Lev Tolstoy
Living Dead
Drama in six acts
(Twelve paintings)
Characters
Fedor Vasilievich Protasov(Fedya).
Elizaveta Andreevna Protasova(Lisa), his wife.
Misha, boy, their son.
Anna Pavlovna, Lisa's mother.
Sasha, Lisa's sister.
Viktor Mikhailovich Karenin.
Anna Dmitrievna Karenina, his mother.
Marya Vasilievna Kryukova, Lisa's friend.
Sergey Dmitrievich Abrezkov, prince.
Masha, gypsy.
Ivan Makarovich, old gypsy, Masha's father.
Nastasya Ivanovna, old gypsy, Masha's mother.
Fedya's friends.
Mikhail Andreevich
Afremov
Stakhovich
Butkevich
Korotkov
Ivan Petrovich Alexandrov.
Petushkov, artist.
Artemiev.
Voznesensky, Karenin's secretary.
Forensic investigator.
Clerk forensic investigator.
Melnikov.
Petrushin, advocate.
Young lawyer.
Doctor.
Officer at the gypsies.
Musician.
gypsies.
Kate
Gasha
Gypsy.
1st gypsy.
2nd gypsy.
Lady in a court.
Officer in a court.
Referee.
Nanny Protasov.
Dunyasha, the Protasovs' maid.
Lackey Protasov.
Lackey Karenins.
Woman in the tavern.
Sexual in the tavern.
Policeman.
Courier.
Master tavern
Mister in a court.
Judges, spectators, witnesses.
Gypsies And gypsies(choir).
Act one
Scene one
First appearance
Anna Pavlovna, a plump gray-haired lady, in a corset, sits alone at the tea table.
Second phenomenon
Anna Pavlovna And Nanny with a kettle.
Nanny. Can I have some water?
Anna Pavlovna. Can. What about Mishka?
Nanny. Yes, he is restless. There is nothing worse than how the lady herself feeds. They have their own sorrows there, and the child suffers. What kind of milk can there be when you can’t sleep at night and cry?
Anna Pavlovna. Yes, she seems to have calmed down now.
Nanny. Good calm. It's sickening to watch. They wrote something and cried.
The third phenomenon
The same And Sasha.
Sasha (enters. To the nanny). Lisa is looking for you in the nursery.
Nanny. I'm coming. ( Leaves.)
The fourth phenomenon
Anna Pavlovna And Sasha.
Anna Pavlovna. The nanny says she keeps crying. How can she not calm down?
Sasha. No, you, mom, are amazing. Leaving your husband, the father of your child, and you want her to be at peace.
Anna Pavlovna. She’s not calm, but what’s done is done. If I, a mother, not only allowed, but rejoice in the fact that my daughter leaves her husband, then he is worth it. You should be happy, not sad, that you can free yourself from this bad person, free yourself from such gold.
Sasha. Mom, why are you saying that? Because you know that this is not true. He is not bad, but, on the contrary, amazing, amazing person, despite his weaknesses.
Anna Pavlovna. Well, exactly an amazing person. As soon as the money is in your hands - whether it’s yours or someone else’s...
Sasha. Mom, he never took strangers.
Anna Pavlovna. It doesn't matter, wives.
Sasha. But he gave all his fortune to his wife.
Anna Pavlovna. He wouldn’t give it away when he himself knows that he will squander it all.
Sasha. Whether he squanders it or not, I just know that you can’t be separated from your husband, especially with someone like Fedya.
Anna Pavlovna. Do you think we should wait until he squanders everything and brings his gypsy mistresses to the house?
Sasha. He has no lovers.
Anna Pavlovna. That’s the trouble, he somehow charmed you all. Not me, no, you’re being naughty; I see him and he knows it. If I were Lisa, I wouldn’t leave him now, let alone a year ago.
Sasha. The way you say it is easy.
Anna Pavlovna. No, it's not easy. It’s not easy for me, a mother, to see my daughter divorced. Believe me, it's not very easy. But anything is better than ruining a young life. No, I thank God that she has now made up her mind and that it’s all over.
Sasha. It may not be over.
Anna Pavlovna. If only he would give a divorce.
Sasha. What will be good?
Anna Pavlovna. It will be that she is young and can still be happy.
Sasha. Oh, mom, it’s terrible what you say; Lisa cannot love another.
