Problems, main conflict and system of images (based on the play by A.V

Written in 1968, we will describe its brief content. "Duck Hunt" is a work that takes place in one of the provincial towns.

Zilov Viktor Alexandrovich wakes up from a phone call. He picks up the phone with difficulty. However, there is only silence. Zilov gets up slowly, then opens the window. The weather outside is rainy. Viktor Aleksandrovich drinks beer and begins physical exercises with a bottle in his hands. The phone rings again, and again there is silence. This is how Vampilov's play "Duck Hunt" begins. A photo of its author is presented below.

Conversation with the waiter Dima

Zilov decides to call himself. He dials the number of Dima's waiter, with whom he agreed to go hunting, and is very surprised when he asks him if he will go. Viktor Alexandrovich is interested in the details of the scandal that erupted yesterday. Dima did it in a cafe. Zilov very vaguely remembers the details. He is especially worried about who hit him in the face yesterday.

Funeral wreath

As soon as he finishes the telephone conversation, there is a knock on the door. Enter a boy holding a large funeral wreath. There is an inscription on it, which says that this wreath is from friends and is intended for Zilov, who burned down prematurely at work. Zilov is annoyed with such a gloomy joke. He sits on the couch and begins to imagine how everything could have happened if he really died. Then the last days of his life pass before his eyes.

Remembrance of the Housewarming Celebration

First memory. In Zilov's favorite place, in the Forget-Me-not cafe, he, together with Sayapin, his friend, meets with Kushak, the chief of work, in order to celebrate a major event - the receipt of a new apartment. Vera, his mistress, comes in unexpectedly. Zilov asks her not to advertise their relationship, seates everyone at the table, and Dima brings shish kebabs and wine. Zilov reminds Kushak that the housewarming party is scheduled for the evening. He agrees, somewhat flirting. Zilov is forced to invite Vera, who really wants to come. He introduces the boss, who recently accompanied his wife to the south, as a classmate. With her relaxed behavior, Vera inspires some hope for Kushak.

We continue to describe the summary. "Duck Hunt" is a play, the further events of which are as follows. Zilov's friends gather in the evening for a housewarming party to him. His wife, Galina, while waiting for the guests, dreams that everything between them will become the same as in the beginning, when the spouses loved each other. Among the gifts brought were hunting equipment: a bandolier, a knife and several wooden birds, which are used for duck hunting. This occupation is Viktor Alexandrovich's greatest passion, apart from women. However, he has not yet succeeded in killing a single duck. The main thing for him, as Galina says, is conversations and gatherings. Zilov pays no attention to ridicule.

"Lipa" on the modernization of production, meeting Irina

Second memory. Zilov and Sayapin at work urgently need to prepare information regarding the modernization of production. Zilov invites him to present the project made for the porcelain factory as already completed. They take a long time to decide whether to do it or not. And although Sayapin is afraid of a possible exposure, the "linden" is still being prepared. Zilov is here reading a letter from his old father, who lives in another city. He has not seen him for 4 years. He writes that he is sick and wants to see each other. However, Zilov, the hero of the play "Duck Hunt", is indifferent to this. Analyzing his reaction, we can say that he does not believe his father. Besides, he still does not have time for this, since he is going on vacation to go duck hunting. He does not want and cannot miss her. Irina suddenly appears in the room, an unfamiliar girl who has confused their office with the editorial office of the newspaper. Zilov is playing it, posing as a newspaper employee. This joke is finally exposed by the boss who comes in. Zilov and Irina have an affair, which Vampilov notes.

"Duck Hunt": the content of the matrimonial scene

Third memory. Zilov returns home in the morning. His wife is awake. Zilov ("Duck Hunt") complains that there is a lot of work, says that he was unexpectedly sent on a business trip. However, Galina says bluntly that she does not believe in this, since a neighbor saw him in the city last night. Zilov tries to accuse his wife of being too suspicious, but this does not work on her. She endured too long and can no longer bear the lies of her husband. Galina says that she was at the doctor, that she had an abortion. The spouse is showing indignation. He reproaches her for the fact that his wife did not consult with him. Zilov tries to soften his wife, remembering the evening when they became close for the first time. It happened six years ago. At first Galina protests, but then succumbs to the charm of this memory - until her husband can remember some words that are very important to her. She is crying, sinking into a chair.

Zilova, meeting in "Forget-me-not" with his wife

The next memory of the protagonist. At the end of the working day, Kushak appears in Sayapin and Zilov's room. He is angry and demands an explanation about a brochure containing information about the alleged reconstruction at the porcelain factory. Shielding Sayapin, since he should soon get an apartment, Zilov assumes all responsibility. Only Sayapin's wife, who suddenly appeared, managed to extinguish the storm. She takes the simple-minded Kushak to football. Zilov at this moment receives a telegram, which says about the death of his father. He decides to fly immediately in order to get to the funeral. Zilov's wife wants to go with him, but he refuses. Before leaving, Zilov comes to the Forget-me-not for a drink. In addition, he made an appointment with Irina here. Galina accidentally witnesses their meeting. Zilov's wife came here to bring her husband a briefcase and a raincoat for the trip. Zilov is forced to inform his mistress that he is married. He postpones his departure for tomorrow and orders supper.

