Analysis of the poem "To Whom in Rus' to Live Well" (Nekrasov). Analysis of the poem "who lives well in Rus'" by chapters, the composition of the work The poem and who lives well in Rus'

One of the most famous works of Nikolai Nekrasov is considered to be the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, which is distinguished not only by its deep philosophical meaning and social urgency, but also by its bright, original characters - these are seven simple Russian peasants who got together and argued about who “ live freely and cheerfully in Rus'. The poem was first published in 1866 in the Sovremennik magazine. The publication of the poem was resumed three years later, but the tsarist censorship, seeing in the content an attack on the autocracy, did not allow it to be published. The poem was published in its entirety only after the revolution in 1917.

The poem “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” has become the central work in the work of the great Russian poet, this is his ideological and artistic pinnacle, the result of his thoughts and reflections on the fate of the Russian people and on the roads leading to his happiness and well-being. These questions worried the poet throughout his life and ran like a red thread through all his literary activity. Work on the poem lasted 14 years (1863-1877) and in order to create this “folk epic”, as the author himself called it, useful and understandable for the common people, Nekrasov made a lot of efforts, although in the end it was never completed (8 chapters were planned, 4 were written). A serious illness, and then the death of Nekrasov, disrupted his plans. The plot incompleteness does not prevent the work from having an acute social character.

Main storyline

The poem was started by Nekrasov in 1863 after the abolition of serfdom, so its content touches on many problems that arose after the Peasant Reform of 1861. There are four chapters in the poem, they are united by a common plot about how seven ordinary men argued about who lives well in Rus' and who is truly happy. The plot of the poem, which touches on serious philosophical and social problems, is built in the form of a journey through Russian villages, their “talking” names describe the Russian reality of that time in the best possible way: Dyryavin, Razutov, Gorelov, Zaplatov, Neurozhaikin, etc. In the first chapter, called "Prologue", the men meet on a high road and start their own dispute in order to solve it, they are poisoned on a trip to Russia. On the way, arguing men meet a variety of people, these are peasants, and merchants, and landowners, and priests, and beggars, and drunkards, they see a wide variety of pictures from people's lives: funerals, weddings, fairs, elections, etc. .

Meeting different people, the peasants ask them the same question: how happy they are, but both the priest and the landowner complain about the deterioration of life after the abolition of serfdom, only a few of all the people they meet at the fair recognize themselves as truly happy.

In the second chapter, entitled "Last Child", the wanderers come to the village of Bolshie Vakhlaki, whose inhabitants, after the abolition of serfdom, in order not to upset the old count, continue to pretend to be serfs. Nekrasov shows readers how they were then cruelly deceived and robbed by the count's sons.

The third chapter, entitled “Peasant Woman,” describes the search for happiness among women of that time, the wanderers meet with Matryona Korchagina in the village of Klin, she tells them about her long-suffering fate and advises them not to look for happy people among Russian women.

In the fourth chapter, entitled “A Feast for the Whole World”, wandering seekers of truth find themselves at a feast in the village of Valakhchina, where they understand that the questions they ask people about happiness excite all Russian people without exception. The ideological finale of the work is the song "Rus", which originated in the head of the participant in the feast, the son of the parish deacon Grigory Dobrosklonov:

« You are poor

you are abundant

you and almighty

Mother Rus'!»

Main characters

The question of who is the main character of the poem remains open, formally these are the men who argued about happiness and decided to go on a trip to Russia to decide who is right, but the poem clearly shows the statement that the main character of the poem is the entire Russian people perceived as a whole. The images of wandering men (Roman, Demyan, Luka, the brothers Ivan and Mitrodor Gubin, the old man Pakhom and Prov) are practically not disclosed, their characters are not traced, they act and express themselves as a single organism, while the images of the people they meet, on the contrary, are painted very carefully, with lots of details and nuances.

One of the brightest representatives of a man from the people can be called the son of the parish clerk Grigory Dobrosklonov, who was presented by Nekrasov as a people's intercessor, enlightener and savior. He is one of the key characters and the entire final chapter is given to describe his image. Grisha, like no one else, is close to the people, understands their dreams and aspirations, wants to help them and composes wonderful “good songs” for people that bring joy and hope to others. Through his mouth, the author proclaims his views and beliefs, gives answers to the acute social and moral issues raised in the poem. Such characters as the seminarian Grisha and the honest steward Yermil Girin do not seek happiness for themselves, they dream of making all people happy at once and devote their whole lives to this. The main idea of ​​the poem stems from Dobrosklonov's understanding of the very concept of happiness, this feeling can be fully felt only by those who, without reasoning, give their lives for a just cause in the struggle for people's happiness.

The main female character of the poem is Matryona Korchagina, the description of her tragic fate, typical for all Russian women, is devoted to the entire third chapter. Drawing her portrait, Nekrasov admires her straight, proud posture, uncomplicated attire and the amazing beauty of a simple Russian woman (large, strict eyes, rich eyelashes, severe and swarthy). Her whole life is spent in hard peasant work, she has to endure the beatings of her husband and the arrogant encroachments of the manager, she was destined to survive the tragic death of her firstborn, hunger and deprivation. She lives only for the sake of her children, without hesitation accepts punishment with rods for her delinquent son. The author admires the strength of her maternal love, endurance and strong character, sincerely pities her and sympathizes with all Russian women, because the fate of Matryona is the fate of all peasant women of that time, suffering from lack of rights, need, religious fanaticism and superstition, lack of qualified medical care.

The poem also describes the images of landowners, their wives and sons (princes, nobles), depicts landowner servants (lackeys, servants, domestic servants), priests and other clergymen, good governors and cruel German managers, artists, soldiers, wanderers, a huge number minor characters that give the folk lyric-epic poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” that unique polyphony and epic breadth that make this work a real masterpiece and the pinnacle of all Nekrasov’s literary work.

Analysis of the poem

The problems raised in the work are diverse and complex, they affect the lives of various strata of society, this is a difficult transition to a new way of life, problems of drunkenness, poverty, obscurantism, greed, cruelty, oppression, the desire to change something, etc.

However, the key problem of this work is still the search for simple human happiness, which each of the characters understands in his own way. For example, rich people, such as priests or landowners, think only about their own well-being, this is happiness for them, poorer people, such as ordinary peasants, are happy with the simplest things: to stay alive after a bear attack, survive a beating at work, etc. .

The main idea of ​​the poem is that the Russian people deserve to be happy, they deserve it with their suffering, blood and sweat. Nekrasov was convinced that it is necessary to fight for one's happiness and it is not enough to make one person happy, because this will not solve the entire global problem as a whole, the poem calls for thinking and striving for happiness for everyone without exception.

Structural and compositional features

The compositional form of the work is distinguished by its originality, it is built in accordance with the laws of the classical epic, i.e. each chapter can exist autonomously, and all together they represent a single whole work with a large number of characters and storylines.

The poem, according to the author himself, belongs to the folk epic genre, it is written in iambic trimeter unrhymed, at the end of each line after the stressed syllables there are two unstressed syllables (the use of dactylic kazula), in some places to emphasize the folklore style of the work there is iambic tetrameter.

In order for the poem to be understandable to a common person, many common words and expressions are used in it: a village, a log, a fairground, an empty dance, etc. The poem contains a large number of different samples of folk poetic creativity, these are fairy tales, and epics, and various proverbs and sayings, folk songs of various genres. The language of the work is stylized by the author in the form of a folk song to improve ease of perception, while the use of folklore was considered the best way for the intelligentsia to communicate with the common people.

In the poem, the author used such means of artistic expression as epithets (“the sun is red”, “shadows are black”, the heart is free”, “poor people”), comparisons (“jumped out like a disheveled one”, “like dead men fell asleep”), metaphors ( “the earth is lying”, “the warbler is crying”, “the village is seething”). There is also a place for irony and sarcasm, various stylistic figures are used, such as appeals: “Hey, uncle!”, “Oh people, Russian people!”, Various exclamations “Chu!”, “Eh, Eh!” etc.

The poem "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" is the highest example of a work made in the folk style of the entire literary heritage of Nekrasov. The elements and images of Russian folklore used by the poet give the work a bright originality, colorfulness and rich national color. The fact that Nekrasov made the search for happiness the main theme of the poem is not at all accidental, because the whole Russian people have been looking for him for many thousands of years, this is reflected in his fairy tales, epics, legends, songs and various other folklore sources such as the search for a treasure, a happy land, priceless treasure. The theme of this work expressed the most cherished desire of the Russian people throughout its existence - to live happily in a society where justice and equality rule.

From 1863 to 1877, Nekrasov wrote "Who in Rus' should live well." The idea, the characters, the plot changed several times in the process of work. Most likely, the idea was not fully revealed: the author died in 1877. Despite this, "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" as a folk poem is considered a completed work. It was supposed to be 8 parts, but only 4 were completed.

With the introduction of the characters, the poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" begins. These heroes are seven men from the villages: Dyryavino, Zaplatovo, Gorelovo, Crop failure, Znobishino, Razutovo, Neelovo. They meet and start a conversation about who lives happily and well in Rus'. Each man has his own opinion. One believes that the landowner is happy, the other - that the official. A merchant, a priest, a minister, a noble boyar, a tsar, a peasant from the poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" is also called happy. The heroes began to argue, lit a fire. It even came to a fight. However, they fail to come to an agreement.

