36 dramatic situations with examples. Fragments from Yuri Rost's book about the love of Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner. Ambition and lust for power

Text about plot archetypes. Here you will find classifications of plots and themes of the world classical literature from Jorge Luis Borges, Christopher Booker, Georges Polti. As well as the theory of multi-plot nature of Russian classics and a list of topics that arouse the reader’s interest.

Story archetypes

The subjects of world literature are limited. Story great love, told by thousands of authors in different ways, is just the same story of great love. The same can be said about other themes that sound both in the works of beginners and in the canonical texts of masters. The characters and plot twists change, but the theme remains the same. Love, friendship, death, the struggle for freedom, revenge, war and heroism, the search for justice - this is eternal themes, eternal plots of world literature that, regardless of time, arouse the reader’s interest. These themes are called story archetypes.
The term “archetype” was proposed by psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in the 20th century. An archetype is “a prototype collected from human experience, passed on from generation to generation. The archetype is characterized by general characteristics and properties that allow it to be quite clearly defined.”
An archetype is a template that the author takes to create an image of a hero or a plot, endowing both with new features if the author’s plan requires it, and if not, leaving it unchanged.
We all come across plot archetypes and hero archetypes: for example, you open a book and realize that this is a new retelling of the rags to riches story, which, by the way, is beloved by American authors and cinema. And if we have a text of decent literary quality, the work does not lose at all because it is based on an “eternal” plot.

4 stories by Jorge Luis Borges

Famous writer Jorge Luis Borges stated that there is everything four plot and, accordingly, four heroes, whom he described in the short story “Four Cycles”.

1. Siege. The most old story- a story about a besieged city, which is stormed and defended by heroes. The defenders know that the city is doomed and resistance is futile. This is the story of Troy, and the main character, Achilles, knows that he will die without seeing victory. A rebel hero, the very fact of whose existence is a challenge to the surrounding reality. In addition to Achilles, the heroes of this plot are Siegfried, Hercules, Sigurd and others.

2. Return. The story of Odysseus, who wandered the seas for ten years in an attempt to return home. The hero of these stories is a man rejected by society, wandering in attempts to find himself, such as Don Quixote, Beowulf.

3. Search. This story is somewhat similar to the second (“Return”), but in this case the hero is not an outcast and does not oppose himself to society. The most famous example of such a hero is Jason, sailing for the Golden Fleece.

4. Suicide of God. Atis maims and kills himself, Odin sacrifices himself to Odin, himself, hanging on a tree for nine days, nailed by a spear, Roman legionnaires crucify Christ. The hero of the “death of the gods” - losing or gaining faith, in search of faith - Andrei Bolkonsky (“War and Peace”), Zarathustra, the Master (“The Master and Margarita”).

7 stories by Christopher Booker

English writer and journalist Christopher Booker published a book in 2004 "Seven Essential Plots: Why We Tell Stories"(“The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories”), in which he described seven basic plots, on the basis of which, in his opinion, all books in the world are written:
1. "From dirt to Kings". The name speaks for itself; the most striking example, familiar to everyone from childhood, is, of course, Cinderella. The heroes of such a story are ordinary people who discover something unusual in themselves, thanks to their own efforts or by coincidence, find themselves “at the top”.
2. "Adventure". A difficult journey in search of an elusive goal. According to Booker, both Odysseus and Jason fall into this category, and also King Solomon's Mines and Around the World in Eighty Days fall into this category.
3. "There and back." The plot is based on the desire of the hero, torn from his usual world, to return home. These are “Robinson Crusoe” and “Alice Through the Looking Glass”.
4. "Comedy". This is a story based on confusion, misunderstandings that lead to conflict. In the end, everything is resolved successfully: the negative characters get what they deserve or are exposed, while the positive ones, on the contrary, are rewarded, and everything returns to its place. The novels of Jane Austen and the comedies of Aristophanes and Moliere fall into this category.
5. "Tragedy". Main character- a negative character who fails, is exposed or even dies, that is, he is defeated. Such a hero can be possessed love passion or lust for power. He may repent, but repentance does not save him from just retribution. These are, first of all, Macbeth, King Lear and Faust.
6. "Resurrection". The hero of this story is under the power of a curse or dark forces, and a miracle brings him out of this state. A striking example of this plot is also familiar to everyone from childhood - the sleeping beauty awakened by the kiss of the prince.
7. "Victory over the Monster". The hero of the work fights the monster, defeats him and receives a reward: power, treasure or love. Examples: Dracula, David and Goliath.

36 subjects by Georges Polti

More than a century ago, in 1895, playwright Georges Polti published the work "36 dramatic situations» , in which he proposed his list of thirty-six points. Georges Polti analyzed twelve hundred literary works, highlighting recurring dramatic situations. Polti's thirty-six subjects cover mainly drama and tragedy. In our opinion, the list is somewhat overloaded with private “subplots” that could be combined into one category.
1. Prayer. Elements of the situation: 1) the pursuer, 2) the persecuted and begging for protection, help, shelter, forgiveness, etc., 3) the force on which the provision of protection depends, etc., while the force does not immediately decide to protect , hesitant, unsure of herself, which is why you have to beg her (thereby increasing the emotional impact of the situation), the more she hesitates and does not dare to provide help. Examples: 1) a person fleeing begs someone who can save him from his enemies, 2) begs for shelter in order to die in it, 3) a shipwrecked person asks for shelter, 4) asks those in power for dear, close people, 5) asks for one a relative for another relative, etc.

2. Salvation. Elements of the situation: 1) unfortunate, 2) threatening, persecuting, 3) savior. This situation differs from the previous one in that there the persecuted person resorted to hesitant force, which had to be begged, but here the savior appears unexpectedly and saves the unfortunate man without hesitation. Examples: 1) interchange famous fairy tale about Bluebeard. 2) saving a person sentenced to death or generally in mortal danger, etc.

3. Revenge pursuing crime. Elements of the situation: 1) avenger, 2) guilty, 3) crime. Examples: 1) blood feud, 2) revenge on a rival or rival or lover, or mistress out of jealousy.

4. Revenge for another loved one. Elements of the situation: 1) a living memory of the insult, harm inflicted on another loved one, the sacrifices he made for the sake of his loved ones, 2) an avenging relative, 3) the perpetrator of these insults, harm, etc. - a relative. Examples: 1) revenge on a father for his mother or mother on his father, 2) revenge on brothers for his son, 3) on a father for his husband, 4) on a husband for his son, etc. Classic example: Hamlet’s revenge on his stepfather and mother for his murdered father .

5. Persecuted. Elements of the situation: 1) a crime committed or a fatal mistake and the expected punishment, retribution, 2) hiding from punishment, retribution for a crime or mistake. Examples: 1) persecuted by the authorities for politics (for example, “The Robbers” by Schiller, the history of the revolutionary struggle in the underground), 2) persecuted for robbery ( Detective stories), 3) persecuted for a mistake in love (“Don Juan” by Moliere, alimony stories, etc.), 4) a hero pursued by a force superior to him (“Chained Prometheus” by Aeschylus, etc.).