Galina goes to her relatives

We present to your attention the following memory that the protagonist of the work "Duck Hunt" sees. Its content is as follows.

Galina wants to go to another city to visit her relatives. As soon as Zilov calls Irina and invites her to his place. Suddenly Galina returns and says that she is leaving him forever. Her husband is discouraged, tries to stop her, but Galina locks the door with a key. Zilov, trapped, uses his eloquence to convince his wife that she is still dear to him. He even says that he will take her on the hunt. However, it is not Galina who hears his explanation, but Irina who comes up, who takes everything said at her own expense.

Drunken speeches of Zilov in "Forget-me-not"

The last memory. While waiting for friends invited on the occasion of a duck hunt and vacation, Zilov drinks at Forget-Me-Not. When his comrades get together, he is already drunk quite strongly, begins to tell them various nasty things. Zilov is getting more and more inflamed by the minute. This leads to the fact that everyone leaves, including Irina, whom he also undeservedly insults. Zilov, left alone, calls the waiter Dima a lackey. He hits him in the face. "Disconnects", falling to the floor, Zilov, the hero of the work "Duck Hunt". The heroes of the play, Sayapin and Kuzakov, return after a while. They pick up Zilov and bring him home.

The decision to commit suicide

Let's talk about the terrible act that Zilov decided to do. The next episode can only be briefly described, since we are compiling a summary. "Duck Hunt" is a play in which Zilov's terrible decision is the culmination. The fact is that, suddenly remembering everything, he decides to commit suicide. Now this hero of the work "Duck Hunt" no longer plays. Analysis of this episode shows that he is quite serious. Zilov writes and then loads the gun, takes off his shoes and gropes for the trigger with his big toe.

The piece "Duck Hunt" continues with a sudden phone call. After that, Kuzakov and Sayapin imperceptibly appear, who notice the preparations of their comrade and take away the gun, attacking him. Zilov drives them away, shouting that he does not believe anyone. However, they still do not dare to leave him alone. Zilov eventually manages to expel Kuzakov and Sayapin.

Zilov decides to go on a duck hunt

He walks around the room with a gun. After that, Zilov throws himself on the bed and it is not clear whether he is crying or laughing. He gets up two minutes later and dials Dima's number. He informs him that he is ready to go hunting.

This concludes the summary. "Duck Hunt", like all the plays, is a small piece of work. You can read it in the original in about 2 hours. The summary does not reveal all the details of the described story. "Duck Hunt" will become clearer and closer to you if you dare to read the text of the work.

Genre features of the plays A. Vampilova

"Elder Son" and "Duck Hunt"

The creativity of A.V. Vampilova occupies a worthy place in the history of Russian literature. Plays by A.V. Vampilov, they form an original, multifaceted and vivid artistic phenomenon, rightly called by researchers "The Vampilov Theater".

Presented by plays of different genres, from lyrical comedy to psychological drama, "Vampilov Theater" has a profound psychological impact, makes viewers and readers rethink their own existence and the philosophical foundations of life.

Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov died early. Almost unnoticed during his lifetime, vaunted after his death, A. Vampilov became one of the mysterious figures in the history of Soviet and Russian drama. He has had a significant impact on the development of modern drama.

"Theater of Alexander Vampilov" is viewed as a developing artistic phenomenon, in which the social and moral problems of its time pass into the plane of universal human "eternal questions" of spiritual life. It should be noted that most of the researchers of the drama of A.V. Vampilov find it difficult to accurately determine the genre of his plays, speaking only about their genre originality and highlighting the presence of various genre forms in him, which, in turn, leads to the emergence of terms such as "polygenre", "genre synthesis", "genre polyphonism", "Genre syncretism".

A.V. Vampilov already in his early plays-stories of the late 50s - early 60s shows the genre originality of his drama, experimenting with dramatic genres and creating an innovative play based on the traditions of the lyric drama of I.S. Turgenev, a satirical comedy by N.V. Gogol and the psychological drama of A.P. Chekhov, building action as a psychological experiment.

The playwright owes his real theatrical fame mainly to the play "The Elder Son", which for several years occupied a leading place in his repertoire.

Freedom of artistic fiction and poetics distinguishes the play "The Elder Son", the play tends to non-everyday, phantasmagoric, parable forms that take them beyond the framework of an everyday anecdote. The play "The Elder Son" bears in itself quite specific and recognizable motives of the era. The theme of the sudden or false finding of relatives, widespread in world drama, also gains its historically determined popularity during these years.

