According to the researchers, “it is impossible to establish the exact date when work on the poem began, but it is clear that 1861 served as the starting point for its conception.” In it Nekrasov, in his own words, “he decided to present in a coherent story everything that he knew about the people, everything that he happened to hear from their lips.” “This will be an epic of modern peasant life,” said the poet.
By 1865, the first part of the work was basically completed. The same year, 1865, researchers date the emergence of the idea for “The Last One” and “The Peasant Woman”. “The Last One” was completed in 1872, “The Peasant Woman” - in 1873. At the same time, in 1873-1874, “A Feast for the Whole World” was conceived, on which the poet worked in 1876-1877. The poem remained unfinished. The dying Nekrasov bitterly told one of his contemporary that his poem was “a thing that can only have its meaning as a whole.” “When I started,” the author admitted, “I didn’t clearly see where it would end, but now everything has worked out for me, and I feel that the poem would win and win.”
The incompleteness of the poem and the length of work on it, which also affected the evolution of the author’s thought and the author’s task, make it extremely difficult to solve the problem of design, which, not by chance, has become one of the controversial ones for non-krasologists.
In the “Prologue,” a clear plot line is outlined - seven temporary peasants who met by chance began to argue about “who lives happily and freely in Rus'”: the landowner, the official, the priest, the “thick-bellied merchant,” “the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister,” or the tsar. Without resolving the dispute, they “promised to each other” “not to toss and turn in their houses”, “not to see their wives or little children”, “until they find out, / No matter what - for certain, / Who lives happily, / At ease in Rus'."
How to interpret this storyline? Did Nekrasov want to show in the poem that only the “tops” are happy, or did he intend to create a picture of a universal, painful, difficult existence in Rus'? After all, already the first possible “candidates” for the lucky ones that the men met - the priest and the landowner - painted very sad pictures of the life of the entire priestly and landowner class. And the landowner even takes the question itself: is he happy, as a joke and jokingly, “like a doctor, he felt everyone’s hand, looked into their faces, / grabbed his sides / And began to laugh...” The question of the landowner’s happiness seems to him ridiculous. At the same time, each of the narrators, both the priest and the landowner, complaining about their lot, opens the reader to the opportunity to see the reasons for their misfortunes. All of them are not of a personal nature, but are connected with the life of the country, with the poverty of the peasantry and the ruin of the landowners after the reform of 1861.
In Nekrasov’s rough drafts, the chapter “Death” remained, which told about the plight in Russia during the anthrax epidemic. In this chapter, the men listen to the story of the official’s misfortunes. After this chapter, Nekrasov, according to his confession, “finishes off with that guy who claimed that the official was happy.” But even in this chapter, as can be judged from the remaining notes, the story about the moral suffering of an official, forced to take the last crumbs from the peasants, opens up new aspects of the unified picture of all-Russian life, the hardships and suffering of the people.
The author’s plan for continuing the poem includes the arrival of the men in “St. Petersburg” and a meeting with the “sovereign minister” and the tsar, who, perhaps, also had to talk about their affairs and troubles. At the end of the poem, Nekrasov, according to the recollections of people close to him, wanted to complete the story about the misfortunes of Russia with a general pessimistic conclusion: it is good to live in Rus' only if you are drunk. Relaying his plan from Nekrasov’s words, Gleb Uspensky wrote: “Having not found a happy person in Rus', wandering men return to their seven villages: Gorelov, Neelov, etc. These villages are adjacent, that is, they are close to each other, and from each there is a path to the tavern. Here at this tavern they meet a drunken man, “belted with a sash,” and with him, over a glass, they find out who has a good life.”
And if the poem had developed only according to this intended scheme: consistently telling about the meetings of wanderers with representatives of all classes, about the troubles and sorrows of priests and landowners, officials and peasants, then the author’s intention could be understood as a desire to show the illusory nature of the well-being of everyone in Rus' estates - from the peasantry to the nobility.
But Nekrasov already in the first part deviates from the main storyline: after meeting with the priest, the men go to the “rural fair” to question the “men and women”, to look for the happy ones among them. The chapter from part two - “The Last One” - is not connected with the storyline outlined in the “Prologue”. She presents one of the episodes on the path of the men: a story about the “stupid comedy” played by the Vakhlak men. After “The Last One,” Nekrasov writes the chapter “Peasant Woman,” dedicated to the fates of two peasants - Matryona Timofeevna and Savely Korchagin. But here, too, Nekrasov complicates the task to the utmost: behind the stories of the two peasants there emerges a generalized, broad picture of the life of the entire Russian peasantry. Almost all aspects of this life are touched upon by Nekrasov: raising children, the problem of marriage, intra-family relations, the problem of “recruitment”, the relationship of peasants with the authorities (from the smallest rulers of their destinies - mayors and managers - to landowners and governors).