6. Sudden action. Elements of the situation: 1) the victorious enemy, appearing in person; or a messenger bringing terrible news of defeat, collapse, etc., 2) a defeated ruler, a powerful banker, an industrial king, etc., defeated by a winner or struck down by the news. Examples: 1) the fall of Napoleon, 2) “Money” by Zola, 3 ) “The End of Tartarin” by Anfons Daudet, etc.

7. Victim(i.e. someone, a victim of some other person or people, or a victim of some circumstances, some misfortune). Elements of the situation: 1) one who can influence the fate of another person in the sense of his oppression or some kind of misfortune. 2) weak, being a victim of another person or misfortune. Examples: 1) ruined or exploited by someone who was supposed to care and protect, 2) previously loved or loved one finding themselves forgotten, 3) unfortunate, having lost all hope, etc.

8. Indignation, riot, mutiny. Elements of the situation: 1) tyrant, 2) conspirator. Examples: 1) a conspiracy of one (“The Fiesco Conspiracy” by Schiller), 2) a conspiracy of several, 3) the indignation of one (“Egmond” by Goethe), 4) the indignation of many (“William Tell” by Schiller, “Germinal” by Zola)

9. Daring attempt. Elements of the situation: 1) the daring person, 2) the object, i.e., what the daring person decides to do, 3) the opponent, the opposing person. Examples: 1) theft of an object (“Prometheus - the Thief of Fire” by Aeschylus). 2) enterprises associated with dangers and adventures (novels by Jules Verne, and adventure stories in general), 3) a dangerous enterprise in connection with the desire to achieve the woman he loves, etc.

10. Kidnapping. Elements of the situation: 1) the kidnapper, 2) the kidnapped, 3) protecting the kidnapped and being an obstacle to the kidnapping or opposing the kidnapping. Examples: 1) abduction of a woman without her consent, 2) abduction of a woman with her consent, 3) abduction of a friend, comrade from captivity, prison, etc. 4) abduction of a child.

11. Riddle(i.e., on the one hand, the formulation of a riddle, and on the other, questioning, the desire to solve the riddle). Elements of the situation: 1) asking a riddle, hiding something, 2) trying to solve a riddle, find out something, 3) the subject of a riddle or ignorance (mysterious) Examples: 1) under pain of death, you need to find some person or object, 2 ) to find the lost, lost, 3) to solve the riddle under pain of death (Oedipus and the Sphinx), 4) to force a person with all sorts of tricks to reveal what he wants to hide (name, gender, state of mind, etc.)

12. Reaching the situation. Elements of the situation: 1) someone striving to achieve something, seeking something, 2) someone on whom the achievement of something depends for consent or help, refusing or helping, mediating, 3) there may be a third party - a party opposing the achievement. Examples: 1) try to get from the owner a thing or some other benefit in life, consent to marriage, position, money, etc. by cunning or force, 2) try to get something or achieve something with the help of eloquence (directly addressed to the owner of the thing or to the judge, arbitrators on whom the award of the thing depends)

13. Hatred towards loved ones. Elements of the situation: 1) the hater, 2) the hated, 3) the cause of hatred. Examples: 1) hatred between loved ones (for example, brothers) out of envy, 2) hatred between loved ones (for example, a son hating his father) for reasons of material gain, 3) hatred of a mother-in-law for a future daughter-in-law, 4) mother-in-law for a son-in-law, 5) stepmothers to stepdaughter, etc.

14. Rivalry between loved ones. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the close ones is preferred, 2) the other is neglected or abandoned, 3) an object of rivalry (in this case, apparently, a twist is possible: at first the preferred one is then neglected and vice versa) Examples: 1) rivalry between brothers (“Pierre and Jean” by Maupassant), 2) rivalry between sisters, 3) father and son - because of a woman, 4) mother and daughter, 5) rivalry between friends (“The Two Gentlemen of Verona” by Shakespeare)

15. Adultery(i.e. adultery, adultery), leading to murder. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the spouses who violates marital fidelity, 2) the other spouse is deceived, 3) violation of marital fidelity (i.e., someone else is a lover or mistress). Examples: 1) kill or allow your lover to kill your husband (“Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by Leskov, “Thérèse Raquin” by Zola, “The Power of Darkness” by Tolstoy) 2) kill a lover who entrusted his secret (“Samson and Delilah”), etc. .

16. Madness. Elements of the situation: 1) a person who has fallen into madness (mad), 2) a victim of a person who has fallen into madness, 3) a real or imaginary reason for madness. Examples: 1) in a fit of madness, kill your lover (“The Prostitute Elisa” by Goncourt), a child, 2) in a fit of madness, burn, destroy your or someone else’s work, a work of art, 3) while drunk, reveal a secret or commit a crime.

17. Fatal negligence. The elements of the situation are: 1) a careless person, 2) a victim of carelessness or a lost object, sometimes accompanied by 3) a good adviser warning against carelessness, or 4) an instigator, or both. Examples: 1) through carelessness, be the cause of your own misfortune, dishonor yourself (“Money” Zola), 2) through carelessness or gullibility, cause misfortune or the death of another person close to you (Biblical Eve)

18. Involuntary (ignorant) crime of love (in particular incest). Elements of the situation: 1) lover (husband), mistress (wife), 3) recognition (in the case of incest) that they are in a close degree of relationship that does not allow love relationship according to the law and current morality. Examples: 1) find out that he married his mother (“Oedipus” by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Corneille, Voltaire), 2) find out that his mistress is his sister (“The Bride of Messina” by Schiller), 3) a very commonplace case: find out that his mistress - Married.

19 . Involuntary(unknowingly) murder neighbor. Elements of the situation: 1) killer, 2) unrecognized victim, 3) exposure, recognition. Examples: 1) unwittingly contribute to the murder of his daughter, out of hatred for her lover (“The King is Having Fun” by Hugo, the play on which the opera “Rigoletto” was made), 2) without knowing his father, kill him (“Freeloader” by Turgenev with the fact that murder replaced by an insult), etc.

20. Self-sacrifice in the name of an ideal. Elements of the situation: 1) a hero sacrificing himself, 2) an ideal (word, duty, faith, conviction, etc.), 3) a sacrifice made. Examples: 1) sacrifice your well-being for the sake of duty (“Resurrection” by Tolstoy), 2) sacrifice your life in the name of faith, belief...

21. Self-sacrifice for loved ones. Elements of the situation: 1) the hero sacrificing himself, 2) the loved one for whom the hero sacrifices himself, 3) what the hero sacrifices. Examples: 1) sacrifice your ambition and success in life for the sake of a loved one (“The Zemgano Brothers” by Goncourt), 2) sacrifice your love for the sake of a child, for the sake of the life of a loved one, 3) sacrifice your chastity for the sake of the life of a loved one (“Longing” by Sordu ), 4) sacrifice life for the life of a loved one, etc.

