Difficult, hard and maybe ungrateful
to approach the mystery of Judas, easier and calmer
not notice her, covering her with roses of church beauty.
S. Bulgakov 1

The story appeared in 1907, but L. Andreev mentions its idea as early as 1902. Therefore, not only the events of Russian history - the defeat of the first Russian revolution and the rejection of revolutionary ideas by many - 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 hobbies is present in the story. L. Andreev also wrote about this. However, the content of the story, especially over time, goes far beyond the 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 theme of betrayal, good and evil, Christ and so on." The story of Leonid Andreev 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 ventured to turn to the image of Judas, all the more so to try to understand this image. Indeed, from a psychological point of view understand means in some way to accept (in accordance with the paradoxical statement of M. Tsvetaeva understand sorry, nothing else). Leonid Andreev, of course, foresaw this danger. He wrote: the story "will be scolded both from the right and from the left, from above and from below." And he turned out to be right: the accents that were placed in his version of the gospel story ("The Gospel According to Andreev") turned out to be unacceptable for many contemporaries, among whom was L. Tolstoy: "Terrible disgusting, falsehood and lack of 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 evoked a sharp rejection ("Jesus composed by Andreev, in general the Jesus of Renan's rationalism, the artist Polenov, but not the Gospel, a very mediocre, colorless, small person," - A. Bugrov 2), and the images of the apostles ("From the Apostles approximately nothing should remain. Just wet, "- V.V. Rozanov), and, of course, the image of the central character of "Judas Iscariot" ("... L. Andreev's attempt to present Judas as an extraordinary person, to give his actions a high motivation was doomed to failure "The result was a disgusting mixture of sadistic cruelty, cynicism and love with anguish. The work of L. Andreev, written at the time of the defeat of the revolution, at the time of black reaction, is essentially an apology for betrayal ... This is one of the most shameful pages in the history of Russian and European decadence," I.E. Zhuravskaya). There were so many derogatory reviews about the scandalous work in the critics 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 the work of L. Andreev and his 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 comprehending the "mysteries" of "Judas Iscariot" is necessary in different aspects. 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: "The rightness of Iscariot is not absolute. Moreover, by declaring the shameful natural, and conscientiousness superfluous, 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 is no less widespread. For example, B.S. Bugrov claims: “The deep source of provocation [of Judas. — V.K.] is not the innate moral depravity of a person, but an inalienable property of his nature — the ability to think. Jude" 6; P. Basinsky writes in the comments to the story: “This is not an apology for betrayal (as the story was understood by some critics), 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 most 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, not in essence" 8 . And in the interpretation of Yu. Nagibin, one of the contemporary writers, Judas Iscariot is the "beloved disciple" of Jesus (see Yu. Nagibin's story "The 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 in mind the ethical line 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 in it first of all moral sense? The appearance in the Gospel of not only a positively beautiful personality - Jesus, the God-man, but also his antipode - Judas with his satanic beginning, who personified the universal vice of betrayal, was deeply natural. Mankind also needed this symbol for the formation of a moral coordinate system. To try to somehow look at the image of Judas differently means to attempt to revise it, and, consequently, to encroach on the system of values ​​that has been formed over two millennia, which threatens with a moral catastrophe. Indeed, one of the definitions of culture is the following: culture is a system of restrictions, self-restraints that prohibit killing, stealing, betraying, etc. In Dante's Divine Comedy, as is known, the ethical and aesthetic coincide: Lucifer and Judas are equally ugly both ethically and 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 banned for a long time, as if a taboo (ban) was imposed on it.

On the other hand, to abandon attempts to understand the motives of Judas' act means to agree that a person is a kind of puppet, only the forces of others act in him ("Satan entered" Judas), in which case the person and responsibility for his actions does not carry. Leonid Andreev had the courage to think about these difficult questions, offer his own answers, knowing in advance that criticism would be harsh.

Starting to analyze the story of L. Andreev "Judas Iscariot", it is necessary to emphasize once again: a positive assessment of Judas - the gospel character - of course, is impossible. Here the subject of analysis is the text artwork, and the goal is to reveal its meaning on the basis of establishing relationships between different levels of elements of the text, or, most likely, determining the boundaries of interpretation, in other words, the spectrum of adequacy.

The main theme of Leonid Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot" can be defined as an attempt at the most important betrayal in the history of mankind. The author interprets the plot in his own way, tries to penetrate into the very depths of the human soul, tries to understand the nature of Judas' internal contradictions, to study his psychology and, perhaps, even find a justification for his actions.

The gospel story, in the center of which lies the image of Jesus Christ, is described by Andreev from a different position, his attention is completely riveted on only one disciple, the one who, for thirty pieces of silver, doomed his Teacher to suffering on the cross and death. The author proves that Judas Iscariot is much nobler in love for Christ than many of his faithful disciples. Taking upon himself the sin of betrayal, he supposedly saves the cause of Christ. He appears before us sincerely loving Jesus and immeasurably suffering from a misunderstanding of his feelings by those around him. Departing from the traditional interpretation of the personality of Judas, Andreev supplements the image with fictitious details and episodes. Judas Iscariot divorced his wife and left her without a livelihood, forced to wander in search of food. God did not give him children, because he did not want his offspring. And there is no story about the competition of the apostles in throwing stones, in which the false Judas Iscariot won.

Traitor personality analysis

The author invites the reader to evaluate Judas not from the point of view of his actions, but in accordance with the feelings and passions that raged in the soul of this greedy, deceitful and treacherous Jew. A lot of attention in the book is paid to the appearance of the traitor, his duality began precisely with the face. One side, alive, had a sharp all-seeing eye and crooked wrinkles, while the other was deadly motionless, and the blind eye was covered with a white veil. And the whole skull, for some inexplicable reason, was divided in two, showing that there was no agreement in his thoughts either. gave him a demonic look, as if given by the Devil.

The neighborhood of such an image with the divine beauty of Jesus struck and caused misunderstanding on the part of other disciples. Peter, John and Thomas are unable to understand the reasons why the Son of God brought this ugly man closer to himself, this embodiment of a false vice, and pride seizes them. And Jesus loved his disciple as well as everyone else. At a time when the heads of the apostles are occupied with thoughts about the Kingdom of Heaven, Judas lives in the real world, lies, as it seems to him, for good, steals money for a poor harlot, saves the Teacher from an enraged crowd. He is shown with all human virtues and shortcomings. Judas Iscariot sincerely believes in Christ, and even deciding to betray him, in his soul he hopes for God's justice. He follows Jesus until his death and believes that a miracle will happen, but no magic happens, and Christ dies like an ordinary person.

The inglorious end of the red-haired Jew

Realizing what he has done, Judas sees no other way but to end his life. By his suicide, he says goodbye to Jesus forever, for the gates of heaven are now closed to him forever. This is how another, new Judas Iscariot appears before us. Andreev tried to awaken people's consciousness, to make them think about the psychology of betrayal, to rethink their actions and life guidelines.

