Not at all brilliant. Let this statement remain on the conscience of the literary critic. Because the “not at all brilliant” work continues to live in Russian literature and is read with pleasure by both young and old. This first major work was written by the young Pushkin in 1818-1820. In this work there is youthful enthusiasm with a mixture of some hooliganism. The tale is charming both in style and plot, borrowed from Russian folk epics.
Prince Vladimir the Sun- a real historical figure, Lyudmila’s father, ruler of Kievan Rus.
Lyudmila– a seventeen-year-old girl, preparing to become Ruslan’s wife. The fairy tale began with a wedding. The young bride was kidnapped by Chernomor almost from her wedding bed.
She is sensitive, modest,
Marital love is faithful,
A little windy... so what?
She's even cuter.
Ruslan- a brave knight, prince, Lyudmila’s fiancé. But at the same time a generous and honest person.
Rogdai- a brave warrior who pushed the boundaries of the rich Kyiv fields with his sword. A serious man, as they say, on his own mind. But the thirst for revenge and the desire for battle were stronger in him than his love for the girl. Not knowing where to go next, he turned back. The insidious Naina guessed Rogday’s warlike disposition and directed him towards Ruslan. A fierce battle took place between the two knights, in which Rogdai died.
Farlaf- an arrogant loudmouth, a lover of food, but a modest warrior among swords. Farlaf was also in no hurry to search. Having settled down on the shore, he slept sweetly and settled down to eat. Seeing Rogdai galloping, he ran away from him with all his might. Naina chose the cowardly Varlaf for her deceit. When Ruslan and the sleeping Lyudmila were returning home, during his rest Varlaf struck the sleeping Ruslan with a sword, and he and Lyudmila went to Kyiv.
- a young Khazar khan, a self-confident, temperamental youth. Going south, he found happiness along the way with a young shepherdess and became a simple fisherman. He warmly received Ruslan when he returned with Lyudmila.
Old Man Finn, cave dweller:
clear view,
Calm gaze, gray hair;
The lamp in front of him is burning;
He sits behind an ancient book,
Reading it carefully.
These lines speak of the wisdom of the old man. The old man is Finnish by birth. In his youth he was a shepherd and fell passionately in love with the local beauty Naina. To earn the love of the cold beauty, he went to fight with his squad, bringing jewelry and untold riches to her feet, but Naina rejected Finn’s love. Then he found the wizard-sages, studied their sciences for decades and managed to kindle Naina’s heart. But the years flew by, and Naina turned into an old woman. Finn was afraid of what he had done and ran away from his native place. This fact from the Finn’s life, told by him to Ruslan, speaks of the perseverance and determination of this man. The old man revived the murdered Ruslan and taught him how to wake up Lyudmila.
Naina- evil witch. Capable of transforming into either a snake or a cat. She commits crimes out of a desire to take revenge on Finn, who first made her fall in love with him and then rejected her feelings. She does evil even simply because of an evil heart.
Chernomor- a sorcerer, kidnapper of beauties, including Lyudmila. A dwarf with a beard longer than himself. The magical power of Chernomor was contained in his beard.
Head of Brother Chernomor. The brother was physically developed, one might say a giant, but simple-minded and ingenuous. Chernomor easily deceived him. The head asks Ruslan to punish the sorcerer, and tells him what his strength is. Returning, Ruslan showed Chernomor to the Head, and he died, reassured by the fact that the evil had been punished, and he himself had been avenged.
The fairy tale poem ends with good triumphing and evil being punished. Happy Prince Vladimir threw a feast.
The poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is a fairy tale written in 1818 - 1820. The author was inspired to create the work by Russian folklore, Russian epics and popular popular stories. Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is full of elements of grotesque fantasy, colloquial vocabulary and the author’s good-natured irony. According to literary scholars, the work is a parody of the chivalric novels and romantic ballads of Zhukovsky.
Main characters
Ruslan- a brave prince, Lyudmila’s fiancé, who saved her from Chernomor.
Lyudmila- Princess, youngest daughter of Prince Vladimir, bride of Ruslan.
Chernomor- a hunchbacked dwarf with a long magical beard, “the full-fledged owner of the mountains,” kidnapped Lyudmila.