On the one hand, the comedy is notable for its frank gaiety. A. Vampilov uses such well-known comedic plot development techniques as eavesdropping, passing off one character for another, imposture, and sincere belief in a joke. Vampilov masterfully masters the techniques of creating comic positions and characters. He knows how to introduce his peculiar hero, not devoid of comic features, into the most absurd situations.

On the other hand, the play "The Elder Son" reproduces the atmosphere of unsettled life, disintegrating family ties as psychologically accurate and true as was characteristic of the psychological drama of the 60s of the XX century.

Due to the fact that several moral and aesthetic angles of depicting reality are simultaneously set in the comedy, "The Elder Son" acquires the features of a tragicomedy, which complicates the genre of lyrical comedy.

The play is placed by the young playwright in the classical trinity. And at the same time, there is no dramatic predetermination in it. On the contrary, she is characterized by absolute spontaneity, unintentionality of what is happening: Busygin and Silva actually get to know each other before our eyes, not to mention the Sarafanov family, with whom both the viewer and the heroes get to know at the same time.

The Elder Son comedy is built on a rigid paradoxical breakdown, a paradoxical transformation of events arising from the “wrong”, non-canonical reaction of the characters to circumstances.

From the very beginning, the play "Duck Hunt" gained a reputation as the most mysterious and complex play by A.V. Vampilov, including at the level of determining the genre of the work. In Duck Hunt, the tone of the narrative and the overall sound of the play are serious. Duck Hunt is built like a chain of Zilov's memories.

Consistently staged, but scattered memorable episodes from the hero's past life present not only to the reader and viewer, but also to Zilov himself the story of his moral fall. Thanks to this, from the very first episode of the play, a real drama of human life, built on deception, unfolds before us. The drama of Zilov's life gradually turns into a tragedy of loneliness: indifference or feigned participation of friends, loss of a sense of filial affection, vulgarization of the sincere feeling of a girl in love with him, the departure of his wife ... There are obvious signs of tragicomedy in the play (Zilov's conversation with Galina at the time of her departure; Zilov's public denunciation of vices friends; preparing Zilov for suicide).

However, the leading methods of constructing a play, creating a genre orientation of the work, are the methods of psychological drama. For example, the hero A.V. Vampilova is shown at a moment of acute mental crisis, shown from the inside, with all his experiences and problems, almost mercilessly turned inside out, psychologically naked. The playwright's attention is focused on the content of the moral world of his contemporary, while there is no definition of the hero as bad or good, he is internally complex, ambiguous. The ending of "Duck Hunt" has been complicated: the play could have been completed before the main ending twice: when Zilov put a gun to his chest or shared property with Sayapin (then this would be more in line with the canons of tragicomedy). The main ending of the play has an open character and is decided in the traditions of psychological drama.

The play by A.V. Vampilov's "Duck Hunt" is usually viewed as a socio-psychological drama (less often as a tragicomedy with elements of industrial conflict, farcical and melodramatic inserts), in which the playwright revises the problems of his early works.

In the criticism of the 70s - 90s. a tendency has developed to interpret The Duck Hunt primarily as a drama of losses, since the play consistently reveals the series of values: the hero realizes, or makes visible for comprehension, what could have become a solid support in his life, but is no longer there. And yet "Duck Hunt" is, first of all, a tragicomedy of existence and self-valuable awareness: its conflict is born where reality, taking the form of a mercilessly objective mirror, provides the hero with an opportunity to look at himself from the outside.

With the constant gravitation of the playwright to the genre of comedy throughout his creative life, tragicomedy nevertheless became the genre dominant of his work.

Faculty of Arts

abstract

In the discipline "History of Domestic Literature"

On the topic: “Analysis of the works of A.V. Vampilov "

Completed:

Vladislav Bukatkin

Checked:

(Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Culturology, St.

Doctor of Philology, Professor Honorary Professor)

Uspenskaya Anna Viktorovna

Saint Petersburg 2014

1. Introduction

2. Analysis of the work "Duck Hunt"

3. Analysis of the work "Elder Son"

4. Conclusion

5. List of used literature

Introduction

Literary criticism is one of the oldest branches of philological knowledge. It is a science, but a science of a special kind, practically inseparable from the art of the word it studies. Indeed, literary studies, whose thought is straightforward, and the language is poor, will not be of interest not only to a wide audience, but also to specialists. On the contrary, many examples can be cited when seemingly purely literary problems worry many. Articles and books by V. Belinsky, D. Pisarev, N. Dobrolyubov, N. Chernyshevsky, A. Grigoriev, Yu. Tynyanov, D. Likhachev, Yu. Lotman became the object of wide public attention, which was facilitated by both the depth and originality of the thinking of these authors, and their ability to write vividly and figuratively.