In the last years of his life, Nekrasov, seemingly clearly departing from the intended scheme, was working on the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World,” the central theme of which is the tragic past of the Russian people, the search for the causes of the people’s tragedy and reflection on the future fate of the people.
It is impossible not to notice that some other plot lines outlined in the Prologue do not receive development. Thus, it can be assumed that the search for the happy should have taken place against the backdrop of national disaster: in the Prologue and the first part of the poem, the leitmotif is the idea of impending famine. Famine is also prophesied by the description of winter and spring; it is foreshadowed by the priest met by the peasants, the “feisty Old Believers.” For example, the priest’s words sound like a terrible prophecy:
Pray, Orthodox Christians!
Great trouble threatens
And this year:
The winter was fierce
Spring is rainy
It should have been sowing long ago,
And there is water in the fields!
But these prophecies disappear in further parts of the poem. In the chapters from the second and third parts created by Nekrasov, on the contrary, the richness of the crops being grown, the beauty of the fields of rye and wheat, and the peasant joy at the sight of the future harvest are emphasized.
Another intended line does not find development either - the prophecy-warning of the warbler bird, which gave the men a self-assembled tablecloth, that they should not ask the tablecloth for more than what they are entitled to, otherwise “they will be in trouble.” According to the traditions of the folk tale, on which the Prologue is based, this warning should have been fulfilled. But it is not fulfilled, moreover, in “A Feast for the Whole World,” written by Nekrasov in 1876-1877, the self-assembled tablecloth itself disappears.
At one time V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov expressed the point of view accepted by many researchers of the poem: that its concept has changed. “Under the influence of what was happening in the country,” suggested V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov, - the poet resolutely pushes into the background the question of the happiness of the “fat-bellied merchant”, “official”, “noble boyar - minister of the sovereign”, finally, the “tsar” and devoted his poem entirely to the question of how the people lived and what the paths lead to people's happiness." B.Ya. also writes about the same thing. Bukhshtab: “The theme of the lack of happiness in people’s life already in the first part of the poem prevails over the theme of the master’s grief, and in subsequent parts it completely displaces it.<...>At some stage of work on the poem, the idea of asking the owners of life whether they were happy completely disappeared or was pushed back.” The idea that the idea changed during the work on the poem is shared by V.V. Prokshin. In his opinion, the original plan was supplanted by a new idea - to show the evolution of wanderers: “travel quickly makes men wise. Their new thoughts and intentions are revealed in a new storyline of the search for true national happiness. This second line not only complements, but decisively displaces the first.”
A different point of view was expressed by K.I. Chukovsky. He argued that the “real intention” of the poem was initially the author’s desire to show “how deeply unhappy the people were “blessed” by the notorious reform,” “and only to disguise this secret plan did the poet put forward the problem of the well-being of merchants, landowners, priests and royal dignitaries , which wasn't really relevant to the plot." Fairly objecting to K. Chukovsky, B.Ya. Bukhshtab points out the vulnerability of this judgment: the theme of people's suffering is the central theme of Nekrasov's works, and in order to address it, there was no need for a disguise plot.
However, a number of researchers, with some clarification, share the position of K.I. Chukovsky, for example, L.A. Evstigneeva. She defines Nekrasov’s innermost plan differently, seeing it in the poet’s desire to show that the happiness of the people is in his own hands. In other words, the meaning of the poem is a call for a peasant revolution. Comparing different editions of the poem, L.A. Evstigneeva notes that fairy-tale images did not appear immediately, but only in the second edition of the poem. One of their main functions, according to the researcher, is to “disguise the revolutionary meaning of the poem.” But at the same time, they are intended not only to be a means of Aesopian storytelling. “The special form of folk poetic tale found by Nekrasov organically included elements of folklore: fairy tales, songs, epics, parables, etc. The same warbler bird that gives the men a magical tablecloth, answers their question about happiness and contentment: “If you find it, you will find it yourself.” Thus, already in the “Prologue” Nekrasov’s central idea is born that the happiness of the people is in their own hands,” believes L.A. Evstigneeva.