The famous Russian writer of the 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 into such depths of the human soul, where no one looked. Andreev wanted to show the real state of things, tore the veil of lies from the usual phenomena of the social and spiritual life of man and society.
The life of the Russian people at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries gave little cause 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 benevolent pictures, to give evil a decent look. In his work, he revealed the true essence of unshakable laws public life and ideology. Causing a flurry of criticism in his address, Andreev risked showing a person in all his contradictions and secret thoughts, revealed the falsity of any political slogans and ideas, wrote about doubts in questions Orthodox faith the way the church presents it.
In the story "Judas Iscariot" Andreev gives his version of the famous gospel parable. He said, ɥҭó wrote "not ɥҭó on the psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal". The story deals with the problem of the ideal in human life. Jesus is such an ideal, and his disciples must preach his teaching, 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.
To complete the perception of the image, the writer describes in detail the memorable appearance of Judas, whose skull was “as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety ... Judas’ face also doubled.” Eleven disciples of Christ look inexpressive against the background of this hero. One eye of Judas is alive, attentive, black, and the other is motionless, like a blind man. Andreev draws the attention of readers to the gestures of Judas, the manner of his behavior. The hero ʜᴎɜko bows, arching his back and stretching his bumpy, terrible head forward, and “in a fit of timidity” closes his living eye. His voice, "sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes loud, like an old woman's," sometimes thin, "annoyingly liquid and unpleasant." Communicating with other people, he constantly grimace.
The writer introduces us to some facts of the biography of Judas. The hero got his nickname because he came from Kariot, lives alone, left his wife, he has no children, apparently God does not want offspring from him. Judas has been wandering for many years, “lies everywhere, grimaces, vigilantly looks out for something with his thieves' eye; and suddenly leaves suddenly.
In the gospel, the story of Judas is a brief account of betrayal. Andreev, on the other hand, shows the psychology of his hero, tells in detail what happened before and after the betrayal and what caused it. The theme of betrayal arose from the writer not by chance. During the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907, he observed with surprise and contempt how many traitors suddenly appeared, "as if they did not come from Adam, but from Judas."
In the story, Andreev notes that the eleven disciples of Christ are constantly arguing among themselves, “who paid more love,” in order to be closer to Christ and ensure their entry into the kingdom of heaven in the future. These disciples, who would later be called apostles, treat Judas with contempt and disgust, as they do other vagabonds and beggars. They are deep in matters of faith, engaged in self-contemplation and fenced off from people. L. Andreev's Judas is not in the clouds, he lives in the real world, steals money for a hungry harlot, saves Christ from an aggressive mob. He plays the role of a mediator between people and Christ.
Judas is shown with all the advantages and disadvantages, like any living person. He is quick-witted, modest, 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 vagrancy and search 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 economic affairs and even take money from the general cash desk. Iscariot declares to the disciples that it is not they, but it is he who will be next to Christ in the kingdom of heaven.
Judas is intrigued by the mystery of Christ, he feels that something great and wonderful is hidden under the guise of an ordinary person. Having decided to betray Christ into the hands of the authorities, Jude hopes that God will not allow injustice. Until the very death of Christ, Judas follows him, waiting every minute for his tormentors to understand who they are dealing with. But the miracle does not happen, Christ endures the beatings of the guards and dies like an ordinary person.
Arriving at the apostles, Jude notes with surprise that on this night, when their teacher died a martyr's death, the disciples ate and slept. They grieve, but their life has not changed. On the contrary, now they are no longer subordinates, but each independently is going to carry the word of Christ to people. Jude calls them traitors. They did not defend their teacher, did not recapture him from the guards, did not convene the people for protection. They "huddled together like a bunch of frightened lambs, not interfering with anything." Jude accuses the disciples of lying. They never loved the teacher, otherwise they would have rushed to help and would have died for him. Love saves without doubt.
John says, Jesus himself wanted this sacrifice and his sacrifice is beautiful. To which Judas angrily replies: “Is there a beautiful sacrifice, what do 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, what have you done to the earth? You wanted to destroy her, you will soon be kissing the cross on which you crucified Jesus!” Judas, in order to finally test the disciples, says that he is going to Jesus in heaven in order to persuade him to return to earth to the people to whom he brought light. Iscariot calls on the apostles to follow him. Nobody flinches. Pyotr, who was rushing, also retreats.
The story ends with a description of Judas' suicide. He decided to hang himself on the bough of a tree growing over the abyss, so that if the rope breaks, he would fall on sharp stones and ascend to Christ. Throwing a rope on a tree, Judas whispers, turning to Christ: “So meet me kindly. I am very tired". In the morning Judas' body was removed from the tree and thrown into the ditch, cursing him as a traitor. And Judas Iscariot, the Traitor, remained forever and ever 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.

Lecture, abstract. The problem of love and betrayal in the story of L. N. Andreev “Judas Iscariot - concept and types. Classification, essence and features.

Rethinking the image of a traitor in the story "Judas Iscariot"

In 1907, Leonid Andreev, returning to the biblical problem of the struggle between good and evil, wrote the story Judas Iscariot. Work on the story of Judas preceded work on the play Anathema. Criticism recognized the high psychological skill of the story, but negatively reacted to the main position of the work "on the meanness of the human race" (Lunacharsky A. Critical studies).

L.A. Smirnova notes: “In the Gospel, the sacred text, the image of Judas is a symbolic embodiment of evil, a character conditional from the standpoint of artistic depiction, purposefully devoid of a psychological dimension. The image of Jesus Christ is the image of the righteous martyr, the sufferer, who was destroyed by the mercenary traitor Judas” (26, p. 190). The biblical stories tell about the life and death of Jesus Christ, about the miracles that he performed on earth. The closest disciples of Jesus were preachers of the truths of God, their deeds after the death of the Teacher were great, they fulfilled the will of the Lord on earth. “Very little is said about the traitor Judas in the Gospel teaching. It is known that he was one of the closest disciples of Jesus. According to the apostle John, Judas in the community of Christ fulfilled the "earthly" duties of the treasurer; it was from this source that it became known about the price of the life of the Teacher - thirty pieces of silver. It also follows from the Gospel that Judas' betrayal was not the result of an emotional impulse, but a completely conscious act: he himself came to the high priests, and then waited for a convenient moment to fulfill his plan. The sacred text says that Jesus knew about the fatal predestination of his fate. He knew about the dark plans of Judas” (6, p.24).

Leonid Andreev rethinks the biblical story. Gospel sermons, parables, the Gethsemane prayer of Christ are not mentioned in the text. Jesus is, as it were, on the periphery of the events described. Sermons are transmitted in the dialogues of the Teacher with the students. The story of the life of Jesus the Nazarene is transformed by the author, although the biblical story is not changed in the story. If in the Gospel the central character is Jesus, then in L. Andreev's story it is Judas Iscariot. The author pays much attention to the relationship between the Teacher and the students. Judas is not like the faithful companions of Jesus, he wants to prove that only he is worthy to be near Jesus.

The story begins with a warning: "Judas from Carioth is a man of very bad reputation and must be guarded against" (T.2, p.210). Jesus affectionately accepts Judas, brings him closer to him. Other disciples do not approve of the Teacher's affectionate attitude towards Iscariot: "John, the beloved disciple, moved away in disgust, and all the rest looked down in disapproval" (T.2, p.212).

The character of Judas is revealed in his dialogues with the rest of the disciples. In conversations, he expresses his opinion about people: “ good people those who know how to hide their deeds and thoughts are called” (T.2, p.215). Iscariot tells about his sins, that there are no sinless people on earth. The same truth was preached by Jesus Christ: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her (Mary)” (T.2, p.219). All the disciples condemn Judas for sinful thoughts, for his lies and foul language.

Iscariot opposes the Teacher in the matter of attitude to people, to the human race. Jesus is completely removed from Judas after an incident in one village, where Iscariot saved Christ and his disciples with the help of deceit. But his act was condemned by all. Judas wants to be close to Jesus, but the Master does not seem to notice him. The deception of Judas, his betrayal - striving for one goal - to prove his love for Jesus and expose the cowardly disciples.

According to the gospel story, Jesus Christ had many disciples who preached Holy Scripture. Only a few of them take an active role in the work of L. Andreev: John, Peter, Philip, Thomas and Judas. The plot of the story also mentions Mary Magdalene and the mother of Jesus, women who were also next to the Teacher during the events of two thousand years ago. The remaining companions of Christ do not participate in the development of the action, they are mentioned only in crowd scenes. L. Andreev does not accidentally bring these students to the fore, it is in them that everything important is concentrated that is necessary for understanding the problem of betrayal, which is fundamental in the work. Recognized by the Church the evangelists are portrayed in detail by the author, it is their revelations that are the truth; The Gospels of John, Thomas, Peter, Matthew became the basis of the Christian faith. But L. Andreev offers a completely different point of view on the events of that time.

L. Andreev depicts the disciples of Jesus realistically, as the plot develops, the images of the evangelists are revealed. The author leaves perfect image a martyr, recognized in the Bible, and "Judas was all created from destroyed habits, and not even merged, but only ugly clinging impressions" (3, p. 75). According to L. Andreev, Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are, first of all, real images in which the human principle prevails over the divine. Judas becomes for the author a person who has played the greatest role in history. In Jesus, L. Andreev sees, first of all, the human essence, affirms the active principle in this image, equalizes God and man.

All the heroes of L. Andreev make a choice between a sacrifice in the name of saving the human race and the betrayal of the Son of God. It is on this choice that the author's assessment and the solution of the conflict depend: fidelity to the spiritual ideal or betrayal. The author destroys the myth of the disciples' devotion to Jesus. Through mental trials, the writer leads all the characters to the highest point in the development of the plot - the choice between serving a higher goal and betrayal, which will remain in the history of peoples for centuries.

In the description of L.N. Andreev, the character of Judas is full of opposites, which corresponds to his appearance. At the same time, he is not only greedy, angry, mocking, cunning, inclined to lie and pretense, but also smart, trusting, sensitive and even gentle. In the image of Judas, the author combines two seemingly incompatible characters, inner worlds. According to Andreev, the "first half" of Judas' soul is a liar, a thief, a "bad man." It is this half that belongs to the "moving" part of the face of the hero of the story - "a sharply peering eye and a noisy, like a woman's voice." This is the "mundane" part inner world Judas, which is addressed to the people. And short-sighted people, of whom the majority, see only this open half of the soul - the soul of a traitor, curse Judas the thief, Judas the liar.