Finn- an old wizard who helped Ruslan find and save Lyudmila.
Other characters
Rogdai- “brave warrior”, one of Ruslan’s rivals.
Farlaf- “an arrogant screamer, not defeated by anyone at feasts, but a humble warrior,” killed Ruslan and kidnapped Lyudmila.
Ratmir- “young Khazar Khan”, wanted to marry Lyudmila, but fell in love with another maiden.
Naina- Finn's beloved, sorceress.
Prince Vladimir- Prince of Kyiv, father of Lyudmila.
Dedication
The author dedicates his work to the “beauties” - “the queens of his soul.” The poem begins with a description of the fabulous Lukomorye - a magical world is revealed to the reader, where a learned cat, a mermaid, a goblin, Baba Yaga, King Kashchei, knights and sorcerers live.
Song one
Prince Vladimir marries his youngest daughter Lyudmila to “the brave Prince Ruslan.” The celebration is in full swing, guests listen to the song of the “sweet singer” Bayan, glorifying the newlyweds. However, not everyone is having fun; three knights, Ruslan’s rivals - Rogdai, Farlaf, Ratmir - are sitting “despondently, with a cloudy brow.”
After the feast, the young people went to their chambers. Suddenly thunder struck, the room went dark and “someone in the smoky depths / Soared blacker than the foggy haze.” Ruslan discovers in despair that Lyudmila has disappeared. Having learned about what happened, Prince Vladimir promises anyone who can find her his daughter’s hand and half his kingdom. Ruslan, Rogdai, Farlaf and Ratmir go in different directions in search of Lyudmila.
On the way, Ruslan notices a cave. Entering it, the knight sees a gray-haired old man reading a book. The elder informs him that Lyudmila was kidnapped by the “terrible wizard Chernomor.” The knight stays in the cave for the night, and the old man tells him his story. He was a “natural Finn”, a shepherd, in love with a very beautiful and proud girl Naina. However, she refused the young man. Then the Finn went to distant lands and ten years later returned victorious, throwing treasures at the feet of his beloved. But Naina again refused him. Finn decided to attract his beloved with charms, studied for many years in the forests with sorcerers and was finally able to make a woman fall in love with him. However, forty years had passed since their last meeting, and now before him was not a young beauty, but a decrepit old woman, and even a witch. Finn runs away from a woman who is inflamed with passion for him, and since then Naina has hated the man.
Song two
At this time, Rogdai decides to kill his main rival, Ruslan, and goes back. Farlaf, having lunch near the stream, saw a knight rushing towards him, got scared and ran away. When Rogdai, who believed that he was chasing Ruslan, caught up with him, he was disappointed and let the knight go.
On the way, Rogdai met the old woman Naina, who showed him the way to Ruslan to the north. The witch also appeared to Farlaf - she advised him to return to Kyiv, since “Lyudmila will not leave them.”
After the abduction, Lyudmila was in “painful oblivion” for a long time. The girl woke up in rich chambers similar to the house of Scheherazade. Three maidens, accompanied by wonderful singing, braided Lyudmila’s hair, put on her a pearl crown, an azure sundress and a pearl belt. However, the princess is very sad and yearns for Ruslan. She is not even happy with the magically beautiful garden where she spends the whole day. At night, a “long row of Arabs” unexpectedly enters her room. They bring on the pillows a long beard that belonged to a hunchbacked dwarf. In fright, Lyudmila screamed and wanted to hit the dwarf, but he, trying to escape, got tangled in his own beard. The araps carried him away.
Ruslan rides out into an open field, where a horseman rushes towards him with a spear. It was Rogdai. Ruslan defeats his opponent, and Rogdai finds his death in the river.
Song three
In the morning, a winged serpent flies to the dwarf Chernomor, which “suddenly turned around like Naina.” The woman invites the sorcerer to enter into an alliance, and he agrees.
Chernomor finds out that Lyudmila has disappeared - she was neither in the chambers nor in the garden. The girl accidentally discovered the sorcerer's invisibility cap and was now having fun, hiding from the dwarf and his servants.