It is clear that talent is a necessary condition for any scientific activity: a logical sequence of reasoning and a clear and elegant formulation of conclusions equally characterize the works of outstanding physicists, mathematicians, and biologists. However, in literary studies, the problem of form is especially important. A literary critic is almost a "co-author" of the artist, and the disclosure of the possibilities of a literary masterpiece largely depends on the talent of the researcher, his taste and tact. An article or book, written in a dark and sluggish manner, which deals with the work of a brilliant stylist, hardly anyone will be interested.

The drama of the 20th century seeks to free itself from the shackles of familiar dramatic categories, not only from the dictates of the unity of time, place, action, but also from such obligatory conditions of the old drama as the one-pointedness of time, the indivisibility of the human person. In the sixties, freedom, the looseness of the dramatic form was inspired by a new, after a very long break, the flourishing of director's art, searches for literature, acquaintance with foreign drama, the influence of cinema, which was experiencing its best years, its freedom in dealing with place and time, "reality" and "dreams", with the ease with which he objectifies dreams, memories, dreams on the screen. For the sixties, the latter was one of the favorite modes of storytelling: dying visions. Vampilov was one of the first to show innovation in this direction.

Analysis of the work "Duck Hunt"

Duck Hunt was written in 1965-1967. These years were extremely important, eventful, bright and turning point in the life of the playwright. At this time, his rebirth took place, no longer as a professional writer, but as an artist who fully felt his poetic power.

"Duck Hunt" uniquely, complexly and indirectly absorbed the searches of literature, theater and cinema of the sixties. The fact that the sixties in Soviet literature were the heyday of lyricism is just as important for the essence of Duck Hunt as the golden age of the Russian novel was for the birth of Chekhov's drama.

The structure of "Duck Hunt" with all the external similarity of the play is extremely complex and sophisticated. "Duck Hunt" is a play in memoirs. Memories as a special form of dramatic storytelling were a very common technique in the sixties. "Duck Hunt" consists of three layers: the layer of the present, the layer of memories and, so to speak, the borderline, intermediate layer-layer of visions.

The layer of memories that unfolds within this frame is more abundant in events, but also does not carry much drama, although several very tense plot lines are intertwined in it: Zilov starts an affair with a pretty girl, the girl falls in love with him, his wife, discovering treason, leaves, but when, it would seem, nothing prevents the hero's happy reunion with his young lover, in the midst of a party, almost an engagement, Zilov gets drunk heavily, makes a scandal, insults his friends and the girl.

In parallel, another plot unfolds: the hero gets a new apartment and, in gratitude, "brings" the boss with his former girlfriend, at the same time this girlfriend starts an affair with another friend of Zilov. The hero is in trouble at work - he slipped a fake report to his superiors, and a colleague friend betrayed him, evading their joint responsibility for what they had done.

The plot of the memoirs is richly varied with everyday details. The hero's father died, whom he had not seen for a long time, the hero's wife turns out to be either a real or a fictional romance with a former fellow practitioner, and finally, the hero always dreams of the upcoming vacation, of a duck hunt, which is not hindered in the play.

The third layer of action is the layer of visions of Zilov, who estimates how friends, colleagues, and girlfriends will perceive the news of his death, at first - imaginary, in the end, as it seems to him - irreversible. This layer consists of two interludes, the text of which, excluding two or three phrases, almost completely coincides. But, verbally coinciding, they are absolutely opposite in emotional sign: in the first case, the imaginary scene of death is clearly comic and even clownish in nature, in the second - in her mood, there is not even a shadow of a smile in her tone. But the main thing in them is that these visions, as it were, objectify the nature of Zilov's memories. The visions are mocking and sarcastic, the characters in the play are evil and precisely caricatured, and this moment seems to remove the subjective nature of the hero's memories, leaving behind them the right to some kind of artistic impartiality. The drama unfolds between a half-joking suicide plot inspired by the "original" gift of Sayapin and Kuzakov, and an attempt to carry it out in earnest.

The paramount aspect of the play is related to its confessional character. "Duck Hunt" is built as a confession that lasts exactly as long as the play lasts, presenting the life of the hero in a retrospective sequence - from the depths of two months ago to this day. The growth of tragedy proceeds as we approach the temporal junction of the hero's memories and their awareness in the present, indicating that the conflict here is not external, but internal - lyrical, moral.

Zilov's memories form such an integral, comprehensive and complete picture of life that the moments that gave rise to them seem, at first glance, not very significant plot lines, however, in fact, they are very important. Despite the coherence of Zilov's memories, there is no cause-and-effect relationship in them; an external impulse motivates them - the silence of the one to whom Zilov calls and cannot get through: Vera does not answer the phone - scenes related to her come up; Sayapin and Kuzakov are silent - episodes with their participation arise, only the waiter Dima turns out to be the hero's constant interlocutor, and this is a very essential feature in the dramatic development of the play.

