Let's not give the theme of the "women's lot" either gloomy or happy colors, we will abandon the apologetics and deconstruction of patriarchal myths, and will impartially look into the past. And it will quickly become clear that the notorious dense patriarchy is nothing more than a pseudo-historical projection of modern illiteracy.
Chronology of sacred images
the place of women in ancient culture can hardly be said better than an analysis of the pagan pantheons. Official science identifies several male deities of the Eastern Slavs and only one female. True, there are some who believe that there were one or two more goddesses, as well as supporters of the complete patriarchy of the "Slavic Olympus", but their versions are too weakly supported by sources.
In any case, there is an idea of men as those who are endowed with strength and power, this is compatible with the then military-democratic system of society. However, almost all magic was “assigned” to a woman, and the attributes of purely female occupations were symbols of prosperity, wealth and fertility: a spindle, threads, wool, patterns, a sickle, a ponyova, a tablecloth, dishes, etc. Remember when Ilya Muromets falls to the ground, defeated by Sokolnik, and after praying, he gets a “second wind”? This is very reminiscent of the Indian idea of the female boundless energy of Shakti, without which any deity is powerless.
Since those times, a lot of holidays and rituals have been preserved in which men did not have the right to interfere, and if they caught their eye, they could even be killed with impunity. This special ritual space gives us an idea of the cases of the inviolability of the female will. The early princely orders that have come down to us also state that if a girl is married against her will, if she suffers physically, the mother and father will be severely punished.
What does this say? Rather, that it is more convenient to consider the then situation of men and women not from the point of view of the role, but from the point of view of space - internal (home, forbidden rites) and external (travel, work on the street, protecting the family). This distinction will be a key point in gender relations up to the present day.
"I treated you like a brother..."
Archeology has rewarded us with amazing finds. Most likely, in medieval Rus' they did not even think that birch bark letters could lie in the ground for almost a thousand years, preserving not only the text, but also feelings, details of the way of thinking.
No less famous is the “Order from the priest to the priest”, written at the end of the 14th century, which refers to a certain incident that received unwanted publicity, the message ends with the businesslike phrase “Take care of it”. And the message “From Peter to Marya” contains a request to send a copy of the document on the purchase of the harvest. This means that women were not deprived of legal literacy either.
But the letter “From the Guest to Vasil” contains a complaint that the husband of the Guest appropriated her dowry, kicked out the woman, and got himself a new passion. Apparently, Vasil was the brother of the author, who was in his right to protect his sister from such a demarche.
Studying these written sources about customs in ancient Rus', we can conclude that a woman was a faithful assistant to her husband, who was not inferior to him in education and the ability to manage the household, had the right to protection from relatives. But, unfortunately, scientists note that this rise in culture and morality was temporary.
Sylvester woman
The word "Domostroy" evokes not the best associations and is often used as a symbol of dense patriarchal mores in Rus'.
There is a version that this book, written by the teacher of Ivan the Terrible, was intended to normalize family relations in a troubled age. It is worth mentioning that in those days marriage was given out very early, and often, the husband became almost a father to his young wife. Accordingly, he was equally the head of everyone in his house and had the right to "teach" the whip, whom he considered necessary.
At the same time, the beating of household members with wooden and metal objects, in front of witnesses, was condemned, and most importantly, punishment without love and justice. The church was inclined to defend the rights of women when it came to open disrespect, and could even threaten negligent sons who do not show respect for their mother, referring to the fact that holy wives and the Mother of God, by the way, mean something.
Most likely, domestic violence has nothing to do with pagan survivals or Orthodoxy, but only with human aggression and irresponsibility.
Perhaps this also had its own catalyst - that same spatial separation, fear of an unknown force that women still owned, because husbands were strictly forbidden to be present during childbirth, it was undesirable to go into someone else's half of the hut, an unloved spouse could be poisoned or slandered, interfere this was extremely difficult. There were a lot of secrets in the family, which means that there was no complete trust.