Self-assembly tablecloth

Suddenly, Pahom quite unexpectedly caught a chick. The little warbler, his mother, asked the peasant to set the chick free. She prompted for this, where you can find a self-assembled tablecloth - a very useful thing that will certainly come in handy on a long journey. Thanks to her, the men during the trip did not lack food.

Pop's story

The following events continue the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'." The heroes decided to find out at any cost who lives happily and cheerfully in Rus'. They set off on the road. First on the way they met a pop. The men turned to him with the question of whether he lives happily. Then the pop spoke about his life. He believes (in which the peasants could not disagree with him) that happiness is impossible without peace, honor, wealth. Pop believes that if he had all this, he would be completely happy. However, he is obliged day and night, in any weather, to go where he is told - to the dying, to the sick. Every time the priest has to see human grief and suffering. He even sometimes lacks the strength to take retribution for his service, since people tear the latter away from themselves. Once upon a time, everything was completely different. Pop says that rich landowners generously rewarded him for funerals, baptisms, and weddings. However, now the rich are far away, and the poor have no money. The priest also has no honor: the peasants do not respect him, as many folk songs speak of.

Wanderers go to the fair

Wanderers understand that this person cannot be called happy, which is noted by the author of the work "Who Lives Well in Rus'". The heroes set off again and find themselves on the road in the village of Kuzminsky, at a fair. This village is dirty, although rich. There are a lot of establishments in which residents indulge in drunkenness. They drink their last money. For example, the old man did not have money left for shoes for his granddaughter, since he drank everything. All this is observed by wanderers from the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" (Nekrasov).

Yakim Nagoi

They also notice fairground entertainment and fights and talk about the fact that the peasant is forced to drink: this helps to endure hard work and eternal hardship. An example of this is Yakim Nagoi, a peasant from the village of Bosovo. He works to death, "drinks half to death." Yakim believes that if there were no drunkenness, there would be great sadness.

The wanderers continue on their way. In the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'," Nekrasov says that they want to find happy and cheerful people, they promise to give these lucky people water for free. Therefore, a variety of people are trying to pass themselves off as such - a former courtyard suffering from paralysis, for many years licking plates for a master, exhausted workers, beggars. However, travelers themselves understand that these people cannot be called happy.

Ermil Girin

The men once heard about a man named Yermil Girin. His story is further told by Nekrasov, of course, he does not convey all the details. Ermil Girin is a burgomaster who was highly respected, a fair and honest person. He intended to buy the mill one day. The peasants lent him money without a receipt, they trusted him so much. However, there was a peasant revolt. Now Yermil is in jail.

Obolt-Obolduev's story

Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, one of the landowners, spoke about the fate of the nobles after They used to own a lot: serfs, villages, forests. Nobles could invite serfs to the house on holidays to pray. But after the master was no longer the full owner of the peasants. The wanderers knew perfectly well how difficult life was in the days of serfdom. But it is also not difficult for them to understand that it became much harder for the nobles after the abolition of serfdom. And the men are no longer easy. The wanderers understood that they would not be able to find a happy man among men. So they decided to go to the women.

Life of Matrena Korchagina

The peasants were told that in one village there lived a peasant woman named Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina, whom everyone called the lucky one. They found her, and Matrena told the peasants about her life. Nekrasov continues with this story "Who lives well in Rus'."

A brief summary of the life story of this woman is as follows. Her childhood was cloudless and happy. She had a working, non-drinking family. Mother cherished and cherished her daughter. When Matryona grew up, she became a beauty. A stove-maker from another village, Philip Korchagin, once wooed her. Matrena told how he persuaded her to marry him. This was the only bright memory of this woman in her entire life, who was hopeless and dreary, although her husband treated her well by peasant standards: he hardly beat her. However, he went to the city to work. Matryona lived in her father-in-law's house. Everyone treated her badly. The only one who was kind to the peasant woman was the very old grandfather Savely. He told her that for the murder of the manager he got to hard labor.

Soon Matryona gave birth to Demushka, a sweet and beautiful child. She could not part with him even for a minute. However, the woman had to work in the field, where her mother-in-law did not allow her to take the child. Grandfather Savely watched the baby. He once missed Demushka, and the child was eaten by pigs. They came from the city to sort it out, in front of the mother's eyes they opened the baby. This was a severe blow for Matryona.

Then five children were born to her, all boys. Matryona was a kind and caring mother. One day Fedot, one of the children, was tending sheep. One of them was carried away by a she-wolf. The shepherd was to blame for this, who should have been punished with whips. Then Matryona begged to be beaten instead of her son.

She also said that they once wanted to take her husband into the soldiers, although this was a violation of the law. Then Matrena went to the city, being pregnant. Here the woman met Elena Alexandrovna, a kind governor who helped her, and Matrena's husband was released.

The peasants considered Matryona a happy woman. However, after listening to her story, the men realized that she could not be called happy. There was too much suffering and trouble in her life. Matrena Timofeevna herself also says that a woman in Rus', especially a peasant woman, cannot be happy. Her lot is very hard.

Out of his mind landowner

The path to the Volga is held by wandering men. Here comes the mowing. People are busy with hard work. Suddenly, an amazing scene: the mowers are humiliated, pleasing the old master. It turned out that the landowner He could not understand what had already been canceled. Therefore, his relatives persuaded the peasants to behave as if it was still valid. They were promised for this. The men agreed, but were deceived once again. When the old master died, the heirs gave them nothing.

The Story of Jacob

Repeatedly on the way, wanderers listen to folk songs - hungry, soldier's and others, as well as various stories. They remembered, for example, the story of Jacob, the faithful serf. He always tried to please and appease the master, who humiliated and beat the serf. However, this led to the fact that Yakov loved him even more. The master's legs gave up in old age. Yakov continued to take care of him, as if he were his own child. But he didn't get any credit for it. Grisha, a young guy, Yakov's nephew, wanted to marry one beauty - a serf girl. Out of jealousy, the old master sent Grisha as a recruit. Jacob from this grief hit drunkenness, but then returned to the master and took revenge. He took him to the forest and hanged himself right in front of the master. Since his legs were paralyzed, he could not go anywhere. The master sat all night under Yakov's corpse.

Grigory Dobrosklonov - people's protector

This and other stories make men think that they will not be able to find happy people. However, they learn about Grigory Dobrosklonov, a seminarian. This is the son of a sexton, who has seen the suffering and hopeless life of the people since childhood. He made a choice in his early youth, decided that he would devote his strength to the struggle for the happiness of his people. Gregory is educated and smart. He understands that Rus' is strong and will cope with all troubles. In the future, Gregory will have a glorious path, the big name of the people's intercessor, "consumption and Siberia."

Men hear about this intercessor, but they still do not understand that such people can make others happy. This won't happen soon.

Heroes of the poem

Nekrasov depicted various segments of the population. Ordinary peasants become the main characters of the work. They were emancipated by the reform of 1861. But their life after the abolition of serfdom did not change much. The same hard work, hopeless life. After the reform, moreover, the peasants who had their own land found themselves in an even more difficult situation.

The characterization of the heroes of the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" can be supplemented by the fact that the author created surprisingly reliable images of peasants. Their characters are very accurate, although contradictory. Not only kindness, strength and integrity of character is in the Russian people. They retained at the genetic level obsequiousness, servility, readiness to submit to a despot and tyrant. The advent of Grigory Dobrosklonov, a new man, is a symbol of the fact that honest, noble, intelligent people appear among the downtrodden peasantry. May their fate be unenviable and difficult. Thanks to them, self-consciousness will arise in the peasant masses, and people will finally be able to fight for happiness. This is what the heroes and the author of the poem dream about. ON THE. Nekrasov ("Who Lives Well in Russia", "Russian Women", "Frost, and other works) is considered a truly folk poet, who was interested in the fate of the peasantry, its suffering, problems. The poet could not remain indifferent to his hard lot. The work of N. A. Nekrasov "Who in Russia is good to live" was written with such sympathy for the people, which makes even today to empathize with their fate at that difficult time.

The work of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is devoted to the deep problems of the Russian people. The heroes of his story, ordinary peasants, set off on a journey in search of a person to whom life does not bring happiness. So who in Rus' to live well? A summary of the chapters and annotation to the poem will help to understand the main idea of ​​the work.

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The idea and history of the creation of the poem

The main idea of ​​Nekrasov was to create a poem for the people, in which they could recognize themselves not only in the general idea, but also in the little things, life, behavior, see their strengths and weaknesses, find their place in life.

The author succeeded in his idea. Nekrasov has been collecting the necessary material for years, planning his work entitled “Who should live well in Rus'?” much more voluminous than the one that came out at the end. As many as eight full-fledged chapters were planned, each of which was supposed to be a separate work with a complete structure and idea. The only thing unifying link- seven ordinary Russian peasants, peasants who travel around the country in search of the truth.

In the poem "Who is it good to live in Rus'?" four parts, the order and completeness of which is a cause of controversy for many scholars. Nevertheless, the work looks holistic, leads to a logical end - one of the characters finds the very recipe for Russian happiness. It is believed that Nekrasov completed the end of the poem, already knowing about his imminent death. Wanting to bring the poem to an end, he moved the end of the second part to the end of the work.