Anna Pavlovna. Why can't it? if she is free. There will be people a thousand times better than your Fedya and will be happy to marry Lisa.
Sasha. Mom, this is not good. I know you are thinking about Viktor Karenin.
Anna Pavlovna. Why not think about him? He has loved her for ten years, and she loves him.
Sasha. She loves, but not as much as her husband. This is friendship from childhood.
Anna Pavlovna. We know this friendship. If only there were no obstacles.
Fifth appearance
The same. Included Housemaid.
Anna Pavlovna. What do you?
Housemaid. The lady sent a janitor with a note to Viktor Mikhailovich.
Anna Pavlovna. Which lady?
Housemaid. Lizaveta Andreevna, lady.
Anna Pavlovna. So what?
Housemaid. Viktor Mikhailovich was ordered to say that they would come themselves now.
Anna Pavlovna (surprised). They were just talking about him. I just don’t understand why? ( Sachet.) You do not know?
Sasha. Maybe I know, maybe I don’t know.
Anna Pavlovna. All the secrets.
Sasha. Lisa will come, she will tell you.
Anna Pavlovna (shaking his head to the maid). But the samovar needs to be heated. Take it, Dunyasha.
Housemaid takes the samovar and leaves.
Appearance Six
Anna Pavlovna And Sasha.
Anna Pavlovna (to Sasha, who got up and wants to go). It turned out as I said. Now she sent for him.
Sasha. Perhaps I sent for the wrong thing.
Anna Pavlovna. So why?
Sasha. Now, at this moment, Karenin is the same to her as Trifonovna.
Anna Pavlovna. But you'll see. After all, I know her. She calls him, seeks consolation.
Sasha. Oh, mom, how little you know her that you can think this.
Anna Pavlovna. Yes, you'll see. And I'm very, very happy.
Sasha. We'll see. ( Hums and leaves.)
Seventh Appearance
Anna Pavlovna one.
Anna Pavlovna (shakes his head and mutters). And great. And let it be... And it’s wonderful, and let it be... Yes...
The eighth phenomenon
Anna Pavlovna And Housemaid.
Housemaid (included). Victor Mikhailovich has arrived.
Anna Pavlovna. Well then. Ask and tell the lady.
The maid goes through the inner door.
Appearance Ninth
Anna Pavlovna And Victor Karenin.
Karenin (enters and greets Anna Pavlovna). Lizaveta Andreevna sent me a note asking me to come. And I was already going to see you this evening, so I’m very glad... Is Lizaveta Andreevna healthy?
The analysis is done with the expectation that the play has been read at least briefly, since I am not going to retell it.
About the order of the characters.
The order of the main characters is by family.
The first three names are the family of the main character Fyodor Protasov: Lisa Fedya, their son.
All these three groups are united by family ties. Each group has a link (name) that connects to another group
After this come the names of friends, girlfriends, love affairs (gypsy Masha), etc.
Now about the play. Why is it called "Living Corpse"?
Because Fedya ( main character) acts within the framework of the work, and even considers himself as such, like a living corpse. It didn't work out with Lisa. Too boring for him. It didn’t work out with Masha - he’s not worthy of her. Fedya even told his friend how long ago he had an affair with a married woman. And nothing worked out with her either - because he thought it was bad. In the latter case, he may be right, but in the first two, it’s unlikely. Then Fedya fakes his death, that is, he almost literally becomes a living corpse, and then kills himself. Here it turns from a living corpse into a dead one. This is within the scope of the work.
Outside the framework of the works, in the eyes of the reader, Fedya is also a corpse. He is the main character of the play, but he is almost invisible, rarely appearing at first. The reader learns about him from other heroes. But the most important thing is that he is inactive, like a corpse. The whole play is based on the fact that he does nothing, and this creates conflicts. She doesn’t fight for happiness in her marriage, but she can’t get a divorce completely either. He doesn’t want to do anything with Masha either, but he doesn’t want to leave her, he tells her that he loves her. The only action he can take is suicide.
But he's not dead inside. He is kind and pure in heart. On the outside - a drunkard, a slacker, almost a homeless person. And from this kindness he brought himself to such a lifestyle.
In contrast to him is Viktor Mikhailovich. On the contrary, he is successful, pure, respected, respectful. But all this is due to coldness and unlove. After all, Lisa didn’t love him at first and married Fedya, and Victor was only in love with her.
