature deeper than Jesus. Judas is in love with the idea of goodness, which he himself debunked. The act of betrayal is a sinister experiment, philosophical and psychological. By betraying Jesus, Judas hopes that in the suffering of Christ the ideas of goodness and love will be more clearly revealed to people. A. Blok wrote that in the story there is “the soul of the author, a living wound.”
The purpose of the lesson: to analyze Andreev’s story, to identify the features of the writer’s creative style and to identify the originality of the author’s interpretation biblical story. (Slide 2)
During the classes
It's hard, it's hard and maybe
it is ungrateful to approach the mystery of Judas,
it’s easier and calmer not to notice it,
covering it with roses of church beauty.
S. Bulgakov
(Slide 3)
- Organizing time
- introduction teachers
Is it compliant? plot basis a story about a legend from the New Testament? Through the images and motifs of the New Testament, L. Andreev presents to readers his own concept of history, which consists of the interaction of three forces:
- New idea;
- a people who are devoid of any ideas;
- some force connecting the first and second.
- Conversation with the class
- Teacher's word. (Slide 6,7,8)
- Conversation with the class:
How do you understand the epigraph of our lesson? (Slide 3)
Why is it not Jesus, but Judas, who becomes the main character? (Slide 4)
Jesus reveals himself new idea, however, the people do not heed the Savior. And in this situation Judas appears, who, through betrayal and curse, saves the cause of Christ forever and ever.
Judas Iscariot - main antihero gospel history, which is known to all readers, the time of L. Andreev. What exactly could they know about the traitor of Jesus Christ, what “foundation” did the author rely on?
Let's clarify (Slide 5)
The Gospel says that at the moment of betrayal “Satan entered into him” (John 13:27; Luke 22:3)
But these words in no way justify Judas, because the devil tempts and provokes everyone, but the person himself commits his actions and is still responsible for them, for “the gap that makes him accessible to the devil’s suggestions” is his own vices.
Judas's betrayal was not the result of an emotional outburst, it was a conscious act; he himself came to the high priests, and then waited for an opportune moment to fulfill his plan. Therefore, even the repentant Judas remained in the memory of people as a traitor, in contrast to Peter, who showed momentary weakness. Thus, according to the Christian tradition, neither the devil’s “obsession” nor the predetermination of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is for Judas Iscariot a justification for his action.
Find a description of the appearance of Judas Iscariot.
What is unusual about his portrait?
“Short red hair did not hide the strange......, I couldn’t believe in his complete blindness.”
First, let us note the unusualness of the selected details of the portrait. Andreev describes the skull of Judas, the very shape of which inspires “mistrust and anxiety.”
Secondly, let us pay attention to the duality in the appearance of Judas, emphasized several times by the writer. Duality is not only in the words “double”, “doubled”, but also in pairs of homogeneous members, synonyms: “strange and unusual”;
“mistrust, even anxiety”; “silence and harmony”;
“bloody and merciless” - and antonyms: “chopped... and put together again”, “living” - “deadly smooth”, “moving” - “frozen”, “neither night nor day”, “neither light nor darkness” .
What can we call such a portrait? Psychological, because he conveys the essence of the hero - the duality of his personality, the duality of behavior, the duality of feelings, the exclusivity of his fate. Is it only appearance that turns people away from Judas?
No. Many knew him, but “there was no one who could tell about him
kind word
Judas really lies like the devil (in ancient Greek, “slanderer”), he sees the vices of every person and easily plays on them, he is prone to provocations and temptations, he always knows exactly who and what to say, or rather, what they want to hear from him. These are his dialogues with all the characters in the story (except for Christ - he never directly speaks to him). Like Satan (in ancient Greek “contradictory”, “adversary”). Judas bows before the Almighty, but opposes him on the main issue - his attitude towards people, towards the human race. But Satan only recognizes the power and primacy of God. Judas sees only evil in the world, and he suffers from the “lack of understanding” of his Teacher.
Judas himself repeats more than once: “My father is not the devil, but a goat.” Why? In the Gospel, the contrast between “goats” and “lambs” serves as an allegory (to speak vaguely, in hints) of good and evil people whom the Son of Man will separate into the Last Judgment from each other (Matt. 25:31-32). Maybe Judas meant this?
Perhaps Judas, demonstrating his own insignificance, wins people over (a weak and vain man), but at the same time remains “on his own mind.”