The researcher sees proof of his point of view in the fact that already in the first part Nekrasov deviates from the plot scheme outlined in the Prologue: truth-seekers, contrary to their own plans, begin to look for the lucky ones among the peasants. This indicates, according to L.A. Evstigneeva, that “the action of the poem develops not according to the plot scheme, but in accordance with the development of Nekrasov’s innermost plan.” Based on examination of both the final text and the rough drafts, the researcher concludes: “<...>The widespread opinion about a radical change in the intent of the poem is not confirmed by analysis of the manuscripts. There was an embodiment of the plan, its implementation and, at the same time, complication, but not evolution as such. The architectonics of the poem reflected this process. The uniqueness of the compositional structure of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” lies in the fact that it is based not on the development of the plot, but on the implementation of Nekrasov’s grandiose idea - about the inevitability of a people’s revolution - born at the moment of the highest rise of the liberation struggle of the 60s.”
A similar point of view is expressed by M.V. Teplinsky. He believes that “from the very beginning, Nekrasov’s plan was not identical to peasant ideas about the direction of the search for the supposed lucky man. The poem was structured in such a way as not only to show the falsity of peasant illusions, but also to lead wanderers (and with them readers) to the perception of the revolutionary democratic idea of the need to fight for people's happiness. Nekrasov had to prove that Russian reality itself forces wanderers to change their original point of view.” Thus, according to the researcher, the idea is to show the path to people's happiness.
Summing up the thoughts of the researchers, it should be said that Nekrasov’s plan cannot be reduced to one idea, to one thought. Creating the “epic of peasant life,” the poet sought to cover in his poem all aspects of people’s life, all the problems that the reform clearly revealed: the poverty of the peasants, and the moral consequences of the “age-old illness” - slavery, which formed “habits”, certain ideas, norms of behavior and attitude to life. According to the fair observation of F.M. Dostoevsky, the fate of the people is determined by their national character. This idea turns out to be very close to the author of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” A journey through Rus' also becomes a journey into the depths of the Russian soul, reveals the Russian soul and ultimately explains the vicissitudes of Russian history.
But no less important is another meaning of the journey that the heroes undertake at the will of the author. The plot of the journey, already known in ancient Russian literature, was of particular importance: the movement of the heroes of ancient Russian hagiographical works in geographical space became “movement along the vertical scale of religious and moral values,” and “geography acted as a type of knowledge.” Researchers noted a “special attitude towards the traveler and travel” among ancient Russian scribes: “a long journey increases the holiness of a person.” This perception of travel as a moral quest, the moral improvement of a person, is fully characteristic of Nekrasov. The journey of his wanderers symbolizes Rus' seeking truth, Rus', “awakened” and “full of strength” to find the answer to the question of the reasons for its misfortune, about the “secret” of “people's contentment.”
Over the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by N.A. Nekrasov worked for a very long time, from the 1860s until his death. Individual chapters were published in magazines, but there was never a single text of the work.
The idea of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
It arose only in 1920, when K.I. Chukovsky was preparing for publication the complete collected works of Nekrasov: then he decided to create a poem with a single composition from disparate pieces. The poem is largely based on folklore elements, which was very relevant in the 1860s. The language of this poem is as close as possible to the colloquial speech of peasants.
Nekrasov's idea was to show readers the life of ordinary peasants in Russia after the abolition of serfdom. Nekrasov repeatedly emphasized in his work that the life of peasants after the reform became almost even more difficult. To depict this in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov chooses the form of travel - his hero walks around the world in search of the truth.
The main characters of this poem are seven temporarily obliged
Although it was assumed that all classes would be shown in the poem, Nekrasov still focuses on the peasantry. He paints his life with gloomy colors, especially sympathizes with women.
The poem contains a part “Peasant Woman”, dedicated to a certain Matryona Timofeevna and her sad life. She is overtaken by two misfortunes in a row connected with her sons: first, the baby Dyomushka dies - his grandfather did not keep an eye on him, the boy was trampled by pigs, then the society decides to punish the shepherd son Fedot - he gave the dead sheep to the wolves, for which they wanted to flog him.
But in the end they flogged the selfless mother who saved him. Then Matryona’s husband is drafted into the army, and she, pregnant, goes to the governor for help. As a result, she gives birth right in his waiting room, with the help of his wife. After this, the governor’s wife helps her get her husband back. And, despite all the troubles, Matryona Timofeevna considers herself a happy woman.
The life of a woman is also described in the song “Salty”. The peasant woman ran out of salt for soup in her house because she had no money. But a peasant woman can find a way out of any situation: she begins to cry right over the pan and, as a result, salts the soup with her own tears.
The pessimism of the poem - who will live well after all?