It is believed that the author began to write “Who is living well in Rus'?” around 1863 - shortly after. Two years later, Nekrasov finished the first part and marked the manuscript with that date. The subsequent ones were ready for 72, 73, 76 years of the 19th century, respectively.

Important! The work began to be printed in 1866. This process turned out to be long four years. The poem was difficult to accept by critics, the highest of that time brought down a lot of criticism on it, the author, along with his work, was persecuted. Despite this, “Who is it good to live in Rus'?” was published and well received by the common people.

Annotation to the poem “Who is living well in Rus'?”: it consists of the first part, which contains a prologue that introduces the reader to the main characters, five chapters and excerpts from the second (“Last child” of 3 chapters) and the third part (“Peasant woman » from 7 chapters). The poem ends with the chapter "A feast for the whole world" and an epilogue.

Prologue

“Who is living well in Rus'?” begins with a prologue, the summary of which is as follows: there are seven main characters- ordinary Russian peasants from the people who came from the Terpigorev district.

Each comes from his own village, whose name, for example, was Dyryaevo or Neyolovo. Having met, the men begin to actively argue with each other about who really has a good life in Rus'. This phrase will be the leitmotif of the work, its main plot.

Each offers a variant of the estate, which is now prospering. These were:

• priests;
• landlords;
• officials;
• merchants;
• boyars and ministers;
• tsar.

Men argue so much it's getting out of hand fight starts- the peasants forget what things they were going to do, they go in an unknown direction. In the end, they wander into the wilderness, decide not to go anywhere else until the morning and wait out the night in a clearing.

Because of the noise raised, the chick falls out of the nest, one of the wanderers catches him and dreams that if he had wings, he would fly around all of Rus'. The rest add that you can do without wings, it would be something to drink and eat well, then you can travel until old age.

Attention! Bird - the mother of the chick, in exchange for her child, tells the peasants where find treasure- a self-assembled tablecloth, but warns that you can not ask for more than a bucket of alcohol a day - otherwise there will be trouble. The men really find a treasure, after which they promise each other not to part until they find the answer to the question of who is good to live in this state.

First part. Chapter 1

The first chapter tells about the meeting of men with the priest. They walked for a long time, met ordinary people - beggars, peasants, soldiers. The disputants did not even try to talk to them, because they knew from their own experience that the common people did not have happiness. Having met the priest's cart, the wanderers block the way and talk about the dispute, asking the main question, who in Rus' has a good life, extort, are the priests happy.

Pop responds as follows:

1. A person has happiness only if his life combines three features - calmness, honor and wealth.
2. He explains that the priests have no peace, ranging from how troublesome they get the dignity and ending with the fact that every day he listens to the cry of dozens of people, which does not add peace to life.
3. Lots of money now butts are hard to earn, since the nobles, who used to perform rituals in their native villages, now do it in the capital, and the clergy have to live off the peasants alone, from whom there is a meager income.
4. The people of the priests also do not indulge in respect, make fun of them, avoid them, there is no way to hear a good word from anyone.

After the priest's speech, the peasants bashfully hide their eyes and understand that the life of the priests in the world is by no means sweet. When the clergyman leaves, the debaters attack the one who suggested that the priests live well. It would have come to a fight, but the pop reappeared on the road.

Chapter 2

The peasants walk along the roads for a long time, almost no one meets them, whom you can ask who in Rus' has a good life. In the end, they learn that in the village of Kuzminsky rich fair because the village is not poor. There are two churches, a closed school and even a not very clean hotel where you can stay. It's no joke, there is a paramedic in the village.

The most important thing is that there are as many as 11 taverns here, who do not have time to pour to the merry people. All peasants drink a lot. An upset grandfather stands by the shoe shop, who promised to bring boots to his granddaughter, but drank the money away. Barin Pavlusha Veretennikov appears and pays for the purchase.

Books are also sold at the fair, but people are interested in the most untalented books, neither Gogol nor Belinsky are in demand and are not interesting to ordinary people, despite the fact that these writers just defend the interests of ordinary people. At the end, the heroes get so drunk that they fall to the ground, watching the church “stagger”.

Chapter 3

In this chapter, the debaters again find Pavel Veretennikov, who actually collects the folklore, stories and expressions of the Russian people. Pavel tells the peasants around him that they drink too much alcohol, and for those a drunken night is happiness.

Yakim Golyi objects to this, arguing that a simple the farmer drinks a lot not from his own desire, but because he works hard, he is constantly haunted by grief. Yakim tells his story to those around him - having bought pictures for his son, Yakim loved them no less than himself, therefore, when a fire broke out, he was the first to take these images out of the hut. In the end, the money that he had accumulated over his life was gone.

After hearing this, the men sit down to eat. After one of them remains to follow the bucket of vodka, and the rest again head into the crowd to find a person who considers himself happy in this world.

Chapter 4

Men walk the streets and promise to treat the happiest person of the people with vodka in order to find out who in Rus' has a good life, but only deeply unhappy people who want to drink to console themselves. Those who want to brag about something good find that their petty happiness does not answer the main question. For example, a Belarusian is happy that rye bread is made here, from which he does not have pain in his stomach, so he is happy.

As a result, the bucket of vodka runs out, and the debaters understand that they will not find the truth this way, but one of the visitors says to look for Ermila Girin. Ermil is very respected in the village, the peasants say that this is a very good person. They even tell a case that when Girin wanted to buy a mill, but there was no money for a deposit, he collected a whole thousand loans from the common people and managed to deposit the money.

A week later, Yermil gave away everything he occupied, until the evening he tried to find out from those around him who else to approach and give the last remaining ruble.

Girin earned such trust by the fact that, while serving as a clerk from the prince, he did not take money from anyone, but on the contrary, he helped ordinary people, therefore, when they were going to choose a burgomaster, they chose him, Yermil justified the appointment. At the same time, the priest says that he is unhappy, since he is already in jail, and why, he does not have time to tell, since a thief is found in the company.

Chapter 5

Further, the travelers meet a landowner who, in response to the question of who lives well in Rus', tells them about his noble roots - the founder of his family, the Tatar Oboldui, was skinned by a bear for the laugh of the empress, who in return presented many expensive gifts.

The landowner complains that the peasants were taken away, therefore there is no more law on its lands, forests are being cut down, drinking establishments are multiplying - the people do what they want, they become impoverished from this. Then he says that he was not used to working since childhood, but here he has to do it because the serfs were taken away.

Lamenting, the landowner leaves, and the peasants pity him, thinking that on the one hand, after the abolition of serfdom, the peasants suffered, and on the other, the landlords, that this whip whipped all classes.

Part 2. Afterbirth - summary

This part of the poem tells about the crazy Prince Utyatin, who, having learned that serfdom was abolished, fell ill with a heart attack and promised to deprive his sons of their inheritance. Those, frightened of such a fate, persuaded the peasants to play along with their old father, bribing them with a promise to give meadows to the village.

Important! Characteristics of Prince Utyatin: a selfish person who likes to feel power, therefore he is ready to force others to do completely meaningless things. He feels complete impunity, he thinks that the future of Russia is behind this.

Some peasants willingly played along with the lord's request, while others, such as Agap Petrov, could not come to terms with the fact that in the wild they had to bow before someone. Once in a situation in which it is impossible to achieve the truth, Agap Petrov dies from pangs of conscience and mental anguish.

At the end of the chapter, Prince Utyatin rejoices at the return of serfdom, speaks of its correctness at his own feast, which is attended by seven travelers, and at the end calmly dies in the boat. At the same time, no one gives the meadows to the peasants, and the trial on this issue has not been completed to this day, as the peasants found out.

Part 3. Peasant woman

This part of the poem is devoted to the search for female happiness, but ends with the fact that there is no happiness and never will be found. Wanderers meet a peasant woman Matryona - a beautiful, stately woman of 38 years old. Wherein Matryona is deeply unhappy considers herself an old woman. She has a hard fate, the joy was only in childhood. After the girl got married, her husband went to work, leaving his pregnant wife in her husband's large family.

The peasant woman had to feed her husband's parents, who only scoffed and did not help her. Even after giving birth, they were not allowed to take the child with them, since the woman did not work enough with him. The baby was looked after by an elderly grandfather, the only one who treated Matryona normally, but because of his age he did not look after the baby, he was eaten by pigs.

Matryona later also gave birth to children, but she could not forget her first son. The peasant woman forgave the old man who had gone to the monastery with grief and took him home, where he soon died. She herself came to the governor's house during the demolitions, asked to return her husband due to the difficult situation. Since Matryona gave birth right in the waiting room, the governor helped the woman, from this the people began to call her happy, which in fact was far from the case.

In the end, the wanderers, having not found female happiness and not having received an answer to their question - who in Rus' should live well, went on.

Part 4. A feast for the whole world - the conclusion of the poem

It takes place in the same village. The main characters gathered at the feast and have fun, tell different stories to find out which of the people in Rus' live well. The conversation turned to Yakov, a peasant who revered the master very much, but did not forgive when he gave his nephew to the soldiers. As a result, Yakov brought the owner into the forest and hanged himself, but he could not get out, because his legs did not work. What follows is a long discussion about who is more sinful in this situation.