Or maybe he is the son of a “scapegoat”? In the Bible, this was the name given to one of the sacrificial goats, on whose head “on the great day of the feast, on the day of atonement...the high priest, coming out of the Holy of Holies, laid his hands,” confessed the sins of the whole people over him and drove him into the wilderness: “And the goat carried it to - says the Bible - "all their iniquities into an impassable land, and he will let the goat go into the wilderness" (Lev. 16:22). Perhaps Judas was thereby hinting at his special position among people: as a “scapegoat” he decided to bear all the sins of the human race.
The most noticeable feature of Judas: he constantly lies, often without any apparent benefit to himself. But what follows from this? Are lies always worse than the truth?
Thomas complains to Judas that he sees “very bad dreams” and asks: “What do you think: should a person also be responsible for his dreams? And Judas explains: “Does anyone else see dreams, and not himself? What does it mean? Is Judas playing tricks on his truthful friend or is he being serious?
Conclusion: If you look at the law, then actions, not thoughts, are subject to condemnation, and, therefore, Judas is lying. That is, the moral standard for a disciple of Christ is higher than the legal one, and, therefore, Judas is right. But we, like a hundred years ago, know that although a dream characterizes a person, it is not under his control, and, therefore, Thomas is not to blame.
By the way, in the Bible there is no commandment “thou shalt not lie,” there is a commandment “thou shalt not bear false witness” (Ex. 20:14), i.e. Do not harm others with your lies (for example, in court). What is important is not the lie as such, but the reason for which it is told.
Why didn't Jesus immediately drive Judas away as soon as he appeared?
L. Andreev himself answers this question: Judas was one of the “rejected and unloved,” i.e. one of those whom Jesus never rejected. So Jesus wanted to help Judas find himself, overcome, as we would now say, an inferiority complex, the dislike of others.
So why did Judas come to Christ?
Judas, an outcast despised by everyone, whom, perhaps for the first time in his life, someone smiled at, sincerely sympathized with. You don’t just feel gratitude for someone like that, you love him selflessly, sometimes even more than your own life.
Does Judas love Christ?
Hardly. For him, to love means, first of all, to be understood, appreciated, recognized. The favor of Christ is not enough for him; he still needs recognition of the correctness of his assessments, justification for the darkness of his soul. He probably came to Jesus because he understood: his rightness will become absolute only when Christ Himself recognizes it. So is his love. Yes, he loves Christ, but only him and no one else. He knew the truth about the sinful, dark essence of people and wanted to find the power that could transform this essence.
How did the relationship between Judas and Jesus Christ develop? (Slide 9)
At first, Judas tries to get closer to his disciples, which is encouraged by Jesus. Judas begins to tell various fables, from which, however, it always follows that everyone around him is a deceiver, that he himself does not love anyone, not even his own parents.
The next stage: Judas tries to prove to Christ that he is right. First, he proves to the straightforward Thomas that the inhabitants of one village are “evil and stupid people,” because after listening to Jesus’ sermon, they easily believed that Jesus could steal a kid from an old woman. And from that day on, Jesus’ attitude towards him changed somehow strangely. And before, for some reason, it was the case that Judas never spoke directly to Jesus, and he never directly addressed him, but he often looked at him with kind eyes, smiled at some of his jokes, and if he did not see him for a long time, he asked: where is Judas? And now he looked at him, as if not seeing him, although he was still - and even more stubbornly than before - looking for him with his eyes. And no matter what he said, even if today it’s one thing and tomorrow something completely different, even if it’s even the same thing that Judas thinks, it seemed, however, that he was always speaking against Judas.”
Another time, Christ and his disciples were already in direct danger. They would probably have been stoned if not for Judas of Kariot. “overwhelmed by an insane fear for Jesus, as if already seeing drops of blood on his white shirt... the raised hands with stones fell down”
Judas was right again. He was waiting for praise. But Jesus was angry, and the disciples, instead of gratitude, “drove him away with short and angry exclamations. As if he didn’t save them all, as if he didn’t save the Teacher whom they love so much.” Why? Because he lied, Foma explained.
What does Judas conclude from this?
Judas cannot understand why for Christ and his disciples a lie, even when it saves their lives, is worse than the truth? Why doesn't the end justify the means? Would it really have been better, more just, if Christ had been killed? For the smart, cunning Judas, this is an insoluble contradiction. For Christ - no.
Judas understands the main thing: Jesus and his disciples are other people, living according to some other laws that are incomprehensible to him, and he is a stranger to them.
Judas seeks recognition within the framework of their “rules of the game”, defeats everyone in a fair competition, even Peter himself: he throws a stone off a cliff that no one could move.
Is he the best among them now?