Nekrasov is very sympathetic to the peasants, but his work is deeply pessimistic. Obviously, the intention of this poem is to show: no one is happy in Russia - the priests take money, the landowners complain about the impoverishment of the village, the soldiers are forced to serve hard, and the peasants have to provide themselves with a piece of bread.
There is a chapter in the poem “Happy”, in which temporarily obliged wanderers promise to give vodka to any person who proves that he is happy. However, no one can do this, because... There are no happy people in Rus'. Their only joy in life is that very glass of vodka, without which it would be completely sad.
The only happy person in the entire poem is Grisha Dobrosklonov, who chooses the path of struggle for himself. However, Rus' has hope for a better future, which is connected with the peasants. They do not know how to be free, and Nekrasov identifies three types of peasants: those who are proud of their slavery; aware of slavery, but unable to resist; fighting injustice.
“Who Lives Well in Rus'”: concept, history of creation, composition, issues, genre of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov
I decided to present in a coherent story everything I know about the people, everything that I had to hear from their lips, and I started “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” This will be an epic of people's life. (N. A. Nekrasov)
Historical background Peasants had to buy land from the landowner. Peasants who, with the permission of the landowner, switched to the redemption of land plots were called owners, and those who did not switch to redemption were called temporarily obligated. For the right to use the plot of land received from the landowner before the transfer to redemption, they had to fulfill compulsory duties (pay quitrent or work corvée).
Historical background When buying land, peasants paid for it twice and three times its actual value. The beggarly allotment could not feed the peasant, and he had to go to the same landowner with a request to accept sharecropping: to cultivate the master's land with his own tools and receive half the harvest for his labor.
Historical background How did N. A. Nekrasov perceive the reform, which did not give the people the desired liberation? The poet experienced the events of those years tragically, as evidenced, in particular, by the memoirs of N.G. Chernyshevsky: “On the day the will was announced, I came to him and found him in bed. He was extremely depressed; All around on the bed were various parts of the “Regulations” on Peasants.” “Is this real will! - he said. “No, this is pure deception, a mockery of the peasants.”
The history of the creation of the poem Soon after the Peasant Reform, in 1862, the idea for the poem arose. Nekrasov considered its goal to be the depiction of the dispossessed peasantry, among whom - as in all of Russia - there is no happy person. The poet worked on the poem from 1863 to 1877, i.e. about 14 years. During this time, the plan changed, but the poem was never completed by the author, so there is no consensus in criticism about its composition. The question of the order of arrangement of its parts has not yet been resolved. The most substantiated order can be considered the order of the parts according to the chronology of their writing. “Prologue” and part 1 - 1868 “The Last One” - 1872 “Peasant Woman” -1873 “A feast for the whole world” Nekrasov wrote while already in a state of mortal illness, but he did not consider this part the last, intending to continue the poem with an image wanderers in St. Petersburg.
The genre of the poem Nekrasov himself called “Who Lives Well in Rus'” a poem, but his work is not similar in genre terms to any of the poems known in Russian literature before Nekrasov. The content of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” required some new genre form for its implementation, and Nekrasov created it. A poem (from the Greek “to create”, “creation”) is a large epic poetic work. The originality of the poem lies in the fact that this work is realistic in its artistic method, folk in its meaning and themes, epic in the breadth of its depiction of reality and heroic pathos.
A poem (from the Greek “create”, “creation”) is a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. Epic (from the Greek “collection of songs, tales”) is the largest monumental form of epic literature, which gives a broad, multifaceted, comprehensive picture of the world, including deep thoughts about the fate of the world and intimate experiences of the individual.
People's book. (About the people and for the people. The experience of the poet’s long-term friendship with the peasants of the Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Vladimir provinces.) The style of the poem has deep folk origins: literary Russian, colloquial speech of the peasantry, folklore elements.
Genre of the poem The originality of the poem lies in the fact that this work is realistic in its artistic method, folk in its meaning and themes, epic in its breadth of depiction of reality and heroic pathos.
Genre of the poem In terms of genre, the poem is a folk epic, which, according to the poet’s plan, should have included in its completed form the genre features of all three types of Nekrasov’s poems: “peasant”, satirical, heroic-revolutionary. The form of travel, meetings, questions, stories, descriptions used in the work was very convenient in order to give a comprehensive image of life. .