“However, in the tragic and contradictory image of the hero, the author seeks to create in our minds a more complete, integral inner world of Judas. According to Andreev, the "reverse side of the coin" is no less important for understanding the soul of Judas - that part of his soul that is hidden from others, but from which nothing escapes. After all, nothing could be read on the “frozen” half of Judas’ face, but, at the same time, the “blind” eye on this half “did not close day or night.” It was this wise and hidden from everyone Judas who had a “courageous and strong” voice, which “I wanted to pull out of my ears like rotten, rough splinters.” Because the spoken words are the ruthless, bitter truth. The truth, which has a worse effect on people than the lies of Judas the thief. This truth points people to mistakes they would like to forget. With this part of his soul, Judas fell in love with Christ, although even the apostles could not understand this love. As a result, both the “good” and the “bad” rejected Judas” (18, p.2-3).

The relationship between Jesus Christ and Judas is very complex. “Judas was one of the “rejected and unloved”, that is, those whom Jesus never repelled” (6, p. 26). At first, when Judas first appeared among the disciples, Jesus was not afraid of evil rumors and "accepted Judas and included him in the circle of the elect." But the attitude of the Savior towards Iscariot changes after an incident in one village, where Jesus was in mortal danger, and Judas, risking his own life, with the help of deceit, prayer, gave the Teacher and students the opportunity to escape from the angry mob. Iscariot was waiting for praise, recognition of his courage, but everyone, including Jesus, condemned him for deceit. Jude accuses the disciples of not wanting Jesus and not wanting the truth.

From that moment on, Christ's attitude towards Judas changed dramatically: now Jesus "looked at him, as if not seeing, although as before - even more stubbornly than before - he looked for him with his eyes whenever he began to speak to the disciples or to the people" (T .2, p.210). “Jesus is trying to help him in what is happening, to explain his attitude towards him with the help of the parable of the barren fig tree” (6, p. 27).

But why now, apart from the jokes of Judas and his stories, Jesus began to see something important in him, which made the Teacher treat him more seriously, turn his speeches to him. Perhaps it was at that moment that Jesus realized that only Judas, who loves Jesus with sincere and pure love, is capable of sacrificing everything for the sake of his Master. Judas, on the other hand, is experiencing this change in the mind of Jesus very hard, he does not understand why no one will appreciate his courageous and wonderful impulse to save his Teacher at the cost of his own life. This is how Iscariot speaks poetically about Jesus: “And for everyone he was a delicate and beautiful flower, fragrant with the Lebanese rose, but for Judas he left only sharp thorns - as if Judas had no heart, as if he had no eyes and nose and no better than he understands everything the beauty of tender and blameless petals” (T.2, p.215).

Commenting on this episode, I. Annensky notes: “L. Andreev’s story is full of contrasts, but these contrasts are only tangible, and they arise directly and even inevitably in the floating smoke of his imagination” (3, p. 58).

After the incident in the village, a turning point is also planned in the mind of Judas, he is tormented by heavy and vague thoughts, but the author does not reveal to the reader the secret experiences of Iscariot. So what is he thinking about while others are busy with food and drink? Maybe he is thinking about the salvation of Jesus Christ, or is he tormented by thoughts of helping the Teacher in his ordeal? But Judas can help only by committing a betrayal, and a betrayal involuntarily. Iscariot loves the Teacher with pure, sincere love, he is ready to sacrifice his life, his name for the sake of a higher goal. “But for Judas, to love means, first of all, to be understood, appreciated, recognized. He does not have enough favor with Christ, he still needs recognition of the correctness of his views on the world and people, the justification of the darkness of his soul” (6, p. 26).

Judas goes to his sacrifice with great suffering and understanding of all the horror, because the torment of Judas is as great as the torment of Jesus Christ. The name of the Savior will be glorified for centuries, and Iscariot will remain in the memory of peoples for many hundreds of years as a traitor, his name will become the personification of lies, treason and baseness of human deeds.

Many years passed before evidence of the innocence of Judas appeared in the world, and for a long time there will be disputes about the reliability of the gospel information. But L.N. Andreev in his work does not write a historical portrait, in the story Judas is a tragic hero who sincerely loves his Teacher and passionately wants to alleviate his suffering. The author shows the real events of two thousand years ago, but "Judas Iscariot" is a work of fiction, and L. Andreev rethinks the problem of Judas' betrayal. Iscariot occupies a central place in the work, the artist draws a complex, contradictory character in a period of great life upheavals. The betrayal of Judas is not perceived by us as a betrayal for the sake of selfish interests, the story depicts the difficult spiritual trials of the protagonist, a sense of duty, Judas' readiness to sacrifice for the sake of his Teacher.

The author characterizes his hero with such epithets: "noble, beautiful Judas", "Judas the winner". But all students see only an ugly face and remember notoriety. None of the companions of Jesus Christ notices the devotion of Judas, his fidelity and sacrifice. The teacher becomes serious, strict with him, as if he begins to notice where true love is, and where false. Judas loves Christ precisely because he sees in him the embodiment of immaculate purity and light, in this love “both admiration and sacrifice, and that “feminine and tender” maternal feeling, by nature prescribing to protect her sinless and naive child” (6, pp.26-27). Jesus Christ also shows a warm attitude towards Judas: “With greedy attention, childishly half-opening his mouth, laughing in advance with his eyes, Jesus listened to his impetuous, sonorous, cheerful speech and sometimes laughed so hard at his jokes that he had to stop the story for several minutes” ( T.2, p.217). “It seems incredible, but L. Andreev's Jesus is not just laughing (which would already be a violation of Christian tradition, the religious canon) - he is laughing (18, p.2-3). According to tradition, cheerful laughter is regarded as a liberating principle, purifying the soul.

“Between Christ and Judas in the story of L. Andreev there is a mysterious subconscious connection, not expressed verbally, but nevertheless felt by Judas and us, the readers. This connection is felt psychologically by Jesus the God-man, it cannot but find an external psychological expression (in mysterious silence, in which one feels hidden tension, expectation of tragedy), and it is absolutely clear on the eve of the death of Jesus Christ” (18, p.2-3) . The Savior understands that a great idea may be worth the suffering of others. Jesus knows about his divine origin, he knows that he must go through difficult trials in order to carry out "God's plan", in the implementation of which he chooses Judas as an assistant.

Iscariot is experiencing mental anguish, it is hard for him to decide on betrayal: “Judas took his whole soul into his iron fingers and in its immense darkness, silently, began to build something huge. Slowly, in deep darkness, he lifted up some huge things like mountains, and smoothly laid one on top of the other; and lifted again, and laid again; and something grew in the darkness, spread silently, pushing the boundaries. And softly sounded somewhere distant and ghostly words” (T.2, p.225). What were those words? Perhaps Judas was considering Jesus' request for help in carrying out the "divine plan," the plan of Christ's martyrdom. If there had been no execution, people would not have believed in the existence of the Son of God, in the possibility of heaven on earth.

M.A. Brodsky believes: “L. Andreev defiantly rejects the gospel version of selfish calculation. The betrayal of Judas is rather the last argument in his dispute with Jesus about man. The horror and dreams of Iscariot came true, he won, proving to the whole world and, of course, to Christ Himself, that people are unworthy of the son of God, and there is nothing to love them for, and only he, a cynic and an outcast, is the only one who has proved his love and devotion , should rightfully sit next to Him in the Kingdom of Heaven and administer judgment, ruthless and universal, like the Flood” (6, p. 29).

It is not easy for Judas to decide to betray the man whom he considered the best on earth. He thinks long and painfully, but Iscariot cannot go against the will of his Teacher, because his love for him is too great. The author does not say directly that Judas decided to betray, but shows how his behavior changes: “So simple, gentle and at the same time serious was Iscariot. He did not grimace, did not joke slanderously, did not bow, did not insult, but quietly and imperceptibly did his business” (T.2, p.229). Iscariot decided to betray, but in his soul there was still hope that people would understand that before them was not a liar and a deceiver, but the Son of God. Therefore, he tells the disciples about the need to save Jesus: “We must protect Jesus! We need to protect Jesus! It is necessary to intercede for Jesus when that time comes” (T.2, p.239). Judas brought the stolen swords to the disciples, but they replied that they were not warriors, and Jesus was not a military commander.

But why did the choice fall on Judas? Iscariot has experienced a lot in his life, he knows that people are sinful in their nature. When Judas first came to Jesus, he tried to show him how sinful people are. But the Savior was true to his great purpose, he did not accept the point of view of Judas, although he knew that people would not believe in the Son of God; they will first betray him to martyrdom, and then they will only understand that they did not kill a liar, but the Savior of the human race. But without suffering there would be no Christ. And the cross of Judas in its trial is as heavy as the cross of Jesus. Not every person is capable of such a feat, Judas felt love and respect for the Savior, he is devoted to his Teacher. Iscariot is ready to go to the end, to accept martyrdom next to Christ, to share his sufferings, as befits a faithful disciple. But Jesus disposes in a different way: he asks him not for death, but for a feat, a betrayal involuntarily, for the sake of a higher goal.