In the ethnographic era
The old songs about the female fate, which today we can listen to in the public domain, are almost one hundred percent sad. They have a clear confrontation "husband" - "lover", where the husband is either an old man, or a tyrant, or killed, and the lover is right there. And, on the contrary, in one famous old song, a guy writes from prison to his parents and wife, who refuse him, and a secret girlfriend helps him out at a great cost. Girls' songs are mostly about unrequited love or observation from the side of the object of passion. In the Cossack environment, unloved wives were often drowned, begging to take their lives, at least not in front of children and neighbors, and this happened not only in songs, there are also official reports of informants about this.
Politeness and cunning were valued above beauty and wealth and were the key to success. If, for example, the bride was obliged to give the groom a whip, then why not weave this whip from silk or velvet? After all, if you figure out how not to violate the foundations of society, not to ruin each other's lives, and at the same time achieve your own goal, then you will become pleased with yourself and honored by people. It is precisely such cases that are described in the famous collections of cherished tales that make up a kind of Russian "Decameron".
All that has been said is about trying to move away from the template “The downtroddenness of a Russian woman - true or myth?” and turn to the present day. Limited, illiteracy, vulnerability in relation to the pre-revolutionary peasantry, after all, looks more natural than the same thing today. If now there is enough social advertising about domestic violence, and women's forums on the network, sometimes it's just scary to read from the grotesque reigning there, then it seems that in the past it was even worse, however, this is a logical trap. We have only replaced the superstition about powerful female magic with the assertion that "every woman has a mystery" and this barrier, it seems, will never be completely overcome.
Perhaps not a single writer or poet in his work has ignored a woman. Attractive images of a beloved, a mother, a mysterious stranger adorn the pages of domestic and foreign authors, being an object of admiration, a source of inspiration, consolation, happiness ... But, probably, not a single male creator, except Nekrasov, thought about what it is - female happiness, and especially the happiness of a simple peasant woman.
The great and truly national Russian poet N. A. Nekrasov in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” depicted the fate of the simple Russian people during the period of the abolition of serfdom. The main characters of the work are looking for happy people throughout Rus'. Desperate to find a lucky man among the "men", they begin to ask the Russian villagers if they are happy. Matryona Korchagina told them about what it is - an woman's happiness.
What is female happiness and is it? Matrena recalls that she was happy in her childhood and youth: I had happiness in girls ... For father, for mother, As in Christ's bosom, I lived.
The happiness of young Matryona was not at all
in order to sleep longer and eat more deliciously: from an early age she was accustomed to work and loves it:
And a good worker
And sing and dance the huntress
I was young.
The heart becomes warm from the description of the simple happiness of a peasant woman: to work hard, to freshen up in the bathhouse and gain strength, to sing songs with her friends and ride on a sleigh ... Honest, direct, modest, Matryona does not make eyes at the guys, but on the contrary, shuns them. But all the same, “for trouble”, a fiancé turned up for her from distant St. Petersburg and nevertheless achieved her love and hand. “Then there was happiness,” Matrena sighs.
And then - a strange family, "great, grumpy", where she is an eyesore to everyone, everyone wants to humiliate and insult her. Hard work and constant reproaches from her husband's relatives, frequent separation from her beloved turned her life into hell.
With the birth of Demushka's first child, Matrena's life was illuminated with divine light: now she easily endures any hardships and hardships, endures any attacks from her relatives ... But the short-lived happiness was cut short by the tragic death of Demushka. And although after Matryona she gave birth to five sons, she still cannot forget her first.
Such is it - woman's bitter happiness: work tirelessly, be patient and keep quiet, raise children - “Is it a joy? (…) They already took one!” And so, you look from the outside - it seems that there is nothing to complain about: healthy, strong, everything is with her, and economic, and not beaten by her husband. But Matryona says:
For me - quiet, invisible -
The storm has passed,
Will you show her?
