Turgenev fathers and sons history. "Fathers and Sons": characters

Significant for its time, the novel "Fathers and Sons", which was written by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in the second half of the 19th century, has not lost its relevance to this day. At one time, the image of Yevgeny Bazarov, who is the main character of the novel "Fathers and Sons", was perceived as a model that should be imitated, especially for young people. Now, considering the question of what the novel "Fathers and Sons" is about, we will only casually mention Bazarov's personal characteristics, focusing primarily on the plot.

The plot of the novel "Fathers and Sons"

Evgeny Bazarov embodied a whole bunch of ideals that can be clearly seen in his worldview. He was uncompromising, did not bow before authoritative people and their principles, did not follow previously established truths, giving priority to concepts that were useful in his opinion, and not beautiful.

So, in order to vividly show what the novel "Fathers and Sons" is about, we will now look directly at the events and the main characters. It is important to remember that the peasant reform of 1861 played a significant role in Russian history, and the events described by Turgenev unfold just on the eve of this reform - in the summer of 1859. Let's start to analyze the plot of the novel "Fathers and Sons".

Yevgeny Bazarov and Arkady Kirsanov visit Maryino to stay with the elder Kirsanovs for a short time - this is Arkady's father (Nikolai Petrovich) and uncle (father's brother Pavel Petrovich). However, Bazarov does not get along with them, and soon decides to leave. He goes, accompanied by Arkady, to one provincial town. Friends are happy to spend time in the company of Kukshina and Sitnikova, who belong to the ranks of progressive youth. And a little later they are invited to the ball to the governor, where they make acquaintance with Odintsova.

Having left for Odintsova's estate, which Bazarov and Arkady have already become interested in, they have fun in Nikolskoye, but Bazarov makes an unsuccessful attempt to explain his feelings to Odintsova, and he has to retreat. Bazarov has parents - Vasily and Arina, and it is to them that Bazarov goes again with Arkady. After a while, Bazarov gets bored of sitting in his parents' house, so they, having stopped at Nikolskoye (where they are coldly greeted), go to Maryino.

Nikolai Petrovich, the father of Arkady Kirsanov, has an illegitimate son, born of Fenechka, a girl who is kept in the Kirsanovs' house. Once, out of boredom and incomprehensible passion, Bazarov kissed a young woman Fenechka, but this scene was seen by his father's brother Pavel Petrovich, because of which he and Bazarov had a duel. Arkady decides to return to Nikolskoye, where he falls in love with Odintsova's sister Katya, Bazarov also comes there a little later, apologizing for his confession to Odintsova, but does not stay long, deciding to live with his parents again.

There, Bazarov, helping his father in treating the sick, becomes infected with typhus and dies, having seen Odintsova before his death. Arkady and Katya get married, Arkady's uncle Pavel Petrovich leaves his homeland, having gone abroad, and his father, nevertheless, marries Fenechka.

In this article, we only looked at what the novel "Fathers and Sons" is about and briefly saw the characterization of Bazarov. You can read more about the main characters of the novel and its analysis in other articles of our blog. We hope that you also found the plot of the novel "Fathers and Sons" useful.

Composition

Turgenev's six novels, created over a period of more than twenty years ("Rudin" -1855, "Nov" -1876), are a whole era in the history of the Russian socio-psychological novel.

The first novel "Rudin" was written in a record short time - 49 days (from June 5 to July 24, 1855). The speed of work is explained by the fact that the idea of ​​the novel was hatched for quite a long time. Back in early 1853, the writer enthusiastically worked on the first part of the novel "Two Generations", but after critical reviews from friends who read the manuscript, the novel was abandoned and, apparently, destroyed. For the first time, Turgenev tried his hand at a new genre of the novel, and in this work that has not come down to us, the general outlines of the problem of “fathers and sons”, vividly posed in the novel “Fathers and Sons”, were outlined.

The “romantic” aspect was already felt in The Hunter's Notes: it was in the stories of this cycle that Turgenev showed interest in the worldview and psychology of modern man, a thinking, suffering, passionate seeker of truth. The short stories "Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District" and "The Diary of a Superfluous Man" together with the unfinished novel "Two Generations" became a kind of "prologue" to a series of novels of the second half of the 1850s and early 1860s.

Turgenev was interested in the "Russian Hamlets" - a type of nobleman-intellectual, captured by the cult of philosophical knowledge of the 1830s-early 1840s, who passed the stage of ideological self-determination in philosophical circles. It was the time of the formation of the personality of the writer himself, so the appeal to the heroes of the "philosophical" era was dictated by the desire not only to objectively assess the past, but also to understand oneself, rethinking the facts of one's ideological biography. An important creative impulse of Turgenev the novelist, for all the "objectivity" of his narrative style, restraint, even some asceticism of the author's assessments, was an autobiographical impulse. This must be taken into account when analyzing each of his novels of the 1850s, including the novel Fathers and Sons, which completed the first period of his novelistic work.

Turgenev believed that the main genre features of his novels had already developed in Rudin. In the preface to the publication of his novels (1879), he emphasized: “The author of Rudin, written in 1855, and the author of Novi, written in 1876, are one and the same person. During all this time, I strove, to the best of my strength and skill, to conscientiously and impartially translate into appropriate types both what Shakespeare calls "the body and pressure of time" (the very image and pressure of time), and that rapidly changing physiognomy of the Russian people cultural layer, which mainly served as the subject of my observations.