22. Sacrifice everything for the sake of passion. Elements of the situation: 1) the lover, 2) the object of fatal passion, 3) what is being sacrificed. Examples: 1) passion that destroys the vow of religious chastity (“The Mistake of Abbe Mouret” by Zola), 2) passion that destroys power, authority (“Antony and Cleopatra” by Shakespeare), 3) passion quenched at the cost of life (“Egyptian Nights” by Pushkin) . But not only a passion for a woman, or a woman for a man, but also a passion for racing, card game, guilt, etc.

23. Sacrifice a loved one out of necessity. Elements of the situation: 1) a hero sacrificing a loved one, 2) a loved one who is being sacrificed. Examples: 1) the need to sacrifice a daughter for the sake of public interest (“Iphigenia” by Aeschylus and Sophocles, “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Euripides and Racine), 2) the need to sacrifice loved ones or one’s followers for the sake of one’s faith, belief (“93” by Hugo), etc. .d.

24. Rivalry of unequals(as well as almost equal or equal). Elements of the situation: 1) one rival (in case of unequal rivalry - lower, weaker), 2) another rival (higher, stronger), 3) the subject of rivalry. Examples: 1) the rivalry between the winner and her prisoner (“Mary Stuart” by Schiller), 2) the rivalry between the rich and the poor. 3) rivalry between a person who is loved and a person who does not have the right to love (“Esmeralda” by V. Hugo), etc.

25. Adultery(adultery, adultery). Elements of the situation: the same as in adultery leading to murder. Not considering adultery to be capable of creating a situation in itself, Polti considers it as a special case of theft, aggravated by betrayal, and points out three possible cases: 1) the lover is more pleasant than the deceived spouse, 2 ) the lover is less attractive than the deceived spouse, 3) the deceived spouse takes revenge. Examples: 1) “Madame Bovary” by Flaubert, “The Kreutzer Sonata” by L. Tolstoy.

26. Crime of love. Elements of the situation: 1) lover, 2) beloved. Examples: 1) a woman in love with her daughter’s husband (“Phaedra” by Sophocles and Racine, “Hippolytus” by Euripides and Seneca), 2) the incestuous passion of Doctor Pascal (in Zola’s novel of the same name), etc.

27. Finding out about the dishonor of a loved one or loved one(sometimes related to the fact that the person who finds out is forced to pronounce a sentence, punish a loved one or loved one). Elements of the situation: 1) the person who recognizes, 2) the guilty loved one or loved one, 3) guilt. Examples: 1) learn about the dishonor of your mother, daughter, wife, 2) discover that your brother or son is a murderer, a traitor to the motherland and be forced to punish him, 3) be forced by virtue of an oath to kill a tyrant - to kill your father, etc. .

28. Obstacle to love. Elements of the situation: 1) lover, 2) mistress, 3) obstacle. Examples: 1) a marriage upset by social or wealth inequality, 2) a marriage upset by enemies or random circumstances, 3) a marriage upset by enmity between parents on both sides, 4) a marriage upset by dissimilarities in the characters of lovers, etc.

29. Love for the enemy. Elements of the situation: 1) the enemy who aroused love, 2) enemy lover, 3) the reason why the beloved is the enemy. Examples: 1) the beloved is an opponent of the party to which the lover belongs, 2) the beloved is the killer of the father, husband or relative of the one who loves him (“Romeo and Juliet”), etc.

30. Ambition and lust for power. Elements of the situation: 1) an ambitious person, 2) what he wants, 3) an opponent or rival, i.e. a person opposing. Examples: 1) ambition, greed, leading to crimes (“Macbeth” and “Richard 3” by Shakespeare, “The Rougons’ Career” and “Earth” by Zola), 2) ambition, leading to rebellion, 3) ambition, which is opposed by a loved one, friend, relative, own supporters, etc.

31. Fight against God(fight against God). Elements of the situation: 1) man, 2) god, 3) the reason or subject of struggle. Examples: 1) fighting with God, arguing with him, 2) fighting with those faithful to God (Julian the Apostate), etc.

32. Unconscious jealousy, envy. Elements of the situation: 1) the jealous person, the envious person, 2) the object of his jealousy and envy, 3) the alleged rival, challenger, 4) the reason for the error or the culprit (traitor). Examples: 1) jealousy is caused by a traitor who is motivated by hatred (“Othello”) 2) the traitor acts out of profit or jealousy (“Cunning and Love” by Schiller), etc.

33. Miscarriage of justice. Elements of the situation: 1) the one who is mistaken, 2) the victim of the mistake, 3) the subject of the mistake, 4) the true criminal Examples: 1) a miscarriage of justice is provoked by an enemy (“The Belly of Paris” by Zola), 2) a miscarriage of justice is provoked by a loved one, the brother of the victim (“The Robbers” by Schiller), etc.

34. Remorse. Elements of the situation: 1) the culprit, 2) the victim of the culprit (or his mistake), 3) looking for the culprit, trying to expose him. Examples: 1) remorse of a murderer (“Crime and Punishment”), 2) remorse due to a mistake in love (“Madeleine” by Zola), etc.

35. Lost and found. Elements of the situation: 1) lost 2) found, 2) found. Examples: 1) “Children of Captain Grant”, etc.

36. Loss of loved ones. Elements of the situation: 1) a deceased loved one, 2) a lost loved one, 3) the perpetrator of the death of a loved one. Examples: 1) powerless to do anything (save his loved ones) - a witness to their death, 2) being bound by a professional secret (medical or secret confession, etc.) he sees the misfortune of loved ones, 3) to anticipate the death of a loved one, 4) to find out about the death of an ally, 5) in despair from the death of a loved one, lose all interest in life, become depressed, etc.

Multi-plot classics

If we turn to Russian classics, it turns out that it is sometimes quite difficult to single out one theme in a work. For example, in “Eugene Onegin”, “The Captain’s Daughter”, “War and Peace”, “The White Guard”. Such works belong to the category of multi-plot, that is, in such texts the author develops several themes/plots simultaneously. Of course, if you do not take into account epic novels, in any work you can identify a general plot or theme and many accompanying ones. However, these accompanying stories will also be necessary for the full disclosure of the author's intention. For example, the main theme/plot of Pushkin’s story “ Captain's daughter"- great sacrificial love. Subtopics and accompanying plots are the classic “struggle for justice”, as well as “adventure”, “there and back” in its purest form. The main theme/plot of “The Master and Margarita” is the same sacrificial love, and the accompanying one is the “struggle for justice.” For the sake of training, we suggest trying to determine the theme/plot in “A Hero of Our Time”, “Crime and Punishment”, “Fathers and Sons” according to the classification of Borges, Buer and Polti. You will get amazing results.

P.S. If you know and come up with amazing story, tell your colleagues about it in the comments.

In 1916, Georges Polti published a publication on English language: The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations.