Composition of the poem Literary critic V.V. Gippius in the article “On the study of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” back in 1934 wrote: “The poem remained unfinished, the poet’s intention was not clarified; individual parts of the poem followed each other at different times and not always in sequential order. Two questions that are of primary importance in the study of the poem still remain controversial: 1) about the relative position of the parts that have come down to us and 2) about the reconstruction of the unwritten parts and, above all, the denouement. Both issues are obviously closely related and must be resolved jointly.
COMPOSITION “calendar” “Prologue” - spring (birds are making nests, the cuckoo is calling) “Pop” - “And the time is not early, the month of May is approaching” “Rural fair” - “The weather only stared at St. Nicholas of the spring” (May 9, old style ) “Last One” - “Petrovka. It's a hot time. Haymaking is in full swing" (July 12)
“A feast for the whole world” - haymaking ends (early autumn) “Peasant Woman” - harvest The planned St. Petersburg part was supposed to take place in winter
Composition of the poem Composition is the composition, arrangement and relationship of the parts and elements of a work of art. 1. The main plot core of the poem is the search for “happy” by seven peasants. This storyline seems to pass through the destinies of many people and ends with the image of Grisha Dobrosklonov, who gives the answer to the question posed in the title of the poem. 2. In the process of searching for happiness, seven peasants meet many people, listen to numerous stories, and themselves take part in some events. The motif of wandering and travel allows Nekrasov to expand the scope of the original plot and introduce many inserted plots, images and destinies into the composition of the poem. Thanks to this compositional structure, the poem really becomes a kind of “encyclopedia” of Russian peasant life...
Composition of the poem 3. In Nekrasov’s poem there is actually no main character, or rather, the entire peasant world and partly other classes that come into contact with it become such a hero. The most important characters can be called Matryona Timofeevna, Savely, Ermil Girin, Yakim Nagogo, Grisha Dobrosklonov. But along with them, there are many minor and episodic characters in the poem, without whom the picture of Russian village life would be incomplete. These are the elder Vlas, Klim Lavin, the landowner, the priest, the nameless peasants from the chapters “Happy”, “Drunken Night”, “The Last One”, etc.
Composition of the poem 4. The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was written a short time after the abolition of serfdom, therefore comparisons of pre-reform and post-reform life occupy an important place in its composition. This opposition runs through the entire poem and is most clearly expressed in the parts “A Feast for the Whole World,” “The Last One,” and in the chapters “Pop” and Landowner. 5. A special compositional originality characterizes the part “A feast for the whole world.” In it, Nekrasov widely refers to the genre of song, sometimes stylized as folk, sometimes purely literary. The genre of parables also appears here (“About the exemplary slave - Jacob the Faithful”, “About two great sinners”, “Peasant sin”).
The composition of the poem The composition of Nekrasov's poem is complex and original. In terms of the variety of elements included in it and the significant role of inserted plots, it can be compared with such works as Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” and Gogol’s “Dead Souls.” The compositional features of the poem corresponded to Nekrasov’s main task: to present as fully as possible the life of a Russian village at the turn of two historical eras.
Artistic space Smart province Terpigorev district Empty volost The names of the provinces, districts, volosts, villages speak of the plight of the people: Zaplatovo, Dyryavino...
Zaplatovo Dyryavino Razutovo Znobishino Gorelovo Neurozhayka Stolbovaya road Kuzminskoye village “Rural Fair” Vakhlaki “Last One” “Feast for the Whole World” Nagotino Wedge “Peasant Woman”
PROLOGUE In what year - calculate, In what land - guess, On a pillared path Seven men came together: This is how N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” begins.
The ideological and artistic role of the “Prologue” Indicates the time of action. Men are temporarily obliged (obliged, after the abolition of serfdom, to buy back their land from the landowners). Identifies the main problem of the work. The problem of happiness. Poem-dispute, poem-dispute (representatives of different segments of the population express their opinions about happiness, talk about their lives). Outlines the pattern according to which the plot should develop. Folklore origins of the work.
The main question of the poem: “Who lives happily, at ease in Rus'”? Roman said: to the landowner, Demyan said: to the official, Luka said: to the priest. To the fat-bellied merchant! - Said the Gubin brothers, Ivan and Mitrodor. Old man Pakhom strained and said, looking at the ground: To the noble boyar, to the sovereign's minister. And Prov said: to the king. . .
The men don't notice the argument. That they gave me a detour of thirty miles. It’s too late to return home, they make a fire and continue the argument over vodka, which develops into a fight. But a fight does not help resolve the exciting issue.
The solution is found unexpectedly: one of the men, Pakhom, catches a chick warbler. Let the chick go free! For a small chick I will give a large ransom!