Among his tasks, the novelist singled out two of the most important. The first was to create an "image of the time", which was achieved not only by a careful analysis of the beliefs and psychology of the central characters, who embodied Turgenev's understanding of the "heroes of the time", but also by a historically accurate depiction of the everyday environment and minor characters. The second is attention to new trends in the life of the "cultural layer" of Russia, that is, the intellectual environment to which the writer himself belonged. This task required careful observations, a special "seismographic" sensitivity to the new and, of course, artistic tact in depicting the mobile, "semi-formed" phenomena of social and ideological life. The novelist was interested not only in single heroes, who especially fully embodied the most important trends of the era, but also in the “mass” layer of like-minded people, followers, and students. These people were not as bright individuals as the true "heroes of the time."

The prototype of the title character of the novel "Rudin" was a member of the philosophical circle of N.V. Stankevich, a radical Westerner, and later one of the leaders of European anarchism M.A. Bakunin. Knowing perfectly well the people of the “Rudinsky” type, Turgenev hesitated in assessing the historical role of the “Russian Hamlets” and therefore revised the novel twice, seeking a more objective coverage of the figure of the protagonist. Rudin ultimately turned out to be a controversial personality, and this was largely the result of the author's contradictory attitude towards him. The historical distance between him and the prototype of Rudin, a friend of his youth Bakunin, was not so great as to achieve an absolutely impartial portrayal of the hero.

Rudin is a richly gifted person. He is characterized not only by a thirst for truth, a passion for philosophical self-knowledge, but also spiritual nobility, depth and sincerity of feelings, a subtle perception of poetry. It was with these qualities that he attracted the heroine of the novel, Natalya Lasunskaya. Rudin is a brilliant polemicist, a worthy pupil of the Pekarsky circle (the prototype is Stankevich's circle). Breaking into the inert society of provincial nobles, he brought with him the breath of world life, the spirit of the era and became the brightest personality among the heroes of the novel. In Turgenev's interpretation, Rudin is the spokesman for the historical task of his generation. And yet it bears the stamp of historical doom. He turned out to be completely unprepared for practical activities, there are Manilovian features in his character: liberal complacency and inability to complete what he started. Rudin's impracticality is criticized by Lezhnev, a hero close to the author. Lezhnev is also a pupil of Pekarsky's circle, but, unlike Rudin, he is not a polemicist, not a religious teacher, but rather a moderate "progressive", alien to the verbal radicalism of the protagonist.

For the first time, Turgenev "tests" his hero with love. The contradictory, feminine nature of Rudin is opposed by the integrity and masculinity of Natalia Lasunskaya. The inability of the hero to take a decisive step in relations with her was interpreted by contemporary criticism of Turgenev as a sign of not only his spiritual, but also his social failure. At the moment of the explanation with Natalya, Rudin seemed to have been replaced: in his passionate monologues, one could feel the element of youth, idealism, readiness for risk, but here he suddenly becomes weak and weak-willed. The final scene of the novel - the death of Rudin at the revolutionary barricade - emphasized the tragedy and historical doom of the hero, who represented the "Russian Hamlets" of a bygone romantic era.

The second novel, The Nest of Nobles, written in 1858 (published in the first book of Sovremennik in 1860), strengthened Turgenev's reputation as a social writer, an expert on the spiritual life of his contemporaries, a psychologist, and a subtle lyricist in prose. Subsequently, he admitted that "The Nest of Nobles" "was the biggest success that has ever fallen to my lot." Even Dostoevsky, who did not like Turgenev, highly appreciated the novel, calling it in his "Diary of a Writer" a work "eternal", "belonging to world literature". "The Nest of Nobles" is the most perfect of Turgenev's novels.

The second novel differs from "Rudin" in its clearly expressed lyrical beginning. Turgenev's lyricism manifested itself both in the depiction of the love of Lavretsky and Liza Kalitina, and in the creation of a lyrical image-symbol of the "noble nest". According to the writer, it was in the estates, similar to the estates of the Lavretskys and Kalitins, that the main cultural values ​​of Russia were accumulated. Turgenev, as it were, predicted the emergence of a whole literature that poetized or satirically depicted the decline of the old Russian nobility, the extinction of the “noble nests”. However, in Turgenev's novel there is no unambiguous attitude to this topic. The lyrical theme was born as a result of understanding the historical decline of the "noble nests" and the assertion of the "eternal" values ​​of the culture of the nobility.

If in the novel "Rudin" there was one main character who occupied a central place in the system of characters, then in "The Nest of Nobles" there are two such heroes: Lavretsky and Liza Kalitina. The novel struck contemporaries by the fact that for the first time the ideological dispute took center stage and for the first time lovers became its participants. Love itself is shown in an unusual way: it is a love-argument in which life positions and ideals collide.

In The Nest of Nobles there are all three situations that determine the problems and plot of Turgenev's novels: the struggle of ideas, the desire to convert the interlocutor or opponent "to their faith" and a love affair. Lisa Kalitina seeks to prove to Lavretsky the correctness of her convictions, since, according to her, he only wants to "plow the land ... and try to plow it as best as possible." The heroine criticizes Lavretsky for not being a fanatic of his work and indifferent to religion. Lisa herself is a deeply religious person, religion for her is the source of the only correct answers to any "damned" questions, a means of resolving the most painful contradictions of life. She considers Lavretsky a kindred spirit, feeling his love for Russia, for the people's "soil", but does not accept his skepticism. The character of Lisa herself is determined by a fatalistic attitude to life, humility and humility - she seems to take on the burden of the historical guilt of a long series of previous generations.

Lavretsky does not accept the morality of humility and self-denial. This is what gives rise to disputes between him and Lisa. Their love also becomes a sign of the tragic disunity of modern noble intellectuals, although, renouncing his happiness, obeying the will of circumstances (their connection with Liza is impossible), Lavretsky approaches the attitude to life he rejected. His welcoming words at the end of the novel, addressed to the younger generation, mean not only the rejection of personal happiness. Farewell to the joys of life of the last of the Lavretsky family sounds like a blessing to young forces unknown to him.

