E.Schwartz “Dragon”

24.1.2015

Dragon — play by E. L. Schwartz. It was painted in 1942—1944, during evacuation to Stalinabad.

Storyline

It is based on a fairy-tale story by the peoples of Southeast Asia about a dragon who cannot be defeated, because the winner himself turns into a dragon, and only a young man with pure thoughts kills the monster. Schwartz looks at the topic of turning a winner into a tyrant from a diametrically opposed point of view. In the play, people saved by the hero for the most part consider life under the rule of a dragon to be quite tolerable; they have become accustomed to cruelty and oppression, and everyone hopes it doesn't get worse. After all, fighting a dragon is certain death. These people don't particularly want to be saved; they don't need freedom; they prefer to be enslaved so that the lord turns out to be softer. Having lost one tyrant, they gladly fall under the rule of another. The hero is surprised to find that killing a dragon is not enough to free people.

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