The image of Matryona is a collective image of all ordinary Russian women. The author revealed in him all the maternal love and pain that a deep and tender female soul is capable of. Matryona Korchagin is the embodiment of simple straightforwardness, good nature, moral purity and marital fidelity. This image takes over the soul, despite the fact that the village woman talks about her life simply, artlessly, without showing off and without trying to exaggerate. And every reader finds something close in her story.
Nekrasov describes with reverence and admiration a Russian woman - a loving wife and mother who, God only knows where, takes spiritual strength to give her loved ones warmth, affection and happiness - even if the keys to her own happiness are lost.
Other works on this topic:
- When another son of Matrena Korchagina, Fedot, was eight years old, he was sent to the shepherd. A story happened to him, told by the governor's wife and which is like ...
- The key female image of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina, nicknamed the governor. According to one of the residents of the village of Nagotina, a more suitable ...
- In all his works, N. A. Nekrasov addresses the people. And the poem “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” is no exception. Nekrasov wrote about the people and for ...
- There is probably not a single poet in world literature who has not written about a woman. Traditionally, the image of a woman in world poetry is the image of a beloved, beloved. From here to...
Dec 12 2016
“The burning anxiety felt by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, thinking about the fate of a peasant woman, was also reflected in the poem “Who should live well in Rus'”. Everyone knows that the Russian woman is sung by the poet in many works. On the fate of Matrena Timofeevna, Nekrasov shows a typical biography of a peasant woman. Many separate episodes of the poem are devoted to the life of this woman, as well as the entire second part of the work as a whole. She was joyful only in her early childhood, and that was because she “fell out as a girl”: Matryona Timofeevna had a “good, non-drinking family”, but even in this caring, affectionate family she had to start working “after her fifth year”, since were in deep need.
Hard work, however, did not break her: And a kind worker, And a hunter to sing and dance I was from my youth ... so she says about herself. In accordance with the popular idea of \u200b\u200bfemale beauty, Nekrasov lovingly draws a portrait of a peasant woman: Matrena Timofeevna A portly woman, Broad and dense, Thirty-eight years old all soch 2005 Beautiful; hair with gray hair, Big, strict eyes, Eyelashes of the richest, Harsh and swarthy. However, little fell to her lot.
Having married, she "fell from a girl's will into hell." The constant bullying of her husband's relatives, countless beatings, unbearable hard labor began, but the greatest misfortune for the heroine of the work was the death of her beloved child. Very early, Matrena Timofeevna became a widow, so the constant need began to be felt even more acutely. “In me, she says, there is no bone that is not broken, there is no vein that is not pulled ...”. This is how the life of this beautiful woman turned out to be joyless.
“Multiple twisted”, “long-suffering” peasant woman has no happiness in Rus' - Nekrasov comes to this conclusion. Or Matrena Timofeevna herself tells the wanderers the same thing: “It’s not a matter of looking for a happy woman among women.” But the painful life, full of deprivation and suffering, did not belittle the character of the peasant woman, did not turn her into a dumb, submissive slave. The rebellious spirit of Saveliy remained to live in her heart, not without reason Matryona Timofeevna was the wife of the grandson of this freedom-loving old man.
The woman's story about Savely is evidence that she remembers him, sympathizes with him. It even seems to Matryona Timofeevna that Savely reminds the folk hero Ivan Susanin: It is forged from copper, Exactly Savely's grandfather, A man in the square. So, this woman is true to the rebellious spirit. “I have a downcast head, I carry an angry heart!…” says the long-suffering mother.
Not resignation to fate, not stupid patience, but pain and anger are expressed in the words with which she ends about her life: “For me, mortal insults have passed unrequited ...”. This is evidence that protest and indignation are growing more and more in the soul of the peasant woman. According to the author, holy anger is the key to the future happiness of a Russian woman, in whose soul treasures of kindness, love, fidelity, intelligence and nobility are hidden. That is why, no matter how great Nekrasov's grief, when he thinks about the disenfranchised life of a Russian peasant woman crushed by grief, he firmly believes in her future. However, Nekrasov is faithful to the historical truth to the end.