Judas is going through severe mental anguish, taking the first step towards betrayal. From that moment on, Iscariot surrounds his Teacher with tenderness, love, he is very kind to all the students, although he himself experiences mental pain: “And going out to the place where they went out of need, he cried there for a long time, writhing, wriggling, scratching his chest with his nails and biting his shoulders. . He caressed the imaginary hair of Jesus, whispered softly something tender and funny, and gritted his teeth. And for so long he stood, heavy, resolute and alien to everything, like fate itself ”(T.2, p.237). The author says that fate made Judas an executioner, put a punishing sword in his hand. And Iscariot copes with this difficult test, although he resists betrayal with all his being.

In the work of L.N. Andreev "Judas Iscariot" the biblical story is completely rethought. First, the author brings to the fore the hero, who in the Bible is considered a great sinner, guilty of the death of Jesus Christ. L. Andreev rehabilitates the image of Judas from Kariot: he is not a traitor, but a faithful disciple of Jesus, a sufferer. Secondly, L. Andreev relegates the images of the evangelists and Jesus Christ to a secondary plane of the narrative.

L.A. Smirnova believes that "turning to the myth made it possible to avoid details, to make each hero a carrier of the essential manifestations of life itself at its break, a sharp turn." “Elements of biblical poetics enhance the weight of each small episode. Quotations from the sayings of the ancient sages give an all-epochal meaning to what is happening” (26, p. 186).

In the work, the author raises the question of the betrayal of the hero. L. Andreev portrays Iscariot as a strong, struggling personality in a period of great mental upheaval. The writer gives exhaustive psychological characteristics to his hero, which allows him to see the formation of the inner world of Iscariot and find the origins of his betrayal.

L. Andreev solves the problem of betrayal in the following way: both the disciples who did not defend their teacher and the people who condemned Jesus to death are to blame. Judas, on the other hand, occupies a special position in the story, the gospel version of betrayal for the sake of money is completely rejected. Judas by L. Andreev loves the Teacher with sincere, pure love, he cannot commit such a cruel act for the sake of selfish interests. The author reveals completely different motives for Iscariot's behavior. Judas betrays Jesus Christ not of his own free will, he remains faithful to his Teacher and fulfills his request to the end. It is no coincidence that the images of Jesus Christ and Judas are perceived by the writer in their close contact. Andreev the artist draws them crucified on the same cross.

Scholars interpret the theme of betrayal in L. Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot" in different ways. A.V. Bogdanov in his article “Between the Wall of the Abyss” believes that Judas has only one opportunity left - to go to the slaughter with all his disgust for the victim, “suffering for one and shame for all”, and only a traitor will remain in the memory of generations (5, p. 17) .

K.D. Muratova suggests that the betrayal is committed by Judas in order to test, on the one hand, the strength and correctness of the humanistic teachings of Christ, and on the other hand, the devotion to him of the disciples and those who so enthusiastically listened to his sermons (23, p. 223).

V.P. Kryuchkov in his book "Heretics in Literature" writes that the divine and human principles appear in L. Andreev's story in interaction. According to Kryuchkov, Judas becomes a personality in paradoxical Andreev, who played a huge role in history, Jesus is represented in his human flesh, corporality, in this image the active principle, the equalization of God and Man (18, 2-3) prevails.

Despite the difference in views, researchers agree on one common opinion - Judas' love for Jesus was great in its strength. Therefore, the question arises: could a person so faithful to his Master betray him for the sake of selfish interests. L. Andreev reveals the reason for the betrayal: for Judas it was a forced act, a sacrifice for the sake of fulfilling the will of the Almighty.

L. Andreev boldly reshapes the biblical images in order to force the reader to rethink the opinion that has been established in the world and in the Christian religion about the traitor, the villain Judas. After all, the fault lies not only with an individual, but also with people who easily betray their idols, shouting “Crucify!” as loud as Hosanna!

The famous Russian writer of the 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 into such depths of the human soul, where no one looked. Andreev wanted to show the real state of things, tore the veil of lies from the usual phenomena of the social and spiritual life of man and society.

The life of the Russian people at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries gave little cause 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 benevolent pictures, to give evil a decent look. In his work, he revealed the true essence of the unshakable laws of social life and ideology. Causing a flurry of criticism against him, Andreev risked showing a person in all his contradictions and secret thoughts, revealed the falsity of any political slogans and ideas, wrote about doubts about the Orthodox faith in the form in which it is presented by the church.

In the story "Judas Iscariot" Andreev gives his version of the famous gospel parable. He said that he wrote "something on the psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal." The story deals with the problem of the ideal in human life. Jesus is such an ideal, and his disciples must preach his teaching, 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.

To complete the perception of the image, the writer describes in detail the memorable appearance of Judas, whose skull was “as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety ... Judas’ face also doubled.” Eleven disciples of Christ look inexpressive against the background of this hero. One eye of Judas is alive, attentive, black, and the other is motionless, like a blind man. Andreev draws the attention of readers to the gestures of Judas, the manner of his behavior. The hero bows low, arching his back and stretching his lumpy, terrible head forward, and “in a fit of timidity” closes his living eye. His voice, "sometimes courageous and strong, sometimes loud, like an old woman's," sometimes thin, "annoyingly liquid and unpleasant." Communicating with other people, he constantly grimace.

The writer introduces us to some facts of the biography of Judas. The hero got his nickname because he came from Kariot, lives alone, left his wife, he has no children, apparently God does not want offspring from him. Judas has been wandering for many years, “lies everywhere, grimaces, vigilantly looks out for something with his thieves' eye; and suddenly leaves suddenly.

In the gospel, the story of Judas is a brief account of betrayal. Andreev, on the other hand, shows the psychology of his hero, tells in detail what happened before and after the betrayal and what caused it. The theme of betrayal arose from the writer not by chance. During the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907, he observed with surprise and contempt how many traitors suddenly appeared, "as if they did not come from Adam, but from Judas."

In the story, Andreev notes that the eleven disciples of Christ are constantly arguing among themselves, “who paid more love” in order to be closer to Christ and ensure their entry into the kingdom of heaven in the future. These disciples, who would later be called apostles, treat Judas with contempt and disgust, as they do other vagabonds and beggars. They are deep in matters of faith, engaged in self-contemplation and fenced off from people. L. Andreev's Judas is not in the clouds, he lives in the real world, steals money for a hungry harlot, saves Christ from an aggressive mob. He plays the role of a mediator between people and Christ.

Judas is shown with all the advantages and disadvantages, like any living person. He is quick-witted, modest, 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 vagrancy and search 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 economic affairs and even take money from the general cash desk. Iscariot declares to the disciples that it is not they, but it is he who will be next to Christ in the kingdom of heaven.

Judas is intrigued by the mystery of Christ, he feels that something great and wonderful is hidden under the guise of an ordinary person. Having decided to betray Christ into the hands of the authorities, Judas hopes that God will not allow injustice. Until the very death of Christ, Judas follows him, every minute expecting that his tormentors will understand who they are dealing with. But the miracle does not happen, Christ endures the beatings of the guards and dies like an ordinary person.

Having come to the apostles, Jude notes with surprise that on that night, when their teacher died a martyr's death, the disciples ate and slept. They grieve, but their life has not changed. On the contrary, now they are no longer subordinates, but each independently is going to carry the word of Christ to people. Jude calls them traitors. They did not defend their teacher, did not recapture him from the guards, did not convene the people for protection. They "huddled together like a bunch of frightened lambs, not interfering with anything." Jude accuses the disciples of lying. They never loved the teacher, otherwise they would have rushed to help and would have 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 a beautiful sacrifice, what do 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, what have you done to the earth? You wanted to destroy her, you will soon be kissing the cross on which you crucified Jesus!” Judas, in order to finally test the disciples, says that he is going to Jesus in heaven in order 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. Pyotr, who was rushing, also retreats.

The story ends with a description of Judas' suicide. He decided to hang himself on the bough of a tree growing over the abyss, so that if the rope breaks, he would fall on sharp stones and ascend to Christ. Throwing a rope on a tree, Judas whispers, turning to Christ: “So meet me kindly. I am very tired". In the morning Judas' body was removed from the tree and thrown into the ditch, cursing him as a traitor. And Judas Iscariot, the Traitor, remained forever and ever 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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104673 Golubeva A

• educational: comprehension of the idea of ​​the work through the disclosure of the images of the characters, their perception of the world and the author; observation of the language of a work of art as a means of characterizing the characters and realizing the writer's intention; consolidation of the distinctive features of expressionism as a literary movement; improving the skills of philological text analysis;
• developing: development of logical thinking (the ability to analyze actions, draw conclusions, explain, prove one's point of view); development of monologue speech of students; development creativity students to self-study (group tasks of a creative nature);
• educational: formation of a sense of responsibility, empathy and mutual assistance in group work; education of moral values ​​and a critical attitude towards evil in the work on the text; aesthetic perception of the lesson (board design).