Perhaps Tolstoy wanted to show this in the play: a comparison of two different and opposing characters.
The title of the play is completely justified. It seems to me that Tolstoy wanted to show that if you make an inactive protagonist, the story will still work. And Tolstoy proved this.
And by the way, the play is based on the real court case of the spouses Ekaterina and Nikolai Grimer.
Now from the Internet, the most useful:
The people surrounding the hero of the play, Fyodor Protasov, in most cases outwardly looked quite dignified and respectable. But. Protasov, endowed with heightened sensitivity to any manifestation of lies and falsehood, cannot live in an environment whose entire existence is based on hypocrisy and pretense. Talking about the reasons for his departure from secular society, Protasov said:
“Everyone in our circle, in the one in which I was born, has three choices - only three: to serve, to make money, to increase the dirty trick in which you live. This was disgusting to me: maybe I didn’t know how, but, most importantly, it was disgusting. The second is to destroy this dirty trick; To do this you have to be a hero, and I’m not a hero. Or the third - drink, walk, sing. This is exactly what I did. And now I’ve finished singing.”
Even Protasov, who, in his own words, is “not a hero,” does not agree to submit to the system of violence and injustice that opposes his ideas about a free life. Thus, he challenges social foundations, traditional views based on perverted ideas about life values. It has already been noted in literary criticism (in the works of V. Ya. Lakshin, for example) that Tolstoy’s last play is objectively close to Chekhov’s dramaturgy. Although Tolstoy did not like Chekhov's plays, his artistic searches in the field of drama proceeded in a similar direction.
The distinctive features of the play are the embodiment of complex psychological conflicts and at the same time the subtlety, softness of the portrait drawing, the external restraint of the dramatic narrative and the internal tension of feelings. “The Living Corpse” was written by Tolstoy shortly after completing work on “Resurrection.” At first glance, the transition from the angry denunciation and striking satire of “Resurrection” to the watercolors of “The Living Corpse” does not seem very clear. However, the use of various means and ways of artistically translating the idea into reality testified to the breadth of the writer’s perception of reality and the richness of his creative ideas. While in “Resurrection” the environment with which the main character constantly comes into contact is represented by people in power, the guardians of order, in “The Living Corpse” the main character faces aristocratic “integrity”. There are no sharply defined negative figures in the drama, like the heroes of a social-satirical novel. Those with whom Protasov breaks up are not distinguished by any special vices: they are average, ordinary people of a certain social circle who, from a generally accepted point of view, have many virtues. But the artist’s intention is to show not only the extreme manifestations of the principles on which the life of the ruling classes is based, but also the failure of aristocratic respectability.
In “The Living Corpse,” Tolstoy develops the action without first drawing sharp internal distinctions between the characters. But at the same time, he paints a conflict as the initial situation, trying to clarify the characters’ characters from within. The spiritual appearance of the characters is revealed gradually, in contradiction to what the heroes seem to be like when first meeting them, in spite of how those around them evaluate them, what they think about themselves.
And at the same time, the characteristics of “respectable” heroes carry obvious accusatory principles. However, in the process of development of action, good and bad seem to change their places; what was recognized by many as significant and respectable appears as petty and insignificant, and vice versa, what was assessed as insignificant and base appears in its spiritual charm and strength.
An essential feature of “The Living Corpse” is the inextricable connection between the social, psychological and moral aspects. Coverage of the collisions of life, the psychology of the heroes in “The Living Corpse,” as in other works of Tolstoy, includes a moral conflict, which is not isolated from the internal development of the drama, but clearly appears in the depiction of its characters.
Perhaps none of the Russian and Western European playwrights put forward with such deep artistic motivation as the author of “The Power of Darkness” and “The Living Corpse”, those high ethical requirements for a person, which, in the writer’s opinion, should constitute the most important beginning spiritual life.
By play of the same name L.N. Tolstoy.