1st situation - PRAY. Elements of the situation: 1) the pursuer, 2) the persecuted and begging for protection, help, shelter, forgiveness, etc., 3) the force on which it depends to provide protection, etc., while the force does not immediately decide to protect , hesitant, unsure of herself, which is why you have to beg her (thereby increasing the emotional impact of the situation), the more she hesitates and does not dare to provide help. Examples: 1) a person fleeing begs someone who can save him from his enemies, 2) begs for shelter in order to die in it, 3) a shipwrecked person asks for shelter, 4) asks those in power for dear, close people, 5) asks for one a relative for another relative, etc.

2nd situation - RESCUE. Elements of the situation: 1) unfortunate, 2) threatening, persecuting, 3) savior. This situation differs from the previous one in that there the persecuted person resorted to hesitant force, which had to be begged, but here the savior appears unexpectedly and saves the unfortunate man without hesitation. Examples: 1) the denouement of the famous fairy tale about Bluebeard. 2) saving a person sentenced to death or generally in mortal danger, etc.

3rd situation - REVENGE FOLLOWING A CRIME. Elements of the situation: 1) avenger, 2) guilty, 3) crime. Examples: 1) blood feud, 2) revenge on a rival or rival or lover, or mistress out of jealousy.

4th situation - REVENGE OF A CLOSE PERSON FOR ANOTHER CLOSE PERSON OR CLOSE PEOPLE. Elements of the situation: 1) living memory of the insult, harm inflicted on another loved one, the sacrifices he made for his own. Close ones, 2) an avenging relative, 3) a relative who is guilty of these insults, harm, etc. Examples: 1) revenge on a father for his mother or a mother on his father, 2) revenge on his brothers for his son, 3) on his father for his husband, 4) on his husband for his son, etc. Classic example: Hamlet’s revenge on his stepfather and his mother for his murdered man father.

5th situation - PERSECUTED. Elements of the situation: 1) a crime committed or a fatal mistake and the expected punishment, retribution, 2) hiding from punishment, retribution for a crime or mistake. Examples: 1) persecuted by the authorities for politics (for example, “Robbers” Schiller, the story of the revolutionary struggle in the underground), 2) persecuted for robbery (detective stories), 3) persecuted for a mistake in love (“Don Juan” Moliere, alimony stories, etc.), 4) a hero pursued by a superior force (“Chained Prometheus” Aeschylus etc.).

6th situation - SUDDEN DISASTER. Elements of the situation: 1) the victorious enemy, appearing in person; or a messenger bringing terrible news of defeat, collapse, etc., 2) a defeated ruler, a powerful banker, an industrial king, etc., defeated by a winner or struck down by the news. Examples: 1) the fall of Napoleon, 2) “Money” Emile Zola, 3) “The End of Tartarin” by Anfons Daudet, etc.

7th situation - VICTIM (i.e. someone, a victim of some other person or people, or a victim of some circumstances, some misfortune). Elements of the situation: 1) one who can influence the fate of another person in the sense of his oppression or some kind of misfortune. 2) weak, being a victim of another person or misfortune. Examples: 1) ruined or exploited by someone who was supposed to care and protect, 2) previously loved or loved one finding themselves forgotten, 3) unfortunate, having lost all hope, etc.

8th situation - OUTRAGE, REVOLT, REBELLION. Elements of the situation: 1) tyrant, 2) conspirator. Examples: 1) conspiracy of one (“Fiesco Conspiracy” Schiller), 2) conspiracy of several, 3) indignation of one (“Egmond” Goethe), 4) the indignation of many (“William Tell” Schiller, "Germinal" Zola).

9th situation - BOLD ATTEMPT. Elements of the situation: 1) the daring person, 2) the object, i.e., what the daring person decides to do, 3) the opponent, the opposing person. Examples: 1) theft of an object (“Prometheus - the thief of fire” Aeschylus). 2) enterprises associated with dangers and adventures (novels Jules Verne, and adventure stories in general), 3) a dangerous undertaking due to the desire to achieve the woman he loves, etc.

10th situation - ABDUCTION. Elements of the situation: 1) the kidnapper, 2) the kidnapped, 3) protecting the kidnapped and being an obstacle to the kidnapping or opposing the kidnapping. Examples: 1) abduction of a woman without her consent, 2) abduction of a woman with her consent, 3) abduction of a friend, comrade from captivity, prison, etc. 4) abduction of a child.

The 11th situation is a RIDDLE, (i.e., on the one hand, asking a riddle, and on the other, asking, trying to solve the riddle). Elements of the situation: 1) asking a riddle, hiding something, 2) trying to solve a riddle, find out something, 3) the subject of a riddle or ignorance (mysterious) Examples: 1) under pain of death, you need to find some person or object, 2 ) to find the lost, lost, 3) on pain of death to solve the riddle (Oedipus and the Sphinx), 4) to force a person with all sorts of tricks to reveal what he wants to hide (name, gender, state of mind, etc.).

12th situation - ACHIEVEMENT OF SOMETHING. Elements of the situation: 1) someone striving to achieve something, seeking something, 2) someone on whom the achievement of something depends for consent or help, refusing or helping, mediating, 3) there may be a third party - a party opposing the achievement. Examples: 1) try to get from the owner a thing or some other benefit in life, consent to marriage, position, money, etc. by cunning or force, 2) try to get something or achieve something with the help of eloquence (directly addressed to the owner of the thing or to the judge, arbitrators on whom the award of the thing depends).

13th situation - HATRED FOR YOUR FAMILY. Elements of the situation: 1) the hater, 2) the hated, 3) the cause of hatred. Examples: 1) hatred between loved ones (for example, brothers) out of envy, 2) hatred between loved ones (for example, a son hating his father) for reasons of material gain, 3) hatred of a mother-in-law for a future daughter-in-law, 4) mother-in-law for a son-in-law, 5) stepmothers to stepdaughter, etc.

14-situation - RIVALRY OF CLOSE ones. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the close ones is preferred, 2) the other is neglected or abandoned, 3) an object of rivalry (in this case, apparently, a twist is possible: at first the preferred one is then neglected and vice versa) Examples: 1) rivalry between brothers (“Pierre and Jean" Maupassant), 2) rivalry between sisters, 3) father and son - because of a woman, 4) mother and daughter, 5) rivalry between friends (“Two Veronese” Shakespeare).

15-situation - ADULTURE (i.e. adultery, adultery), LEADING TO MURDER. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the spouses who violates marital fidelity, 2) the other spouse is deceived, 3) violation of marital fidelity (i.e., someone else is a lover or mistress). Examples: 1) kill or allow your lover to kill your husband (“Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by Leskov, “Therese Raquin” Zola,“The Power of Darkness” by Tolstoy) 2) kill a lover who entrusted his secret (“Samson and Delilah”), etc.