The men share different stories about the sins of peasants and landowners, deciding who is more honest and righteous. The crowd as a whole is quite unhappy, including the peasants - the main characters, only a young seminarian Grisha wants to devote himself to serving the people and their well-being. He loves his mother very much and is ready to pour it out on the village.

Grisha goes and sings that a glorious path lies ahead, a sonorous name in history, he is inspired by this, he is not even afraid of the expected outcome - Siberia and death from consumption. The debaters do not notice Grisha, but in vain, because this the only happy person in the poem, having understood this, they could find the answer to their question - who should live well in Russia.

When the poem “Who is living well in Rus'?” was being written, the author wanted to finish his work in a different way, but the imminent death forced add optimism and hope to the end of the poem, to give "light at the end of the road" to the Russian people.

N.A. Nekrasov, “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” - a summary

To whom in Rus' to live well? This issue still worries many people, and this fact explains the increased attention to the legendary poem by Nekrasov. The author managed to raise a topic that has become eternal in Russia - the topic of asceticism, voluntary self-denial in the name of saving the fatherland. It is the service of a high goal that makes a Russian person happy, as the writer proved using the example of Grisha Dobrosklonov.

“Who is living well in Rus'” is one of the last works of Nekrasov. When he wrote it, he was already seriously ill: he was struck by cancer. That is why it is not finished. It was collected bit by bit by the poet's close friends and arranged the fragments in random order, barely capturing the confused logic of the creator, broken by a fatal illness and endless pains. He was dying in agony, and yet he was able to answer the question posed at the very beginning: Who lives well in Rus'? In a broad sense, he himself turned out to be lucky, because he faithfully and selflessly served the interests of the people. This ministry supported him in the fight against the fatal illness. Thus, the history of the poem began in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century, approximately in 1863 (serfdom was abolished in 1861), and the first part was completed in 1865.

The book was published in fragments. The prologue was already published in the January issue of Sovremennik in 1866. More chapters came out later. All this time, the work attracted the attention of censors and was mercilessly criticized. In the 70s, the author wrote the main parts of the poem: "Last Child", "Peasant Woman", "Feast for the Whole World". He planned to write much more, but due to the rapid development of the disease, he could not and stopped at "Feast ...", where he expressed his main idea regarding the future of Russia. He believed that such holy people as Dobrosklonov would be able to help his homeland, mired in poverty and injustice. Despite the fierce attacks of reviewers, he found the strength to stand up for a just cause to the end.

Genre, genre, direction

ON THE. Nekrasov called his creation “the epic of modern peasant life” and was precise in his wording: the genre of the work “Who should live well in Rus'?” - epic poem. That is, at the base of the book, not one kind of literature coexists, but two whole: lyrics and epic:

1. epic component. In the history of the development of Russian society in the 1860s, there was a turning point when people learned to live in new conditions after the abolition of serfdom and other fundamental changes in the usual way of life. This difficult historical period was described by the writer, reflecting the realities of that time without embellishment and falsity. In addition, the poem has a clear linear plot and many original characters, which indicates the scale of the work, comparable only to a novel (epic genre). The book also absorbed the folklore elements of heroic songs that tell about the military campaigns of heroes against enemy camps. All these are generic features of the epic.
2. lyric component. The work is written in verse - this is the main property of lyrics, as a kind. The book also has a place for author's digressions and typical poetic symbols, means of artistic expression, features of the characters' confession.

The direction within which the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was written is realism. However, the author significantly expanded its boundaries by adding fantastic and folklore elements (prologue, beginnings, symbolism of numbers, fragments and heroes from folk legends). The poet chose the form of travel for his idea, as a metaphor for the search for truth and happiness, which each of us carries out. Many researchers of Nekrasov's work compare the plot structure with the structure of the folk epic.

Composition

The laws of the genre determined the composition and plot of the poem. Nekrasov was finishing the book in terrible agony, but still did not have time to finish it. This explains the chaotic composition and many branches from the plot, because the works were formed and restored from drafts by his friends. In the last months of his life, he himself was unable to clearly adhere to the original concept of creation. Thus, the composition “Who is living well in Rus'?”, comparable only to the folk epic, is unique. It was developed as a result of the creative assimilation of world literature, and not the direct borrowing of some well-known model.

1. Exposition (Prologue). The meeting of seven men - the heroes of the poem: "On the pillar path / Seven men came together."
2. The plot is the oath of the heroes not to return home until they find the answer to their question.
3. The main part consists of many autonomous parts: the reader gets to know a soldier happy that he was not beaten, a serf proud of his privilege to eat out of the master's bowls, a grandmother whose turnip was mutilated in her garden to her delight ... While the search for happiness stands still, the slow but steady growth of national self-consciousness is depicted, which the author wanted to show even more than the declared happiness in Russia. From random episodes, a general picture of Rus' emerges: impoverished, drunk, but not hopeless, striving for a better life. In addition, the poem contains several large and independent interstitial episodes, some of which are even placed in autonomous chapters (“Last Child”, “Peasant Woman”).
4. Climax. The writer calls Grisha Dobrosklonov, a fighter for the people's happiness, a happy man in Rus'.
5. Interchange. A serious illness prevented the author from completing his great plan. Even those chapters that he managed to write were sorted and marked by his confidants after his death. It must be understood that the poem is not finished, it was written by a very sick person, therefore this work is the most complex and confusing of Nekrasov's entire literary heritage.
6. The final chapter is called "A Feast for the Whole World". All night the peasants sing about the old and new times. Kind and hopeful songs are sung by Grisha Dobrosklonov.

What is the poem about?

Seven peasants met on the road and argued about who should live well in Rus'? The essence of the poem is that they were looking for an answer to this question on the way, talking with representatives of different classes. The revelation of each of them is a separate story. So, the heroes went for a walk in order to resolve the dispute, but only quarreled, starting a fight. In the night forest, at the moment of a fight, a chick fell from the bird's nest, and one of the men picked it up. The interlocutors sat down by the fire and began to dream in order to also acquire wings and everything necessary for traveling in search of the truth. The warbler bird turns out to be magical and, as a ransom for her chick, tells people how to find a self-assembled tablecloth that will provide them with food and clothes. They find her and feast, and during the feast they vow to find the answer to their question together, but until then they will not see any of their relatives and not return home.

On the way they meet a priest, a peasant woman, a farcical Petrushka, a beggar, an overworked worker and a paralyzed former yard, honest man Yermila Girin, a landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, a survivor of the mind of the Last Duck and his family, a serf Yakov the faithful, God's wanderer Ion Lyapushkin but none of them were happy people. Each of them is associated with a story full of genuine tragedy of suffering and misfortune. The goal of the journey is reached only when the wanderers stumble upon the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, who is happy with his selfless service to his homeland. With good songs, he instills hope in the people, and this is how the poem “Who lives well in Rus'” ends. Nekrasov wanted to continue the story, but did not have time, but he gave his heroes a chance to gain faith in the future of Russia.

Main characters and their characteristics

It is safe to say about the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” that they represent a complete system of images that streamlines and structures the text. For example, the work emphasizes the unity of the seven wanderers. They do not show individuality, character, they express the common features of national self-consciousness for all. These characters are a single whole, their dialogues, in fact, are a collective speech that originates from oral folk art. This feature makes Nekrasov's poem related to the Russian folklore tradition.