No, just the strongest in this type of wrestling. “Everyone praised Judas, everyone recognized that he was a winner, everyone chatted with him in a friendly manner, but Jesus did not want to praise Judas this time either... Judas the strong one trudged along behind, swallowing dust.” He is a stranger to them again.
Jesus is trying to help him understand what is happening, to explain his attitude towards him with the help of the parable of the barren fig tree.
Let's clarify (Slide 10)
We are talking about a parable here, not about the incident when Jesus cut down the barren fig tree (otherwise it would seem that he was threatening Judas). The parable told by Christ in the Gospel sounds differently: “... someone had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and came to look for fruit on it, and did not find it; and he said to the vinedresser, “Behold, I have come for the third year to look for fruit on this fig tree and have not found it; cut it down: why does it occupy the land? But he answered him: Master! Leave it this year too, while I dig it up and cover it with manure, see if it bears fruit; if not, then next year You will cut it down” (Luke 13:6-9). That is, the parable definitely “indicates how God deals with every sinful soul.” He is not in a hurry to cut from the shoulder, but “desires the repentance of sinners”, gives them the opportunity to improve.
Why is Judas so sure that Jesus must perish (“...now he will perish, and Judas will perish with him”)? Because he was offended and was already about to betray him?
No. He simply understands that it is impossible to live like Jesus lives in this world. And in this Judas is right. Therefore, for Judas Iscariot, the death of Christ, like the death of himself, is inevitable.
Judas makes a new attempt to save Jesus Christ, demonstrating to Him what His closest disciples are worth: he steals (in front of Thomas!) several denarii from the general treasury and does not particularly resist when the angry Peter drags him by the collar to Jesus. “But Jesus was silent. And looking at him carefully, Peter quickly blushed and unclenched his hand that was holding the collar.” And John, leaving the Teacher, exclaimed: “... The Teacher said that Judas can take as much money as he wants... And no one should count how much money Judas received. He is our brother, and all his money is like ours... and you have seriously offended him, - that’s what the Teacher said... Shame on us, brothers!
What could Jesus say to John?
It is unlikely that Jesus allowed His disciples not to observe the Old Testament commandment “thou shalt not steal.” He probably simply reminded John of his preaching of universal equality, including property equality.
But the main thing is still different. Judas was clearly testing whether Christ's most faithful and devoted disciples were able to follow his commandments.
But was Judas’s provocation successful?
No. “When it blows strong wind, - he says to Foma, - he picks up dirty linen. And stupid people look at the rubbish and say: that's the wind! And this is just rubbish... donkey droppings trampled underfoot. So he met a wall and quietly lay down at its foot, and the wind flew on.” That is, it is not their choice, and therefore Judas again does not recognize the rightness of Jesus Christ.
And then Judas decides to betray Christ. Why? (Slide 11,12)
The betrayal of Judas was for him the last argument in his dispute with Jesus. He knew for sure that everything would be exactly as he expected, but he did not want and was afraid of it. Maybe he even hoped for a miracle.
Judas commits betrayal in order to save Jesus, who is doomed to death in this world. There is a scene in the story that is incomparable with Holy Scripture: Judas, grimacing and humiliating himself, tries to get Pilate to pardon Christ.
For what? For the sake of “purity of experiment”?
No. Rather, it is a gesture of despair, a natural human impulse, when you no longer have the strength to remain an outside observer, seeing the suffering of the One Whom you love more than yourself.
A painful love for Christ and a desire to provoke disciples and people to take decisive action.
Undoubtedly, there was a desire to provoke. Just for what? For what?
By betraying Christ, Judas wants to deceitfully break the universal kingdom of lies, so that all people, both apostles and the mighty of the world This, they were horrified, and shame and remorse would lead them to Christ.
So why does St. Andrew's Judas betray Christ?
For Judas, betrayal was indeed a natural stage and the final argument in his dispute with Jesus about man. He won? L. Andreev writes: “The horror and dreams of Iscariot have come true.” Judas proved to the whole world and to Christ Himself that people are not worthy of the Son of God, there is nothing to love them for. And only he, a student and an outcast, the only one who retained his love and devotion, should rightfully sit next to Him in the Kingdom of Heaven and administer Judgment, merciless and universal, like the Flood.
That's what Judas thinks. But here important question: the author thinks the same?
L. Andreev told Gorky: “I... don’t like Christ and Christianity, optimism is a disgusting, completely false invention.” If we correlate these words with the content of the story, it turns out that both the author and his hero consider the appearance of Christ to be of no use to anyone, because his “False optimism” is not capable of changing human nature.