Ruslan travels to the old battlefield, strewn with bones, where he selects armor for himself, but does not find a worthy sword. Heading further, the prince notices a high hill on which the huge head of a warrior in a helmet sleeps. Ruslan woke up his head and she, angry, began to blow on the knight. A strong whirlwind carried Ruslan back, but he contrived to thrust a spear into the tongue of the head, and then knocked it over. The prince wanted to “chop off her nose and ears,” but the head asked not to do this, telling her story. It used to belong to a giant, who was very jealous of his dwarf brother Chernomor. One day Chernomor learned that there was a sword that would cut off the giant’s head and his beard (in which “fatal power was hidden”). The giant got hold of a blade, and while his brother was sleeping, the dwarf cut off his head, placing it there to guard the sword. The head asks Ruslan to take the blade for himself and take revenge on Chernomor.
Canto Four
Ratmir drives out to the valley and sees a castle on the rocks in front of him. The Knight notices a beautiful maiden walking along the wall and singing a song. The young khan knocks on the castle and is greeted by red maidens. Ratmir remains in the castle.
Lyudmila, all this time, wandered around the sorcerer’s possessions, yearning for her lover. “Wounded by cruel passion,” Chernomor decides to catch Lyudmila, turning into the wounded Ruslan. The girl rushes to her lover, but upon discovering the substitution, she falls unconscious. Suddenly a horn rings.
Song five
As it turned out, Ruslan challenged the sorcerer to battle. In the midst of the battle, the knight grabs Chernomor by the beard and they rise into the sky. Ruslan did not let go of the sorcerer’s beard for three days, and he, tired, descended to the ground. Immediately the knight drew his sword and cut off the sorcerer’s beard, after which he lost his magical power.
Ruslan returns to Chernomor's possessions, but cannot find Lyudmila. Grieving, the knight begins to destroy everything around him with his sword and with an accidental blow knocks off the princess’s invisibility cap. Ruslan falls at the girl’s feet, but she is bewitched and sleeps.
Suddenly, the virtuous Finn appears nearby. He advises taking Lyudmila to Kyiv, where the princess will wake up. The Knight does just that.
On the way back, Ruslan tells the giant’s head that he has taken revenge, and she dies calmly. Near a quiet river, the knight meets a fisherman with a sweet maiden, whom he recognizes as Ratmir. Former rivals wish each other happiness.
Naina comes to Farlaf. The sorceress takes the knight to Ruslan, who is sleeping at Lyudmila’s feet. Farlaf “stabs thrice-cold steel” into his opponent’s chest and kidnaps the princess.
Song Six
Farlaf arrives in Kyiv, but Lyudmila continues to sleep. Soon the Pecheneg uprising begins. At this time, Finn comes to the murdered Ruslan with dead and living water and revives the knight. The wizard sends the prince to protect Kyiv and gives him a ring that will help break Lyudmila’s spell.
Ruslan leads the army and defeats the Pechenegs. After the victory, the prince entered the chambers, touched Lyudmila’s forehead with a ring and the girl woke up. Ruslan and Lyudmila forgave Farlaf, and the dwarf was accepted into the palace.
Conclusion
In the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” Pushkin reveals the eternal conflict - the confrontation between good and evil. All the heroes of the work are ambiguous - they have both positive and negative sides, but they themselves choose which path to follow. At the end of the poem, the author, following the traditional fairy tale, shows that good always triumphs over evil.
A brief retelling of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” will help you become familiar with the plot of the work, as well as prepare for a lesson in Russian literature.
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There is a big holiday in Kyiv. Grand Duke Vladimir married his youngest daughter to Prince Ruslan. Everyone drank wine and had fun. Only three young knights sat sad, hiding their hatred of Ruslan. These were his rivals: Rogdai, Farlaf and Ratmir.
On her wedding night, Princess Lyudmila was kidnapped by a mysterious force. The prince, angry with Ruslan, issued a decree: the knight who finds and saves Lyudmila will take her as his wife and receive half a kingdom in addition. Ruslan and his rivals hit the road. Together they reached the Dnieper and went in different directions.