1. Seven Wanderers are former serfs "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutov, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhayka, too." All of them put forward their own versions of who lives well in Rus': a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a sovereign minister or a tsar. Perseverance is expressed in their character: they all demonstrate unwillingness to take sides. Strength, courage and the pursuit of truth - that's what unites them. They are ardent, easily succumbed to anger, but quickness compensates for these shortcomings. Kindness and responsiveness make them pleasant interlocutors, even despite some meticulousness. Their temper is harsh and cool, but life did not spoil them with luxury: the former serfs always bent their backs, working for the master, and after the reform, no one bothered to attach them properly. So they wandered in Rus' in search of truth and justice. The search itself characterizes them as serious, thoughtful and thorough people. The symbolic number "7" means a hint of good luck that awaited them at the end of the journey.
2. Main character- Grisha Dobrosklonov, seminarian, son of a deacon. By nature, he is a dreamer, a romantic, loves to compose songs and make people happy. In them, he talks about the fate of Russia, about her misfortunes, and at the same time about her mighty strength, which will someday come out and crush injustice. Although he is an idealist, his character is firm, as are his convictions to devote his life to the service of the truth. The character feels a calling to be a people's leader and singer of Rus'. He is happy to sacrifice himself to a lofty idea and help his homeland. However, the author hints that a difficult fate awaits him: prisons, exile, hard labor. The authorities do not want to hear the voice of the people, they will try to shut them up, and then Grisha will be doomed to torment. But Nekrasov makes it clear with all his might that happiness is a state of spiritual euphoria, and it can only be known by being inspired by a lofty idea.
3. Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina- the main character, a peasant woman, whom the neighbors call lucky because she begged the wife of her husband's military leader (he, the only breadwinner of the family, was to be recruited for 25 years). However, the story of a woman's life reveals not luck or good fortune, but grief and humiliation. She knew the loss of her only child, the anger of her mother-in-law, everyday, exhausting work. Detailed and her fate is described in an essay on our website, be sure to look.
4. Savely Korchagin- the grandfather of Matryona's husband, a real Russian hero. At one time, he killed a German manager who mercilessly mocked the peasants entrusted to him. For this, a strong and proud man paid for decades of hard labor. Upon his return, he was no longer good for anything, years of imprisonment trampled on his body, but did not break his will, because, as before, he stood up for justice with a mountain. The hero always said about the Russian peasant: "And it bends, but does not break." However, without knowing it, the grandfather turns out to be the executioner of his own great-grandson. He did not notice the child, and the pigs ate it.
5. Ermil Girin- a man of exceptional honesty, a steward in the estate of Prince Yurlov. When he needed to buy the mill, he stood in the square and asked people to rush to help him. After the hero got to his feet, he returned all the borrowed money to the people. For this, he earned respect and honor. But he is unhappy, because he paid for his authority with freedom: after a peasant revolt, suspicion fell on him in his organization, and he was imprisoned.
6. Landlords in the poem"To whom in Rus' to live well" are presented in abundance. The author portrays them objectively and even gives some images a positive character. For example, the governor's wife Elena Alexandrovna, who helped Matryona, appears as a people's benefactor. Also, with a note of compassion, the writer portrays Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, who also treated the peasants tolerably, even arranged holidays for them, and with the abolition of serfdom, he lost the ground under his feet: he was too accustomed to the old order. In contrast to these characters, the image of the Last Duck and his treacherous, prudent family was created. The relatives of the hard-hearted old serf-owner decided to deceive him and persuaded the former slaves to participate in the performance in exchange for profitable territories. However, when the old man died, the rich heirs brazenly deceived the common people and drove him away with nothing. The apogee of the nobility of the nobility is the landowner Polivanov, who beats his faithful servant and sends his son to the recruits for trying to marry his beloved girl. Thus, the writer is far from denigrating the nobility everywhere, he is trying to show both sides of the coin.
7. Kholop Yakov- an indicative figure of a serf, the antagonist of the hero Saveliy. Yakov absorbed the whole slavish essence of the oppressed class, downtrodden with lack of rights and ignorance. When the master beats him and even sends his son to certain death, the servant meekly and meekly endures the offense. His revenge was a match for this humility: he hanged himself in the forest right in front of the master, who was crippled and could not get home without his help.
8. Iona Lyapushkin- God's wanderer, who told the peasants several stories about the life of people in Rus'. It tells about the epiphany of ataman Kudeyara, who decided to atone for sins by killing for good, and about the cunning of Gleb the headman, who violated the will of the late master and did not release the serfs on his orders.
9. Pop- a representative of the clergy, who complains about the difficult life of a priest. The constant clash with grief and poverty saddens the heart, not to mention the popular witticisms against his dignity.

The characters in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" are diverse and allow us to paint a picture of the customs and life of that time.

Subject

• The main theme of the piece is Liberty- rests on the problem that the Russian peasant did not know what to do with it, and how to adapt to new realities. The national character is also “problematic”: people-thinkers, people-seekers of truth still drink, live in oblivion and empty talk. They are not able to squeeze slaves out of themselves until their poverty acquires at least the modest dignity of poverty, until they stop living in drunken illusions, until they realize their strength and pride, trampled down by centuries of humiliating state of affairs that have been sold, lost and bought.
• Happiness Theme. The poet believes that a person can get the highest satisfaction from life only by helping other people. The real value of being is to feel needed by society, to bring goodness, love and justice to the world. Selfless and selfless service to a good cause fills every moment with sublime meaning, with an idea, without which time loses color, becomes dull from inaction or selfishness. Grisha Dobrosklonov is happy not with wealth and position in the world, but with the fact that he leads Russia and his people to a brighter future.
• Homeland Theme. Although Rus' appears in the eyes of readers as a poor and tortured, but still a beautiful country with a great future and a heroic past. Nekrasov pities his homeland, devoting himself entirely to its correction and improvement. The homeland for him is the people, the people are his muse. All these concepts are closely intertwined in the poem "To whom in Rus' it is good to live." The author's patriotism is especially pronounced at the end of the book, when wanderers find a lucky man who lives in the interests of society. In a strong and patient Russian woman, in the justice and honor of a peasant hero, in the sincere good-heartedness of a folk singer, the creator sees the true image of his state, full of dignity and spirituality.
• The theme of labor. Useful activity elevates the impoverished heroes of Nekrasov above the vanity and depravity of the nobility. It is idleness that destroys the Russian master, turning him into a self-satisfied and arrogant nonentity. But the common people have skills that are really important for society and genuine virtue, without them there will be no Russia, but the country will manage without noble tyrants, revelers and greedy seekers of wealth. So the writer comes to the conclusion that the value of each citizen is determined only by his contribution to the common cause - the prosperity of the motherland.
• mystical motif. Fantastic elements appear already in the Prologue and immerse the reader in the fabulous atmosphere of the epic, where you have to follow the development of the idea, and not the realism of the circumstances. Seven owls on seven trees - the magic number 7, which promises good luck. The raven praying to the devil is another guise of the devil, because the raven symbolizes death, grave decay and infernal forces. He is opposed by a good force in the form of a warbler bird, which equips the men on the road. A self-assembled tablecloth is a poetic symbol of happiness and contentment. The “Wide Path” is a symbol of the open ending of the poem and the basis of the plot, because on both sides of the road, travelers open up a multifaceted and genuine panorama of Russian life. Symbolic is the image of an unknown fish in unknown seas, which has swallowed "the keys to female happiness." A weeping she-wolf with bloody nipples also clearly demonstrates the difficult fate of a Russian peasant woman. One of the most vivid images of the reform is the “great chain”, which, having broken, “spread one end along the gentleman, the other along the peasant!”. The seven wanderers are a symbol of the entire people of Russia, restless, waiting for change and seeking happiness.

Issues

• In the epic poem, Nekrasov touched on a large number of acute and topical issues of that time. The main problem is “Who is it good to live in Rus'?” - the problem of happiness, both socially and philosophically. It is connected with the social theme of the abolition of serfdom, which greatly changed (and not for the better) the traditional way of life of all segments of the population. It would seem that here it is, freedom, what else do people need? Is this not happiness? However, in reality, it turned out that the people, who, due to long slavery, do not know how to live independently, turned out to be thrown to the mercy of fate. A priest, a landowner, a peasant woman, Grisha Dobrosklonov and seven peasants are real Russian characters and destinies. The author described them, relying on rich experience of communicating with people from the common people. The problems of the work are also taken from life: disorder and confusion after the reform to abolish serfdom really affected all classes. No one organized jobs for yesterday's serfs, or at least land allotments, no one provided the landowner with competent instructions and laws governing his new relationship with workers.
• The problem of alcoholism. Wanderers come to an unpleasant conclusion: life in Rus' is so hard that without drunkenness a peasant will completely die. Forgetfulness and fog are necessary for him in order to somehow pull the strap of a hopeless existence and hard labor.
• The problem of social inequality. The landlords have been torturing the peasants with impunity for years, and Savelyia has been deformed for the murder of such an oppressor all her life. For the deceit, there will be nothing for the relatives of the Last, and their servants will again be left with nothing.
• The philosophical problem of the search for truth, which each of us encounters, is allegorically expressed in the campaign of seven wanderers who understand that without this discovery their life is depreciated.

The idea of ​​the work

The road skirmish of the peasants is not an everyday quarrel, but an eternal, great dispute, in which all layers of Russian society of that time appear to one degree or another. All its main representatives (priest, landowner, merchant, official, tsar) are called to the peasant court. For the first time men can and have the right to judge. For all the years of slavery and poverty, they are not looking for retribution, but for an answer: how to live? This is the meaning of Nekrasov's poem "Who is living well in Rus'?" - the growth of national consciousness on the ruins of the old system. The author's point of view is expressed by Grisha Dobrosklonov in his songs: “And your burden was lightened by fate, companion of the days of the Slav! You are still a slave in the family, but the mother is already a free son! ..». Despite the negative consequences of the reform of 1861, the creator believes that behind it is a happy future for the fatherland. It is always difficult at the beginning of change, but this work will be rewarded a hundredfold.

The most important condition for further prosperity is to overcome internal slavery:

Enough! Finished with the last calculation,
Done with sir!
The Russian people gather with strength
And learning to be a citizen

Despite the fact that the poem is not finished, Nekrasov voiced the main idea. Already the first of the songs of “A Feast for the Whole World” gives an answer to the question posed in the title: “The share of the people, their happiness, light and freedom, first of all!”

End

In the finale, the author expresses his point of view on the changes that have taken place in Russia in connection with the abolition of serfdom and, finally, sums up the results of the search: Grisha Dobrosklonov is recognized as the lucky one. It is he who is the bearer of Nekrasov's opinion, and in his songs the true attitude of Nikolai Alekseevich to what he described is hidden. The poem “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” ends with a feast for the whole world in the truest sense of the word: this is the name of the last chapter, where the characters celebrate and rejoice at the happy end of the search.

