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Chapter Three The Hero and the Masquerade: Temptations of a Gnostic Outlook ITYCKaH rJIH):IIfT OH 6e3 yrrpeKa Ha JIO>KHbIH 6JIeCK If JIO>KHbIH MHpa urYM. (Let him look \Vithout reproach At the world's false glitter and false noise) -Lermontov, "Dpon The Birthday of a Dear Child" (18,39) Ee):leH, KTO, cY):Ib6bI B HeHaCTbe Bce Ha):le>K):IbI IfCIIbITaB, HaKOHel\ HaXO):lHT C'IaCTbe, qYBCTBO C'IaCTbH IIOTepHB. (Poor is the one who at fate's malevolent hour, has exhausted all his hopes, And who finally finds happiness, Having lost the feeling for it) -Lermontov, "Advice" (1830) LERMONTOV DID NOT SEE his play The Masquerade pe,formed or even published. It was eleven years after his death before selected scenes of this drama were first staged. Even though the rest of Lermontov's plays, as well as the majority of his early poetry, were not published during the poet's lifetime, The Masquerade deserves special attention as it was the first text that he actively sought to make public. In fact, Lermontov was so concerned with getting the play out that he undertook two drastic revisions, all in vain. Such confidence in a young author is noteworthy. A lyric poet, customarily accused of Byronic monologism, Lermontov nevertheless wanted to start his literary career with a play, that is, vvith the genre that by definition represents the interaction ofvarious states of consciousness. Even if the rest of the characters are meant to reflect on the play's protagonist, Arbenin , and are clearly overshadowed by him, Lermontov also uses these characters to explore different sensitivities, outlooks, and agendas. I Lermontov's texts, including his plays, feature one dominant heroic figure . However, to concentrate only on this hero, whether Arbenin, the Demon, Lermontov's Narratives ofHeroism or Pechorin, and to interpret this hero as the embodiment of Lermontov's artistic or personal concerns, is simplistic and nearSighted. Even Lermontov's early plays, Strange Man (1831), Two Brothers (1832-35), or Menschen und Leidenschaften (1830), manifest how skillfully Lermontov confronts different characters with a similar predicament or how skillfully he invests them with the ideas or traits important to him. Because the identification of Lennontov \vith a dominant character of his texts became, unfortunately, a permanent feature of Lermontov criticism ever since Belinsky, it is important to stress that Lermontov is neither awestruck nor blinded by his heroes. He never focuses his attention solely upon them. Lermontov dramas are the ground where he tries out various personas or masks, and explores various modes of behavior and their outcomes. There seem to be no absolutes in Lermontov's outlook except, perhaps, the value of poetry; hence, each mode of behavior, each system of values, becomes a subject for exploration and reevaluation. Disappointed with his reception, Lermontov did not return to theater after The Masquerade; yet his theatrical apprenticeship, during which he completed five plays, was a great imaginative school for creating longer artistic texts. It enabled him to master the challenging art of creating various characters in all the complexity of their interaction. Insights acquired during the composition of his dramas came to fruition in the complex narratives of"The Demon" and A Hero of Our Time. Pushkin was a well-established poet long before venturing into drama, yet he realized that he had "developed to his full potential" only upon the completion of his Boris Godunov (1825).2 ARBENIN AND HIS DOUBLES Let us briefly summarize the events of Lermontov's play. Arbenin, the protagonist , meets Prince Zvezdich in a gambling house, after the latter has already lost a great deal of money. A former gambler, Arbenin decides to play on behalf of the Prince, and easily recoups his losses. Upon this happy resolution both men go to the masquerade. Baroness Strahl uses the anonymity of the masquerade as an opportunity to seduce Prince Zvezdich. She becomes alarmed by his rash desire to transform their fling into a serious love affair, and decides to shield herself at the expense of Arbenin's wife, Nina. The Baroness, helped by the unsavory Shprikh, spreads rumors that it is Arbenin's wife, Nina, who is having an affair with the Prince. Deceived by the Baroness, Zvezdich begins to pursue Arbenin's wife, which in turn leads to Arbenin's jealousy, the cruel punishment of Zvezdich, the murder of the innocent Nina, and Arbenin's madness. The play opens without Arbenin. We are first introduced to the characters that the protagonist must deal...

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