In the evening, Ruslan drove up to a cave in which a gray-haired old man had lived for many years. He told Ruslan about the wizard Chernomor, who used his beard to kidnap beautiful girls. And the wise old man revealed another secret to him: it is Ruslan who must put an end to the sorcerer’s atrocities.
At night the prince could not sleep, and he continued the conversation with the owner of the cave. The old man told him his story. As a young man, he lived in a small Finnish village and tended cattle. At the river he met the beautiful Naina. The proud girl rejected his love. Then Finn and his squad went on a hike to glorify his name and earn the love of a proud girl.
Returning, he threw gold and precious stones obtained in battles at her feet. But this time too, Naina refused his love. Then Finn, exhausted by passion, went into the wilderness of the forest to the gray-haired sorcerers. For many years he comprehended the secrets of their witchcraft. Having learned secret spells, he summoned Naina to him. But he did not notice that more than four decades had passed. What appeared before him was not a young beauty, but a hunchbacked and gray-haired old woman, who was also a witch. The old wizard fled from her in fear. Naina sent her curses after him. Since then, old Finn has lived in this cave.
In the morning, after the old man’s instructions, Ruslan went north to Chernomor Castle. At this time, Rogdai, a brave and strong warrior, met Naina. The old witch also directed him to the north. She ordered Farlaf, a lover of feasts, to go home and wait for her messages.
On the steep bank of the Dnieper, two rivals met - Rogdai and Ruslan. The brutal duel did not last long and ended with the death of Rogdai. And at this time Ratmir was heading south. On his way he met an ancient castle. On the balcony he saw a girl who sang about love in a gentle voice. He entered the castle, where the girls met him. On a luxurious carpet, surrounded by the tender care of young beauties, he forgot about Lyudmila.
Young Lyudmila woke up in an unfamiliar palace. The girl did not immediately realize that she was a prisoner. The next morning the princess met her captor. He was a dwarf with a long beard, carried by tall araps. All his strength lay in this beard. The princess, seeing Chernomor, raised such a cry that the old man, deaf from the noise, fell and became entangled in his beard. The araps took him away to untangle him, and in Lyudmila's room there was a sorcerer's hat left, with the help of which one could become invisible. Lyudmila was happy with this find. But Chernomor was an insidious and cunning wizard. He tricked the girl and put her to sleep.
In the steppe, Ruslan met a huge head of a hero, who was Chernomor’s brother. He guarded a magic sword with which he could defeat the sorcerer. After a showdown, the heroic head gave him the sword. Having met Chernomor in a fair fight, Ruslan cut off the sorcerer’s beard and left him without magical powers. Then he put the dwarf in a sack and tied him to a horse. He found Lyudmila sleeping in the garden, but could not wake her. Suddenly he heard the voice of the kind Finn, who told him that the princess would be able to wake up from her magical sleep only in her native Kyiv. The prince set off with Lyudmila in his arms and the dwarf on his back.
Naina, harboring a grudge against Finn, decided to kill Ruslan. Turning into a cat, she went after Farlaf. Together they found Ruslan sleeping near a high mound. By order of the sorceress, Farlaf hit Ruslan in the chest with a sword, then took Lyudmila and returned to Kyiv with her. But no force could wake up the girl.
Wise Finn went to a mysterious valley and collected dead and living water there. With her help, he revived Ruslan. The old man gave him a ring with which he could wake up the princess. But first he needed to drive the Pechenegs away from the walls of his hometown. The young prince did as the good wizard taught him. He defeated the enemy troops and returned home victorious.
At the touch of the ring, the spell dissipated, and Lyudmila woke up. The frightened Farlaf repented of his crime and was forgiven by the happy Ruslan. The old dwarf Chernomor was left in the palace by a jester.
A summary helps you quickly become familiar with the content of any literary work. “Ruslan and Lyudmila” - poem by A.S. Pushkin. A retelling will help the reader understand the meaning of the work, introduce the plot, the main characters, and, perhaps, arouse interest in a detailed study of the original.
History of creation
They say that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was thinking about writing a similar work while still studying at the lyceum. But he began to work on it thoroughly later - in 1818-1820. Pushkin wanted to create fairy-tale poetry that would have a “heroic spirit.”