From the article by Pyotr Bagrov “Director of Implicit Concepts” in the newspaper “Empire of Drama” (2006):
"The Living Corpse", staged in 1950, long years was considered the absolute and unattainable pinnacle of the Pushkin Theater. The tradition of perception of this play has developed in such a way that Fedya Protasov is a talented, exceptional person, surrounded by a hypocritical and soulless secular society, which destroys this person. It's simple. Moreover, perhaps this coincided to a large extent with the plans of Tolstoy himself. He really doesn’t like either Fedya’s wife Lisa or her second husband Viktor Karenin. But that’s why Tolstoy great writer that the theoretically conceived scheme actually turns out to be a very non-trivial and, as they would say now, ambivalent picture. In Chekhov's dramaturgy such ambivalence is inherent consciously, in Tolstoy it is unconscious. And Kozhich was almost the first - and perhaps the only one - to feel it. His “Living Corpse” is a tragedy not only of Fedya Protasov, but of Lisa and Victor to the same extent. They are all good... good people(as Protasov repeats this several times), and everyone wishes each other well, but each makes the other suffer. Kozic was extremely careful with the text and made only a few changes. Each of them is of a fundamental nature. In Tolstoy, when Liza and Victor meet with Protasov in the investigator’s office, Fyodor kneels and, leaving, once again bows deeply to his wife. At Kozhich’s for the second time, it was not Fedya who bowed to Lisa, but Lisa to Fedya. This simplest technique magically put everything in its place. And he placed the characters – so different and “socially alien” – on the same human level. Another example is the mother of Viktor Karenin. In the play, she is an arrogant, young lady of about fifty, the image is slightly ironic. For Kozhich, she was played by 75-year-old Elizaveta Zhikhareva - a legendary actress of the pre-revolutionary stage - she played with the greatest dignity and wisdom, she played a tragedy.
Nikolai Simonov, of course, also played the tragedy. He stood out from the chamber, dryish ensemble (generally characteristic of Kozhichev’s productions), but the director brought “the defect to effect.”<...>He took Simonov, who played unpredictably every performance, after much hesitation. And having already taken it, he placed a bet on it. He relied on tragedy (by the way, Kozic dreamed of Hamlet all his life). High tragedy in psychological theater. It turned out that this is possible.
The very name “Living Corpse” acquired a completely unexpected (and now, it seems, so obvious) meaning in Kozhich’s production. Fedor Protasov is not walking Dead, as he is usually portrayed, is not a corpse who, by coincidence, remained alive. On the contrary, he is alive. And he wants to live. And listen to the gypsies and drink vodka. That is why his suicide - so expected in all productions that it is perceived both by Fedya himself and by the audience as a relief - in Kozhich’s play became highest point tragedy. A tragedy to which Soviet theater rarely rose. And at the turn of the 40s and 50s, in any case.”
Fragment of commentary by Yu.P. Rybkova “L.N. Tolstoy. “The Living Corpse” (L.N. Tolstoy. Collected works in 22 volumes, T. 11 (1982):
The basis for the plot of the play was the criminal case of the spouses Ekaterina and Nikolai Gimer, which the writer learned about in 1897.<...>But even before this, Tolstoy had some ideas and images that were embodied in the drama “The Living Corpse.” In a diary entry dated February 9, 1894, we read: “The idea of a story clearly came to mind in which to present two people: one - dissolute, confused, fallen to contempt only from kindness, the other - outwardly pure, respectable, respected from coldness, not love." Researchers rightly associate this record with creative history"Living corpse." Tolstoy’s plan to contrast two similar people was embodied not in a story, as the writer intended, but in a drama.<...>
Having completed the first edition of The Living Corpse by the end of 1900, Tolstoy decided to leave work on the play. “Not only do I not think about finishing it and publishing it now,” he wrote to V.G. Chertkov, but I very much doubt that I will ever do it.” In the same year, one of the leaders of the Moscow Art Theater V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko came to Tolstoy and asked to give this play for the theater. “When I die, play...” the writer answered.
After Tolstoy's death, his heirs transferred the right to the first production of The Living Corpse to the Moscow Art Theater. The premiere took place on September 23, 1911.<...>Five days after the premiere of the Moscow Art Theater, on September 28, 1911, the play was staged in St. Petersburg at the Alexandrinsky Theater.<...>
Enormous and widespread interest in Tolstoy's play aroused a large number of productions in many cities of Russia. Also in 1911, “The Living Corpse” was staged in Kyiv, Kharkov, Odessa, Saratov and other cities. The drama was often staged on the Russian pre-revolutionary, Soviet and foreign stages. “The Living Corpse” is one of the most repertoire plays in the world theater. The role of Fyodor Protasov was played by many outstanding actors: N.N. Khodotov, P.P. Gaideburov, I.N. Pevtsov, I.N. Bersenev, N.K. Simonov, M.F. Romanov, M.I. Tsarev, V.K. Papazyan and others.