HAPPY 1. Landowner 2. Official 3. Priest 4. Merchant 5. Noble 6. Minister 7. Tsar
Development of the main idea Meeting with the priest. Conversation with the landowner. “Happy” among the peasants. A satirical denunciation of servility (a servant with gout, an exemplary slave, Yakov the Faithful). Peasants - bearers of the best qualities of the people's character - Yakim Nagoy, Ermil Girin, Matryona Timofeevna, Savely, the hero of the Holy Russian.
Image of Ermil Girin Who is Ermil Girin? 2. What happened in Obrubkov’s estate? 3. How and for what purpose is the artistic device “silence” used in the story about Ermil Girin? 4. What do you think will be the future fate of Ermil Girin? 1.
Image of Yakim Nagoy Who is Yakim Nagoy? How did he attract the poet's attention? 2. What caused Yakima’s angry rebuke, what is its essence? 3. How was Yakima’s speech perceived by the characters in the poem? 1.
Image of Matryona Timofeevna 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Who is Matryona Timofeevna? What was the fate of the heroine? What serves as proof of the heroine’s extraordinary mind? What actions demonstrate hard work, perseverance, strong character, willpower, love for your husband and children? The meaning of the parable about “the keys to women’s happiness”. Why do fellow villagers consider Matryona Timofeevna happy?
Image of Savely Who is Savely? Tell the story of his life. 2. Why does N.A. Nekrasov call Saveliy “the hero of Holy Russia”? Give evidence of heroic strength, Saveliy’s daring. 3. Reveal the meaning of the image of Savely. 1.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”: concept, plot, composition. Review of the contents of the poem. Historical information about the peasant reform of 1861
On February 19, 1861, Alexander II issued a Manifesto and Regulations that abolished serfdom. What did the men get from the gentlemen?
The peasants were promised personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property. The land was recognized as the property of landowners. Landowners were charged with the responsibility of allocating a plot of land and field plots to the peasants.
The peasants had to buy the land from the landowner. The transition to the purchase of land plots depended not on the wishes of the peasants, but on the will of the landowner. The peasants who, with his permission, switched to the redemption of land plots were called owners, and those who did not switch to the redemption were called temporarily obligated. For the right to use the plot of land received from the landowner before the transfer to redemption, they had to fulfill compulsory duties (pay quitrent or work corvée).
The establishment of temporary obligatory relations preserves the feudal system of exploitation for an indefinite period. The value of the allotment was determined not by the actual market value of the land, but by the income received by the landowner from the estate under serfdom. When buying land, peasants paid for it twice and three times its actual value. For landowners, the redemption operation made it possible to retain in full the income that they received before the reform.
The beggarly allotment could not feed the peasant, and he had to go to the same landowner with a request to accept sharecropping: to cultivate the master's land with his own tools and receive half the harvest for his labor. This mass enslavement of the peasants ended with the massive destruction of the old village. In no other country in the world has the peasantry experienced such ruin, such poverty, even after “liberation”, as in Russia. That is why the first reaction to the Manifesto and the Regulations was the open resistance of the bulk of the peasantry, expressed in the refusal to accept these documents.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is Nekrasov’s pinnacle work.
Nekrasov, following Pushkin and Gogol, decided to depict a broad canvas of the life of the Russian people and their main mass - the Russian peasant of the post-reform era, to show the predatory nature of the peasant reform and the deterioration of the people's lot. An important image of the poem is the image of the road, which brings the author’s position closer to the motifs of the biblical way of the cross, with the traditions of Gogol and Russian folklore. At the same time, the author’s task also included a satirical depiction of the “tops,” where the poet follows Gogol’s traditions. But the main thing is to demonstrate the talent, will, perseverance and optimism of the Russian peasant. In its stylistic features and poetic intonations, the poem is close to works of folklore. The composition of the poem is complex primarily because its concept changed over time, the work remained unfinished, and a number of fragments were not published due to censorship restrictions.
1. The idea of the poem.“The people are liberated, but are the people happy?” - this line from “Elegy” explains Nekrasov’s position in relation to the peasant reform of 1861, which only formally deprived the landowners of their former power, but in fact deceived and robbed peasant Rus'.
2. The history of the creation of the poem. The poem was begun shortly after the peasant reform. The poet worked on the poem from 1863 to 1877, that is, about 14 years. Nekrasov considered its goal to be the depiction of the dispossessed peasantry, among whom - as in all of Russia - there is no happy person. The search for happiness among the upper echelons of society was for Nekrasov only a compositional device. The happiness of the “strong” and “well-fed” was beyond doubt for him. The very word “lucky”, according to Nekrasov, is a synonym for a representative of the privileged classes. Depicting the ruling classes (priest, landowner), Nekrasov first of all focuses on the fact that the reform hit not so much “with one end on the master” as “with the other on the peasant.”