Turgenev does not hide his sympathy for Lavretsky, emphasizing his superiority in disputes with Mikhalevich, who represents a different human type - a quixotic apologist for the "cause", and the young bureaucrat Panshin, who is ready to crush everything old, if this corresponds to the latest government orders. Lavretsky is more serious and sincere than these people even in his delusions, the writer claims.

Turgenev's third novel, "On the Eve", written during 1859 (published in the journal "Russian Messenger" in February 1860), immediately caused a stream of articles and reviews in which the images of the protagonist, the Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov, were assessed differently, and Elena Stakhova, who fell in love with him. N.A. Dobrolyubov, having read the novel as a call for the appearance of "Russian Insarovs", noted that Elena "brightly reflected the best aspirations of our modern life." Turgenev himself reacted with indignation to the Dobrolyubov interpretation, considering it unacceptable to interpret the novel as a kind of revolutionary proclamation. The “response” of Turgenev the artist to the expectations of Dobrolyubov and his like-minded people was a novel about a modern nihilist hero.

In the works written by 1860, the main genre features of Turgenev's novels were formed. They also determined the artistic originality of the novel "Fathers and Sons" (begun in September 1860, published in February 1862 in the journal "Russian Messenger", in the same year it was published as a separate edition).

Turgenev never showed the clash of major political forces, the socio-political struggle was not a direct object of depiction in his novels. The action is concentrated, as a rule, in the estate, in the manor house or in the country, so there are no large movements of the characters. Complicated intrigue is completely alien to Turgenev the novelist. Plots consist of events that are quite “life-like”: as a rule, this is an ideological conflict against the background of a love conflict or, conversely, a love conflict against the background of a struggle of ideas.

The novelist was little interested in everyday details. He avoided excessive detail depicted. Details are necessary for Turgenev just as much as they are able to recreate the socially typical appearance of the characters, as well as the background, the setting of the action. According to him, in the mid-1850s. "Gogol's boot" became too small for him. Turgenev, a prose writer, who began as one of the active participants in the "natural school", gradually abandoned Gogol's principles of depicting the subject-domestic environment in favor of a broader ideological interpretation of the characters. Generous Gogol's figurativeness in his novels was supplanted by Pushkin's "naked" simplicity of narration, soft impressionism of descriptions. The most important principle of characterization of the characters and the relationship between them was the dialogue, accompanied by sparse author's comments on their state of mind, gestures, facial expressions. It is extremely important to indicate the background, the setting of the action (landscape, interior, the nature of everyday communication). Background details in Turgenev's novels are as significant as the events, actions and statements of the characters.

Turgenev never used the so-called "deductive" method of creating images. The starting point of the novelist was not an abstract philosophical or religious-moral idea, as in the prose of F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy, but a “living face”. If, for example, for Dostoevsky it was not of decisive importance who in real life stands behind the images of Raskolnikov, Stavrogin or Ivan Karamazov created by him, then for Turgenev this was one of the first questions that arose in the course of working on the novel. Turgenev's favorite principle of creating the image of a person is from a prototype or a group of prototypes to an artistic generalization. The problem of prototypes is one of the most important for understanding the problems of Turgenev's novels, their connection with the topical problems of the 1850s - 1860s. The prototype of Rudin was Bakunin, Insarova - the Bulgarian Katranov, one of the prototypes of Bazarov - Dobrolyubov. However, this does not mean at all that the heroes of "Rudin", "On the Eve" or "Fathers and Sons" are exact "portrait" copies of real people. The individuality of a real person, as it were, was dissolved in the image created by Turgenev.

Turgenev's novels are not, unlike the novels of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy ("Anna Karenina", "Resurrection"), novels-parables: they do not contain the supporting ideological constructions that are important for other Russian novelists. They are free from direct authorial moralizing and moral and philosophical generalizations that go beyond what directly happens to the characters. In Turgenev's novels, we will not find either "crimes", or "punishments", or the moral "resurrection" of the characters. There are no murders, sharp conflicts with laws and morality. The novelist prefers to recreate the flow of life without violating its "natural" measure and harmony.

The action in Turgenev's works is always local, the meaning of what is happening is limited by the actions of the characters. Their worldview, ideals and psychology are revealed primarily in their speech behavior, in ideological disputes and exchange of opinions. The most important artistic principle of Turgenev is the re-creation of the self-movement of life. The solution to this problem was achieved by the fact that the novelist carefully avoided any form of direct authorial "intervention" in the narrative, imposing his own opinions and assessments on readers. Even if the characters are directly assessed by the author, these assessments are based on their objectively existing qualities, emphasized tactfully, without pressure.

Turgenev, unlike, for example, Tolstoy, rarely uses the author's commentary on the actions and inner world of the characters. Most often, their spiritual appearance is, as it were, "half-hidden". Refusing the novelist's right to "omniscience" about the characters, Turgenev carefully captures subtle, at first glance, nuances in their appearance and behavior, indicating changes in their inner world. nii, indicating changes in their inner world. He does not show his characters as mysterious, enigmatic, incomprehensible to others. His restraint in depicting their psychology, the rejection of direct psychologism is explained by the fact that, according to Turgenev, the writer "should be a psychologist, but secret". Never trying to recreate the entire process of a person's inner life, he stopped readers' attention only on the external forms of its manifestation, widely used meaningful pauses, a psychological landscape, psychological parallels - all the main methods of indirectly depicting the psychology of characters.