Conclusion

In Rus', the hero of Nekrasov, Grisha Dobrosklonov, is well, as he serves people, and, therefore, lives with meaning. Grisha is a fighter for the truth, a prototype of a revolutionary. The conclusion that can be drawn on the basis of the work is simple: a lucky man has been found, Rus' is embarking on the path of reforms, the people, through thorns, are drawn to the title of citizen. This bright omen is the great meaning of the poem. For more than a century it has been teaching people altruism, the ability to serve high ideals, and not vulgar and passing cults. From the point of view of literary skill, the book is also of great importance: it is truly a folk epic, reflecting a controversial, complex, and at the same time the most important historical era.

Of course, the poem would not be so valuable if it only gave lessons in history and literature. She gives life lessons, and this is her most important property. The moral of the work “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” is that it is necessary to work for the good of one’s homeland, not to scold it, but to help it with deeds, because it’s easier to push around with a word, but not everyone can and wants to really change something. Here it is, happiness - to be in your place, to be needed not only for yourself, but also for the people. Only together can a significant result be achieved, only together can we overcome the problems and hardships of this overcoming. Grisha Dobrosklonov, with his songs, tried to unite, rally people so that they would meet changes shoulder to shoulder. This is his holy purpose, and everyone has it, it is important not to be too lazy to go out on the road and look for him, as the seven wanderers did.

Criticism

The reviewers were attentive to the work of Nekrasov, because he himself was an important person in literary circles and had great authority. Entire monographs were devoted to his phenomenal civil lyrics with a detailed analysis of the creative methodology and the ideological and thematic originality of his poetry. For example, here is how the writer S.A. spoke about his style. Andreevsky:

He retrieved the anapaest abandoned on Olympus from oblivion and for many years made this heavy, but flexible meter as walking as from the time of Pushkin to Nekrasov only airy and melodious iambic remained. This rhythm, chosen by the poet, reminiscent of the rotational movement of a hurdy-gurdy, made it possible to stay on the borders of poetry and prose, to joke with the crowd, to speak fluently and vulgarly, to insert a cheerful and cruel joke, to express bitter truths and imperceptibly, slowing down the beat, with more solemn words, to turn into ornate.

Korney Chukovsky spoke with inspiration about the thorough preparation of Nikolai Alekseevich for work, citing this example of writing as a standard:

Nekrasov himself constantly “visited Russian huts”, thanks to which both soldier and peasant speech became thoroughly known to him from childhood: not only from books, but also in practice, he studied the common language and from his youth became a great connoisseur of folk poetic images, folk forms thinking, folk aesthetics.

The death of the poet came as a surprise and a blow to many of his friends and colleagues. As you know, F.M. Dostoevsky with a heartfelt speech inspired by the impressions of a recently read poem. Specifically, among other things, he said:

He, indeed, was highly original and, indeed, came with a "new word."

The “new word”, first of all, was his poem “Who in Rus' should live well”. No one before him was so deeply aware of the peasant, simple, worldly grief. His colleague in his speech noted that Nekrasov was dear to him precisely because he bowed "to the people's truth with his whole being, which he testified to in his best creations." However, Fedor Mikhailovich did not support his radical views on the reorganization of Russia, however, like many thinkers of that time. Therefore, criticism reacted violently to the publication, and in some cases aggressively. In this situation, the honor of a friend was defended by a well-known reviewer, a master of the word Vissarion Belinsky:

N. Nekrasov in his last work remained true to his idea: to arouse the sympathy of the upper classes of society for the common people, their needs and requirements.

Quite sharply, recalling, apparently, professional disagreements, I. S. Turgenev spoke about the work:

Nekrasov's poems, collected in one trick, are burning.

The liberal writer was not a supporter of his former editor and openly expressed his doubts about his talent as an artist:

In white threads sewn together, seasoned with all sorts of absurdities, painfully hatched fabrications of the mournful muse of Mr. Nekrasov - she, poetry, is not even worth a penny ”

He really was a man of very high nobility of soul and a man of great mind. And as a poet he is, of course, superior to all poets.

Veretennikov Pavlush - a collector of folklore, who met peasants - seekers of happiness - at a rural fair in the village of Kuzminsky. This character is given a very meager external description (“He was a lot of balustrading, / He wore a red shirt, / A woolen undershirt, / Lubricated boots ...”), little is known about his origin (“What kind of title, / The men didn’t know, / However, they were called “master”). Due to such uncertainty, the image of V. acquires a generalizing character. A lively interest in the fate of the peasants distinguishes V. from the environment of indifferent observers of the life of the people (leaders of various statistical committees), eloquently exposed in the monologue of Yakim Nagogo. The very first appearance of V. in the text is accompanied by a disinterested act: he helps out the peasant Vavila by buying shoes for his granddaughter. In addition, he is ready to listen to someone else's opinion. So, although he reproaches the Russian people for drunkenness, he is convinced of the inevitability of this evil: after listening to Yakim, he himself offers him a drink (“Yakim Veretennikov / He brought two scales”). Seeing genuine attention from a reasonable master, and "peasants open up / Milyaga likes it." Folklorists and ethnographers Pavel Yakushkin and Pavel Rybnikov, leaders of the democratic movement of the 1860s, are among the supposed prototypes of V. The character owes his last name, perhaps, to the journalist P.F. Veretennikov, who visited the Nizhny Novgorod Fair for several years in a row and published reports about it in Moskovskie Vedomosti.

Vlas- headman of the village of Big Vakhlaki. “Serving under a strict master, / Carried a burden on his conscience / An involuntary participant / His cruelties.” After the abolition of serfdom, V. refuses the post of pseudo-burmister, but assumes actual responsibility for the fate of the community: “Vlas was a kind soul, / He was sick for the whole vakhlachin” - / Not for one family. free life "without corvee ... without tax ... Without a stick ..." is replaced by a new concern for the peasants (litigation with heirs for rented meadows), V. becomes an intercessor for the peasants, "lives in Moscow ... was in St. Petersburg ... / But there is no sense! ". Together with his youth, V. parted with optimism, is afraid of the new, always gloomy. But his daily life is rich in inconspicuous good deeds, for example, in the chapter "A Feast for the Whole World" by his initiative, the peasants collect money for the soldier Ovsyanikov. The image of V. is devoid of external specificity: for Nekrasov, he is primarily a representative of the peasantry. His difficult fate (“Not so much in Belokamennaya / It was driven along the bridge, / As the peasant’s soul / insults passed ... " ) is the fate of the entire Russian people.

Girin Ermil Ilyich (Yermila) - one of the most likely contenders for the title of lucky man. The real prototype of this character is the peasant A. D. Potanin (1797-1853), who managed by proxy the estate of Countess Orlova, which was called Odoevshchina (after the name of the former owners, the princes Odoevsky), and the peasants were baptized into Adovshchina. Potanin became famous for his extraordinary justice. Nekrasovsky G. became known for his honesty to fellow villagers even in those five years that he served as a clerk in the office (“You need a bad conscience - / A peasant from a peasant / Extort a penny”). Under the old prince Yurlov, he was dismissed, but then, under the young prince, he was unanimously elected mayor of Hell. During the seven years of his "reign" G. only once grimaced: "... from the recruitment / Little brother Mitrius / He outshone it." But remorse for this offense almost led him to commit suicide. Only thanks to the intervention of a strong master, it was possible to restore justice, and instead of the son of Nenila Vlasyevna, Mitriy went to serve, and "the prince himself takes care of him." G. resigned, rented a mill "and he became more than ever / Loved by all the people." When they decided to sell the mill, G. won the auction, but he did not have money with him to make a deposit. And then “a miracle happened”: G. was rescued by the peasants, to whom he turned for help, in half an hour he managed to collect a thousand rubles on the market square.

G. is driven not by mercenary interest, but by a rebellious spirit: "The mill is not dear to me, / The resentment is great." And although “he had everything that is needed / For happiness: and peace, / And money, and honor”, ​​at the moment when the peasants start talking about him (chapter “Happy”), G., in connection with the peasant uprising, is in prison. The speech of the narrator, a gray-haired priest, from whom it becomes known about the arrest of the hero, is suddenly interrupted by outside interference, and later he himself refuses to continue the story. But behind this omission, one can easily guess both the cause of the rebellion and G.'s refusal to help in pacifying him.

Gleb- peasant, "great sinner". According to the legend told in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”, the “ammiral-widower”, a participant in the battle “near Achakov” (possibly, Count A.V. Orlov-Chesmensky), granted by the Empress eight thousand souls, dying, entrusted the elder G. his will (free for these peasants). The hero was tempted by the money promised to him and burned the will. The peasants tend to regard this "Judas" sin as the worst ever committed, because of it they will have to "forever toil". Only Grisha Dobrosklonov manages to convince the peasants, "that they are not the defendants / For the accursed Gleb, / To all the fault: grow strong!"