16th situation - MADNESS. Elements of the situation: 1) a person who has fallen into madness (mad), 2) a victim of a person who has fallen into madness, 3) a real or imaginary reason for madness. Examples: 1) in a fit of madness, kill your lover (“Prostitute Eliza” Goncourt), a child, 2) in a fit of madness, burn, destroy your or someone else’s work, a work of art, 3) while drunk, reveal a secret or commit a crime.

17th situation - FATAL NEGLIGENCE. The elements of the situation are: 1) a careless person, 2) a victim of carelessness or a lost object, sometimes accompanied by 3) a good adviser warning against carelessness, or 4) an instigator, or both. Examples: 1) through carelessness, be the cause of your own misfortune, dishonor yourself (“Money” Zola), 2) through carelessness or gullibility, cause misfortune or death of another person, a loved one (Biblical Eve).

36 dramatic situations BY GEORGE POLTI

How did he search? For this purpose, he studied, analyzed and divided into categories one thousand two hundred dramatic works from the literature of all times and peoples, traced the fate of eight thousand characters. Of course, he does not see anything cabalistic in the number thirty-six. He understands that he can easily disagree with him, compress two situations into one, or count two variations as two situations, but still have to revolve around the number thirty-six...

“When I looked through Polti's list of basic situations, I tried to check it. I must admit, no matter how much I strained my imagination, with every discovery it turned out that what I took to be a new situation was already provided for by the author as some radical variation of the situation he had already given... But, on the contrary, it seemed to me that that Polti boasted. If Schiller modestly declared that he had not found thirty-six basic situations, then Polti surpassed him, only more or less skillfully doubling, and sometimes even tripling, in my opinion, one basic note. “For all its paradoxical nature, the book deserves attention and can be useful” (A. Lunacharsky “Theater and Revolution.” Gosizdat, 1924, p. 379. “Thirty-six plots”) Below we present in an abbreviated summary all thirty-six situations and We suggest working through it as educational material.

In this case, you need to keep in mind the following: these are not plots, but motives, situations (i.e. situations), which are sometimes the main thing in the plot, plot-forming, but even more often they are found in all sorts of combinations. The number of combinations of these situations is infinitely large. There is a rich field for imagination, which will be interested in such work.

The weak point in Polti's work is its ahistorical nature. Because of this, along with plot provisions that remain in full force today, there are also situations that today either do not sound at all, or are implemented in a different capacity, with a different content of real human relations, since the structure of society, worldview, and legislation have changed about family and marriage, etc. d.

Lunacharsky points out another weak point in his work: Polti’s classification of situations is still quite arbitrary, there is no single principle of classification: variants of one situation become independent situations, and within the framework of one situation situations that could be considered as independent are given as its variants .

The educational study of this material would be conceived in this way: 1) find the correspondence of this or that situation to real relationships in our reality, 2) give your own examples of each situation from literature, plays, films, 3) practice combining different situations into one complex plot, 4) and, of course, look for new situations 1, especially based on real life.

Let's look at these dramatic situations.

1st situation - PRAY . Elements of the situation: 1) the pursuer, 2) the persecuted and begging for protection, help, shelter, forgiveness, etc., 3) the force on which it depends to provide protection, etc., while the force does not immediately decide to protect , hesitant, unsure of herself, which is why you have to beg her (thereby increasing the emotional impact of the situation), the more she hesitates and does not dare to provide help. Examples: 1) a person fleeing begs someone who can save him from his enemies, 2) begs for shelter in order to die in it, 3) a shipwrecked person asks for shelter, 4) asks those in power for dear, close people, 5) asks for one a relative for another relative, etc.

2nd situation - RESCUE. Elements of the situation: 1) unfortunate, 2) threatening, persecuting, 3) savior. This situation differs from the previous one in that there the persecuted person resorted to hesitant force, which had to be begged, but here the savior appears unexpectedly and saves the unfortunate man without hesitation. Examples: 1) the denouement of the famous fairy tale about Bluebeard. 2) saving a person sentenced to death or generally in mortal danger, etc.

3rd situation - REVENGE FOLLOWING A CRIME. Elements of the situation: 1) avenger, 2) guilty, 3) crime. Examples: 1) blood feud, 2) revenge on a rival or rival or lover, or mistress out of jealousy.

4th situation - REVENGE OF A CLOSE PERSON FOR ANOTHER CLOSE PERSON OR CLOSE PEOPLE, Elements of the situation: 1) living memory of the insult, harm inflicted on another loved one, the sacrifices he made for his own. Close ones, 2) an avenging relative, 3) a relative who is guilty of these insults, harm, etc. Examples: 1) revenge on a father for his mother or a mother on his father, 2) revenge on his brothers for his son, 3) on his father for his husband, 4) on his husband for his son, etc. Classic example: Hamlet’s revenge on his stepfather and his mother for his murdered man father.

5th situation - PERSECUTED. Elements of the situation: 1) a crime committed or a fatal mistake and the expected punishment, retribution, 2) hiding from punishment, retribution for a crime or mistake. Examples: 1) persecuted by the authorities for politics (for example, “The Robbers” by Schiller, the history of the revolutionary struggle in the underground), 2) persecuted for robbery (detective stories), 3) persecuted for a mistake in love (“Don Juan” by Moliere, alimony stories and etc.), 4) a hero pursued by a force superior to him ("Chained Prometheus" by Aeschylus, etc.).

6th situation - SUDDEN DISASTER. Elements of the situation: 1) the victorious enemy, appearing in person; or a messenger bringing terrible news of defeat, collapse, etc., 2) a defeated ruler, a powerful banker, an industrial king, etc., defeated by a winner or struck down by the news. Examples: 1) the fall of Napoleon, 2) “Money” by Zola, 3 ) “The End of Tartarin” by Anfons Daudet, etc.

7th situation - VICTIM (i.e. someone, a victim of some other person or people, or a victim of some circumstances, some misfortune). Elements of the situation: 1) one who can influence the fate of another person in the sense of his oppression or some kind of misfortune. 2) weak, being a victim of another person or misfortune. Examples: 1) ruined or exploited by someone who was supposed to care and protect, 2) a previously loved one or loved one who finds themselves forgotten, 3) unfortunate ones who have lost all hope, etc.

8th situation - OUTRAGE, REVOLT, REBELLION. Elements of the situation: 1) tyrant, 2) conspirator. Examples: 1) a conspiracy of one (“The Fiesco Conspiracy” by Schiller), 2) a conspiracy of several, 3) the indignation of one (“Egmond” by Goethe), 4) the indignation of many (“William Tell” by Schiller, “Germinal” by Zola)

9th situation - BOLD ATTEMPT. Elements of the situation: 1) the daring person, 2) the object, i.e., what the daring person decides to do, 3) the opponent, the opposing person. Examples: 1) theft of an object (“Prometheus - the Thief of Fire” by Aeschylus). 2) enterprises associated with dangers and adventures (novels by Jules Verne, and adventure stories in general), 3) a dangerous enterprise in connection with the desire to achieve the woman he loves, etc.