There are few characters in Turgenev's novels: as a rule, there are no more than ten of them, not counting a few episodic persons. The system of characters is distinguished by logical harmony, a clear distribution of plot and problematic "roles". The author's attention is focused on the central characters, in which he discovers features of the most important socio-ideological phenomena or psychological types. The number of such characters ranges from two to five. For example, in the "lyrical" novel "The Noble Nest" there are two central characters: Lavretsky and Liza Kalitina, and in the broader novel "Fathers and Sons" - five: Bazarov, Arkady Kirsanov, his father Nikolai Petrovich, uncle Pavel Petrovich and Anna Sergeevna Odintsova. Of course, in this comparatively "multi-figured" novel, the meaning of each of the characters is not the same. It is Bazarov who is the main figure who united all the participants in the plot action. The role of other central characters is determined by their attitude towards Bazarov. The secondary and episodic characters of novels always perform some particular task: they either create a background against which the action takes place, or become a “highlight”, often ironic, of the central characters (such, for example, are the images of Mikhalevich and Panshin in The Noble Nest, servants and provincial "nihilists" in "Fathers and Sons").

The basis of conflicts and plots are the three most common plot situations. Two of them were practically not used in Russian novels before Turgenev - these are situations of ideological dispute and ideological influence, apprenticeship. The third situation is quite common for a novel: love or falling in love, however, its meaning in the plots goes beyond the traditional love intrigue (such an intrigue exists, for example, in the novels “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin or “A Hero of Our Time” by Lermontov). Relationships between lovers reveal the complexity of interpersonal relationships that arise "at a turning point", during a change in worldview orientations. Women in Turgenev's novels are truly emancipated beings: they are independent in their opinions, do not look at their beloved "from the bottom up", often surpass them in the strength of conviction, opposing their softness and pliability with an unbending will and self-righteousness.

In a situation of ideological dispute, the points of view and ideals of the characters are opposed. In disputes, differences are clarified between contemporaries (for example, between Rudin and Pandalevsky (“Rudin”); Lavretsky, on the one hand, and Mikhalevich and Panshin, on the other (“Noble Nest”); Bersenev and Shubin, heroes of the novel “On the Eve”), the incompatibility of people living, as it were, in different historical eras (Bazarov - Pavel Petrovich, Arkady - Nikolai Petrovich).

The situation of ideological influence, apprenticeship determines the relationship of the protagonist with his young followers and those whom he seeks to influence. This situation can be found in the relationship between Rudin and Natalia Lasunskaya ("Rudin"), Insarov and Elena Stakhova ("On the Eve"). To some extent, she also appears in The Nest of Nobles, but here it is not Lavretsky, but Liza, who is more active in her "teacher's" aspirations. In “Fathers and Sons”, the author is silent about how Bazarov managed to influence Arkady Kirsanov and Sitnikov: before the reader of the novel, his students and followers are already “convinced”. Bazarov himself is outwardly completely indifferent to those who frankly imitate him, only occasionally does “Pechorinsky” irony appear in him in relation to them.

In the first novels (“Rudin”, “The Noble Nest”, “On the Eve”) the situation of love or falling in love was necessary in order to “test” the strength of the convictions of the main noble character, testing him in the plot climax: the hero had to make a choice, to show will and ability to act. The same role was played by love relationships in stories - "companions" of Turgenev's novels. It was in the article “A Russian Man on Rendesvous” (1858), devoted to the analysis of the story “Asya”, that N.G. Chernyshevsky first drew attention to the ideological meaning of Turgenev’s depiction of love. “... As long as there is no talk of business, but you just need to take idle time, fill an idle head or an idle heart with conversations and dreams, the hero is very lively,” the critic wrote with irony, “it’s time to directly and accurately express your feelings and desires, - most of the heroes are already beginning to hesitate and feel slowness in the language. This, in his opinion, is "a symptom of an epidemic disease that has taken root in our society."

But even in "Fathers and Sons", where the hero was not a reflective nobleman, brought up in the era of "thought and reason", but an empiricist raznochinets, a person not inclined to abstract thoughts, trusting only experience and his feelings, love intrigue plays a significant role . Bazarov is going through the “test of love”: for him, love for Odintsova turned out to be an insurmountable obstacle, in contrast to the disputes imposed on him with Pavel Petrovich. All the central characters of the novel are drawn into a love relationship. Love, as in other novels, is a "natural" background for the socio-ideological and psychological characteristics of the characters. Nikolai Petrovich is romantically in love with the young Fenechka, who lives with him as an "unmarried wife", and Pavel Petrovich is clearly not indifferent to her. Arkady secretly dreams of love, admires Anna Sergeevna, but finds his happiness with Katenka Odintsova, anticipating the coming harmony of family life and getting rid of the "sharp corners" of Bazarov's worldview. The smart, reasonable and practical widow Anna Sergeevna Odintsova, like Bazarov, goes through the “test of love”, although she quickly ends her “romance” with the nihilist, without experiencing the same strong emotional shock that Bazarov experienced.

Love relationships do not cancel either ideological disputes or the desire of heroes to influence people, to find like-minded people. Unlike many minor novelists of the second half of the 19th century. (for example, P.D. Boborykin, I.N. Potapenko), who were guided by the experience of Turgenev as a novelist, he achieved in his works the organic unity of a love affair and a socio-ideological plot. In fact, the appearance of the nihilist Bazarov would have been completely different if it were not for the love for Odintsova that suddenly flared up in him. The role of love in Bazarov’s fate is further enhanced by the fact that this is his first love: it not only destroys the strength of his nihilistic convictions, but also does what first love can do with every person. Turgenev wrote about this in a pathetic tone in the story “First Love”: “First love is the same revolution: the monotonously correct order of the prevailing life is broken and destroyed in an instant, youth stands on the barricade, its bright banner flies high, and what would be ahead no matter what awaited her - death or a new life, she sends her enthusiastic greetings to everything. Bazarov's first love, of course, is far from the inspired picture painted by Turgenev. This is love-tragedy, which has become the strongest argument in the Bazarov dispute, but not with the "old romantics", but with the very nature of man.