3. Composition of the poem. During the work on the poem, its concept changed, but the poem was never completed by the author, so in criticism there is no consensus on its composition, there is no exact arrangement of its chapters.
The poet calls the wanderers “temporarily obliged,” which shows that the poem was begun no later than 1863, since later this term was very rarely applied to peasants.
Under the chapter “Landowner” there is a date set by the author - 1865, which indicates that before that the poet worked on its first part.
Dates of writing other chapters: “The Last One” - 1872; “Peasant Woman” - 1873; "A Feast for the Whole World" - 1877
Nekrasov wrote “A Feast for the Whole World” while already in a state of mortal illness, but he did not consider this part to be the last, intending to continue the poem with the image of wanderers in St. Petersburg.
It was V.V. Gippius who found in the poem itself objective indications of the sequence of parts: “Time is calculated in it “according to the calendar”: the action of the “Prologue” begins in the spring, when the birds build nests and the cuckoo crows. In the chapter “Pop,” the wanderers say: “And the time is not early, the month of May is approaching.” In the chapter “Rural Fair” there is a mention: “The weather only stared at Nikola in the spring”; Apparently, on St. Nicholas Day (May 9, old style) the fair itself takes place. “The Last One” also begins with the exact date: “Petrovka. It's a hot time. Haymaking is in full swing." In “A Feast for the Whole World” the haymaking is already over: the peasants are going to the market with hay. Finally, in “The Peasant Woman” - the harvest. The events described in “A Feast for the Whole World” refer to early autumn (Gregory is picking mushrooms in Chapter IV), and the “St. Petersburg part” conceived but not implemented by Nekrasov was supposed to take place in winter, when wanderers would come to St. Petersburg to seek access “ to the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister.” Presumably, the poem could have ended with the St. Petersburg episodes.”
The poet did not have time to make an order about the sequence of parts of the poem. The only thing that is known is that Nekrasov wanted to place the part “A Feast for the Whole World” after “The Last One.” So, literary scholars have come to the conclusion that behind the “Prologue. Part One” should be followed by the parts “Peasant Woman”, “Last One”, “Feast for the Whole World”. All these parts are connected by the theme of the road.
4. Genre of the poem. According to M. G. Kachurin, “before us epic" is a work of art that reflects "great historical events, entire eras in the life of the country and people." The objectivity of the depiction of life is expressed in the fact that the author’s voice is fused with the collective consciousness of the nation; the author depicts life, assessing it from the position of the people. Hence the connection of the poem with folklore, with the people's perception of existence. Thus, “Who lives well in Rus'” - realistic epic poem.
About the plot. The plot is close to folk tales about men's search for a happy man. The beginning of the poem (“In what year - calculate, in what land - guess ...") resembles a fairy tale beginning. Seven men from six The villages “came together”, argued (“Who lives happily and freely in Rus'?”) and went in search of a truly happy person. Everything that the wanderers saw during their journey through Rus', who they met, who they listened to, forms the content of the epic poem.
In the early 60s, Nekrasov began working on a work that he himself considered his life’s work, which, in the author’s own words, had been put together for twenty years, word by word - on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” In essence, the idea “To whom in Rus'..” was developed in one more direction. We mean the search for a hero of Russian life, partly realized in Grisha Dobrosklonov. This question turned out to be central in the historical-revolutionary poems dedicated to the Decembrists: “Grandfather” and “Russian Women”. For Nekrasov, who has always lived by the interests of modernity, such an appeal to history is at first glance unusual. The reasons for it are manifold.
Here, it is impossible to speak out loud about contemporary revolutionaries, and the desire to present their deeds not as random, isolated episodes, but in their historical continuity, in the national tradition. The poem is also distinguished by the desire to comprehend the events and their participants on a large-scale and generalized basis. Already in the proofs, the writer will replace the original title “Decembrists” with “Russian Women”. The realized parts of the poem retain great independence. At the same time, the artistic and ideological meaning of each of them is significantly enhanced precisely in relation to the other. Thus they represent a single whole. In general, the poem is a fusion of paintings made in a realistic manner (sketches of Italian life and especially the uprising on Senate Square) with a romantic depiction of events. The composition of the poem is characterized by some fragmentation, fragmentation of sharply contrasting scenes, the heroine is overwhelmed by one all-consuming impulse.