"Duck Hunt" is characterized by a special atmosphere generated by the relationship between the ancestral principles of lyrics and drama. The dramaturgy of the play is largely determined by the combination of the objective nature of the drama, according to which everything that happens must be manifested in action, and the special lyrical essence of the main conflict, which consists in the process of memories.

Drama presupposes judgment from the outside, lyricism presupposes awareness from within. Lyrical confession does not allow low self-exposure, dramatic action requires a conflict that must be resolved at the level of any human security. The poetic verdict “and reading my life with disgust, I tremble and curse” is high. Judas Golovlev, Golyadkin or Varravin cannot be the subject of high lyricism, more precisely, it prevents us from recognizing this right to them by the poetic tradition of the 19th century.

The behavior of Zilov and his entourage, it would seem, excludes the possibility of any introspection, any self-control, but nevertheless the playwright forces this hero to peer into his life and reflect on it. The gap between the seriousness of the Zilov drama and the obvious moral defectiveness of the life layer itself, from which the hero raised his face to us, flooded with "incomprehensible" tears ("whether he was crying or laughing, we will never understand by his face"), was too great and for the concrete historical experience of the era, and for the artistic historical and literary experience of the drama.

This strange and complex play, in which the main drama falls on the fact that, in essence, it is impossible to play - on the process of comprehending what is happening, on the process of self-awareness, and ordinary drama is reduced to a minimum. The age of the heroes of the play is about thirty years old, he was commensurate with or slightly higher than the generally accepted for young science fanatics of the mid-sixties. A significant place in the play is occupied by the service activities of the heroes, and although in Vampilov's work all the efforts of the characters are mainly aimed at avoiding work, some of the urgent production tasks facing them are brought to the stage.

The central character has two friends, one of whom is sneaky, and the other is naive and straightforward. A love triangle of the usual style is mandatory for this situation: the hero has a strict, tired, silent wife, whom he deceives, and a young lover, on whom his thoughts are focused. On the periphery of the plot, the usual secondary figures loom: the fool-boss, the punchy wife of one of the friends, the hero's old girlfriend, the acquaintance of the waiter from the nearby cafe, the neighbor's boy. But even this boy is not equal to himself, he came as a reminder of the drama of those years when the teenager was the personification and bearer of truth. "But the fact is that, proceeding from the plot clichés familiar for the sixties, Vampilov sets completely different goals and tasks.

The play presents not the “drama” of the hero, “but a way of life in which the dramas do not happen from the active collision of the hero with reality (as was the case in the early plays of Rozov, for example), but, on the contrary, from the collision and transformation of life into a kind of everyday ritual where half-love, half-friendship, occupation with a profession (...) line up in one tiresome row. " And therefore "Duck Hunt" is based not on the supports of an external conflict, but on the supports of figurative, almost symbolic. And one of them is duck hunting.

Vampilov's play is extremely everyday, it literally drowns in everyday life, and at the same time it is free from everyday life: “no playwright carries with him so much convention as this, at first glance,“ everyday ”writer. And if we forget this, we begin to look for in him only a narrator and a writer of everyday life, or even "the prosecutor of provincial life and boredom, we will not achieve anything." However, the life of the Duck Hunt is organized in a very special way.

The play does not even enjoy the word, that unrestrained element of words, joke, which is usually characteristic of Vampilov's plays. And how cleverly and subtly Zilov's contemporaries reflected - the heroes of the sixties, what depths of spirit and moral paradoxes were revealed in their arrogant self-irony and subtle sarcasm. None of this is in the play, although Zilov is ironic and intellectual enough, and he is placed in the position of a reflective hero, and the author, as time will show, has not lost his craving and taste for theatrical brilliance.

Zilov and Galina have moved to a new, first apartment in their life, but the premises are in no hurry to become their home. The theme of the apartment in the play is - so to speak - cardboard and plaster. There is no home, and housing is not trying to acquire its features. The garden bench brought for housewarming by Kuzakov is just as appropriate and desirable here as in the park. Lack of furniture is just an inconvenience: there is nothing for guests to sit on, but in no way, not a hair's lack of a face at home. Entering an empty, unfurnished apartment Sayapin easily recreates in his imagination everything that should have been here: “There will be a TV-set, here a sofa, next to a refrigerator. There is beer and stuff in the fridge. Everything for friends. " Everything is known, right down to the inside of the refrigerator. But this knowledge is generated not by the imagination of the character, but by the absolute impersonality, the standard of housing.

Some distorted, ugly reminder of custom comes in with Faith. Instead of a living cat - a symbol of the hearth, which is usually allowed into the house in front of the owners, she brings a toy cat, making this stuffed muck the personification not of the house (although something in this spirit, perhaps, the unconscious lies in the gift), but male bestiality: a cat she calls Alik.