The backstories of the characters are of exceptional importance in each of Turgenev's novels. This is the epic basis of the story of modernity. The prehistory reveals the writer's interest in the historical development of Russian society, in the change of different generations of the Russian intellectual elite. The events that take place in the novels are, as a rule, accurately dated (for example, the action in "Fathers and Sons" begins on May 20, 1859, less than two years before the peasant reform). Starting from the present, Turgenev likes to go deep into the 19th century, showing not only the "fathers", but also the "grandfathers" of his young heroes.

In The Nest of Nobles, a lengthy backstory of Lavretsky is given: the writer tells not only about the life of the hero himself, but also about his ancestors. In other novels, the prehistory is much shorter: in "Fathers and Sons" only the life story of Pavel Petrovich is told in sufficient detail, and about Bazarov's past, on the contrary, laconic and fragmentary. This can be explained by the fact that Pavel Petrovich is a man of the past, his life took place. Bazarov, on the other hand, is all in the present, his story is created and completed before the eyes of the reader.

The creation of each novel was preceded by painstaking preparatory work: compiling biographies of characters, considering the main storylines. Turgenev prepared outlines of novels and individual chapters, trying to find the right tone of the narrative, to understand the "roots of phenomena", that is, to connect the actions of the characters with their inner world, to feel the psychological impulses of their behavior. The most striking example of such an immersion in the psychology of the character was the "diary of a nihilist", which he kept while working on the novel "Fathers and Sons". Only having developed a plan in detail and thought over the composition of the work, the writer proceeded to create the text. Turgenev did not think of the creative process without consultations with friends, "trial" readings of individual chapters and the entire text, alterations and additions, taking into account the opinions of friends. Journal publications of novels were also one of the stages of work on them: after the first publication, the final edition of the work was being prepared for a separate edition.

The nature of the work on the novel "Fathers and Sons" largely clarifies the author's concept of the work, primarily Turgenev's interpretation of the personality of Bazarov, who is completely different from the heroes of previous novels. If earlier, showing the inconsistency of his noble heroes, deprived of the ability to act, Turgenev did not completely reject their ideas about life, then in Fathers and Sons his attitude to Bazarov’s convictions from the very beginning was sharply negative. All programmatic principles of the nihilist (attitude towards love, nature, art, rejection of any principles whatsoever in the name of experience, experiment) are absolutely alien to Turgenev. He considered everything that Bazarov rejected as eternal, unshakable human values. The focus of Turgenev’s attention is not Bazarov’s views on private, albeit very important in the context of the era, social problems, but Bazarov’s “philosophy of life” and the “rules” he developed for relationships with people.

The first task set by Turgenev in the course of working on the novel was to create a portrait of a modern nihilist, completely different from the skeptics and "nihilists" of the previous, noble generation. The second, more important task significantly supplemented the first: Turgenev, the "Columbus" of the Russian nihilists, wanted to create not just a "passport" portrait, but a portrait-"forecast" of modern nihilism. The purpose of the writer is to consider it as a dangerous, painful craze that can lead a person to a dead end. The solution of these two tasks required maximum authorial objectivity: after all, according to Turgenev, nihilism is not only one of the many modern ideological movements popular among “children”, due to their rejection of the “fathers” worldview, but above all, a radical change in the point of view of the world, on the meaning of human existence and traditional life values.

Turgenev the novelist was always interested in the figures of skeptics, "true deniers", but he never equated the "deniers" of the 1830s - 1850s. and "nihilists". A nihilist is a person of a different era, a different worldview and psychology. This is a raznochinets-democrat by origin, a natural scientist, and not a philosopher by conviction and a cultural treger (educator) by understanding his role in society. “Reverence for natural science”, the cult of natural science experiment, knowledge based on experience, not on faith, is a characteristic feature of the younger generation that separated it from the idealist “fathers”.

In the article "About "Fathers and Sons"" Turgenev noted that the personality of one of the "natural scientists", "a young provincial doctor" "Doctor D." and lay "at the base" of Bazarov's figure. According to the writer, "this remarkable man embodied - in my eyes - that barely born, still wandering beginning, which later received the name of nihilism." But in the preparatory materials for the novel, there is no "Dr. D." Turgenev does not name. Describing Bazarov, he made the following entry: “Nihilist. Self-confident, speaks abruptly and is a little hard-working. - (Mixture of Dobrolyubov, Pavlov and Preobrazhensky). Thus, it was the critic and publicist Dobrolyubov who was named the first among the prototypes: contemporaries, in particular Antonovich, were not deceived, believing that Bazarov was his “mirror” reflection. Another prototype, I.V. Pavlov, whom Turgenev met in 1853, is a provincial doctor who became a writer. S.N. Preobrazhensky was an institute comrade of Dobrolyubov and one of the authors of Sovremennik. The “mixture” of the individual psychological qualities of these people allowed the writer to create the image of Bazarov, which reflected a new social and ideological phenomenon. In the personality of the hero, Turgenev emphasized, first of all, the conflict with the "fathers", their beliefs, lifestyle, and spiritual values.