All this brings us back to the romantic poem of the 20s, to the work of not only Pushkin of that time, but also Ryleev, to Decembrist poetry. Thus, Nekrasov’s romanticism, recreating the flavor of a bygone era, with its entire figurative structure, the very texture of the poems, serves realism. “Princess Volkonskaya” is written differently. “Grandma’s notes” - this is how the poet explained this part of the poem.
The first-person narrative determined the deep, sincere lyricism of the narrative and gave it the special authenticity of personal testimony. The very form of the work - family memories - allowed the poet to recreate the character of the heroine with great completeness and trace her life.
The plot unfolds as chronologically sequential events: parental home, upbringing, marriage, the struggle for the right to go into exile with her Decembrist husband... - all this is depicted with everyday and historical authenticity. The fact that in the finale of “Princess Volkonskaya” there is a meeting between Volkonskaya and Trubetskoy and finally their meeting with the exiles gives plot completeness to both poems and the work as a whole. “... The self-sacrifice expressed by them,” Nekrasov wrote about the Decembrists, “will forever remain evidence of the great spiritual strength inherent in the Russian woman...”. Suffering, selflessness, great spiritual strength - this is what unites the “majestic Slavic woman” Daria and the “peasant” Maria Volkonskaya. New trends appear in Nekrasov’s late lyrics.
His lyrics of the 70s, more than ever, carry a mood of doubt, anxiety, and sometimes even pessimism. Increasingly, the image of the world as a peasant way of life is being replaced by the image of the world as a general world order. The scale by which life is measured is becoming truly global. The poet's late lyrics are permeated by a feeling of general ill-being and catastrophism.
In poetry there appears a desire for maximum generality, a desire to comprehend the world as a whole and, as a consequence of this, a craving for exhaustive aphorism, for an all-encompassing formula:
Days go by...
The air is still stifling,
The decrepit world is on a fatal path...
Man is terribly soulless,
There is no salvation for the weak!
Starting from specific impressions and facts, the poet strives for a philosophical understanding of life:
Terrible year!
Newspaper flair
And the massacre, the damned massacre!
Impressions of blood and murder,
You have completely worn me out!
O love! – where are all your efforts?
Intelligence! – where are the fruits of your labors?
Greedy world of villainy and violence,
A triumph of buckshot and bayonets!
This year also has things in store for grandchildren.
Seeds of discord and war.
There are no holy and gentle sounds in the world,
No love, freedom, silence!
Where is the enmity, where is the fatal cowardice,
Vengeful - bathed in blood,
The groan stands over the world without ceasing...
The feeling of “universal grief”, the world as a whole as a “decrepit”, terrible world, the consciousness of the hopelessness of the “fatal path” lead to new trends in the poet’s realism. And here Nekrasov achieves enormous artistic power...
Essay on literature on the topic: The idea of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
Other writings:
- The image of the people in Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is an epic poem. In its center is an image of post-reform Russia. Nekrasov wrote the poem over the course of twenty years, collecting material for it “word by word.” The poem is unusually broad Read More ......
- Nekrasov devoted the odes of his life to working on a poem, which he called his “favorite brainchild.” “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to present in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started” Read More ......
- The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” occupies a central place in Nekrasov’s work. It became a kind of artistic result of more than thirty years of work by the author. All the motives of Nekrasov’s lyrics are developed in the poem, all the problems that worried him were rethought, and his highest artistic achievements were used. Read More......
- Artistic features of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Having decided to create a book about the people and for the people, Nekrasov subordinates the entire artistic structure of the work to this goal. The poem contains the real linguistic element of folk speech. Here is the speech of wanderers, seekers of happiness, and rich Read More......
- Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” occupies a special place both in the history of Russian classical literature and in the poet’s creative heritage. It represents a synthesis of Nekrasov’s poetic activity, the completion of many years of creative work of the revolutionary poet. Everything that Nekrasov developed in Read More......
- Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov worked on his work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” for many years, giving it part of his soul. And throughout the entire period of creation of this work, the poet did not leave high ideas about a perfect life and a perfect person. Poem “To whom Read More ......
- The poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was written in 1860-1870. In this work, the author depicted Russian society in the post-reform period. He reflects on questions about where Rus' is going, what awaits it in the future, reveals the main Read More......
- A critical analysis of typical mistakes using the example of an essay on the topic of artistic features of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?”, as a means of revealing its ideological content. I. Nekrasov is the best continuer of folk traditions. II. “Let changing fashion tell us that the topic of the lesson is old Read More ......