Judas is a tragic person because, unlike the apostles of Christ, he understands all this, but, unlike Anna and others like him, he is also capable of being captivated by the unearthly purity and kindness of Jesus Christ. The paradox is that the righteous are disproportionately further from Christ than Judas.
6.Final speech from the teacher
Let us remember the final and, perhaps, most powerful pages of it. “Judas has long been on his lonely walks... cats and other carrion.”
Don't you think this passage contains a very accurate assessment of Judas and his betrayal? Does it match the one we cited above? How do we, today's readers, perceive St. Andrew's Judas?
Judas cannot be called a winner. The Sanhedrin ridiculed him because they knew who was being crucified - Judas did not deceive them. But for the disciples of Christ, he remained what he essentially was - a traitor, guilty of the death of their Teacher. Judas reproaches the apostles: “Why are you alive when he is dead? You took on all the sin." But this is the truth of Judas, who believed that both the wind and the rope were deceiving him. And then, we must not forget that the Gospel does not end with the death of Iscariot. And the final texts of the New Testament and the Sacred Traditions are precisely dedicated to the history of Christianity, which was started by the disciples of Christ, and most of them paid for their missionary death with martyrdom. This means that they are not “dirty blown up by the wind,” as St. Andrew’s Judas believed.
This approach to the text of the story is quite legitimate, because all of L. Andreev’s readers of that time knew the Gospel. By the way, when he called Christianity “optimistic” and “false invention,” M. Gorky did not agree with him and, in our opinion, was right.
The cynic Judas destroyed this system. The point is not that people are weak and sinful, but how they relate to their own and others’ vices. And here, we agree, L. Andreev’s hero was wrong: when everything is built on a lie, there is no shame.
The ideological impasse also predetermined the personal tragedy of Judas Iscariot. We sympathize with the smart, strong man who was able to love, empty, only Jesus. But the love of a cynic, like the kiss of a demon, ultimately turned out to be fatal for Christ. The death of Judas did not touch anyone, which means that no one needed his life.
Judas is a tragic figure. He believes that in order for the dark, poor in spirit crowd to believe in the ideal, in Christ, they need a miracle. This miracle will be the resurrection of Christ after martyrdom.
Judas also chose his cross. By betraying Christ, he dooms himself to eternal damnation, forever securing for himself the shameful nickname of a traitor.
Homework: students are invited to express in writing their own attitude to the work of L. Andreev (Slide13)
List of used literature
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http://www.obsudim.net/andreev.htm
Brodsky M.A. “JUDAS’ LAST ARGUMENT.”
Difficult, difficult and perhaps thankless
approaching the mystery of Judas easier and calmer
not to notice it, covering it with the roses of church beauty.
S. Bulgakov 1
The story appeared in 1907, but mention of its idea was found in L. Andreev already in 1902. Therefore, not only the events of Russian history - the defeat of the first Russian revolution and the rejection of many revolutionary ideas - caused the appearance of this work, but also the internal impulses of L. Andreev himself. From a historical point of view, the theme of apostasy from past revolutionary passions is present in the story. L. Andreev also wrote about this. However, the content of the story, especially over time, goes far beyond the scope of a specific socio-political situation. The author himself wrote about the concept of his work: “Something on the psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal,” “A completely free fantasy on the topic of betrayal, good and evil, Christ, etc.” Leonid Andreev's story is an artistic philosophical and ethical study of human vice, and the main conflict is philosophical and ethical.
We must pay tribute to the artistic courage of the writer who risked turning to the image of Judas, much less trying to understand this image. After all, from a psychological point of view understand means to accept something (in accordance with the paradoxical statement of M. Tsvetaeva understand- forgive me, nothing else). Leonid Andreev, of course, foresaw this danger. He wrote: the story “will be criticized both from the right and from the left, from above and from below.” And he turned out to be right: the emphasis that was placed in his version of the Gospel story (“The Gospel of Andreev”) turned out to be unacceptable for many contemporaries, including L. Tolstoy: “It’s terribly disgusting, false and lacking a sign of talent. The main thing is why ?" At the same time, the story was highly appreciated by M. Gorky, A. Blok, K. Chukovsky and many others.