Equipment: portrait of L. Andreev, written works of students, illustrations to the text of the work.

Epigraph of the lesson:

Go alone and heal the blind
To know in the dark hour of doubt
Pupils gloating mockery
And the indifference of the crowd.

A. Akhmatova. 1915

During the classes.

I. Announcement of the topic of the lesson.

Exchange of impressions among students on the comparison of the gospel text with the story of L. Andreev.

Students note content differences:

Judas in the story looks more monstrous than in the Bible, while the work itself shocks and outrages;

in L. Andreev, Judas betrays Christ of his own free will, in the Bible - “but the devil seduced him, and he began to hate the Savior”;

in the Bible, the disciples intercede for Christ: “They who were with Him, seeing what was going on, said to Him: “Lord! Shall we strike with a sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. Then Jesus said, leave it alone. And, touching his ear, he healed him”… Peter denies Jesus 3 times… The disciples run away, but this act is a momentary weakness, since then they preached the teachings of Christ, for many of them they paid with their lives. So in the Bible. Andreev's students are traitors;

both in the Bible and in the story, Judas in the community of Christ performed the duties of a treasurer, but “he did not so much take care of the poor, but ... was a thief”;

in L. Andreev, Jesus Christ is mostly silent and always in the background, main character Judas;

common in the language of works:

parables, Christian instructions;

quotes from the Bible in the story: “And numbered among the villains” (ch. 7), “Hosanna! Hosanna! Coming in the name of the Lord” (ch. 6);

often sentences in the Bible and in the story begin with conjunctions and, a, which gives the texts a colloquial character: “And Judas believed him - and he suddenly stole and deceived Judas ... And everyone deceives him”; “And they laughed at me… and gave it to me to eat, and I asked for more…”;

in the Bible and in the story there is a stylistic device - inversion: “they spread their cloaks on the ground”, “the people welcomed him”. But unlike the Bible, Andreev has many unusual figurative comparisons;

L. Andreev uses obsolete forms of the word in the story: “And quietly biya chest”, “And, suddenly changing the speed of movements slowness...”

Statement of the educational task:

Why is the writer doing this? What message does he want to convey to us? We will try to answer these questions in our lesson.

II. Analysis of the story "Judas Iscariot".

L. Andreev was not the first to address the theme of Judas' betrayal. So, for example, there is Judas - the hero and great martyr of M. Voloshin, and in the "biography" of Judas, which appeared in the Middle Ages, he is "a perfect villain in everything." In the story of H.L. Borges “Three versions of the betrayal of Judas” proved, and quite ingeniously, that Judas is the J. Christ. There are many other reconstructions of the image of Judas and the motives for his betrayal, but their number and variety only confirms the fact that Judas has long ceased to be only a character in Holy Scripture, having become an eternal image of world artistic culture. What kind of Judas does L. Andreev have? Let's turn to the story .

Acquaintance with Judas begins even before his appearance on the pages of the work.

• How and what do we learn about it?

We learn about Judas from stories about him among the people: he is “a man of very bad reputation”, “selfish”, “steals skillfully”, therefore “he must beware”.

That is, the peaceful life of the city and the Christian community was violated by rumors that frightened. So from the first lines in the work, the motive of anxiety begins to sound.

• How does nature react to the appearance of Judas? Read out.
• What feelings does the description of nature evoke?
(Anxiety again.) How does the author convey this feeling?(Lexical repetitions - “heavy”, “heavy”; antithesis: white - red; alliteration: hissing, hardness [t]).

At this time, Judas appears: the end of the day is night, as if hiding from people. The time of the appearance of the hero is also alarming.

• What does Judas look like? Read out.
• What can be said about the hero by his description of appearance?

Contradictory appearance - contradictory and behavior, two-faced. The contradictions of the hero are given through a poetic device - opposition, antithesis.

• What feeling does the description of appearance evoke?

• What is the name of this artistic technique by L. Andreev?
(Expressive imagery.)

Judas has not yet done anything, but the atmosphere of the story is heating up more and more.

• What is the name of the character in the story? Who?

Pupils often call Judas, and “ugly, “punished dog”, “insect”, “monstrous fruit”, “severe jailer”, “old deceiver”, “gray stone”, “traitor” - this is what the author calls. It is typical for L. Andreev that he often calls the hero not by name, but by metaphors, concepts that have a generalized meaning. Tell me why?(In the spirit of expressionism. This is how he expresses his feelings. What is the author's attitude towards Judas?(Negative.)

But we must not forget that the work is based on a biblical story. What does the name mean in the Bible? A talking biblical reference book will help us understand biblical concepts:

Student: in religion there is a cult of the name. There is even a religious direction - name glory, name and essence of a person coincide. For example, Christ is both a name and a divine essence. Evil will never be in the name of something. Therefore, criminals, as a rule, have nicknames. The name is a value. Judas didn't have a home, a family, or children. "Judas is a bad man and God does not want offspring from Judas." He is often referred to in a derogatory manner rather than by his first name.

• Why did Jesus bring such a terrible person closer to him?

"The spirit of bright contradiction attracted him to the rejected and unloved." Those. Jesus' actions are guided by love for people. ( A table is made on the board ). How does Judas feel about Jesus?(Loves.) Why does Jesus' attitude towards him change? Read out. What event preceded that?(Judas was right when he said bad things about people. This was confirmed: the woman accused Jesus of stealing a goat, which she later found entangled in the bushes.)

• Does this fact mean that Judas understands people? What does he say about people? Read out.

We write in the table: does not like people, because. they are the source of evil.

• What next event intensified the spat between Judas and Jesus?

Saves the life of Jesus.

• What does Judas expect for his act?

Praise, thanks.

• What did you get?

More wrath of Jesus.

• Why?

• What is the position of Christ?

• Tell the parable of the fig tree. Why does Jesus tell Judas?

The parable indicates how God deals with sinners. He is not in a hurry to chop off the shoulder, but gives us a chance to improve, “desires the repentance of sinners.”

• But does Judas consider himself a sinner?

No. And he is not going to change his views. However, he understands that Jesus will never agree with him. It was then that Judas decided to take the last step: "And now he will perish, and Judas will perish with him."

• What did he think?

Betrayal.

• How does he behave when he visits Anna?

Ambiguous: does not dissuade Jesus from traveling to Jerusalem and betrays.

• How does he betray?

• Why kiss?

• Let us prove that his actions are driven by love for Jesus.

Surrounded the teacher with tenderness and attention, warned of danger, brought 2 swords, urged to take care of Jesus.

• Why does Judas betray? Wants Jesus to die?

• What does he want?

Judas created, like Raskolnikov, a theory according to which all people are bad, and wants to test the theory in practice. He hopes to the last that people will intercede for Christ. ( Read passages to support this.)

• How in this episode the author reveals the psychology of the hero

Repetitions of events and lexical repetitions increase tension. The antithesis of Judas' expectations to what the people are doing is disturbing. The painful feeling of expectation is conveyed by dots. Again the duality of Judas: it waits for the people to save Christ, and everything in them sings: “Hosanna!” - and rejoices when his theory is confirmed: "Hosanna!" Shouts of joy in exclamation marks, in the oxymoron "joyfully alone."

• Judas proved the theory. Why did he hang himself?

He loved Christ, wanted to be with him.

• Real love sacrificial. What does Judas sacrifice?

Dooms himself to eternal shame.

• Why else did you hang yourself?

I saw the inevitability of evil on earth, the lack of love, betrayal. (Reading the epigraph to the lesson.)

• What accusations does he throw in the face of Anna and the students? Give examples.

• The psychologism of the last pages of the story reaches its highest intensity. How does the author convey this?

The excitement of Judas is conveyed in punctuation (ellipsis, exclamation points, rhetorical questions); through deeds - throws pieces of silver in the faces of the high priest and judges; in antithesis: the excitement of Judas is opposed by the indifference of Anna, the calmness of the disciples. Lexical repetitions make one resent.

• How is Judas transformed outwardly?

"... his gaze was simple, and direct, and terrible in its naked truthfulness." Duplicity disappears - there is nothing to hide. The author emphasizes his directness and truth with alliteration: [pr], [p].

• Do you agree with Jude's statements?
• Who is Judas: the winner or the vanquished?

He is the winner, too. his theory was confirmed. He is defeated, because. his victory came at the cost of death.

• This is the contradiction of L. Andreev: evil is ugly, therefore his Judas is terrible, and the author is hostile towards him, but agrees with his judgments.

The name of Judas has become a household name. Means "traitor". The story ends with the word "traitor", symbolizing the collapse of human relations.

• What is your attitude towards Judas?

There is something to respect: he is smart, understands people, sincerely loves, is able to give his life. You feel sorry for him, but at the same time you despise him. He was two-faced, and feelings for him were twofold.

