Psychology of betrayal in the story of Andreev Judas Iscariot. Analysis of the story "Judas Iscariot": theme, idea, artistic features, reader's position (Andreev L. N.). Psychology of betrayal in Leonid Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot"

Topic: about the psychology of the betrayal of Judas, the betrayal of the cowardly disciples of Christ, the masses of the people who did not come out in defense of Christ.

Idea: the paradox of Andreev's story is the unlimited love of Judas for his Teacher, the desire to be constantly near and betrayal, too, as a way to get closer to Jesus. Judas betrays Christ to find out if any of his followers are capable of sacrificing their lives to save the teacher. His betrayal is predetermined from above.

Artistic features: comparison of Judas and Christ. The writer equates two such apparently opposite images, he brings them together. Images of students are symbols.

Peter is associated with a stone, even with Judas he enters into a stone-throwing contest.

Reader's position: Judas - a traitor, betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver - such a name was fixed in the minds of people. After reading Andreev's story, you wonder how to understand the psychology of Judas' act, what made him violate the laws of morality? Knowing in advance that he will betray Jesus, Judas fights against it. But it is impossible to defeat predestination, but Judas cannot but love Jesus, he kills himself. Betrayal is a topical issue at the present time, a time of misunderstanding between people.

Updated: 2017-09-30

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Betrayal is a topical issue in our time, in the difficult days of human mood swings, in the days of doubt and misunderstanding between people. Therefore, perhaps, the story of L. Andreev, although written at the beginning of the century, is so popular today: the author’s assessment of the motives for betrayal (which is distinguished by a paradoxical view) is interesting, the purpose of the hero’s act and the prerequisites for it are explored.
The plot of the story, which we observe in other Andreev’s works, is based on the gospel story, although, as Gorky wrote, “in the first edition of the story“ Judas ”he had several errors that indicated that he did not even bother to read the Gospel.” Indeed, using the gospel story, the author conveyed it very subjectively.
How can we understand the psychology of Judas' act in the story of L. Andreev, what made him betray Jesus, thus violating, it would seem, all the laws of morality and morality?
From the very beginning and throughout the story, the words “Judas the Betrayer” sound like a refrain, such a name was rooted in the minds of people from the very beginning, and Andreev accepts and uses it, but only as a “nickname” given by people. For the writer, Judas is in many ways a symbolic traitor.
In Andreev, Judas at the very beginning of the story is presented as a very repulsive character: his appearance is already unpleasant (“ugly bumpy head”, a strange expression on his face, as if divided in half), a changeable voice is strange “sometimes courageous and strong, then noisy, like an old woman scolding her husband, annoyingly liquid and unpleasant to hear. His words are repelled, “like rotten and rough splinters”.
So, from the very beginning of the story, we see how vicious the nature of Judas is, his ugliness, the asymmetry of his features are exaggerated. And in the future, the actions of Judas will surprise us with their absurdity: in conversations with his students, he is either silent, or extremely kind and hospitable, which even frightens many of his interlocutors. Judas did not talk to Jesus for a long time, but Jesus loved Judas, as well as his other disciples, often looked for Judas with his eyes and was interested in him, although Judas, it would seem, is not worthy of this. Next to Jesus, he looked low, stupid and insincere. Judas constantly lied, so it was impossible to know whether he was telling the truth once again or lying. It is quite possible to explain the great sin of Judas - the betrayal of his Teacher - by the nature of Judas. After all, it is possible that his envy of the purity, chastity of Jesus, his unlimited kindness and love for people, which Judas is not capable of, led him to decide to destroy his teacher.
But this is only the first impression of L. Andreev's story. Why does the author at the beginning of the story and then many times compare Jesus and Judas? “He (Judas) was thin, of good height, almost the same as Jesus,” i.e., the writer puts two of these in one row; seemingly opposite images, he brings them together. There seems to be some kind of connection between Jesus and Judas, they are constantly connected by an invisible thread: their eyes often meet, and they almost guess each other's thoughts. Jesus loves Judas, although he foresees betrayal on his part. But Judas, Judas also loves Jesus! He loves him immensely, he reveres him. He attentively listens to his every phrase, feeling in Jesus some kind of mystical power, special, forcing everyone who listens to him to bow before the Teacher. When Judas accused people of viciousness, deceit and hatred for each other, Jesus began to move away from him. Judas felt this, perceiving everything very painfully, which also confirms Judas' unlimited love for his Teacher. Therefore, it is not surprising that Judas strives to get closer to him, to be constantly near him. The thought arises whether the betrayal of Judas was not a way to approach Jesus, but in a completely special, paradoxical way. The Teacher will die, Judas will leave this world, and there, in another life, they will be near: there will be no John and Peter, there will be no other disciples of Jesus, there will be only Judas, who, he is sure, loves his Teacher the most.
When reading the story of L. Andreev, the thought often arises that the mission of Judas is predetermined. None of the disciples of Jesus could have endured such a thing, could not have accepted such a fate.
Indeed, Andreev's images of other students are only symbols. So, Peter is associated with a stone: wherever he is, whatever he does, the symbolism of a stone is used everywhere, even with Judas he competes in throwing stones. John - the beloved disciple of Jesus - is tenderness, fragility, purity, spiritual beauty. Thomas is straightforward, slow-witted, in fact, Thomas is an unbeliever. Even Foma's eyes are empty, transparent, no thought lingers in them. The images of other disciples are also symbolic: none of them could betray Jesus. Judas is the chosen one who has this fate, and only he is capable of co-creation in the feat of Jesus - he also sacrifices himself.
Knowing in advance that he will betray Jesus, commit such a grave sin, he struggles with this: the best part of his soul struggles with the mission destined for him. And the soul cannot stand it: it is impossible to defeat predestination. So Judas knew that there would be a betrayal, there would be a death of Jesus and that he would kill himself after that, he even marked out a place for death. He hid the money so that later he could throw it to the chief priests and Pharisees - that is, greed was not at all the reason for the betrayal of Judas.
Having committed an atrocity, Judas accuses ... the disciples of this. He is amazed that when the teacher died, they could eat and sleep, could continue their former life without Him, without their Teacher. It seems to Judas that life is meaningless after the death of Jesus. It turns out that Judas is not as heartless as we first thought. Love for Jesus reveals many of his hitherto hidden positive traits, the immaculate, pure sides of his soul, which, however, are revealed only after the death of Jesus, just as the betrayal of Judas is revealed with the death of Jesus.
The paradoxical combination of betrayal and the manifestation of the best qualities in the soul of the hero is explained only by predestination from above: Judas cannot defeat him, but he cannot help but love Jesus. And the whole psychology of betrayal then consists in the struggle of the individual with predestination in the struggle of Judas with the mission destined for him.