Jesus as a character in the story also caused sharp rejection ("The Jesus composed by Andreev, in general, the Jesus of the rationalism of Renan, the artist Polenov, but not the Gospel, a very mediocre personality, colorless, small," - A. Bugrov 2), and the images of the apostles ("From the Apostles there should be approximately nothing left. Just a little wet,” - V.V. Rozanov), and, of course, the image central character"Judas Iscariot" ("... an attempt by L. Andreev to present Judas an extraordinary person, giving his actions high motivation was doomed to failure. The result was a disgusting mixture of sadistic cruelty, cynicism and heartbreaking love. The work of L. Andreev, written at the time of the defeat of the revolution, at the time of the black reaction, is essentially an apologetics for betrayal... This is one of the most shameful pages in the history of Russian and European decadence," - I.E. Zhuravskaya). Derogatory reviews of the scandalous work in There was so much criticism of that time that K. Chukovsky was forced to declare: “In Russia it is better to be a counterfeiter than a famous Russian writer” 3 .
The polarity of assessments of L. Andreev’s work and its central character in literary criticism has not disappeared even today, and it is caused by the dual nature of the image of Andreev’s Judas.
An unconditionally negative assessment of the image of Judas is given, for example, by L.A. Zapadova, who, having analyzed the biblical sources of the story “Judas Iscariot”, warns: “Knowledge of the Bible for a full perception of the story-story and comprehension of the “secrets” of “Judas Iscariot” is necessary in different aspects. You need to keep biblical knowledge in your memory.. - for this at least not to succumb to the charm of the serpentine-satanic logic of the character whose name the work is named" 4 ; M.A. Brodsky: “Iscariot’s correctness is not absolute. Moreover, by declaring shameful things natural and conscientiousness unnecessary, cynicism destroys the system of moral guidelines, without which it is difficult for a person to live. That is why the position of Andreev’s Judas is devilishly dangerous.” 5
Another point of view has become no less widespread. For example, B.S. Bugrov states: “The deep source of provocation [Judas. - V.K.] is not the innate moral depravity of a person, but an integral property of his nature - the ability to think. The impossibility of renouncing “seditious” thoughts and the need for their practical verification are the internal impulses of behavior Judas" 6; P. Basinsky in the comments to the story writes: “This is not an apology for betrayal (as some critics understood the story), but an original interpretation of the theme of love and fidelity and an attempt to present the theme of revolution and revolutionaries in an unexpected light: Judas is, as it were, the “last” revolutionary, blowing up the very the false meaning of the universe and thus clearing the way for Christ" 7 ; R.S. Spivak states: “The semantics of the image of Judas in Andreev’s story is fundamentally different from the semantics of the Gospel prototype. The betrayal of Andreev’s Judas is a betrayal only in fact, and not in essence” 8 . And in the interpretation of Yu. Nagibin, one of modern writers, Judas Iscariot is the “beloved disciple” of Jesus (see about the story by Yu. Nagibin “Beloved Disciple” below).
The problem of the Gospel Judas and its interpretation in literature and art has two facets: ethical and aesthetic, and they are inextricably linked.
L. Tolstoy had this ethical line in mind when he asked the question: “the main thing is why” to turn to the image of Judas and try to understand him, to delve into his psychology? What's the first thing in this? moral meaning? It was deeply natural that in the Gospel there appeared not only a positively beautiful personality - Jesus, the God-man, but also his antipode - Judas with his satanic beginning, who personified the universal human vice of betrayal. Humanity also needed this symbol to form a moral coordinate system. To try to look at the image of Judas in any other way means to attempt to revise it, and, consequently, to encroach on the system of values that has been formed over two millennia, which threatens a moral catastrophe. After all, one of the definitions of culture is the following: culture is a system of restrictions, self-restraints that prohibit killing, stealing, betraying, etc. Dante's Divine Comedy"As is known, the ethical and the aesthetic coincide: Lucifer and Judas are equally ugly both in the ethical and in aesthetically- they are anti-ethical and anti-aesthetic. Any innovations in this area can have serious not only ethical, but also socio-psychological consequences. All this gives an answer to the question why the image of Judas was for a long time under a ban, as if a taboo (ban) had been imposed on him.
On the other hand, to refuse attempts to understand the motives of Judas’s action means to agree that a person is a kind of puppet, the forces of others are only acting in him (“Satan entered” into Judas), in which case the person is responsible for his actions does not carry. Leonid Andreev had the courage to think about these difficult questions, offer your own answers, knowing in advance that the criticism will be harsh.
When starting to analyze L. Andreev’s story “Judas Iscariot”, it is necessary to emphasize once again: a positive assessment of Judas, the gospel character, is, of course, impossible. Here the subject of analysis is the text work of art, and the goal is to identify its meaning based on establishing relationships at various levels of elements of the text, or, most likely, to determine the boundaries of interpretation, otherwise - the spectrum of adequacy.