• The image of Judas, created by L. Andreev, is the only one in world art with an equally unique extravagant interpretation of the plot. And very persuasive. During his lifetime, L. Andreev called the Kingdom of Heaven “nonsense”. What do we learn about this in the book? Read out.

• The author boldly reshapes two-thousand-year-old images in order to make the reader resent the revealed nonsense. The story reflected the contradictions of the era in which L. Andreev lived. He is concerned with eternal questions: what rules the world: good or evil, truth or falsehood, is it possible to live righteously in an unrighteous world. What do we think?

III. Presentation by students of their research papers:

1. Rhythmic-intonation analysis of L. Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot".

2. Space and time in the story.

3. The variety of color and its meaning in the story.

In the course of the performances, the students compiled the following model of the performance:

Rice. 2

4. Sounding the model of the work: reading the author's poem, written after reading the story "Judas Iscariot":

Under the eternal sky - eternal earth
With good and evil, betrayal, sins.
The people here are wrong. And their souls of grief
Then in Hell, they blaze in passionless fire.
But still good, light, Paradise is the strongest!
There, the righteous sleep peacefully.
And all living centuries remember that
Who was once betrayed and crucified.

Arefieva Diana.

IV. Homework: analysis of an excerpt from chapter 3 of the story.

The story "Judas Iscariot", a summary of which is presented in this article, was created on the basis of a biblical story. Nevertheless, even before the publication of the work, Maxim Gorky said that few would understand it and would cause a lot of noise.

Leonid Andreev

This is a rather ambiguous author. Andreev's work in Soviet times was unfamiliar to readers. Before proceeding to a summary of Judas Iscariot - a story that causes both delight and indignation - let's recall the main and most interesting facts from the writer's biography.

Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was an extraordinary and very emotional person. As a law student, he began to abuse alcohol. For some time, the only source of income for Andreev was painting portraits to order: he was not only a writer, but also an artist.

In 1894 Andreev tried to commit suicide. An unsuccessful shot led to the development of heart disease. For five years, Leonid Andreev was engaged in advocacy. Writer's fame came to him in 1901. But even then, he evoked conflicting feelings among readers and critics. Leonid Andreev welcomed the revolution of 1905 with joy, but soon became disillusioned with it. After the secession of Finland, he went into exile. The writer died abroad in 1919 from a heart defect.

The history of the creation of the story "Judas Iscariot"

The work was published in 1907. The plot ideas came to the mind of the writer during his stay in Switzerland. In May 1906, Leonid Andreev informed one of his colleagues that he was going to write a book on the psychology of betrayal. He managed to realize the plan in Capri, where he went after the death of his wife.

"Judas Iscariot", a summary of which is presented below, was written within two weeks. The author showed the first edition to his friend Maxim Gorky. He drew the author's attention to historical and factual errors. Andreev re-read the New Testament more than once and made corrections to the story. Even during the life of the writer, the story "Judas Iscariot" was translated into English, German, French and other languages.

The man of notoriety

None of the apostles noticed the appearance of Judas. How did he manage to gain Master's trust? Jesus Christ was warned many times that he was a very notorious man. He should beware. Judas was condemned not only by “right” people, but also by villains. He was the worst of the worst. When the disciples asked Judas about what motivates him to do terrible things, he answered that every person is a sinner. What he said was in tune with the words of Jesus. Nobody has the right to judge another.

This is the philosophical problem of the story Judas Iscariot. The author, of course, did not make his hero positive. But he put the traitor on a par with the disciples of Jesus Christ. Andreev's idea could not but cause a resonance in society.

The disciples of Christ asked Judas more than once about who his father was. He replied that he did not know, perhaps the devil, a rooster, a goat. How can he know everyone with whom his mother shared a bed? Such answers shocked the apostles. Judas insulted his parents, which means he was doomed to perish.

One day, a crowd attacks Christ and his disciples. They are accused of stealing a kid. But a person who will soon betray his teacher rushes to the crowd with the words that the teacher is not possessed by a demon at all, he just loves money just like everyone else. Jesus leaves the village in anger. His disciples follow him, cursing Judas. But after all, this small, disgusting man, worthy of only contempt, wanted to save them ...

Theft

Christ trusts Judas to keep his savings. But he hides a few coins, which the students, of course, will soon find out. But Jesus does not condemn the unlucky disciple. After all, the apostles should not count the coins that his brother appropriated. Their reproaches only offend him. This evening Judas Iscariot is very cheerful. On his example, the apostle John understood what love for one's neighbor is.

thirty pieces of silver

The last days of his life, Jesus surrounds with affection the one who betrays him. Judas is helpful with his disciples - nothing should interfere with his plan. An event will soon take place, thanks to which his name will forever remain in the memory of people. It will be called almost as often as the name of Jesus.

After the execution

When analyzing Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot" Special attention devote to the final piece. The apostles suddenly appear before the readers as cowardly, cowardly people. After the execution, Judas addresses them with a sermon. Why didn't they save Christ? Why didn't they attack the guards in order to rescue the Teacher?

Judas will forever remain in the memory of people as a traitor. And those who were silent when Jesus was crucified will be venerated. After all, they carry the Word of Christ on earth. This is the summary of Judas Iscariot. In order to make an artistic analysis of the work, you should still read the story in full.

The meaning of the story "Judas Iscariot"

Why did the author depict a negative biblical character in such an unusual perspective? "Judas Iscariot" by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev is, according to many critics, one of the greatest works of Russian classics. The story makes the reader think first of all about what true love is, real faith and fear of death. The author seems to be asking what is hidden behind faith, is there a lot of true love in it?

The image of Judas in the story "Judas Iscariot"

The hero of Andreev's book is a traitor. Judas sold Christ for 30 pieces of silver. He is the worst of all who has ever lived on our planet. Can you feel compassion for him? Of course not. The writer seems to tempt the reader.

But it is worth remembering that Andreev's story is by no means a theological work. The book has nothing to do with the church, faith. The author simply invited readers to look at the well-known story from a different, unusual side.

A person is mistaken, believing that he can always accurately determine the motives of the behavior of another. Judas betrays Christ, which means he is a bad person. This indicates that he does not believe in the Messiah. The apostles give the teacher to the Romans and Pharisees to be torn to pieces. And they do it because they believe in their teacher. Jesus will rise again, they will believe in the Savior. Andreev offered to look at the act of both Judas and the faithful disciples of Christ differently.

Judas is madly in love with Christ. However, it seems to him that those around him do not appreciate Jesus enough. And he provokes the Jews: he betrays the adored teacher in order to test the strength of the people's love for him. A cruel disappointment awaits Judas: the disciples fled, and the people demand to kill Jesus. Even the words of Pilate that he did not find the guilt of Christ were not heard by anyone. The crowd is out for blood.

This book caused indignation among believers. Not surprising. The apostles did not snatch Christ from the clutches of the escorts, not because they believed in him, but because they were afraid - that, perhaps, the main idea Andreev's story. After the execution, Judas turns to the disciples with reproaches, and at this moment he is not at all disgusting. It seems that there is truth in his words.

Judas took upon himself a heavy cross. He became a traitor, thus causing people to wake up. Jesus said that the guilty should not be killed. But wasn't his execution a violation of this postulate? In the mouth of Judas - his hero - Andreev puts words that, perhaps, he wanted to pronounce himself. Did not Christ go to death with the tacit consent of his disciples? Judas asks the apostles how they could allow his death. They have nothing to answer. They are confusedly silent.

History of creation and analysis of the problems of the story

The work was written in 1907, although the idea appeared 5 years earlier. Andreev decided to show betrayal, based on his own thoughts and fantasies. In the center of the composition is the narrative of a new look at the famous biblical parable.

Analyzing the problems of the story "Judas Iscariot", one can notice that the motive of betrayal is being considered. Judas is jealous of Jesus, his love and kindness towards people, because he understands that he is not capable of this. Judas cannot contradict himself, even if he behaves in an inhuman manner. The general theme is the philosophical theme of the two worldviews.

The main characters of the story "Judas Iscariot"

Judas Iscariot is a two-faced character. Readers' dislike is caused by his portrait. He is shown either courageous or hysterical. Unlike the rest of the disciples, Judas is depicted without a halo and even outwardly uglier. The author calls him a traitor, and in the text there are comparisons with a demon, a freak, an insect.

The images of other students in the story are symbolic and associative.

Other details of the analysis of the story "Judas Iscariot"

The whole appearance of Judas coincides with his character. But, external thinness brings him closer to the image of Christ. Jesus does not distance himself from the traitor, because he must help everyone. And he knows that he will betray him.

They have mutual love, Judas also loves Jesus, listen to his breathy speech.

The conflict occurs at the moment when Judas accuses people of depravity and Jesus moves away from him. Judas feels and perceives this quite painfully. The traitor believes that the entourage of Jesus are liars who curry favor with Christ, he does not believe in their sincerity. He also does not believe in their experiences after the death of Jesus, although he himself suffers.