Already at the first stage of work on the main text of "Fathers and Sons" (August 1860 - July 1861), Turgenev's attitude towards the nihilist hero was extremely complex. Commenting on the novel, he refused direct assessments of Bazarov, although he frankly expressed his attitude towards the heroes of previous novels to his friends. At the second stage of work (September 1861-January 1862), making amendments and additions, taking into account the advice of P.V. Annenkov and V.P. negative traits: self-conceit and arrogance. The writer decided that in the original version of the novel, the figure of Bazarov turned out to be too bright and therefore completely unsuitable for the conservative Russkiy Vestnik, which was supposed to publish Fathers and Sons. The appearance of the ideological opponent of Pavel Petrovich Bazarov, on the contrary, was somewhat “ennobled” at the request of the vigilant Katkov. At the third stage of the creation of the novel (February-September 1862), after its journal publication, significant amendments were made to the text, mainly concerning Bazarov. Turgenev considered it important to draw a clearer line between Bazarov and his antagonists (primarily Pavel Petrovich), between Bazarov and his "disciples" (Arkady and especially Sitnikov and Kukshina).

In Fathers and Sons, Turgenev returned to the structure of his first novel. Like Rudin, the new novel became a work in which all the plot threads converged on one center - the new figure of the democrat Bazarov, who disturbed all readers and critics. He became not only the plot, but also the problematic center of the work. The assessment of all other aspects of Turgenev's novel depended on understanding the personality and fate of Bazarov: the system of characters, the author's position, private artistic techniques. n Turgenev's novel: character systems, author's position, private artistic techniques. All critics saw in "Fathers and Sons" a new turn in his work, although the understanding of the milestone meaning of the novel was, of course, completely different.

Among the many critical interpretations, the most notable were the articles by the critic of the Sovremennik magazine M.A. Antonovich "Asmodeus of Our Time" and a number of articles by D.I. Pisarev in another democratic journal - "Russian Word": "Bazarov", "Realists" and " The thinking proletariat. Unlike Antonovich, who sharply negatively assessed Bazarov, Pisarev saw in him a true "hero of the time", comparing him with "new people" from N.G. Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?". Contradictory opinions about the novel, expressed by Democratic critics, were perceived as a fact of internal controversy in the democratic movement - "a split in the nihilists."

Both critics and readers of "Fathers and Sons" were not accidentally worried about two questions - about prototypes and the author's position. It is they who create two poles in the perception and interpretation of any work. Antonovich assured himself and his readers that Turgenev was malicious. In his interpretation, Bazarov is not at all a person written off “from nature”, but an “asmodeus”, an “evil spirit”, released by a writer angry at the younger generation. The article is written in a feuilleton manner. Instead of an objective analysis of the novel, the critic created a caricature of the protagonist, as if substituting his "disciple" Sitnikov in Bazarov's place. According to Antonovich, Bazarov is not an artistic generalization, a mirror of the younger generation. The author of the novel is interpreted as the creator of a biting feuilleton novel, which must be objected to in exactly the same manner. The goal of the critic - to "quarrel" the writer with the younger generation - was achieved.

In the subtext of Antonovich’s rude and unfair article, there is a reproach that the figure of Bazarov turned out to be too “recognizable”, because one of his prototypes was Dobrolyubov. In addition, the journalists of Sovremennik could not forgive Turgenev for breaking up with the magazine. The publication of the novel in the conservative Russky Vestnik was for them a sign of Turgenev's final break with democracy.

A different point of view on Bazarov was expressed by Pisarev, who considered the protagonist of the novel not as a caricature of one or several persons, but as an "illustration" of the emerging socio-ideological type. Least of all, the critic was interested in the author's attitude to the hero, the features of the artistic embodiment of the image of Bazarov. Pisarev interpreted the hero in the spirit of "real criticism". Pointing out the author's bias in his depiction, he, however, highly appreciated the very type of "hero of the time", guessed by Turgenev. The article "Bazarov" expressed the idea that Bazarov, depicted in the novel as a "tragic face", is a new hero, who was so lacking in modern literature. In subsequent interpretations of Pisarev, Bazarov became increasingly detached from the novel. In the articles “Realists” and “The Thinking Proletariat”, the name “Bazarov” was used by the critic to name the type of era, the modern raznochintsy-kulturträger, close in outlook to Pisarev himself.

Accusations of tendentiousness contradicted the calm, objective tone of the author's portrayal of Bazarov. "Fathers and Sons" is Turgenev's "duel" with nihilism and nihilists, but all the requirements of the dueling "code of honor" are met by the author: he treated the enemy with respect, "killing" him in a fair fight. Bazarov, a symbol of dangerous human delusions, according to Turgenev, is a worthy adversary. Caricature and mockery of him (some critics accused Turgenev of this) could give a completely different result - an underestimation of the destructive power of nihilism, confident in its right to destroy, striving to put its false idols in the place of the "eternal" idols of mankind. Recalling the work on the image of Bazarov, Turgenev wrote to M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in 1876: “I will not be surprised, however, that Bazarov remained a mystery to many; I myself can't quite imagine how I wrote it. There was - don't laugh, please - some kind of fate, something stronger than the author himself, something independent of him. I know one thing: there was no prejudice of thought, no tendency in me at that time.

As in previous novels, Turgenev does not draw conclusions, avoids comments, deliberately hides the inner world of the hero so as not to put pressure on readers. The author's position, so straightforwardly interpreted by Antonovich and ignored by Pisarev, manifests itself primarily in the nature of the conflicts, in the composition of the plot. They implement the author's concept of Bazarov's fate.