“The Living Corpse” was staged in many countries around the world: Austria, Germany, England, France, USA, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Norway, Italy, Greece...<...>In 1929, director F. Otsep directed a film with V. Pudovkin in the role of Protasov.
Characters
Fedor Vasilievich Protasov(Fedya).
Elizaveta Andreevna Protasova(Lisa), his wife.
Misha, boy, their son.
Anna Pavlovna, Lisa's mother.
Sasha, Lisa's sister.
Viktor Mikhailovich Karenin.
Anna Dmitrievna Karenina, his mother.
Marya Vasilievna Kryukova, Lisa's friend.
Sergey Dmitrievich Abrezkov, prince.
Masha, gypsy.
Ivan Makarovich, old gypsy, Masha's father.
Nastasya Ivanovna, old gypsy, Masha's mother.
Fedya's friends.
Mikhail Andreevich
Afremov
Stakhovich
Butkevich
Korotkov
Ivan Petrovich Alexandrov.
Petushkov, artist.
Artemiev.
Voznesensky, Karenin's secretary.
Forensic investigator.
Clerk forensic investigator.
Melnikov.
Petrushin, advocate.
Young lawyer.
Doctor.
Officer at the gypsies.
Musician.
gypsies.
Kate
Gasha
Gypsy.
1st gypsy.
2nd gypsy.
Lady in a court.
Officer in a court.
Referee.
Nanny Protasov.
Dunyasha, the Protasovs' maid.
Lackey Protasov.
Lackey Karenins.
Woman in the tavern.
Sexual in the tavern.
Policeman.
Courier.
Master tavern
Mister in a court.
Judges, spectators, witnesses.
Gypsies And gypsies(choir).
Act one
Scene one
First appearance
Anna Pavlovna, a plump gray-haired lady, in a corset, sits alone at the tea table.
Second phenomenon
Anna Pavlovna And Nanny with a kettle.
Nanny. Can I have some water?
Anna Pavlovna. Can. What about Mishka?
Nanny. Yes, he is restless. There is nothing worse than how the lady herself feeds. They have their own sorrows there, and the child suffers. What kind of milk can there be when you can’t sleep at night and cry?
Anna Pavlovna. Yes, she seems to have calmed down now.
Nanny. Good calm. It's sickening to watch. They wrote something and cried.
The third phenomenon
The same And Sasha.
Sasha (enters. To the nanny). Lisa is looking for you in the nursery.
Nanny. I'm coming. ( Leaves.)
The fourth phenomenon
Anna Pavlovna And Sasha.
Anna Pavlovna. The nanny says she keeps crying. How can she not calm down?
Sasha. No, you, mom, are amazing. Leaving your husband, the father of your child, and you want her to be at peace.
Anna Pavlovna. She’s not calm, but what’s done is done. If I, a mother, not only allowed, but rejoice in the fact that my daughter leaves her husband, then he is worth it. You should be happy, and not sad, that you can free yourself from such a bad person, free yourself from such gold.
Sasha. Mom, why are you saying that? Because you know that this is not true. He is not bad, but, on the contrary, an amazing, amazing person, despite his weaknesses.
Anna Pavlovna. Well, exactly an amazing person. As soon as the money is in your hands - whether it’s yours or someone else’s...
Sasha. Mom, he never took strangers.
Anna Pavlovna. It doesn't matter, wives.
Sasha. But he gave all his fortune to his wife.
Anna Pavlovna. He wouldn’t give it away when he himself knows that he will squander it all.
Sasha. Whether he squanders it or not, I just know that you can’t be separated from your husband, especially with someone like Fedya.
Anna Pavlovna. Do you think we should wait until he squanders everything and brings his gypsy mistresses to the house?
Sasha. He has no lovers.
Anna Pavlovna. That’s the trouble, he somehow charmed you all. Not me, no, you’re being naughty; I see him and he knows it. If I were Lisa, I wouldn’t leave him now, let alone a year ago.
Sasha. The way you say it is easy.
Anna Pavlovna. No, it's not easy. It’s not easy for me, a mother, to see my daughter divorced. Believe me, it's not very easy. But anything is better than ruining a young life. No, I thank God that she has now made up her mind and that it’s all over.