Judas has the idea that when they die, they will meet again and be able to get closer. But, it is known that suicide is a sin and the teacher is not destined to meet his student. It is with the death of Jesus that the betrayal of Judas is revealed. Judas committed suicide. He hanged himself from a tree growing over a precipice, so that when the branch broke off, he would smash against the rocks.

An analysis of the story "Judas Iscariot" would not be complete if we did not note how the Gospel narrative differs fundamentally from the story "Judas Iscariot". The difference between Andreev's interpretation of the plot and the Gospel lies in the fact that Judas sincerely loved Christ and did not understand why he had these feelings and the other eleven disciples have them.

In this story, Raskolnikov's theory can be traced: with the help of the murder of one person, transform the world. But, of course, it cannot be true.

Undoubtedly, the work was criticized by the church. But Andreev put this essence: the interpretation of the nature of betrayal. People should think about their actions and put their thoughts in order.

We hope that the analysis of the story "Judas Iscariot" was useful to you. We recommend that you read this story in its entirety, but if you wish, you can also get acquainted with

He [Thomas] carefully looked at Christ and Judas,
sitting nearby, and this strange closeness of the divine
beauty and monstrous ugliness, a man with a meek look
and an octopus with dull, greedy eyes oppressed his mind,
like an unsolvable riddle.
L. Andreev. Judas Iscariot

Judas, perhaps the most mysterious (from a psychological point of view) gospel character, was especially attractive to Leonid Andreev with his interest in the subconscious, in the contradictions in the human soul. In this area, L. Andreev, I recall the words of M. Gorky, was "terribly quick-witted."

In the center of L. Andreev's story is the image of Judas Iscariot and his betrayal - "experiment". According to the Gospel, Judas was driven by a mercantile motive - he betrayed the Teacher for 30 pieces of silver 1 (the price is symbolic - this is the price of a slave at that time). In the Gospel, Judas is greedy, he reproaches Mary when she buys precious ointment for Jesus - Judas was the keeper of the public treasury. Andreevsky Judas is not peculiar to the love of money. From L. Andreev, Judas himself buys expensive wine for Jesus, which Peter drinks almost all of.

The reason, the motive for the terrible betrayal, according to the Gospel, was Satan, who entered Judas: "Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, .. and he went and spoke with the high priest" (Gospel of Mark, chapter 14: 1-2). The gospel explanation seems, from a psychological point of view, mysterious: since all the roles were already distributed (both the victim and the traitor), then why did the heavy cross fall on Judas to be a traitor? Why did he then hang himself: could not bear the severity of the crime? Did he repent of his crime? The "crime-punishment" scheme here is so generalized, abstracted, reduced to a general model that, in principle, allows for various psychological concretizations.

In contrast to Yu. Nagibin's story "Beloved Disciple" published in the early 1990s, where the author's position is expressed definitely (in particular, already in the title itself), L. Andreev's story is contradictory, ambivalent, its "answers" are encrypted and are paradoxical, which determines the contradictory, often polar nature of reviews of the story. The author himself spoke about this as follows: "As always, I only pose questions, but I do not give answers to them ..."

The story is symbolic and parable. Parables are the beginnings: "And then Judas came...", union repetitions And that sound epic: "And there was evening, and there was evening silence, and long shadows lay on the ground - the first sharp arrows of the coming night ..."

At the beginning of the story, a negative characterization of Judas is given, it is stated, in particular, that "He had no children, and this once again said that Judas is a bad man and God does not want offspring from Judas", "He himself has been wandering senselessly among the people for many years, .. and everywhere he lies, grimaces, vigilantly looks out for what with his thief's eye" etc. From a certain point of view, these characteristics are fair; they are often cited as evidence of the author's negative attitude towards the central character of his story. And yet it must be remembered that these rumors do not belong to the author, but to some "knowing" Judas, as evidenced by the author's references to the point of view of others: "Jesus Christ many times warned that Judas of Carioth is a man of very bad reputation and must be guarded against…"; " Told further, that ... [highlighted in both cases by me. - V.K.]". This initial knowledge about Judas is further supplemented and corrected by the author.

Intentionally at the beginning of the story, a repulsive portrait of the ugly red-haired Judas is also given:

And then Judas came ... He was thin, of good height, almost the same as Jesus ... and strong enough in strength, he was apparently, but for some reason he pretended to be frail and sickly ... Short red hair did not hide a strange and unusual shape his skull: as if cut from the back of the head with a double blow of the sword and recomposed, it was clearly divided into four parts and inspired distrust, even anxiety: behind such a skull there can be no silence and consent, behind such a skull one can always hear the noise of bloody and merciless battles. The face of Judas also doubled: one side of it, with a black, keenly looking out eye, was lively, mobile, willingly gathering into numerous crooked wrinkles. The other had no wrinkles, and it was deathly smooth, flat and frozen; and although it was equal in size to the first, it seemed huge from the wide-open blind eye ...

What was the motive for the villainous act of Judas? S.S. Averintsev in the encyclopedia "Myths of the peoples of the world" calls the main motive "the painful love for Christ and the desire to provoke the disciples and the people to decisive action" 2 .

It follows from the text of the story that one of the motives is not psychological, but philosophical and ethical in nature, and it is associated with the satanic nature of Judas ( "Satan entered into Judas..."). It's about who knows people better: Jesus or Judas? Jesus, with his idea of ​​love and faith in a good beginning in a person, or Judas, who claims that in the soul of every person - "every untruth, abomination and lie" even in the shower good man if you scrub it well? Who will win this tacit dispute between Good and Evil, i.e. what will be the outcome of the "experiment" set up by Judas? It is important to emphasize that Judas does not want to prove, but to verify his truth, which was rightly noted by L.A. Kolobaeva: “Judas does not need to prove that the disciples of Christ, like people in general, are bad - to prove to Christ, to all people, but to find out for himself what they really are, to find out their real value. Judas must decide the question - is he deceived or right? This is the edge of the problematics of the story, which is of a philosophical and ethical nature: the story asks the question about the basic values ​​of human existence" 3 .

To this end, Judas decides on a terrible "experiment". But his burden is painful for him, and he would be glad to make a mistake, he hopes that "and others" will defend Christ: "Betraying Jesus with one hand, Judas diligently sought to thwart his own plans with the other".

The duality of Judas is connected with his satanic origin: Judas claims that his father is a "goat" 4 ie. devil. If Satan entered Judas, then the satanic principle should have manifested itself not only at the level of the act - the betrayal of Judas, but also at the level of philosophy, ethics, and also appearance. Judas, with his characteristic (and explained by the author of the story) insight, as if from the outside, sees and evaluates people. The author deliberately gives Judas "serpentine" features: "Judas crawled away", "And, walking, as everyone walks, but feeling as if he was dragging along the ground". In this case, we can talk about the symbolic nature of the story - about the duel of Christ and Satan. This conflict is essentially evangelical, it expresses the opposition between Good and Evil. Evil (including the recognition of ontological evil in the human soul) wins in the story. It could be argued that L. Andreev comes to the idea of ​​the global impotence of man, if (paradox!) It were not for the ability of Judas to repent and self-sacrifice.

L. Andreev does not justify the act of Judas, he tries to unravel the riddle: what guided Judas in his act 5 ? The writer fills the gospel plot of betrayal with psychological content, and the following stand out among the motives:

• rebellion, rebelliousness of Judas, an irrepressible desire to solve the riddle of a person (to find out the price of "others"), which is generally characteristic of the heroes of L. Andreev. These qualities of Andreev's heroes are to a large extent a projection of the soul of the writer himself - a maximalist and a rebel, a paradoxicalist and a heretic;
• loneliness, abandonment Jude 6. Judas was despised, and Jesus was indifferent to him. Only on a short time Judas received recognition - when he defeated the strong Peter in throwing stones, but then again it turned out that everyone went ahead, and Judas again trailed behind, forgotten and despised by everyone. By the way, the language of L. Andreev is extremely picturesque, plastic, expressive, in particular, in the episode where the apostles throw stones into the abyss:

  Peter, who did not like quiet pleasures, and with him Philip, were engaged in tearing large stones from the mountain and letting them down, competing in strength ... Straining, they tore off the old, overgrown stone from the ground, lifted it high with both hands and let it go down the slope. Heavy, it struck short and dull and thought for a moment; then hesitantly made the first leap - and with each touch to the ground, taking speed and strength from it, he became light, ferocious, all-destroying. He no longer jumped, but he flew with bared teeth, and the air, whistling, passed his dull, round carcass. Here is the edge, - with a smooth last movement, the stone soared upwards and calmly, in heavy thought, roundly flew down to the bottom of an invisible abyss.