The laws of the most elementary behavior have been forgotten not only by the guests, but also by the owners, not only by Zilov, but also by Galina, who cannot resist the onslaught of her husband, who does not know the slightest rule or limitation of momentary desires. This is especially interesting and important to note in comparison with the fact that Zilov, who does not know the restraint in desires, does not know the rules and prohibitions, does not even dream of discovering the hunting season for himself an hour earlier.

The flat, emasculated world of everyday life, or, more precisely, everyday life, is opposed in the play by another world - the world of hunting "Hunting, the theme of hunting acts here as a kind of moral pole, opposite to everyday life. This topic is not only directly stated in the title, not only revealed in word, but also invisibly dissolved in the entire poetics of drama.

In the play's remarks and in the plastic organization of the text, two realities are persistently repeated - the window and the rain outside the window (or the blue of the sky that replaces it). Window - a drawing on the backdrop, a dead, airless, painted space, rain - light and onomatopoeia, or the play of actors. Moreover, the observance of these remarks in terms of production requires considerable tricks from the director and artist.

In all tense situations, the hero's face (sometimes this remark accompanies Galina's behavior) is turned to the window. If the viewer should see what is happening outside the window: rain, cloudy, clear - then Zilov, turning to the window, should stand with his back to the auditorium, but if the turn to the window coincides with the turn to the proscenium, then the "biography" of the weather for the same spectators disappears.

The borderline of everyday and non-everyday life in the play is the window to which Zilova pulls like a magnet, especially in moments of intense mental work: all transitions from momentary reality to memories are accompanied by the hero's approach to the window. The window is, so to speak, his favorite habitat, his chair, table, armchair; only an ottoman can resist the window (which is also one of the important features of the play, especially if we remember about Oblomov's sofa). Of all the heroes of The Duck Hunt, only Galina has this unmotivated, unconscious gesture - turning to the window at a moment of mental tension. The window is, as it were, a sign of another reality, not present on the stage, but given in the play, the reality of the Hunt. Hunting is an ambivalent image.

On the one hand, hunting is an introduction to nature, so precious for a modern person, it is the essence of nature, an existential category opposed to the everyday world. And at the same time, this category is artistically and literary mediated. On the other hand, hunting is one of the most monstrous symbols of murder. This is murder, the essence of which culture does not take into account. This murder, legalized by civilization, raised to the rank of respectable entertainment, occupies a certain place in the hierarchy of prestigious values ​​of life. It is this double essence of hunting - purification, familiarization with the eternal, pure natural beginning of life and, murder - that is fully realized in the play. The theme of death permeates all action.

The image of Zilov is constructed in such a way that the last remark of the play can be taken as an epigraph to his analysis: “We see his calm face. Whether he was crying or laughing, we will never understand by his face. " One should not think that Vampilov himself does not know whether his hero is crying or laughing - the author makes this antithesis and duality a subject of research.

Drama is characterized by plot schematics much more than lyric poetry and epic poetry. And it has a slightly different meaning here than in other literary genres. A dramatic collision - that is, the circle of situations chosen by the author - already carries a certain problematics in itself. The sense of collision is a very rare property, sometimes poorly developed even among the most brilliant playwrights. This quality is very valuable, but not exhaustive, just as perfect pitch does not exhaust the composer's abilities. Vampilov's sense of collision is absolutely, perhaps, it is this that gives his poetics such a vivid attractiveness, and somewhat emphasized tradition. It is in his handling of dramatic collision that Vampilov's innovation is especially clearly visible.

Zilov is undeniably superior to all the characters around him. The level is set both by the position of the hero in the dramatic collision of the play (Zilov is the bearer of the reflective consciousness), and by the personality of the hero himself. Zilov is more significant, not because the freedom of his desires, the irresponsibility of his actions, his laziness, his lies and drunkenness are good, but because the other characters have everything the same, just plain. Their interest in life can be cynically carnivorous, like that of Kushak, or ideally sublime, like that of Kuzakov, but none of them will take on the joint guilt, fall in love, charm the girl, and, incidentally, will not think about their life ... They lack the human charm that would brighten up their shortcomings.

The waiter is already specified in the remark as a person extremely similar to Zilov. Zilov "is about thirty years old, he is quite tall, of a strong build, in his gait, gestures, manner of speaking a lot of freedom, which comes from confidence in his physical usefulness." The waiter is "the same age as Zilov, tall, athletic, always in a business-like mood, cheerful, self-confident and behaves with exaggerated dignity." The waiter is the only character in the play, in whose description the author seems to be starting from the appearance of the main character of the play (the same age as Zilov), and in their appearance, it would seem, absolutely everything coincides, the nature that creates similarity does not coincide, so to speak.

He knows and knows how to do everything, except for one thing. He does not know that the world around him is alive, that love exists in it, and not lust, that hunting is not physical exercise with shooting at a target, that life is not only the existence of protein bodies, that there is a spiritual principle in it. The waiter is absolutely impeccable and just as completely inhuman.