Dobrosklonov Grisha - a character that appears in the chapter "A Feast for the Whole World", the epilogue of the poem is entirely dedicated to him. "Grigory / His face is thin, pale / And his hair is thin, curly / With a hint of red." He is a seminarian, the son of the parish deacon Tryphon from the village of Bolshie Vahlaki. Their family lives in extreme poverty, only the generosity of Vlas the godfather and other men helped put Grisha and his brother Savva on their feet. Their mother Domna, “an unrequited laborer / For everyone who did something / Helped her on a rainy day”, died early, leaving a terrible “Salty” song as a memory of herself. In D.'s mind, her image is inseparable from the image of her homeland: "In the heart of a boy / With love for a poor mother / Love for all Vakhlachin / Merged." Already at the age of fifteen, he was determined to devote his life to the people. “I don’t need any silver, / No gold, but God forbid, / So that my fellow countrymen / And every peasant / Live freely and cheerfully / In all holy Rus'!” He is going to Moscow to study, but in the meantime, together with his brother, they help the peasants to the best of their ability: they write letters for them, explain the "Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom", work and rest "on a par with the peasantry." Observations on the life of the surrounding poor, reflections on the fate of Russia and its people are clothed in poetic form, the songs of D. are known and loved by the peasants. With his appearance in the poem, the lyrical beginning intensifies, the direct author's assessment intrudes into the narrative. D. is marked with the "seal of the gift of God"; a revolutionary propagandist from among the people, he should, according to Nekrasov, serve as an example for the progressive intelligentsia. In his mouth, the author puts his convictions, his own version of the answer to the social and moral questions posed in the poem. The image of the hero gives the poem compositional completeness. The real prototype could be N. A. Dobrolyubov.

Elena Alexandrovna - governor, merciful lady, savior of Matryona. “She was kind, she was smart, / Beautiful, healthy, / But God did not give children.” She sheltered a peasant woman after a premature birth, became the godmother of the child, "all the time with Liodorushka / Worn like with her own." Thanks to her intercession, Philip was rescued from recruitment. Matryona exalts her benefactor to the skies, and criticism (O.F. Miller) rightly notes in the image of the governor's echoes of the sentimentalism of the Karamzin period.

Ipat- a grotesque image of a faithful serf, a lord's lackey, who remained faithful to his master even after the abolition of serfdom. I. boasts that the landowner “harnessed him with his own hand / To the cart”, bathed him in the hole, saved him from a cold death, to which he himself had doomed him before. All this he perceives as great blessings. I. evokes healthy laughter among wanderers.

Korchagina Matrena Timofeevna - a peasant woman, the third part of the poem is entirely devoted to her biography. “Matryona Timofeevna / A portly woman, / Broad and thick, / Thirty-eight years old. / Beautiful; gray hair, / Large, stern eyes, / The richest eyelashes, / Harsh and swarthy. / She has a white shirt on, / Yes, a short sundress, / Yes, a sickle over her shoulder. The glory of a lucky woman leads wanderers to her. M. agrees to "lay out her soul" when the peasants promise to help her in the harvest: the suffering is in full swing. The fate of M. was largely prompted by Nekrasov, published in the 1st volume of "Lamentations of the Northern Territory", collected by E. V. Barsov (1872), the autobiography of the Olonets wailer I. A. Fedoseeva. The narrative is based on her laments, as well as other folklore materials, including "Songs collected by P. N. Rybnikov" (1861). The abundance of folklore sources, often with little or no change included in the text of the "Peasant Woman", and the very title of this part of the poem emphasize the typical fate of M.: this is the usual fate of a Russian woman, convincingly indicating that the wanderers "started / Not a deal - between women / / Look for a happy one. In the parental home, in a good, non-drinking family, M. lived happily. But, having married Philip Korchagin, a stove-maker, she ended up “from a girl’s will to hell”: a superstitious mother-in-law, a drunkard father-in-law, an older sister-in-law, for whom the daughter-in-law must work like a slave. True, she was lucky with her husband: only once it came to beatings. But Philip only returns home from work in winter, and in the rest of the time there is no one to intercede for M., except for grandfather Savely, father-in-law. She has to endure the harassment of Sitnikov, the master's manager, which ceased only with his death. Her first-born Demushka becomes a consolation in all troubles for a peasant woman, but due to Savely's oversight, the child dies: he is eaten by pigs. An unrighteous judgment is being carried out over a heartbroken mother. Not guessing in time to give a bribe to the boss, she becomes a witness to the abuse of the body of her child.

For a long time, K. cannot forgive Savely for his irreparable oversight. Over time, the peasant woman has new children, "there is no time / Neither to think nor be sad." The heroine's parents, Savely, are dying. Her eight-year-old son Fedot is threatened with punishment for feeding someone else's sheep to a she-wolf, and his mother lies under the rod instead of him. But the most difficult trials fall on her lot in a lean year. Pregnant, with children, she herself is likened to a hungry she-wolf. Recruitment deprives her of her last intercessor, her husband (he is taken out of turn). In delirium, she draws terrible pictures of the life of a soldier, soldier's children. She leaves the house and runs to the city, where she tries to get to the governor, and when the porter lets her into the house for a bribe, she throws herself at the feet of the governor Elena Alexandrovna. With her husband and newborn Liodorushka, the heroine returns home, this incident cemented her reputation as a lucky woman and the nickname "governor". Her further fate is also full of troubles: one of her sons has already been taken to the soldiers, "They burned twice ... God anthrax ... visited three times." In the "Woman's Parable" her tragic story is summed up: "The keys to a woman's happiness, / From our free will / Abandoned, lost / God Himself!" Part of the criticism (V. G. Avseenko, V. P. Burenin, N. F. Pavlov) met the "Peasant Woman" with hostility, Nekrasov was accused of implausible exaggerations, false, fake common people. However, even ill-wishers noted some successful episodes. There were also reviews about this chapter as the best part of the poem.

Kudeyar-ataman - "the great sinner", the hero of the legend told by God's wanderer Ionushka in the chapter "A Feast for the Whole World". The fierce robber unexpectedly repented of his crimes. Neither pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher, nor hermitage bring peace to his soul. The saint, who appeared to K., promises him that he will earn forgiveness when he cuts off the age-old oak with “the same knife that robbed”. Years of futile efforts cast doubt in the heart of the old man about the possibility of completing the task. However, “the tree collapsed, the burden of sins rolled down from the monk,” when the hermit, in a fit of furious anger, killed Pan Glukhovsky, who was passing by, boasting of his calm conscience: “Salvation / I don’t have tea for a long time, / In the world I honor only a woman, / Gold, honor and wine... How many serfs I destroy, / I torture, torture and hang, / And I would look at how I sleep! The legend about K. was borrowed by Nekrasov from the folklore tradition, but the image of Pan Glukhovsky is quite realistic. Among the possible prototypes is the landowner Glukhovsky from the Smolensk province, who spotted his serf, according to a note in Herzen's Bell dated October 1, 1859.

Naked Yakim- “In the village of Bosov / Yakim Nagoi lives, / He works to death, / Drinks half to death!” This is how the character defines himself. In the poem, he is entrusted to speak in defense of the people on behalf of the people. The image has deep folklore roots: the hero’s speech is replete with paraphrased proverbs, riddles, in addition, formulas similar to those that characterize his appearance (“Hand is tree bark, / And hair is sand”) are repeatedly found, for example, in folk spiritual verse "About Egor Khorobrom". The folk idea of ​​the inseparability of man and nature is rethought by Nekrasov, emphasizing the unity of the worker with the earth: “He lives - he is busy with the plow, / And death will come to Yakimushka" - / As a clod of earth falls off, / What has dried up on the plow ... at the eyes, at the mouth / Bends like cracks / On dry ground<...>the neck is brown, / Like a layer cut off by a plow, / A brick face.

The biography of the character is not quite typical for a peasant, rich in events: “Yakim, a miserable old man, / Once upon a time he lived in St. Petersburg, / Yes, he ended up in prison: / I thought of competing with a merchant! / Like a peeled velvet, / He returned to his homeland / And took up the plow. During the fire, he lost most of his belongings, because the first thing he rushed to save the pictures he bought for his son (“I myself was no less than a boy / Loved to look at them”). However, even in the new house, the hero takes up the old, buys new pictures. Countless hardships only strengthen his firm position in life. In chapter III of the first part (“Drunken Night”), N. utters a monologue, where his convictions are formulated very clearly: hard labor, the results of which go to three equity holders (God, the king and the lord), and sometimes they are completely destroyed by fire; disasters, poverty - all this justifies the peasant drunkenness, and it is not worth measuring the peasant "by the master's measure." Such a point of view on the problem of popular drunkenness, widely discussed in the journalism of the 1860s, is close to the revolutionary democratic one (according to N. G. Chernyshevsky and N. A. Dobrolyubov, drunkenness is a consequence of poverty). It is no coincidence that later this monologue was used by the populists in their propaganda activities, repeatedly copied and reprinted separately from the rest of the text of the poem.

Obolt-Obolduev Gavrila Afanasyevich - “The gentleman is round, / Mustachioed, pot-bellied, / With a cigar in his mouth ... ruddy, / Possessed, stocky, / Sixty years old ... Well done, / A Hungarian woman with brandenburgers, / Wide trousers.” Among the eminent ancestors of O. is a Tatar, who entertained the empress with wild animals, and an embezzler who plotted to set fire to Moscow. The hero is proud of his family tree. Previously, the master "smoked ... the sky of God, / He wore the royal livery, / Littered the people's treasury / And thought to live like this for a century," but with the abolition of serfdom, "the great chain broke, / It broke - jumped: / At one end along the master, / Others - like a man! With nostalgia, the landowner recalls the lost benefits, explaining along the way that he is sad not about himself, but about his motherland.