Sasha. It may not be over.
Anna Pavlovna. If only he would give a divorce.
Sasha. What will be good?
Anna Pavlovna. It will be that she is young and can still be happy.
Sasha. Oh, mom, it’s terrible what you say; Lisa cannot love another.
Anna Pavlovna. Why can't it? if she is free. There will be people a thousand times better than your Fedya and will be happy to marry Lisa.
Sasha. Mom, this is not good. I know you are thinking about Viktor Karenin.
Anna Pavlovna. Why not think about him? He has loved her for ten years, and she loves him.
Sasha. She loves, but not as much as her husband. This is friendship from childhood.
Anna Pavlovna. We know this friendship. If only there were no obstacles.
Fifth appearance
The same. Included Housemaid.
Anna Pavlovna. What do you?
Housemaid. The lady sent a janitor with a note to Viktor Mikhailovich.
Anna Pavlovna. Which lady?
Housemaid. Lizaveta Andreevna, lady.
Anna Pavlovna. So what?
Housemaid. Viktor Mikhailovich was ordered to say that they would come themselves now.
Anna Pavlovna (surprised). They were just talking about him. I just don’t understand why? ( Sachet.) You do not know?
Sasha. Maybe I know, maybe I don’t know.
Anna Pavlovna. All the secrets.
Sasha. Lisa will come, she will tell you.
Anna Pavlovna (shaking his head to the maid). But the samovar needs to be heated. Take it, Dunyasha.
Housemaid takes the samovar and leaves.
Appearance Six
Anna Pavlovna And Sasha.
Anna Pavlovna (to Sasha, who got up and wants to go). It turned out as I said. Now she sent for him.
Sasha. Perhaps I sent for the wrong thing.
Anna Pavlovna. So why?
Sasha. Now, at this moment, Karenin is the same to her as Trifonovna.
Anna Pavlovna. But you'll see. After all, I know her. She calls him, seeks consolation.
Sasha. Oh, mom, how little you know her that you can think this.
Anna Pavlovna. Yes, you'll see. And I'm very, very happy.
Sasha. We'll see. ( Hums and leaves.)
Seventh Appearance
Anna Pavlovna one.
Anna Pavlovna (shakes his head and mutters). And great. And let it be... And it’s wonderful, and let it be... Yes...
The eighth phenomenon
Anna Pavlovna And Housemaid.
Housemaid (included). Victor Mikhailovich has arrived.
Anna Pavlovna. Well then. Ask and tell the lady.
The maid goes through the inner door.
Appearance Ninth
Anna Pavlovna And Victor Karenin.
Karenin (enters and greets Anna Pavlovna). Lizaveta Andreevna sent me a note asking me to come. And I was already going to see you this evening, so I’m very glad... Is Lizaveta Andreevna healthy?
Anna Pavlovna. She is healthy, the child is a little worried. She'll come now. ( Sad.) Yes Yes, hard times...You know everything...
Karenin. I know. After all, I was here three days ago when I received a letter from him. But is this really decided irrevocably?
Anna Pavlovna. Of course. Reliving everything that happened again would be terrible.
Karenin. Yes, that’s where try it on ten times and cut it off once. It is very difficult to cut alive.
Anna Pavlovna. Of course it's difficult. But their marriage had long been cut short. So it was less difficult to break than it seems. He himself understands that after everything that happened, he himself can no longer return.
Karenin. From what?
Anna Pavlovna. Well, how do you want it after all his nasty things, after he swore that this would not happen and that if it did, then he would deprive himself of all the rights of a husband and give her complete freedom?
Karenin. Yes, but what kind of freedom can there be for a woman bound by marriage?
Anna Pavlovna. Divorce. He promised a divorce, and we will insist.
Karenin. Yes, but Lizaveta Andreevna loved him so much...
Anna Pavlovna. Ah, her love has been so tested that there is hardly anything left of it. There is drunkenness, deception, and infidelity. Is it possible to love such a husband?
Karenin. For love, anything is possible.
Anna Pavlovna. You say love, but how can you love such a person - a rag, who cannot be relied on for anything? After all, what happened now... ( He looks back at the door and hurries to tell.) Things are upset, everything is mortgaged, there is nothing to pay. Finally, my uncle sends two thousand to pay interest. He goes with this money and... disappears. The wife sits with the sick child, waits, and finally gets a note - to send him linen and things...