What is doing here, in this play about the not very good life of not very good people, this calculating cold bastard? Why every time with his appearance in "Duck Hunt" a painful, disturbing, vague and piercing note, like the sound of a broken string, appears - after all, it seems to have nothing to do with the spiritual sphere of life? And nevertheless, in the ideological structure of the play, his role is cardinal, and not only because the theme of death is associated with him - a measure of Zilov's drama.

For Zilov, there is only one moment in the life of his spirit - hunting. Hunting is an opportunity to break away from everyday life, everyday life, bustle, lies, laziness, which he himself is no longer able to overcome. This is a dream world, ideal, uncompromised and high. In this world, his lied, nasty and poor soul is good, there it revives and straightens itself, uniting with all living things into a single and light harmony. Vampilov builds the action of the play in such a way that the Waiter becomes Zilov's constant companion, guide to this world, and this terrible figure deprives Zilov's utopia of meaning, purity, and its lofty poetry.

In "Duck Hunt" the drama came close to the person, opened the person, so to speak, from within the personality, it tried to penetrate under the shell of the body, behind the frontal bone, to make the process of choice, decision, thinking dramatic. Eighties drama with joy; picked up this internal cerebellar intent, but not yet very well aware of what to do with this intent. However, Vampilov was in a kind of confusion before his own discovery.

Vampilov was the last romantic of Soviet drama. As a person, he was formed in the second half of the fifties, at a time when the ideals, aspirations, slogans and goals of society, quite humane in themselves, seemed to be about to begin to connect with real life, about to acquire weight and meaning in it. (and sometimes it seemed they were already gaining). As an artist, he worked when the irreversible processes of delimitation of proclaimed values ​​and real life began. The terrible thing was not that the meaning of ideals was thus destroyed, but that the meaning of morality in general was destroyed. Vampilov was a son, and a wonderful son, of the time that gave birth to him: he needed to know how a person lives, where to go, how to live, he needed to answer these questions for himself, and he was the first, at least the first of the playwrights , I discovered that life has come to that final line, beyond which these questions no longer have the usual answer.

Analysis of the play by A.V. Vampilova "Duck Hunt"

The play by A.V. Vampilov's "Duck Hunt", written in 1970, embodied the fate of the generation of the "era of stagnation." Already in the remarks, the typical character of the events depicted is emphasized: a typical city apartment, ordinary furniture, everyday disorder, which testifies to the disorder in the mental life of Viktor Zilov, the main character of the work.

A fairly young and physically healthy person (according to the plot he is about thirty years old) feels deeply tired of life. There are no values ​​for him. From the very first conversation between Zilov and his friend, it turns out that yesterday he made some kind of scandal, the essence of which he no longer remembers. It turns out he offended someone. But he doesn't really care. "They'll survive, right?" - he says to his friend Dima.

Suddenly, Zilov is brought a funeral wreath with a ribbon on which are written touching memorial words: "To the unforgettable untimely burned out at work Zilov Viktor Alexandrovich from his inconsolable friends."

Initially, this event seems like an unsuccessful joke, but in the process of further development of events, the reader realizes that Zilov really buried himself alive: he drinks, scandalizes and does everything to disgust people who until recently was close and dear.

There is one important artistic detail in the interior of Zilov's room - a large plush cat with a bow on its neck, a gift from Vera. This is a kind of symbol of unfulfilled hopes. After all, Zilov and Galina could have a happy family with children and a comfortable, well-established life. It is no coincidence that after the housewarming party Galina invites Zilov to have a child, although she understands that he does not need him.

The main principle of relations with people for Zilov is unrestrained lies, the purpose of which is to strive to whitewash oneself and denigrate others. So, for example, inviting his boss Kushak to a housewarming party, who at first does not want to go on a visit without his wife, Zilov informs Galina that Vera has been invited for him, with whom he is allegedly in love. In fact, Vera is a lover of Zilov himself. In turn, Victor pushes Kushak to courting Vera: “Nonsense. Act boldly, do not stand on ceremony. This is all done on the fly. Grab the bull by the horns. "

Expressive in the play is the image of Sayapin's wife Valeria, whose ideal is philistine happiness. She identifies family ties with material goods. "Tolechka, if in six months we do not move into such an apartment, I will run away from you, I swear to you," she declares to her husband at the Zilovs' housewarming party.

A.V. Vampilov and another expressive female image of the play - the image of Vera, who is also, in essence, unhappy. She had long lost faith in the possibility of finding a reliable life partner for herself and calls all men the same (Alikami). At housewarming, Verochka constantly shocks everyone with her tactlessness and her attempt to dance on the table at Zilov's. A woman tries to seem coarser and more cheeky than she really is. Obviously, this helps her drown out the longing for real human happiness. Kuzakov understands this better than anyone and says to Zilov: "Yes, Vitya, it seems to me that she is not at all who she claims to be."