He 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, 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 short 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.
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.

"Psychology of betrayal in Leonid Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot"

The plot of the story, which we observe in other Andreev’s works, is based on the gospel story, although, as Gorky wrote, “in the first edition of the story“ Judas ”he had several errors that indicated that he did not even bother to read the Gospel.” Indeed, using the gospel story, the author conveyed it very subjectively.

How can we understand the psychology of Judas' act in the story of L. Andreev, what made him betray Jesus, thus violating, it would seem, all the laws of morality and morality?

From the very beginning and throughout the story, the words “Judas the Betrayer” sound like a refrain, such a name was rooted in the minds of people from the very beginning, and Andreev accepts and uses it, but only as a “nickname” given by people. For the writer, Judas is in many ways a symbolic traitor.

In Andreev, Judas at the very beginning of the story is presented as a very repulsive character: his appearance is already unpleasant (“ugly bumpy head”, a strange expression on his face, as if divided in half), a changeable voice is strange “sometimes courageous and strong, then noisy, like an old woman scolding her husband, annoyingly liquid and unpleasant to hear. His words are repelled, “like rotten and rough splinters”.

So, from the very beginning of the story, we see how vicious the nature of Judas is, his ugliness, the asymmetry of his features are exaggerated. And in the future, the actions of Judas will surprise us with their absurdity: in conversations with his students, he is either silent, or extremely kind and hospitable, which even frightens many of his interlocutors. Judas did not talk to Jesus for a long time, but Jesus loved Judas, as well as his other disciples, often looked for Judas with his eyes and was interested in him, although Judas, it would seem, is not worthy of this. Next to Jesus, he looked low, stupid and insincere. Judas constantly lied, so it was impossible to know whether he was telling the truth once again or lying. It is quite possible to explain the great sin of Judas - the betrayal of his Teacher - by the nature of Judas. After all, it is possible that his envy of the purity, chastity of Jesus, his unlimited kindness and love for people, which Judas is not capable of, led him to decide to destroy his teacher.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Judas strives to get closer to him, to be constantly near him. The thought arises whether the betrayal of Judas was not a way to approach Jesus, but in a completely special, paradoxical way. The Teacher will die, Judas will leave this world, and there, in another life, they will be near: there will be no John and Peter, there will be no other disciples of Jesus, there will be only Judas, who, he is sure, loves his Teacher the most.