Despite the fact that the anger of the peasant woman is accumulating, the habitual belief in the intercession of the Mother of God, in the power of prayer, has also been preserved in her mind. And yet we see that Matryona Timofeevna is saved by her own spiritual strength, her will to live. Not knowing how to get the truth, she is ready to reach the king, complaining about the headman to the governor. The heroine does not bow her head in front of the formidable bosses, before whom "the peasants trembled." The unfortunate mother speaks on behalf of the whole people: They have not a soul in their chest, They have no conscience in their eyes, There is no cross on their neck.
The image of Matrena Timofeevna is, as it were, woven from folk poetry. It should be noted that the second part of the poem - "Peasant Woman" is built almost entirely on the material of folk art. Lyrical and wedding songs, lamentations have long told about the life of a peasant woman, and Nekrasov drew from this source, creating the image of his beloved heroine. Almost without change, the songs entered the poem: “My hateful husband rises”, “I dream, my little one, dozes”.
Also, on the basis of folk songs, the appeals of the bride-girl to the groom were created: “You stand up, good fellow, against me straight away,” and the cry of the mother for her daughter to be married off: “Someone else’s side is not sprinkled with sugar, not watered with honey.” The mournful cry of a mother for a dead child is imbued with a special tragedy: “Oh, carpenters-workers! What house did you build for my son?
» The grief, torment and hatred of the people were embodied in these songs. The story about the peasant woman Korchagina leads us to the thought6 if even in a woman, the most destitute and downtrodden person, spirituality ripens, then changes are close. Faith in the people, in their awakening is expressed in the words of the poet, which have become winged: In slavery, the saved Heart is free - Gold, gold The heart of the people!
Need a cheat sheet? Then save it -" The theme of the female share in Nekrasov's poem "Who should live well in Rus'". Literary writings!There is probably not a single poet in world literature who has not written about a woman. Traditionally, the image of a woman in world poetry is the image of a beloved, beloved. From here, a love theme arises in the lyrics. Poets sing of their beloved, her beauty, their feelings, passion, describe the suffering from unrequited or departed love, write about loneliness, disappointment, jealousy.
The poetry of Nekrasov, in his appeal to a woman, for the first time expanded the thematic scope. In his lyrics, in addition to love, the theme of the female share appeared, presented widely and diversely. This was largely due to the fact that the poet touched on another social stratum: not the nobility, but the common people. Having dedicated the lyre to “his people”, the poet calls his Muse the sister of a young peasant woman beaten in the square with a whip.
Nekrasov devoted many poems to the life of a Russian village woman. There is not a single side of peasant life that the poet would bypass. In the poem "Troika", the poet predicts a difficult married life for the girl.
Having tied an apron under the arms,
You will drag an ugly chest,
Your picky husband will beat you,
And the mother-in-law to bend in three deaths.
From work and black and hard
You will bloom, not having time to bloom,
You will fall into a deep sleep.
You will babysit, work and eat.
And in the poem "Wedding" again an ominous prediction:
A lot of cruel reproaches await you,
Labor days, lonely evenings:
You will rock a sick child,
Wait for a violent husband home.
The poet also expresses his sympathy for the female lot in the poems “Orina, a soldier’s mother”, “Listening to the horrors of war”, showing the tragedy of the vast majority of peasant women who are killed day after day at back-breaking work:
The poor woman is exhausted,
A column of insects sways above her,
Stings, tickles, buzzes!