A hypocritical, idle, ignorant despot, who sees the purpose of his class in "an ancient name, / Dignity of the nobility / Support with hunting, / Feasts, every luxury / And live by someone else's labor." In addition to everything, O. is also cowardly: he takes unarmed men for robbers, and they do not soon manage to persuade him to hide the gun. The comic effect is enhanced by the fact that the accusations against oneself come from the lips of the landowner himself.

Ovsyanikov- soldier. “... He was fragile on his feet, / Tall and thin to the extreme; / He is wearing a frock coat with medals / Hanging like on a pole. / It is impossible to say that he has a kind / Face, especially / When he drove the old one - / Damn it! The mouth will snarl, / The eyes are like coals! With his orphan niece Ustinyushka, O. traveled around the villages, earning a living by the district committee, but when the instrument deteriorated, he composed new proverbs and performed them, playing along with himself on spoons. O.'s songs are based on folklore sentences and rural rhymes recorded by Nekrasov in 1843-1848. while working on The Life and Adventures of Tikhon Trostnikova. The text of these songs sketchily describes the life path of a soldier: the war near Sevastopol, where he was crippled, a negligent medical examination, where the old man’s wounds were rejected: “Second-rate! / According to them and pension”, subsequent poverty (“Well, with George - around the world, around the world”). In connection with the image of O., the theme of the railway, which is relevant both for Nekrasov and for later Russian literature, arises. Cast iron in the perception of a soldier is an animated monster: “It snorts in the face of a peasant, / Presses, maims, somersaults, / Soon the whole Russian people / Will sweep a cleaner broom!” Klim Lavin explains that the soldier cannot get to the St. Petersburg "Committee for the Wounded" for justice: the tariff on the Moscow-Petersburg road has increased and made it inaccessible to the people. The peasants, the heroes of the chapter "A Feast for the Whole World", are trying to help the soldier and collect only "rubles" together.

Petrov Agap- "rude, intractable", according to Vlas, a man. P. did not want to put up with voluntary slavery, they calmed him down only with the help of wine. Caught by the Last at the scene of the crime (carrying a log from the master's forest), he broke loose and explained to the master his real situation in terms of the most impartial. Klim Lavin staged a cruel reprisal against P., getting him drunk instead of a spanking. But from the endured humiliation and excessive intoxication by the morning of the next day, the hero dies. Such a terrible price is paid by the peasants for their voluntary, albeit temporary, renunciation of freedom.

Polivanov- "... a gentleman of a low family", however, small funds did not in the least interfere with the manifestation of his despotic nature. The whole spectrum of vices of a typical serf-owner is inherent in him: greed, stinginess, cruelty (“with relatives, not only with peasants”), voluptuousness. By old age, the master’s legs were taken away: “The eyes are clear, / The cheeks are red, / Plump hands are white as sugar, / Yes, there are shackles on the legs!” In this trouble, Yakov became his only support, "friend and brother", but for his faithful service, the master repaid him with black ingratitude. The terrible revenge of the serf, the night that P. had to spend in the ravine, “chasing away the birds and wolves with moans,” makes the master repent (“I am a sinner, a sinner! Execute me!”), But the narrator believes that he will not be forgiven: “You will you, sir, are an exemplary serf, / Jacob the faithful, / Remember until the day of judgment!

Pop- according to Luke's assumption, the priest "lives cheerfully, / At ease in Rus'." The village priest, who was the very first to meet the wanderers on the way, refutes this assumption: he has neither peace, nor wealth, nor happiness. With what difficulty "gets a letter / Popov's son", Nekrasov himself wrote in the poetic play "Rejected" (1859). In the poem, this theme will appear again in connection with the image of the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov. The career of a priest is restless: “He who is ill, dying, / Born into the world / They do not choose time,” no habit will protect the dying and orphans from compassion, “every time he gets wet, / The soul will hurt.” The priest enjoys dubious honor in the peasant environment: folk superstitions are associated with him, he and his family are constant characters in obscene anecdotes and songs. Priestly wealth was previously due to the generosity of parishioners-landlords, who, with the abolition of serfdom, left their estates and dispersed, “like a Jewish tribe ... Through distant foreign land / And through native Rus'.” With the transition of the schismatics under the supervision of the civil authorities in 1864, the local clergy lost another serious source of income, and from peasant labor "it's hard to live on a penny."

Savely- Holy Russian hero, "with a huge gray mane, / Tea, not cut for twenty years, / With a huge beard, / Grandfather looked like a bear." Once, in a fight with a bear, he injured his back, and in old age she bent. The native village of S, Korezhina, is located in the wilderness, and therefore the peasants live relatively freely ("Zemstvo police / Did not get to us for a year"), although they endure the atrocities of the landowner. Patience is the heroism of the Russian peasant, but there is a limit to any patience. S. ends up in Siberia for burying the hated German manager alive in the ground. Twenty years of hard labor, an unsuccessful attempt to escape, twenty years of settlement did not shake the rebellious spirit in the hero. Returning home after the amnesty, he lives in the family of his son, father-in-law Matryona. Despite his venerable age (according to the revision tales, his grandfather is a hundred years old), he leads an independent life: “He didn’t like families, / He didn’t let him into his corner.” When they reproach him for his hard labor past, he cheerfully answers: “Branded, but not a slave!” Hardened by harsh crafts and human cruelty, only the great-grandson of Dema could melt the petrified heart of S.. The accident makes the grandfather responsible for Demushkin's death. His grief is inconsolable, he goes to repentance in the Sand Monastery, trying to beg forgiveness of the "angry mother". Having lived for one hundred and seven years, before his death, he pronounces a terrible verdict on the Russian peasantry: “There are three paths for men: / A tavern, prison and hard labor, / And for women in Rus' / Three loops ... Get into any one.” Image C, in addition to folklore, has social and polemical roots. O. I. Komissarov, who saved Alexander II from an assassination attempt on April 4, 1866, was a Kostroma dweller, fellow countryman of I. Susanin. Monarchists saw this parallel as proof of the thesis about the regality of the Russian people. To refute this point of view, Nekrasov settled in the Kostroma province, the original patrimony of the Romanovs, rebel S, and Matryona catches the similarity between him and the monument to Susanin.

Trofim (Tryphon) - "a man with shortness of breath, / Relaxed, thin / (Easy nose, like a dead one, / Skinny arms like a rake, / Long knitting needles, / Not a man - a mosquito)". Former bricklayer, born strongman. Yielding to the contractor's provocation, he "carried one at least / Fourteen pounds" to the second floor and overstrained himself. One of the brightest and most terrible images in the poem. In the chapter “Happy”, T. boasts of the happiness that allowed him to get from St. Petersburg alive to his homeland, unlike many other “feverish, feverish workers” who were thrown out of the car when they began to rave.

Utyatin (Last child) - "thin! / Like winter hares, / All white ... The nose with a beak, like that of a hawk, / The mustache is gray, long / And - different eyes: / One healthy one glows, / And the left one is muddy, cloudy, / Like a pewter penny! Having “exorbitant wealth, / an important rank, a noble family,” U. does not believe in the abolition of serfdom. As a result of a dispute with the governor, he is paralyzed. “Not self-interest, / But arrogance cut him off.” The sons of the prince are afraid that he will deprive them of their inheritance in favor of side daughters, and persuade the peasants to pretend to be serfs again. The peasant world allowed "to show off / To the dismissed master / In the remaining hours." On the day of the arrival of wanderers - seekers of happiness - in the village of Bolshie Vakhlaki, the Last One finally dies, then the peasants arrange a "feast for the whole world." The image of U. has a grotesque character. The absurd orders of the tyrant master will make the peasants laugh.

Shalashnikov- landowner, former owner of Korezhina, military man. Taking advantage of the remoteness from the provincial town, where the landowner stood with his regiment, the Korezha peasants did not pay dues. Sh. decided to beat the quitrent by force, tore the peasants so that "the brains were already shaking / In the little heads." Savely recalls the landowner as an unsurpassed master: “He knew how to flog! / He dressed my skin so that it has been worn for a hundred years. He died near Varna, his death put an end to the relative prosperity of the peasants.

Jacob- “about the exemplary serf - Jacob the faithful” tells the former courtyard in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”. "People of the servile rank - / Real dogs sometimes: / The heavier the punishment, / The dearer the Lord is to them." So was Y. until Mr. Polivanov, having coveted the bride of his nephew, sold him into recruits. An exemplary serf took to drink, but returned two weeks later, taking pity on the helpless master. However, the enemy was already "mutilating him." Ya. takes Polivanov to visit his sister, turns halfway into the Devil's ravine, unharnesses the horses and, contrary to the fears of the master, does not kill him, but hangs himself, leaving the owner alone with his conscience for the whole night. Such a way of revenge (“drag a dry misfortune” - to hang yourself in the possessions of the offender in order to make him suffer all his life) was really known, especially among the eastern peoples. Nekrasov, creating the image of Ya., refers to the story that A.F. Koni told him (who, in turn, heard it from the watchman of the volost government), and only slightly modifies it. This tragedy is another illustration of the perniciousness of serfdom. Through the mouth of Grisha Dobrosklonov, Nekrasov summarizes: “There is no support - there is no landowner, / Bringing up to the noose / An assiduous slave, / No support - there is no courtyard, / Revenging suicide / His villain.”