Karenin. Yes, yes, I know.
The tenth phenomenon
The same. Enter Sasha And Lisa.
Anna Pavlovna. Well, Viktor Mikhailovich came to your call.
Karenin. Yes, I was delayed a little. ( Says hello to his sisters.)
Lisa. Give thanks. I have a big favor to ask of you. And I have no one to turn to like you.
Karenin. Everything I can.
Lisa. You know everything.
Karenin. Yes, I know.
Anna Pavlovna. So I'll leave you. ( Sachet.) Let's go to. Leave them alone. ( Leaves with Sasha.)
Appearance eleventh
Lisa And Karenin.
Lisa. Yes, he wrote me a letter saying that he thought it was all over. I ( holds back tears)... I was so offended, so... well, in a word, I agreed to break it off. And I answered him that I accepted his refusal.
Karenin. But after?..
Lisa. After? Then I felt that it was bad of me, that I couldn’t. Anything is better than breaking up with him. Well, in a word, give him this letter. Please, Victor... give him this letter and tell him... and bring him.
Karenin. Fine. ( Surprised.) Yes, but how?
Lisa. Tell him that I ask him to forget everything, forget everything and come back. I could just send a letter. But I know him: the first movement, as always, will be good, but then someone’s influence will come, and he will change his mind and do something different from what he wants...
Karenin. I'll do what I can.
Lisa. Are you surprised that I'm asking you?
Karenin. No... However, we must tell the truth - yes, I am surprised...
Lisa. But don't be angry?..
Karenin. How can I be angry with you?
Lisa. I asked you because I know you love him.
Karenin. Both him and you. You know this. And I love not for myself, but for you. And I thank you for believing me: I will do what I can.
Lisa. I knew. I’ll tell you everything: I went to Afremov today to find out where he is. They told me that they went to the gypsies. And this is what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of this hobby. I know that if you don’t stop him in time, he will get carried away. This is what is needed. So will you go?
Karenin. Of course, now.
Lisa. Go, find him and tell him that everything is forgotten, that I am waiting for him.
Karenin (rises). But where to look for it?
Lisa. It's with the gypsies. I was there myself. I was at the porch. I wanted to send a letter, then I changed my mind and decided to ask you... here is the address. Well, tell him to come back, that nothing happened, that everything is forgotten. Do it out of love for him and friendship for us.
Karenin. I'll do my best. ( He waits, then bows and leaves.)
Appearance Twelfth
Lisa one.
Lisa. I can't, I can't. Anything is better than... I can’t.
Appearance thirteen
Lisa, included Sasha.
Sasha. Well? Did you send it?
Lisa makes an affirmative sign with her head.
And he agreed?
Lisa. Of course.
Sasha. Why, I don’t understand...
Lisa. Who?
Sasha. But you know that he is in love with you?
Lisa. It all happened and passed. But who do you want me to ask? Do you think he will come back?
Sasha. I'm sure because...
Appearance fourteen
The same And Anna Pavlovna.
Anna Pavlovna enters, Sasha falls silent.
Anna Pavlovna. Where is Viktor Mikhailovich?
Lisa. Left.
Anna Pavlovna. How did you leave?
Lisa. I asked him to fulfill my request.
Anna Pavlovna. Which request? More secrets?
Lisa. Not secrets, but simply asked him to deliver the letter to Fedya himself.
Anna Pavlovna. Fede? Fedor Vasilievich?
Lisa. Yes, Fede.
Anna Pavlovna. I thought that all relations between you were over.
Lisa. I can't part with him.
Anna Pavlovna. How, all over again?
Lisa. I wanted, I tried, but I can't. Whatever you want, just not to be separated from him.
Anna Pavlovna. So, do you want him back?
Lisa. Yes.
Anna Pavlovna. Let this vermin into your house again?
Lisa. Mom, I ask you not to talk about my husband like that.
Anna Pavlovna. He was the husband.
Lisa. No, he's my husband now.
Anna Pavlovna. A spendthrift, a drunkard, a libertine, and you can’t part with him?
Lisa. Why are you torturing me? It’s already hard for me, but you definitely want it on purpose...
Anna Pavlovna. I'm tormenting, so I'll leave. I can't see this.
Lisa is silent.