10th situation - ABDUCTION. Elements of the situation: 1) the kidnapper, 2) the kidnapped, 3) protecting the kidnapped and being an obstacle to the kidnapping or opposing the kidnapping. Examples: 1) abduction of a woman without her consent, 2) abduction of a woman with her consent, 3) abduction of a friend, comrade from captivity, prison, etc. 4) abduction of a child.

11th situation - RIDDLE, (i.e., on the one hand, asking a riddle, and on the other, asking, striving to solve the riddle). Elements of the situation: 1) asking a riddle, hiding something, 2) trying to solve a riddle, find out something, 3) the subject of a riddle or ignorance (mysterious) Examples: 1) under pain of death, you need to find some person or object, 2 ) to find the lost, lost, 3) to solve the riddle under pain of death (Oedipus and the Sphinx), 4) to force a person with all sorts of tricks to reveal what he wants to hide (name, gender, state of mind, etc.)

12th situation - ACHIEVEMENT OF SOMETHING. Elements of the situation: 1) someone striving to achieve something, seeking something, 2) someone on whom the achievement of something depends for consent or help, refusing or helping, mediating, 3) there may be a third party - a party opposing the achievement. Examples: 1) try to get from the owner a thing or some other benefit in life, consent to marriage, position, money, etc. by cunning or force, 2) try to get something or achieve something with the help of eloquence (directly addressed to the owner of the thing or to the judge, arbitrators on whom the award of the thing depends)

13th situation - HATRED FOR YOUR FAMILY. Elements of the situation: 1) the hater, 2) the hated, 3) the cause of hatred. Examples: 1) hatred between loved ones (for example, brothers) out of envy, 2) hatred between loved ones (for example, a son hating his father) for reasons of material gain, 3) hatred of a mother-in-law for a future daughter-in-law, 4) mother-in-law for a son-in-law, 5) stepmothers to stepdaughter, etc.

Situation 14 - Rivalry between relatives . Elements of the situation: 1) one of the close ones is preferred, 2) the other is neglected or abandoned, 3) an object of rivalry (in this case, apparently, a twist is possible: at first the preferred one is then neglected and vice versa) Examples: 1) rivalry between brothers (“Pierre and Jean” by Maupassant), 2) rivalry between sisters, 3) father and son - because of a woman, 4) mother and daughter, 5) rivalry between friends (“The Two Gentlemen of Verona” by Shakespeare)

Situation 15 - ADULTURE (i.e. adultery, adultery), LEADING TO MURDER. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the spouses who violates marital fidelity, 2) the other spouse is deceived, 3) violation of marital fidelity (i.e., someone else is a lover or mistress). Examples: 1) kill or allow your lover to kill your husband (“Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by Leskov, “Thérèse Raquin” by Zola, “The Power of Darkness” by Tolstoy) 2) kill a lover who entrusted his secret (“Samson and Delilah”), etc. .

Situation 16 - MADNESS . Elements of the situation: 1) a person who has fallen into madness (mad), 2) a victim of a person who has fallen into madness, 3) a real or imaginary reason for madness. Examples: 1) in a fit of madness, kill your lover (“The Prostitute Elisa” by Goncourt), a child, 2) in a fit of madness, burn, destroy your or someone else’s work, a work of art, 3) while drunk, reveal a secret or commit a crime.

17th situation - FATAL NEGLIGENCE . The elements of the situation are: 1) a careless person, 2) a victim of carelessness or a lost item, sometimes accompanied by 3) a good adviser warning against carelessness, or 4) an instigator, or both. Examples: 1) through carelessness, be the cause of your own misfortune, dishonor yourself (“Money” Zola), 2) through carelessness or gullibility, cause misfortune or the death of another person close to you (Biblical Eve)

Situation 18 - INVOLVED (out of ignorance) CRIME OF LOVE(in particular incest). Elements of the situation: 1) lover (husband), mistress (wife), 3) learning (in the case of incest) that they are in a close degree of relationship, which does not allow love relationships according to the law and current morality. Examples: 1) find out that he married his mother (“Oedipus” by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Corneille, Voltaire), 2) find out that his mistress is his sister (“The Bride of Messina” by Schiller), 3) a very commonplace case: find out that his mistress - Married.

Situation 19 - INVOLVED (unknowingly) KILLING A CLOSE ONE. Elements of the situation: 1) killer, 2) unrecognized victim, 3) exposure, recognition. Examples: 1) unwittingly contribute to the murder of his daughter, out of hatred for her lover (“The King is Having Fun” by Hugo, the play on which the opera “Rigoletto” was made), 2) without knowing his father, kill him (“Freeloader” by Turgenev with the fact that murder replaced by an insult), etc.

20th situation - SELF-SACRIFICATION IN THE NAME OF AN IDEAL. Elements of the situation: 1) a hero sacrificing himself, 2) an ideal (word, duty, faith, conviction, etc.), 3) a sacrifice made. Examples: 1) sacrifice your well-being for the sake of duty (“Resurrection” by Tolstoy), 2) sacrifice your life in the name of faith, belief...

Situation 21 - SELF-SACRIFICATION FOR THE SAKE OF LOVED ONES. Elements of the situation: 1) the hero sacrificing himself, 2) the loved one for whom the hero sacrifices himself, 3) what the hero sacrifices. Examples: 1) sacrifice your ambition and success in life for the sake of a loved one (“The Zemgano Brothers” by Goncourt), 2) sacrifice your love for the sake of a child, for the sake of the life of a loved one, 3) sacrifice your chastity for the sake of the life of a loved one (“Longing” by Sordu ), 4) sacrifice life for the life of a loved one, etc.

22nd situation - SACRIFICE EVERYTHING - FOR THE SAKE OF PASSION. Elements of the situation: 1) the lover, 2) the object of fatal passion, 3) what is being sacrificed. Examples: 1) passion that destroys the vow of religious chastity (“The Mistake of Abbe Mouret” by Zola), 2) passion that destroys power, authority (“Antony and Cleopatra” by Shakespeare), 3) passion quenched at the cost of life (“Egyptian Nights” by Pushkin) . But not only passion for a woman, or women for a man, but also passion for racing, card games, wine, etc.

23rd situation - SACRIFICE A CLOSE PERSON DUE TO NECESSITY, INEVITABILITY , Elements of the situation: 1) a hero sacrificing a loved one, 2) a loved one who is being sacrificed. Examples: 1) the need to sacrifice a daughter for the sake of public interest (“Iphigenia” by Aeschylus and Sophocles, “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Euripides and Racine), 2) the need to sacrifice loved ones or one’s followers for the sake of one’s faith, belief (“93” by Hugo), etc. .d.

24th situation - RIVALRY OF INEQUALS (as well as almost equal or equal). Elements of the situation: 1) one rival (in case of unequal rivalry - lower, weaker), 2) another rival (higher, stronger), 3) the subject of rivalry. Examples: 1) the rivalry between the winner and her prisoner (“Mary Stuart” by Schiller), 2) the rivalry between the rich and the poor. 3) rivalry between a person who is loved and a person who does not have the right to love (“Esmeralda” by V. Hugo), etc.