Bazarov is unshakable in disputes with Pavel Petrovich in the first chapters of the novel, but is internally broken after the "test of love." Turgenev emphasizes the thoughtfulness, “rigidity” of the hero’s convictions, the interconnection of all components of his worldview, despite the outwardly fragmentary, fragmentary nature of his remarks, “aphorisms”: “a decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet”, “the art of making money, or is there no more hemorrhoids !”, “from a penny candle, you know, Moscow burned down”, “Rafael is not worth a penny of copper”, etc.

Bazarov is a maximalist: from his point of view, any belief has a price, if it does not contradict others. As soon as he lost one of the "links" in the "chain" of his worldview, all the others were questioned and re-evaluated. In the last chapters of the novel, Bazarov's thoughts are turned not to the momentary and topical, as in the first, "Maryinsky" chapters, but to the "eternal", universal. This becomes the cause of his inner unrest, which manifests itself in his appearance, in his demeanor, in "strange", from Arkady's point of view, statements that cross out the meaning of his previous statements. Bazarov not only painfully experiences his love, but also thinks about death, about what kind of "monument" the living will put up for him. Bazarov’s remark in a conversation with Arkady has a special meaning: it clearly shows how the scale of his life values ​​​​has changed under the influence of thoughts about death: “... - Yes, for example, you said today, passing by the hut of our elder Philip, - she so glorious, white, - so, you said, Russia will then reach perfection when the last peasant will have the same premises, and each of us should contribute to this ... And I hated this last peasant, Philip or Sidor, for whom I must climb out of his skin and who won’t even thank me ... but why should I thank him? Well, he will live in a white hut, and burdock will grow out of me; well, what next? "(Ch. XXI). Now Bazarov does not have a clear and precise answer to the question about the meaning of life, which previously did not cause difficulties. Most of all, the nihilist is afraid of the thought of the "grass of oblivion", of the "burdock", which will be the only "monument" to him.

At the end of the novel, we have before us not the self-confident and dogmatic Bazarov-empiricist, but the “new” Bazarov, who solves “damned”, “Hamletian” questions. A fan of experience and natural science solutions to all the mysteries and mysteries of human life, Bazarov was faced with what he previously unconditionally denied, becoming "Hamlet" among nihilists. This is what caused his tragedy. According to Turgenev, “eternal” values ​​(love, nature, art) are not able to shake even the most consistent nihilism. On the contrary, a conflict with them can lead the nihilist to a conflict with himself, to painful, fruitless reflection and loss of the meaning of life. This is the main lesson of the tragic fate of Bazarov.

Other writings on this work

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Turgenev The image of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova and her role in the novel The strength and weakness of Bazarov's nihilism COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF BAZAROV AND PAVEL PETROVICH KIRSANOV (I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons") How do I understand Bazarov's nihilism What I like and what I do not accept in Bazarov (based on the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons") Bazarov and his attitude to art Can the relationship between Bazarov and Arkady be called friendship? The role and place of love stories in I. Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" Characteristics of the image of Bazarova Arina Vlasyevna Disputes between Bazarov and P.P. Kirsanov in I.S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” Characteristics of the image of Yevgeny Bazarov in the novel "Fathers and Sons" The role of dialogue-disputes in the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" The theme of man and nature in Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" Confrontation of generations in the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" The tragic death of Bazarov and its causes Character traits of Bazarov in the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" Why and how did the gap occur between Bazarov and his friend Arkady The conflict of "Fathers and Sons" in the image of I. S. Turgenev Bazarov, the nihilist, represents the "new people" Description of nature and its role in Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" Pavel Petrovich and Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov (based on Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons") Aphorisms in the novel "Fathers and Sons" Fenechka Anna Odintsova Princess R - the heroine of Ivan Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" The plot and composition of the novel "Fathers and Sons" Images of old Bazarovs What I accept and what I do not accept in Bazarov WHAT DID E. BAZAROV AND P. P. KIRSANOV DEBATE IN I. S. TURGENEV'S NOVEL "FATHERS AND CHILDREN"? "Fathers and Sons" is an example of a socio-psychological novel The image of Olga Ilyinskaya in Goncharov's novel "Oblomov" Who is right? (disputes of Bazarov) The relationship of images: Bazarov and his parents The author's position and means of its expression in the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" Characteristics of the image of Kukshina Avdotya Nikitishna The essence of the disputes between fathers and children in the novel by I. S. Turgenev EVGENY BAZAROV AND PAVEL PETROVICH KIRSANOV IN THE IDEAL DISPUTE OF “FATHERS AND CHILDREN” (based on the novel “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev) The system of images in Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons": Evgeny Bazarov and Pavel Kirsanov Meaning of the title of the novel. "Hero of Time" in "Fathers and Sons". Artistic technique of the "psychological couple" Characteristics of the image of Katya The history of relations between Bazarov and Odintsova Analysis of the novel "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev I.S. Nihilism and nihilists in the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" Analysis of the duel scene in Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" Fathers and sons, Turgenev, Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. Olga Ilyinskaya and Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna Bazarov and the Russian people Why the meeting of Bazarov and Odintsova did not lead to the happiness of mutual love Odintsova Anna Sergeevna Plot and compositional features of the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" What I accept and do not accept in the character and actions of Evgeny Bazarov Disputes of critics about the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" On the nature of Turgenev's ideal The dispute between two generations in Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" Evgeny Bazarov and Pavel Kirsanov in the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" The image of a nihilist in the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" Characteristics of the image of Sitnikov Description of the images of minor characters in the novel "Fathers and Sons" Disputes between P. Kirsanov and E. Bazarov and their ideological significance ABOUT IDEAL FASHION AND BELIEFS IN "FATHERS AND CHILDREN" I.S. TURGENEV Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. (I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons") THE IMAGE OF BAZAROV. THE POWER AND POWERFULNESS OF THE HERO OF ROMAN TURGENEV "FATHERS AND CHILDREN" The image of Bazarov in the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons", his author's assessment. Images of democrats (based on the novels by I.S. Turgenev "Rudin", "On the Eve", "Fathers and Sons") Bazarov and Arkady. Comparative characteristics of heroes The tragic loneliness of Bazarov (based on the novel by I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons") The strength and weakness of Bazarov Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" and his critics The relationship of the images of Bazarov and Odintsova in the novel "Fathers and Sons" Artistic skill of Turgenev in the novel "Fathers and Sons" The conflict of two generations in Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons" "Democrat to the end of nails" Bazarov The storyline of Pavel Petrovich in the novel "Fathers and Sons" Antithesis in the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" About the origin of Bazarov Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov as antipodes and doubles (Comparative characteristics of the heroes of Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons") Collision of theory with life (Based on the novel by Turgenev "Fathers and Sons") Conflict "Fathers and Sons" The role of the portrait in revealing the characters of the heroes of I. S. Turgenev's novel "Fathers and Sons"