The theme of the heavy fate of the Russian woman, the poet also revealed in his famous poems "Frost, Red Nose", "Russian Women". The suffering fate of a Russian peasant woman is also described in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, where the entire second part is devoted to her. Her heroine, Matrena Timofeevna, is reputed to be happy among people. Telling the men who are looking for an answer to the question “Who lives happily, freely in Rus'?” about her life, she admits that she “happened in girls”: she had a “good, non-drinking family”, loving, affectionate, protecting her parents. But even in such a family, by the “fifth year” she had to start working, at seven she already went after a cow, herd geese, pick mushrooms and berries, tedder hay, and after a hard day and a bathhouse, she went back to work, for a spinning wheel.
And such a life full of hard work is remembered by Matryona Timofeevna at her thirty-eight years as happiness. Because everything that awaited her after marriage was sheer suffering. No wonder the mother lamented when they came to woo her daughter. After the wedding, she "fell to hell with a girl's holi." Bullying by her husband's relatives, beatings, hard labor, the terrible death of her beloved first-born - that was only the beginning of her terrible, but, alas, such a fate common to a Russian peasant woman.
After the death of the first-born, other children were born every year: “there is no time to think or grieve, God forbid to cope with the work and cross the forehead,” Matryona's parents died. Timofeevna submitted to everything: “first from bed, last to bed”, humiliated herself in front of her father-in-law with her mother-in-law, and only in one thing became rebellious: she stood up for the children, did not allow them to be offended. When the village lynched Fedot, who, working as a shepherd, failed to take the sheep from the she-wolf, his mother lay down under the rod for him.
A hungry year fell to Matryona's lot, and then an even more terrible test: they took her husband out of turn into recruits. And again Matrena Timofeevna did not submit. The pregnant woman went on foot to the city to seek the truth and intercession from the governor. She achieved the truth, having received the intercession of the governor, who also herself baptized the child born before the time. Since then, Matrena Timofeevna "has been denounced as a lucky woman, nicknamed the governor's wife." A peasant woman raises five sons. One has already been recruited, her family burned twice, she walked, "like a gelding in a furrow." And in her opinion, this is not the case - "to look for a happy woman between women." And another heroine of the poem, a pilgrim who entered the village, will bitterly say that "the keys to women's happiness, from our free will, are abandoned, lost from God himself."
Reading Nekrasov, you come to the conclusion that the poet himself makes in one of his poems - “You share! - Russian woman's share! Hardly harder to find." Throughout the poem, the thought of the impossibility of living like this goes on. With undisguised sympathy, the author treats those who do not put up with their hungry and powerless existence. Not the meek and submissive are close to the poet, but such bold, rebellious and freedom-loving rebels as Saveliy, the “Holy Russian hero”, Yakim Nagoi, the seven truth-seekers, Grisha Dobrosklonov. The best of them have retained true humanity, the ability to sacrifice, spiritual nobility. Among them is Matrena Timofeevna.
- The theme of the poem.
- The image of a peasant woman.
- Matrena Timofeevna as a bright representative of a peasant woman.
- A feature of the female character of Nekrasov.
N. A. Nekrasov devotes his final work, the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, to a symbolic search for a happy person in Rus'. The author explores the life of various strata of Russian society: peasants, landlords, clergy. The fate of the Russian peasant woman becomes a special topic, for it turns out to be even harder than the fate of the other peasants. “It’s not a matter between women / to look for a happy one,” Matryona Timofeevna, the heroine of the chapter “Peasant Woman,” directly answers the wanderers who turned to her. But the image of a peasant woman, enslaved by both serfdom and the despotism of her husband's family, worries Nekrasov more.
This type was most fully revealed by Nekrasov in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in the image of Matryona Korchagina. The bitter lot of a peasant woman, eternally humiliated by poverty, overworking and not seeing happiness, causes deep sympathy in the soul of the poet, but at the same time, he notes in her character both human dignity, and pride, and unshakable moral purity. The image of Matrena Timofeevna is given in the poem in dynamics, in development.