  The picture is so expressive that we follow the jumps with tension and, finally, the flight of the stone, accompanying each stage of its movement with our eyes. The Messiah completely stopped paying attention to Judas: "for everyone he (Jesus) was a tender and beautiful flower, but for Judas he left only sharp thorns - as if Judas had no heart". This indifference of Jesus, as well as disputes about who is closer to Jesus, who loves him more, became, as a psychologist would say, a provoking factor for Judas' decision;

• resentment, envy, immeasurable pride, the desire to prove that it is he who loves Jesus the most is also characteristic of Andreev's Judas. To the question put to Judas, who will be in the Kingdom Heavenly first near Jesus - Peter or John, follows the answer that struck everyone: the first will be Judas! Everyone says they love Jesus, but how they will behave in the hour of trials is what Judas wants to test. It may turn out that "others" love Jesus only in words, and then Judas will triumph. The act of a traitor is the desire to test the love of others for the Teacher and prove their love.

The plot-compositional role of Judas is ambiguous. He is destined by the author to be a catalyst for events in order to highlight and give a moral assessment to the actions of "others". But the plot is also driven by Judas' personal desire to be understood by the Teacher, to induce him to pay attention to him, to appreciate his love. Judas creates an existential situation - a situation of choice, which should become a moment of psychological, moral revelation for all participants in this great test.

At the same time, the personality of Judas becomes significant in the story, and its significance is evidenced by the correct indicator - the speech of the central character, in contrast to the speech of "and other" characters. R. S. Spivak discovers the priority in the story creativity and distinguishes in it (and on the basis of speech too) two types of consciousness: inert, uncreative("faithful" students) and creative, liberated from the pressure of dogma (Judas Iscariot): "The inertia and futility of the first consciousness - based on blind faith and authority, which Judas does not get tired of mocking - is embodied in the unambiguous, poor, at the everyday level, the speech of the" faithful "disciples. The speech of Judas, whose consciousness is focused on the creativity of a free individual, replete with paradoxes, allusions, symbols, poetic allegories" 7 . Replete with metaphors, poeticisms, for example, the appeal of Jude to Jesus' beloved disciple John:

Why are you silent, John? Your words are like golden apples in transparent silver vessels, give one of them to Judas, who is so poor.

This gave R. S. Spivak reason to assert that the creative personality in Andreev’s concept of man and in Andreev’s worldview has a central place.

L. Andreev is a romantic writer (with a personalistic, that is, a deeply personal type of consciousness, which was projected onto his works and, above all, determined their character, range of topics and features of the worldview) in the sense that he did not accept evil in the world around him, the most important justification his existence on earth was creativity 7 . Hence the high value of a creative person in his artistic world. In L. Andreev's story, Judas is the creator of a new reality, a new, Christian era, no matter how blasphemous it sounds for a believer.

Andreevsky's Judas takes on grandiose proportions, he becomes equal with Christ, is regarded as a participant in the re-creation of the world, its transformation. If at the beginning of the story Judas "dragged along the ground like a punished dog", "Judas crawled away, hesitated hesitantly and disappeared", then after what he did:

... all the time belongs to him, and he walks slowly, now the whole earth belongs to him, and he steps firmly, like a sovereign, like a king, like one who is infinitely and joyfully alone in this world. He notices the mother of Jesus and says to her sternly:

Are you crying, mother? Weep, weep, and for a long time all the mothers of the earth will weep with you. Until then, until we come with Jesus and destroy death.

Judas understands the situation as a choice: either he will change the world with Jesus, or:

Then there will be no Judas of Carioth. Then there will be no Jesus. Then it will be... Thomas, stupid Thomas! Have you ever wished you could take the earth and lift it up?

Thus, it is about the transformation of the world, no less. Everything in the world yearns for this transformation, nature yearns for it (see the expressive landscape picture in the story before the start of the tragic events):

And ahead of him [Judas. - V.K.], and from behind, and from all sides, the walls of the ravine rose, cutting off the edges of the blue sky with a sharp line; and everywhere, clinging to the ground, huge gray stones rose - as if stone rain had once passed here and its heavy drops froze in an endless thought. And this wild-desert ravine looked like an overturned, chopped off skull, and every stone in it was like a frozen thought, and there were many of them, and they all thought - hard, boundlessly, stubbornly.

Everything in the world longs for transformation. And it happened - the course of time changed.

What are tears? Judas asks and frantically pushes motionless time, beats him with his fist, curses him like a slave. It is alien and therefore so naughty. Oh, if only it belonged to Judas - but it belongs to all those weeping, laughing, chatting, as in the bazaar; it belongs to the sun; it belongs to the cross and the heart of Jesus dying so slowly.

And one more important feature of Andreev's hero (Andreev's concept of man) is emphasized by the researchers: "This is a potential rebel, a rebel who challenges earthly and eternal existence. These rebels are very different in their vision of the world, and their rebellions have different colors, but the essence of their existence is one : they die, but do not surrender" 8 .

From artistic features novel by L. Andreev "Judas Iscariot" attracts the attention of literary critics system of paradoxes, contradictions, innuendo, which has the most important pictorial function. The system of paradoxes helps to understand the complexity and ambiguity of the gospel episode, constantly keeping the reader in suspense. It reflects the emotional storm that swept over the soul of the betrayer of Christ, and then repentant and hanged Judas.

The paradoxical duality of the appearance and the inner essence of Judas is constantly emphasized by the author. The hero of the story is deceitful, envious, ugly, but at the same time the most intelligent of all the students, and smart with a superhuman, satanic mind: he knows people too deeply and understands the motives of their actions, while for others he remained incomprehensible. Judas betrays Jesus, but he loves him like a son, the execution of the Teacher for him is "horror and dreams." Paradoxical duality gives multidimensionality, ambiguity, psychological persuasiveness of Andreev's story.

In Judas, there is undoubtedly something of the devil, but at the same time, his personal (not from the devil, but from a man) amazing sincerity, the strength of feeling for the Teacher at the hour of his tragic trial, the significance of his personality cannot but affect the reader. The duality of the image lies in the fact that it is inextricably linked with that terrible thing that is assigned to it by the religious and cultural world tradition, and that sublimely tragic that equates it with the Teacher in the image of L. Andreev. It is the author of the story that pierces in meaning and emotional power of the words:

And from that evening until the very death of Jesus, Judas did not see any of his disciples near him; and among all this crowd there were only the two of them, inseparable until death, wildly bound by a community of suffering - the one who was betrayed to reproach and torment, and the one who betrayed him. From the same goblet of suffering, like brothers, they both drank, the betrayer and the devotee, and the fiery moisture equally seared clean and impure lips 9 .

In the context of the story, the death of Judas is as symbolic as the crucifixion of Jesus. In a reduced plan, and at the same time as significant, rising above ordinary reality and ordinary people the event described the suicide of Judas. The crucifixion of Jesus on the cross is symbolic: the cross is a symbol, a center, a convergence of Good and Evil. On a broken, crooked branch of a wind-worn, half-dried tree, but on a mountain (!), high above Jerusalem, Judas hanged himself. Deceived by people, Judas voluntarily leaves this world after his teacher:

Judas had long ago, during his solitary walks, outlined the place where he would kill himself after the death of Jesus. It was on a mountain, high above Jerusalem, and there was only one tree standing there, crooked, tormented by the wind tearing it from all sides, half-withered. It stretched out one of its broken crooked branches towards Jerusalem, as if blessing it or threatening it with something, and Judas chose it in order to make a noose on it ... [Judas] muttered angrily:

No, they are too bad for Judas. Do you hear Jesus? Now will you believe me? I am going to you. Meet me kindly, I'm tired. I am very tired. Then together with you, embracing like brothers, we will return to earth. Fine?

Recall that the word brothers has already been uttered in the speech of the author-narrator earlier, and this indicates the closeness of the positions of the author and his hero. Distinctive feature novels - lyricism and expressiveness, an emotionally high degree of narration, conveying the tension of Judas' expectations (the embodiment of "horror and dreams"). At times, especially when describing the execution of Christ, the narrative takes on an almost unbearable tension:

When the hammer was raised to nail the left hand of Jesus to the tree, Judas closed his eyes and for an eternity did not breathe, did not see, did not live, but only listened. But then, with a creaking sound, iron struck against iron, and time after time dull, short, low blows - one can hear how a sharp nail enters soft wood, pushing its particles apart ...

One hand. Not too late.

Another hand. Not too late.

Leg, other leg - is it all over? Hesitantly opens his eyes and sees how the cross rises, swaying, and is installed in the pit. He sees how, trembling tensely, the painful arms of Jesus stretch out, expand the wounds - and suddenly the fallen stomach goes under the ribs ...

And again, the author - together with the central character of the story, and as a result of the closest approach to the suffering Jesus, the depicted picture grows to enormous sizes (in reality, Jesus could hardly be seen so close - he was on the cross, the guards did not let him in), reaching an extraordinary expressiveness. The expressiveness and emotional contagiousness of L. Andreev's story prompted A. Blok to say: "The author's soul is a living wound."