25th situation - ADULTURE (adultery, adultery). Elements of the situation: the same as in adultery leading to murder. Not considering adultery to be capable of creating a situation in itself, Polti considers it as a special case of theft, aggravated by betrayal, while pointing out three possible cases: 1) the lover is more pleasant than firm than the deceived spouse ), 2) the lover is less attractive than the deceived spouse, 3) the deceived spouse takes revenge. Examples: 1) “Madame Bovary” by Flaubert, “The Kreutzer Sonata” by L. Tolstoy.

Situation 26 - CRIME OF LOVE . Elements of the situation: 1) lover, 2) beloved. Examples: 1) a woman in love with her daughter’s husband (“Phaedra” by Sophocles and Racine, “Hippolytus” by Euripides and Seneca), 2) the incestuous passion of Doctor Pascal (in Zola’s novel of the same name), etc.

27th situation - LEARNING ABOUT THE DISHONOR OF A LOVED OR RELATIVE (sometimes related to the fact that the person who finds out is forced to pronounce a sentence, punish a loved one or loved one). Elements of the situation: 1) the person who recognizes, 2) the guilty loved one or loved one, 3) guilt. Examples: 1) learn about the dishonor of your mother, daughter, wife, 2) discover that your brother or son is a murderer, a traitor to the motherland and be forced to punish him, 3) be forced by virtue of an oath to kill a tyrant - to kill your father, etc. .

28th situation - OBSTACLE OF LOVE. Elements of the situation: 1) lover, 2) mistress, 3) obstacle. Examples: 1) a marriage upset by social or wealth inequality, 2) a marriage upset by enemies or random circumstances, 3) a marriage upset by enmity between parents on both sides, 4) a marriage upset by dissimilarities in the characters of lovers, etc.

Situation 29 - LOVE FOR THE ENEMY. Elements of the situation: 1) the enemy who aroused love, 2) the loving enemy, 3) the reason why the beloved is the enemy. Examples: 1) the beloved is an opponent of the party to which the lover belongs, 2) the beloved is the killer of the father, husband or relative of the one who loves him (“Romeo and Juliet”), etc.

30th situation - AMBITION AND LOVE OF POWER. Elements of the situation: 1) an ambitious person, 2) what he wants, 3) an opponent or rival, i.e. a person opposing. Examples: 1) ambition, greed, leading to crimes (“Macbeth” and “Richard 3” by Shakespeare, “The Rougons’ Career” and “Earth” by Zola), 2) ambition, leading to rebellion, 3) ambition, which is opposed by a loved one, friend, relative, own supporters, etc.

Situation 31 - FIGHTING GOD (fight against God) Elements of the situation: 1) man, 2) God, 3) the reason or subject of the struggle Examples: 1) fight with God, arguing with him, 2) fight with those faithful to God (Julian the Apostate), etc.

32nd situation - UNCONSCIOUS JEALOUSY, ENVY. Elements of the situation: 1) the jealous person, the envious person, 2) the object of his jealousy and envy, 3) the alleged rival, challenger, 4) the reason for the error or the culprit (traitor). Examples: 1) jealousy is caused by a traitor who is motivated by hatred (“Othello”) 2) the traitor acts out of profit or jealousy (“Cunning and Love” by Schiller), etc.

33rd situation - JUDICIAL MISTAKE. Elements of the situation: 1) the one who is mistaken, 2) the victim of the mistake, 3) the subject of the mistake, 4) the true criminal Examples: 1) a miscarriage of justice is provoked by an enemy (“The Belly of Paris” by Zola), 2) a miscarriage of justice is provoked by a loved one, the brother of the victim (“The Robbers” by Schiller), etc.

Situation 34 - REMENTS OF CONSCIENCE. Elements of the situation: 1) the culprit, 2) the victim of the culprit (or his mistake), 3) looking for the culprit, trying to expose him. Examples: 1) remorse of a murderer (“Crime and Punishment”), 2) remorse due to a mistake in love (“Madeleine” by Zola), etc.

Situation 35 - LOST AND FOUND. Elements of the situation: 1) lost 2) found, 2) found. Examples: 1) “Children of Captain Grant”, etc.

Situation 36 - LOSS OF LOVED ONES. Elements of the situation: 1) a deceased loved one, 2) a lost loved one, 3) the perpetrator of the death of a loved one. Examples: 1) powerless to do anything (save his loved ones) - a witness to their death, 2) being bound by a professional secret (medical or secret confession, etc.) he sees the misfortune of loved ones, 3) to anticipate the death of a loved one, 4) to find out about the death of an ally, 5) in despair from the death of a loved one, lose all interest in life, become depressed, etc.

36 dramatic situations BY GEORGE POLTI

In one of his “Paris Letters”, in the magazine “Theater and Art” (before the revolution), A.V. Lunacharsky wrote: In “Goethe’s Conversations with Eckermann” there is the following phrase from Goethe “Gozzi argued that there are only thirty-six tragic situations. Schiller racked his brains for a long time to discover more, but he didn’t even find as much as Gozzi. “This is truly impressive. Gozzi was one of the wittiest writers of the 18th century. And next to him, such playwrights as Goethe and Schiller agree with the thesis of the extraordinary. at first glance, the limitations of dramatic situations. Polti found all thirty-six and lists them, while giving a huge mass of transitions and options.
How did he search? For this purpose, he studied, analyzed and divided into categories one thousand two hundred dramatic works from the literature of all times and peoples, and traced the fate of eight thousand characters. Of course, he does not see anything cabalistic in the number thirty-six. He understands that he can easily disagree with him, compress two situations into one, or count two variations as two situations, but still have to revolve around the number thirty-six...

1st situation - PRAY. Elements of the situation: 1) the pursuer, 2) the persecuted and begging for protection, help, shelter, forgiveness, etc., 3) the force on which it depends to provide protection, etc., while the force does not immediately decide to protect , hesitant, unsure of herself, which is why you have to beg her (thereby increasing the emotional impact of the situation), the more she hesitates and does not dare to provide help. Examples: 1) a person fleeing begs someone who can save him from his enemies, 2) begs for shelter in order to die in it, 3) a shipwrecked person asks for shelter, 4) asks those in power for dear, close people, 5) asks for one a relative for another relative, etc.

4th situation - REVENGE OF A CLOSE PERSON FOR ANOTHER CLOSE PERSON OR CLOSE PEOPLE. Elements of the situation: 1) living memory of the insult, harm inflicted on another loved one, the sacrifices he made for his own. Close ones, 2) an avenging relative, 3) a relative who is guilty of these insults, harm, etc. Examples: 1) revenge on a father for his mother or a mother on his father, 2) revenge on his brothers for his son, 3) on his father for his husband, 4) on his husband for his son, etc. Classic example: Hamlet’s revenge on his stepfather and his mother for his murdered man father.