When reading the story of L. Andreev, the thought often arises that the mission of Judas is predetermined. None of the disciples of Jesus could have endured such a thing, could not have accepted such a fate.

Indeed, Andreev's images of other students are only symbols. So, Peter is associated with a stone: wherever he is, whatever he does, the symbolism of a stone is used everywhere, even with Judas he competes in throwing stones. John - the beloved disciple of Jesus - is tenderness, fragility, purity, spiritual beauty. Thomas is straightforward, slow-witted, in fact, Thomas is an unbeliever. Even Foma's eyes are empty, transparent, no thought lingers in them. The images of other disciples are also symbolic: none of them could betray Jesus. Judas is the chosen one who has this fate, and only he is capable of co-creation in the feat of Jesus - he also sacrifices himself.

Knowing in advance that he will betray Jesus, commit such a grave sin, he struggles with this: the best part of his soul struggles with the mission destined for him. And the soul cannot stand it: it is impossible to defeat predestination. So Judas knew that there would be a betrayal, there would be a death of Jesus and that he would kill himself after that, he even marked out a place for death. He hid the money so that later he could throw it to the chief priests and Pharisees - that is, greed was not at all the reason for the betrayal of Judas.

Having committed an atrocity, Judas accuses ... the disciples of this. He is amazed that when the teacher died, they could eat and sleep, could continue their former life without Him, without their Teacher. It seems to Judas that life is meaningless after the death of Jesus. It turns out that Judas is not as heartless as we first thought. Love for Jesus reveals many of his hitherto hidden positive traits, the immaculate, pure sides of his soul, which, however, are revealed only after the death of Jesus, just as the betrayal of Judas is revealed with the death of Jesus.

The paradoxical combination of betrayal and the manifestation of the best qualities in the soul of the hero is explained only by predestination from above: Judas cannot defeat him, but he cannot help but love Jesus. And the whole psychology of betrayal then consists in the struggle of the individual with predestination in the struggle of Judas with the mission destined for him.

How can we understand the psychology of Judas' act in the story of L. Andreev, what made him betray Jesus, thus violating, it would seem, all the laws of morality and morality?

Judas did not talk to Jesus for a long time, but Jesus loved Judas, as well as his other disciples, often looked for Judas with his eyes and was interested in him, although Judas, it would seem, is not worthy of this. Next to Jesus, he looked low, stupid and insincere. Judas constantly lied, so it was impossible to know whether he was telling the truth once again or lying. It is quite possible to explain the great sin of Judas - the betrayal of his Teacher - by the nature of Judas. After all, it is possible that his envy of the purity, chastity of Jesus, his unlimited kindness and love for people, which Judas is not capable of, led him to decide to destroy his teacher.

But this is only the first impression of L. Andreev's story. Why does the author at the beginning of the story and then many times compare Jesus and Judas? “He (Judas) was thin, of good height, almost the same as Jesus,” i.e., the writer puts two of these in one row; seemingly opposite images, he brings them together. There seems to be some kind of connection between Jesus and Judas, they are constantly connected by an invisible thread: their eyes often meet, and they almost guess each other's thoughts. Jesus loves Judas, although he foresees betrayal on his part. But Judas, Judas also loves Jesus! He loves him immensely, he reveres him. He attentively listens to his every phrase, feeling in Jesus some kind of mystical power, special, forcing everyone who listens to him to bow before the Teacher. When Judas accused people of viciousness, deceit and hatred for each other, Jesus began to move away from him. Judas felt this, perceiving everything very painfully, which also confirms Judas' unlimited love for his Teacher. Therefore, it is not surprising that Judas strives to get closer to him, to be constantly near him. The thought arises whether the betrayal of Judas was not a way to approach Jesus, but in a completely special, paradoxical way. The Teacher will die, Judas will leave this world, and there, in another life, they will be near: there will be no John and Peter, there will be no other disciples of Jesus, there will be only Judas, who, he is sure, loves his Teacher the most.