I see that you want this, that I am disturbing you. I can't live. I don't understand anything about you. All this is new. You got divorced, you decided, then suddenly you write out the person who is in love with you.
Lisa. There is none of this.
Anna Pavlovna. Karenin proposed... and you send him for your husband. What is this? To arouse jealousy?
Lisa. Mother! It's terrible what you say. Leave me.
Anna Pavlovna. So kick your mother out of the house and let your depraved husband go. Yes, I won't wait. And farewell, and God be with you, do as you want. ( He leaves, slamming the door.)
Surrounded by almost religious worship, it is not customary to criticize L. Tolstoy, but for me, “The Living Corpse” is a weak, far-fetched and false play because Tolstoy is trying to write sympathetically about people whom he could not respect due to his convictions. Tolstoy’s attitude towards suicide, as well as binge drinking, walking to the left and other manifestations of weakness and meanness are known. He plays out an interesting and truly problematic plot among lifeless figures speaking in stilted, melodramatic phrases. The theme of the play is not new: Tolstoy brilliantly and quite exhaustively talks about the inhumanity of public morality in Anna Karenina, The Kreutzer Sonata and a number of other works, reading which you will get more pleasure, rather than from “The Living Corpse.” Nevertheless, the work is recognized as a classic and has gone through many productions, although now appearing less and less often.
For Vladimir Vengerov“The Living Corpse” is an important production and, apparently, very personal, problematic, because he turned to this work more than once. Questions of conscience, moral duty, the problem of human weakness (why does a person often destroy what he loves with his own hands?) one way or another are raised in the director’s work, and “The Living Corpse” is no exception.
The main disadvantage of this film adaptation by V. Vengerov is that he canonizes Tolstoy too much, treats him too reverently, and remains true to his every word. As a result, all the disadvantages of Tolstoy’s text appear even more voluminously; therefore, for example, the realistic and minimalistic production of V. Vengerov is inferior to the production F. Ocepa, with all its “symbolism”, irony and liberties. The narration also turned out to be uneven - for every four amazing scenes there are eight downright boring ones. Scenes, dialogues, details everything is verified to the smallest detail and follows the original source exactly, but the action still looks emasculated, ponderous and devoid of life, it does not captivate the fault here, I think, is excessive academicism.
But the gypsy songs are simply wonderfully depicted “Not Evening” touches to the depths of the soul, and for the ability to see beauty one can forgive Batalov’s hero a lot, but, perhaps, this is his only merit. As soon as Protasov comes to the fore and starts his boring rants, you just want to cut him off with something like: “Go away already, let the gypsies listen!”
The main characters Protasov, Liza and Karenin turned out to be quite pale, despite the efforts A. Batalova, A. Demidova And O. Basilashvili. Alexey Batalov, perhaps, ennobles his hero too much against the crystal background clear eyes and pathetic speeches about honor, his actions cause bewilderment. Alla Demidova is very good and natural in the role of Lisa, Oleg Basilashvili is also good but you still can’t sympathize with their heroes, they suffer very seriously and pompously, without the slightest self-irony.
But as boring as the main characters are, the secondary characters are so delightful, sometimes shamelessly stealing all the attention.
Absolutely unearthly shaved bald demonic “genius” I. Smoktunovsky, which here seems to be something much larger, sinister and meaningful than Ivan Petrovich in Tolstoy’s drama. He seems more likely to be the product of Protasov’s exhausted fantasy, sick from thoughts of suicide, than real person. The closest association is the devil of Ivan Karamazov, that’s what Ivan Petrovich Smoktunovsky is.
Amazing bureaucrat and Chaldean forensic investigator performed Oleg Borisov, tormenting the Protasovs and Karenin with stupid questions; marvelous modern personality, today you can meet packs of them in various administrative institutions.
I also really liked the lawyer Petrushin, who defends Protasov in court and turns the court into a farce and a vanity fair, and at the same time evilly parodies everyone famous lawyers XIX century.
An almost flawless, meticulous and scrupulous, but somewhat boring adaptation of the classic. There is definitely a sense of careful but dispassionate handling of the source material here. Dialogue, polemics, life, some kind of fire are missing. You need to know such a classic, but it’s very difficult to love it.
It is still better to judge the art of V. Vengerov by “Workers' Village”, “Two Captains”, and “Empty Flight”. “The Living Corpse” is too ambiguous and uneven production.