7th situation - VICTIM(i.e. someone, a victim of some other person or people, or a victim of some circumstances, some misfortune). Elements of the situation: 1) one who can influence the fate of another person in the sense of his oppression or some kind of misfortune. 2) weak, being a victim of another person or misfortune. Examples: 1) ruined or exploited by someone who was supposed to care and protect, 2) previously loved or loved one finding themselves forgotten, 3) unfortunate, having lost all hope, etc.

11th situation - RIDDLE,(i.e., on the one hand, asking a riddle, and on the other, asking, striving to solve the riddle). Elements of the situation: 1) asking a riddle, hiding something, 2) trying to solve a riddle, find out something, 3) the subject of a riddle or ignorance (mysterious) Examples: 1) under pain of death, you need to find some person or object, 2 ) to find the lost, lost, 3) to solve the riddle under pain of death (Oedipus and the Sphinx), 4) to force a person with all sorts of tricks to reveal what he wants to hide (name, gender, state of mind, etc.)

14-situation - RIVALRY OF CLOSE ones. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the close ones is preferred, 2) the other is neglected or abandoned, 3) an object of rivalry (in this case, apparently, a twist is possible: at first the preferred one is then neglected and vice versa) Examples: 1) rivalry between brothers (“Pierre and Jean" by Maupassant), 2) rivalry between sisters, 3) father and son - because of a woman, 4) mother and daughter, 5) rivalry between friends ("The Two Gentlemen of Verona" by Shakespeare)

Situation 15 - ADULTURE(i.e. adultery, adultery), LEADING TO MURDER. Elements of the situation: 1) one of the spouses who violates marital fidelity, 2) the other spouse is deceived, 3) violation of marital fidelity (i.e., someone else is a lover or mistress). Examples: 1) kill or allow your lover to kill your husband (“Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by Leskov, “Thérèse Raquin” by Zola, “The Power of Darkness” by Tolstoy) 2) kill a lover who entrusted his secret (“Samson and Delilah”), etc. .

16th situation - MADNESS. Elements of the situation: 1) a person who has fallen into madness (mad), 2) a victim of a person who has fallen into madness, 3) a real or imaginary reason for madness. Examples: 1) in a fit of madness, kill your lover (“The Prostitute Elisa” by Goncourt), a child, 2) in a fit of madness, burn, destroy your or someone else’s work, a work of art, 3) while drunk, reveal a secret or commit a crime.

17th situation - FATAL NEGLIGENCE. The elements of the situation are: 1) a careless person, 2) a victim of carelessness or a lost object, sometimes accompanied by 3) a good adviser warning against carelessness, or 4) an instigator, or both. Examples: 1) through carelessness, be the cause of your own misfortune, dishonor yourself (“Money” Zola), 2) through carelessness or gullibility, cause misfortune or the death of another person close to you (Biblical Eve)

Situation 18 - INVOLVED(out of ignorance) CRIME OF LOVE(in particular incest). Elements of the situation: 1) lover (husband), mistress (wife), 3) learning (in the case of incest) that they are in a close degree of relationship, which does not allow love relationships according to the law and current morality. Examples: 1) find out that he married his mother (“Oedipus” by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Corneille, Voltaire), 2) find out that his mistress is his sister (“The Bride of Messina” by Schiller), 3) a very commonplace case: find out that his mistress - Married.

Situation 19 - INVOLVED(unknowingly) KILLING A CLOSE ONE. Elements of the situation: 1) killer, 2) unrecognized victim, 3) exposure, recognition. Examples: 1) unwittingly contribute to the murder of his daughter, out of hatred for her lover (“The King is Having Fun” by Hugo, the play on which the opera “Rigoletto” was made), 2) without knowing his father, kill him (“Freeloader” by Turgenev with the fact that murder replaced by an insult), etc.

23rd situation - SACRIFICE A CLOSE PERSON DUE TO NECESSITY, INEVITABILITY, Elements of the situation: 1) a hero sacrificing a loved one, 2) a loved one who is being sacrificed. Examples: 1) the need to sacrifice a daughter for the sake of public interest (“Iphigenia” by Aeschylus and Sophocles, “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Euripides and Racine), 2) the need to sacrifice loved ones or one’s followers for the sake of one’s faith, belief (“93” by Hugo), etc. .d.

24th situation - RIVALRY OF INEQUALS(as well as almost equal or equal). Elements of the situation: 1) one rival (in case of unequal rivalry - lower, weaker), 2) another rival (higher, stronger), 3) the subject of rivalry. Examples: 1) the rivalry between the winner and her prisoner (“Mary Stuart” by Schiller), 2) the rivalry between the rich and the poor. 3) rivalry between a person who is loved and a person who does not have the right to love (“Esmeralda” by V. Hugo), etc.

25th situation - ADULTURE(adultery, adultery). Elements of the situation: the same as in adultery leading to murder. Not considering adultery to be capable of creating a situation in itself, Polti considers it as a special case of theft, aggravated by betrayal, while pointing out three possible cases: 1) the lover is more pleasant than firm than the deceived spouse ), 2) the lover is less attractive than the deceived spouse, 3) the deceived spouse takes revenge. Examples: 1) “Madame Bovary” by Flaubert, “The Kreutzer Sonata” by L. Tolstoy.

26th situation - CRIME OF LOVE. Elements of the situation: 1) lover, 2) beloved. Examples: 1) a woman in love with her daughter’s husband (“Phaedra” by Sophocles and Racine, “Hippolytus” by Euripides and Seneca), 2) the incestuous passion of Doctor Pascal (in Zola’s novel of the same name), etc.

27th situation - LEARNING ABOUT THE DISHONOR OF A LOVED OR RELATIVE(sometimes related to the fact that the person who finds out is forced to pronounce a sentence, punish a loved one or loved one). Elements of the situation: 1) the person who recognizes, 2) the guilty loved one or loved one, 3) guilt. Examples: 1) learn about the dishonor of your mother, daughter, wife, 2) discover that your brother or son is a murderer, a traitor to the motherland and be forced to punish him, 3) be forced, by virtue of an oath to kill a tyrant, to kill your father, etc. .

Situation 29 - LOVE FOR THE ENEMY. Elements of the situation: 1) the enemy who aroused love, 2) the loving enemy, 3) the reason why the beloved is the enemy. Examples: 1) the beloved is an opponent of the party to which the lover belongs, 2) the beloved is the murderer of the father, husband or relative of the one who loves him (“Romeo and Juliet,”), etc.

Situation 31 - FIGHTING GOD(fight against God) Elements of the situation: 1) man, 2) God, 3) the reason or subject of the fight Examples: 1) fight with God, arguing with him, 2) fight with those faithful to God (Julian the Apostate), etc.

Situation 35 - LOST AND FOUND. Elements of the situation: 1) lost 2) found, 2) found. Examples: 1) “Children of Captain Grant”, etc.