The poetic work was born simultaneously under the influence of Russian literary tales and the works of Voltaire and Ariosto. The names of some of the characters were assigned after the release of “The History of the Russian State.” It was there that Ratmir, Ragdai, Farlaf were. A brief summary will introduce you to them very soon.
“Ruslan and Lyudmila” also has elements of parody, because Alexander Sergeevich sometimes liked to show off apt epigrams and include humorous elements in his poetic creations. Critics have noticed that Pushkin kindly parodies some episodes of Zhukovsky’s ballad “The Twelve Sleeping Virgins.” But in the 30s, the poet even regretted that he did this to “please the mob,” because he treated Zhukovsky well, who presented him with his portrait after the publication of the poem and wrote that it was the defeated teacher who gave it to the victorious student.
Dedication
People love many of A.S.’s fairy tales. Pushkin, “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is no exception. Not everyone knows that the poem begins with lines in which the author says that he dedicates it to beautiful girls. Then there are the well-known lines about the Lukomorye, the green oak tree, the learned cat, and the mermaid. After this, the work itself begins.
First song
A brief summary introduces the reader to the first chapter. Ruslan and Lyudmila loved each other. The girl was the daughter of the Kyiv prince Vladimir. This is described in the first song; this is exactly what A.S. Pushkin called the 6 chapters. The latter, accordingly, is called “Song Six.”
The author, using the beauty of words, talks about a cheerful holiday on the occasion of the wedding of two people in love. Only three guests were not happy at this feast - Ratmir, Farlaf and Rogdai. They are Ruslan's rivals, as they were also in love with a beautiful girl.
And now the time has come for the newlyweds to be left alone. But suddenly thunder was heard, the lamp went out, everything around shook, and Lyudmila disappeared.
Ruslan is sad. And Vladimir ordered to find his daughter and promised to give her as a wife to the one who brings the girl. Of course, Ruslan’s three enemies could not miss this opportunity and rushed to search, like the newly-minted groom himself.
One day he meets an old man in a cave. He told him the story of his love, that in his youth he was ready to move mountains for a certain Naina, but she kept rejecting the young man. Then he left and spent 40 years studying spells aimed at making a girl fall in love with him. When the elder returned, he saw instead of the maiden the disgusting old woman into which Naina had turned over the years. And she finally warmed up to him. However, old Finn ran away from her, and has since lived in solitude in a cave. He said that Lyudmila was kidnapped by the terrible wizard Chernomor.
Song two
The summary of Pushkin’s poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” has come to the second chapter. From it the reader learns that Rogdai was belligerent, he galloped, sending curses to Ruslan. Suddenly the man saw the rider and chased him. He, barely alive from fear, tried to gallop away, but his horse stumbled and the rider flew into the ditch. Rogdai saw that it was not Ruslan, but Farlaf, and galloped away.
An old woman (it was Naina) approached Farlaf, brought a horse and advised him that for now he should go back and live on his estate near Kiev, because for now Lyudmila is still difficult to find, and then she will not get away from Naina and Farlaf. He listened to the old woman and galloped back.
Further, a brief summary of the book “Ruslan and Lyudmila” will tell the reader where the girl was languishing at that time. Its location was the palace of the villain Chernomor. She woke up on the bed. Three maidservants came silently, dressed and combed the beauty.
Lyudmila sadly went to the window, looked at it, then left the palace and saw a magical garden, which was more beautiful than the “gardens of Armida.” There were picturesque gazebos and waterfalls. After lunch in nature, the girl returned back and saw servants enter the room and carry Chernomor’s beard on pillows, followed by him himself - a hunchback and a dwarf.
The girl was not taken aback, grabbed “Carla by the cap,” raised her fist over him, and then screamed so much that everyone ran away in horror.
And at this time, Ruslan fought with Rogdai who attacked him and defeated the bully, throwing him into the waves of the Dnieper. This continues the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”.
The servants were combing the beard of the retreating Chernomor. Suddenly a winged serpent flew into the window and turned into Naina. The old woman said that the sorcerer was in danger - the heroes were looking for Lyudmila. She spoke flatteringly about Chernomor and confirmed that she was completely on his side.