An important compositional move is used in the housewarming scene. All guests give gifts to the Zilovs. Valeria tortures the owner of the house for a long time before making a gift, and asks what he loves most. This scene plays an important role in revealing the image of Zilov. Galina confesses in her that she has not felt her husband's love for a long time. He has a consumer attitude towards her.

Vera, with a grin asking about his mistress, also understands that Victor is indifferent to her and her visit does not give him much pleasure. During the conversation, it turns out that Zilov does not like his job as an engineer, although he can still improve his business reputation. This is evidenced by Kushak's remark: "He lacks a business streak, that's true, but he's a capable guy ..." The Sayapins give Zilov the hunting equipment the hero dreams of so much. The image of a duck hunt in the work is undoubtedly symbolic. It can be viewed as a dream of a worthwhile business, for which Zilov is just incapable. It is no coincidence that Galina, who knows his character more deeply than others, notes that the main thing for him is gatherings and conversations.

A kind of test for Zilov turns out to be a letter from his father, who asks him to come to him to see him. It turns out that Victor has not been with his parents for a long time and is very cynical about the tearful letters of his old father: “He will send out such letters to all ends and lie, a dog, waiting. Relatives, a fool, comes running, oh, ah, and he is happy. He will lie down, lie down, then, you see, he got up - he is alive and well and accepts vodka. " At the same time, the son does not even know exactly how old his father is (he remembers that he is over seventy). Zilov has a choice: to go on vacation to his father in September, or to realize his old dream of an eel hunt. He chooses the latter. As a result, the unfortunate old man will die without seeing his son.

Before our eyes, Zilov destroys Galina's last hopes for personal happiness. He is indifferent to her pregnancy, and the woman, seeing this, gets rid of the child. Tired of endless lies, she leaves her husband for a childhood friend who still loves her.

Trouble is also gathering at work: Zilov handed over to the chief an article with false information, and he also forced his friend Sayapin to sign it. The hero is threatened with dismissal. But he is not very worried about it.

In a cafe with a sentimental name "Forget-me-not" Zilov often appears with new women. It is there that he invites young Irina, who sincerely falls in love with him. In a cafe, his wife finds him with a girl.

Upon learning of Galina's desire to leave him, Zilov tries to restrain her and even promises to take her with him on the hunt, but when he sees that Irina has come to him, he quickly switches. However, other women, whom he once attracted to himself with false promises, eventually leave him. Vera is going to marry Kuzakov, who takes her seriously. It is no coincidence that she begins to call him by name, and not Alik, like the rest of the men.

Only at the end of the play does the viewer find out what kind of scandal Zilov arranged in Forget-Me-not: he gathered his friends there, invited Irina and began to insult everyone in turn, grossly violating the rules of decency.

In the end, he offends the innocent Irina as well. And when the waiter Dima, with whom the hero is going on the long-awaited duck hunt, stands up for the girl, he insults him too, calling him a lackey.

After all this disgusting story, Zilov is actually trying to commit suicide. He is rescued by Kuzakov and Sayapin. The housekeeper Sayapin, dreaming of his apartment, is trying to distract Zilov with something. He says it's time to renovate the floors. Victor in return gives him the keys to the apartment. The waiter Dima, despite the offense, invites him to go on a duck hunt. He allows him to take the boat. Then he drives away people who are somehow trying to fight for his life. At the end of the play, Zilov throws himself on the bed and either cries or laughs. And most likely, he cries and laughs at himself. Then he still calms down and calls Dima, agreeing to go hunting with him.

What is the further fate of the hero? It is quite obvious that he needs to rethink his attitude to life in general, to the people with whom he is associated with communication. Perhaps Zilov will still be able to overcome his mental crisis and return to normal life. But most likely the hero is doomed to find his own death in speed, since he cannot overcome his own egoism and does not see the goal for which it is worth continuing his life. The loss of spiritual and moral foundations is a typical feature of the generation of the period of stagnation. For centuries, people's lives have been subordinated to the norms of religious morality. At the beginningXxFor centuries, public thought was driven by the idea of ​​creating a bright future, a socially just state structure. During the Great Patriotic War, the main task was to protect the native land from invaders, then post-war construction. In the sixties - seventies, there were no socio-political problems of this magnitude. Perhaps that is why a generation of people has formed, which is characterized by the loss of family ties and the meaning of friendly relations. The influence of the church on the spiritual life of a person by this time was lost. The norms of religious morality were not observed. Few believed in the idea of ​​building a bright future. The reason for Zilov's spiritual crisis is the realization of the worthlessness of his life, the absence of a real goal, since the so-called duck hunt, which he constantly dreams of, is rather an attempt to escape from life's problems than a real business for which everyone else can be sacrificed.