The heroine had a happy, carefree early childhood, and from the age of five she began to get involved in feasible work: “she carried her father for breakfast, she grazed the ducklings”, “turned the hay”, etc. Yes, even happiness - I got a good husband. Matryona did not have to, like many other peasant women, live with the “hateful”, endure beatings. Matryona lived with her husband in love and harmony. It was this harmony in the family that helped the heroine endure troubles and misfortunes. Philip was a stove-maker, constantly leaving to work in St. Petersburg. Matryona was very upset by constant separation. She had to adapt to life in a strange family. A young beautiful woman, in the absence of her husband-protector, was pursued by the master's manager. None of the relatives, except for the hundred-year-old grandfather Savely, the heroine did not find support.
The character of Matrena Timofeevna is tempered precisely in severe trials. This is a smart, selfless, strong-willed, resolute woman. This is the image of a peasant woman not only strong in spirit, but also gifted and talented. Matrena's story about her life is a story about the fate of any peasant woman, a long-suffering Russian woman. The chapter itself is not named after her, but "Peasant Woman". This emphasizes that the fate of Matryona is not at all an exception to the rule, but the typical fate of millions of Russian peasant women. The best spiritual qualities - willpower, the ability to love, fidelity - make Matryona related to the heroines of the poem "Russian Women". Matryona Timofeevna's long story about her (still quite prosperous and extremely lucky!) fate is both an ode to the beauty of the soul of a Russian peasant woman and an accusation to those who doomed her to terrible torment.
Like Yermil Girin, Matryona is known throughout the district. But in the poem she tells about her life herself, and only seven wanderers listen to her. The veracity of the story is emphasized by the request of the wanderers: “Ata lay out your soul to us!” And the heroine of the chapter herself promises: "I will not hide anything."
Matryona Timofeevna's extraordinary creative talent allows her not only to keep folklore in her memory, but also to update it. The story is replete with elements of folklore works dedicated to the bitter fate of a woman: songs, proverbs, sayings, lamentations, lamentations.
Songs play a special role in describing the life of a Russian woman (it is no coincidence that the second chapter of this part of the poem is called “Songs”). Nekrasov depicts the life of a peasant woman in its entirety, from childhood, until the moment when she meets with the seekers of a happy person. There are several moments in the life of Matrena Timofeevna when those feelings that could lead her to decisive action are about to burst out. The first time - when, despite her pleas, the doctors begin the autopsy of Demushka's body. But the guard then orders to bind the mother. The second - when the headman decides to punish her son Fedotushka, who took pity on the hungry she-wolf.
The master decides to forgive the child, but to punish the "impudent woman" herself. And Nekrasov shows a very important feature of the strong-willed character of the heroine: she proudly lies down. under the rod, without stooping to ask for forgiveness, endures the pain and shame of public punishment. And only the next day she cried out her grief over the river. The only time when Matrena Timofeevna decides to fight for her happiness is when her husband is taken to the soldiers. She turns with a frantic prayer to the Mother of God, and this prayer, apparently, gives her strength: Matryona Timofeevna finds the courage to turn to the governor, who not only helps the peasant woman, but also becomes the godmother of her child. After this incident, Matryona begins to be called happy. This, it turns out, is the happiness of a peasant woman: not to become a soldier, to find the strength to remain silent and endure and raise children.
The keys to women's happiness, - From our free will, Abandoned, lost ... - such is the gloomy result of Matrena Timofeevna's conversation with seven wanderers. External beauty, cordiality, quick wits, the glory of a lucky woman make it possible to speak of Matryona Timofeevna as a unique, exceptional personality.
By depicting the fate of Matrena Timofeevna, the author makes deep generalizations: Russian women live in constant work, the joys and sorrows of motherhood, in the struggle for a family, for a home. The theme of the female share in the poem merges with the theme of the homeland. The female characters of Nekrasov's heroines speak of the strength, purity and incorruptibility of the common people. Those inhuman conditions of life, against which these images emerge, point to the urgent need for changes in the order, style and way of life in the villages and cities of old-regime Russia.