To rejoice, the evil wizard re-entered the girl’s chambers, but did not see her there. The search for servants was also unsuccessful. It turns out that Lyudmila understood what properties the hat has. If you put it on backwards, the person will become invisible, which is what the beauty did. These are the magical accessories Pushkin used in his poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. The very brief summary quickly takes the reader to the next scene.
At this time, the young husband found himself on the battlefield and saw many dead soldiers. He picked up a shield, a helmet, a horn, but could not find a good sword. Not far from the field he saw a large hill, it turned out to be a real head. She told the traveler that she had once been on the shoulders of a hero - Chernomor's brother. But the latter was jealous of his tall and stately brother. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the dwarf cut off his head and ordered his head to be guarded by a sword, which, according to legend, could cut off the sorcerer’s magical beard.
Canto Four
This is how a brief retelling of the contents of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” quickly approached the fourth chapter. Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich first reflects on how wonderful it is that in real life there are not so many wizards. He further says that Ratmir, in search of Lyudmila, came across a castle. There he was met by beauties who fed the knight, surrounded him with attention, tenderness, care, and the young hero abandoned his previous plans to find Vladimir’s daughter. At this point, the author leaves the happy young man and says that only Ruslan continues his chosen path. On the way, he meets a giant, a hero, a witch, defeats them, and does not go to the mermaids who beckon the young man.
Meanwhile, Lyudmila wanders around the sorcerer’s palace in an invisibility hat, but he cannot find her. Then the villain used cunning. He turned into the wounded Ruslan, the girl thought it was her lover, rushed to him, and her hat fell off. At that moment, nets were thrown over Lyudmila, and she fell asleep, unable to resist the witchcraft of Chernomor.
Song five
Soon Ruslan arrives at the villain’s abode. He blows his horn to challenge him to a duel. When the young man raised his head, he saw Chernomor flying above him, holding a mace in his hand. When the sorcerer swung, Ruslan quickly retreated, and the hunchback fell into the snow. The nimble young man immediately jumped up to the offender and grabbed him tightly by the beard.
But Chernomor suddenly soared under the clouds. However, the young man did not let go of his beard, so he also ended up in the sky. They flew like this for a long time - over fields, mountains, forests. The sorcerer asked to let him go, but Ruslan did not do this. On the third day, Chernomor reconciled himself and carried his husband to his young wife. When they landed, the young man cut off the villain’s beard with a magic sword, tied it on his helmet, and put the dwarf in a sack and attached it to the saddle.
The knight went to look for his beloved, but could not find him. Then he began to destroy everything in his path and accidentally took off the girl’s hat. It was the sorcerer who specially put a headdress on her so that the husband would not find his wife.
This is how Ruslan and Lyudmila finally met. The shortened poem approaches the imminent conclusion of the plot. No matter how hard he tried, the betrothed could not awaken the girl from her magical sleep. He put her on his horse and rode home.
Then Ruslan meets a fisherman and recognizes him as Ratmir, who has chosen one of all the beauties, and now lives happily with her in a house on the river bank.
When Ruslan stopped for the night, he was seriously wounded. Farlaf crept up to him, hit him 3 times with a sword, took Lyudmila and was gone.
Sixth Canto
Farlaf brought Lyudmila to the palace and deceived Vladimir, saying that he saved the girl. However, no one could wake her up.
Old Finn sprinkled Ruslan with living water, he instantly recovered and hurried to Kyiv, which was attacked by the Pechenegs. The hero fought bravely, thanks to which the enemy was defeated. After that, he touched Lyudmila’s hands with the ring that Finn gave him, and the girl woke up.
The summary is coming to an end. Ruslan and Lyudmila are happy, everything ends with a feast, Chernomor was left in the palace, since he forever lost his villainous power.
Epilogue
The narrative ends with an epilogue in which the author says that in his work he glorified the legends of deep antiquity. He shares his impressions of the Caucasus, describes the natural scenes of this side and is sad that he is far from the Neva.
The poet says that when he worked on a work, he forgot his grievances and enemies. Friendship helped him in this, and, as you know, Pushkin valued it very much.
A poetic fairy-tale work by the outstanding Russian classic of Russian literature Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” was written between 1818 and 1820. The author, impressed by the beauty, diversity and originality of Russian folklore (epics, legends, fairy tales and popular stories), creates a unique poetic work that has become a classic of world and Russian literature, distinguished by a grotesque, fantastic plot, the use of colloquial vocabulary and the presence of a certain amount of authorial irony.
According to some literary scholars, the poem was created as a parody of chivalric novels and poetic ballads in the romantic style of Zhukovsky, who was fashionable at that time (the basis was his popular ballad “The Twelve Maidens”), who, after the publication of the poem, presented Pushkin with his portrait with words of gratitude from a defeated teacher for a winning student.
History of creation
According to some sources, Pushkin conceived the idea of writing this fabulous poetry with a “heroic spirit” during his lyceum studies. But he started working on it much later, already in 1818-1820. The poetic poem was created under the influence not only of exclusively Russian folklore, but also the motifs of the works of Voltaire and Ariosto are clearly felt here. The names for some characters (Ratmir, Farlaf, Ragdai) appeared after Pushkin read “The History of the Russian State.”
In this poetic work, the author skillfully combined antiquity, moments of Russian history and the time in which the poet lived. For example, his image of Ruslan is akin to the image of the legendary Russian heroes, he is just as brave and courageous, but Lyudmila, thanks to her certain carelessness, flirtatiousness and frivolity, on the contrary, is closer to the young ladies of Pushkin’s era. The most important thing for the poet was to show in the work the triumph of good over evil, the victory of the light principle over dark, gloomy forces. After the poem appeared in print in 1820, it almost immediately brought the poet well-deserved fame. Distinguished by its lightness, irony, sublimity, grace and freshness, it was a deeply original work, in which various genres, traditions and styles were skillfully mixed, immediately captivating the minds and hearts of readers of that time. Some critics condemned the use of deliberately common figures of speech in the poem; not everyone understood the author’s unusual technique and his unusual position as a storyteller.
Analysis of the work
Story line
The poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is divided into six parts (songs), it begins with lines where the author talks about who this work is dedicated to, and it is intended for beautiful girls, for whose sake this fairy tale was written. Then comes the well-known description of the magical country of Lukomorye, the green oak tree that grows there and the mythical creatures that live there.
First song begins with a story about a feast in the palace of the Kyiv prince Vladimir the Red Sun, dedicated to the wedding of his daughter, the beautiful Lyudmila, and the brave young hero Ruslan. There is also the legendary epic singer and storyteller Bayan, as well as Ruslan’s three rivals Ratmir, Ragdai and Farlaf, who are also in love with Lyudmila, they are angry with the newly-minted groom, full of envy and hatred of him. Then a misfortune happens: the evil sorcerer and dwarf Chernomor kidnaps the bride and takes her to his enchanted castle. Ruslan and three rivals set out from Kyiv in search of her, in the hope that whoever finds the prince's daughter will receive her hand and heart. On the way, Ruslan meets Elder Finn, who tells him the story of his unhappy love for the girl Naina and shows him the way to the terrible sorcerer Chernomor.
Second part (song) talks about the adventures of Ruslan’s rivals, about his clash and victory over Ragday who attacked him, and also describes the details of Lyudmila’s stay in Chernomor’s castle, her acquaintance with him (Chernomor comes to her room, Lyudmila gets scared, squeals, grabs him by the cap and he runs away in horror).
In the third song a meeting of old friends is described: the wizard Chernomor and his friend the sorceress Naina, who comes to him and warns him that the heroes are coming to him for Lyudmila. Lyudmila finds a magic hat that makes her invisible and hides throughout the palace from the old and nasty sorcerer. Ruslan meets the giant head of a hero, defeats it and takes possession of a sword with which to kill Chernomor.
In the fourth song Radmir abandons the search for Lyudmila and remains in the castle with young beauties, and only one faithful warrior Ruslan stubbornly continues his journey, which becomes more and more dangerous, on the way he meets a witch, a giant and other enemies, they try to stop him, but he firmly goes to your goal. Chernomor tricks Lyudmila, wearing an invisibility cap, into a magic net and she falls asleep in it.
Fifth song tells the story of Ruslan's arrival at the wizard's palace, and of the difficult battle between the hero and the villainous dwarf, who carries Ruslan on his beard for three days and three nights, and finally surrenders. Ruslan captivates him, cuts off the magic beard, throws the sorcerer into a bag and goes to look for his bride, whom the vile dwarf hid well, putting an invisibility cap on her. Finally he finds her, but cannot wake her up, and in such a sleepy state he decides to take her to Kyiv. On the night road, Farlaf secretly attacks him, seriously wounds him and takes Lyudmila away.
In the sixth song Farlaf brings the girl to her father and tells everyone that it was he who found her, but he still cannot wake her up. Elder Finn saves and revives Ruslan with living water, he hurries to Kyiv, which was just attacked by the Pechenegs, bravely fights them, removes the spell from Lyudmila and she wakes up. The main characters are happy, a feast is arranged for the whole world, the dwarf Chernomor, who has lost his magical powers, is left in the palace, in general, good will dine on evil and justice will triumph.
The poem ends with a lengthy epilogue in which Pushkin tells readers that with his work he glorified the legends of deep antiquity, says that in the process of work he forgot about all grievances and forgave his enemies, in which friendship, which is of great importance to the author, helped him a lot .
Characteristics
The hero Ruslan, the groom of the prince's daughter Lyudmila, is the central character of Pushkin's poem. The description of the trials that befell him, which he endured with honor and great courage in the name of saving his beloved, forms the basis of the entire storyline. The author, inspired by the exploits of Russian epic heroes, portrays Ruslan not only as the savior of his beloved, but also as the defender of his native land from the raids of nomads.
Ruslan's appearance, described with special care, must fully convey his correspondence to the heroic image according to the author's intention: he has blond hair, symbolizing the purity of his plans and the nobility of his soul, his armor is always clean and shiny, as befits a knight in shining armor, always ready for battle. At the feast, Ruslan is completely absorbed in thoughts about his future marriage and ardent love for his bride, which does not allow him to notice the envious and evil glances of his rivals. Compared to them, he stands out for his purity and directness of thoughts, sincerity and sensuality. Also, the main character traits emerge during his journey to the Chernomor castle; he reveals himself as an honest, decent and generous person, a brave and courageous warrior, purposefully and stubbornly pursuing his goal, a faithful and devoted lover, ready to even die for his love.
In the image of Lyudmila, Pushkina showed a portrait of an ideal bride and lover who faithfully and faithfully waits for her groom and grieves immensely in his absence. The princely daughter is depicted as a delicate, vulnerable nature, possessing special tenderness, sensitivity, elegance and modesty. At the same time, this does not prevent her from having a strong and rebellious character, which helps her resist the evil sorcerer Chernomor, gives her strength and courage not to submit to the vile kidnapper and faithfully wait for her savior Ruslan.
Features of compositional construction
The genre of the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” refers to novels and poems of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, gravitating toward creativity in a “national” spirit. It also reflects the influence on the author of such trends in literature as classicism, semanticism, and chivalric romance.
Following the example of all magical knightly poems, this work has a plot built according to a certain template: hero-knights are looking for their lovers, kidnapped by some mythical villain, overcome a series of tests for this, armed with certain talismans and magical weapons, and in the end they receive a hand and beauty's heart. The poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” is constructed in the same vein, but it is distinguished by amazing grace, freshness, subtle wit, brightness of colors and a light trail of epicureanism, characteristic of many works written by Pushkin during his studies at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. It is precisely the author’s ironic attitude towards the content of the poem that cannot give this work a real “national” coloring. The main advantages of the poem can be called its light and beautiful form, playfulness and witty style, perkiness and cheerfulness of the general mood, a bright thread running through all the content.
Pushkin’s fairy-tale poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” cheerful, light and witty, became a new word in the established literary traditions of writing heroic ballads and poems; it was extremely popular among readers and caused a great resonance among literary critics. It is not without reason that Zhukovsky himself admitted his complete failure, and gave the branch of primacy to the young talent of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who, thanks to this work, took a leading position in the ranks of Russian poets and became famous not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders.