In the sixties of the 19th century, novel by Ivan Turgenev"Fathers and Sons". This book became a landmark for its time. The image of Bazarov - the main character - was perceived by young people as an example to follow. More than 150 years have passed since the first publication. Turgenev's novel is still popular. What is the main idea of ​​the book? Why is it relevant even today, in the 21st century? A detailed analysis of the work "Fathers and Sons" will help find answers to these and other questions.

On the Eve of the Reform

The events that Turgenev told readers about take place in June 1859. Very soon serfdom will be abolished in Russia. There will be an event that will radically change Russian society. This will be done in 1861. However, a special mood, a thirst for change is already in the air. First of all, enlightened young people are subject to it. Such sentiments are alien to the old landlords. When analyzing the work "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev, it is imperative to make a small historical digression.

The problem of fathers and children

The protagonist of the novel is Evgeny Bazarov. To his friend - Arkady Kirsanov - he treats with some disdain. However, when reading Turgenev's novel, one gets the impression that the main character is not capable of deeper feelings. However, this is a misleading impression.

Analysis of the work "Fathers and Sons" usually begins with a decoding of the title. The book of the Russian classic about the clash of two generations. Fathers do not understand sons. Children are sure of backwardness, irrelevance of parental views. So it was, is and will be. But this is not the main idea of ​​the work "Fathers and Sons". Analysis novel by Ivan Turgenev allows you to feel, understand the depth of mental anguish of the protagonist.

Plot

Bazarov spends several weeks at his friend's family estate. Here the protagonist clashes with one of the Kirsanovs - Pavel Petrovich. Eugene is a nihilist, that is, a person who does not have authority. He does not accept a single principle, and it is completely indifferent to him how respect this principle is surrounded. This point of view shocks the representatives of the older generation.

Bazarov despises art, music, poetry. And he calls all this contemptuously "romanticism." Bazarov studies natural sciences. I am sure that you should only do what will benefit you. He is the son of a doctor and plans to treat men himself. One day he proudly says: "My grandfather plowed the land." In fact, this person is very ambitious. And it is unlikely that he would be satisfied with the modest work of a rural doctor.

Bazarov is convinced that he will never inflame with passion for a woman. After all, this is a weakness that can lead astray. But one day he meets Anna Odintsova and realizes how much he was mistaken. The aristocratic widow does not reciprocate. And then a terrible, all-consuming emptiness settles in the soul of the protagonist. It is not known what such experiences would have led to if not for sudden death.

Once, while conducting experiments, the main character gets infected. Soon he realizes that his days are numbered. Bazarov is dying. Forgotten about him six months later. True, old people very often come to the rural cemetery, to a modest grave, who were madly in love and proud of their son. These are the parents of Evgeny Bazarov.

History of writing

When analyzing the work "Fathers and Sons", it is imperative to say at least a few words about how this imperishable novel was created. The idea for the book came to the writer in 1960. At this time he was in England.

Of course, the author in his book first of all wanted to raise the issue of the abolition of serfdom. The Russian landlord society looked rather pitiful against the backdrop of a progressive European one.

Shortly before starting work on the novel, Turgenev stopped working with the Sovremennik magazine. One of the young critics spoke of the work "On the Eve" very unflattering. Turgenev first thought about the huge gap between generations.

Many in Russia did not understand the raznochintsy, these strange young people who kept talking about the bitter fate of the Russian peasant, about equality, about freedom. Even with a brief analysis of the work “Fathers and Sons”, it is worth emphasizing that the writer devoted his book not only to the problems of misunderstanding of fathers and children. Turgenev raised the issue of the conflict of new views with conservatism.

A logical question arises. Serfdom was abolished in 1861, and Turgenev's book is still being read today. Why? The fact is that, in addition to the above problem, Turgenev touched on the topic of love, friendship, loneliness. Questions that will always be relevant are raised by the writer in this work. Analysis of the novel "Fathers and Sons" is a difficult task, but interesting. After all, the book does not speak so much about politics as about simple human feelings.

What is the tragedy of Bazarov?

This is another important question that should be answered in a brief analysis of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. Bazarov denies the beauty of nature, love, music, poetry. He also does not recognize philosophical thinking. Art is just "nonsense" for him. He calls the older Kirsanovs "old men", "retired people". The tragedy of the protagonist is due to his nihilistic views. He is convinced that everything old should be destroyed in order to build a new one in its place. To what is subject to destruction, Yevgeny Bazarov even refers love - a feeling without which a person cannot exist.

The tragedy of Bazarov, of course, is in the unrealization. Before his death, doubts suddenly visited him. Does Russia need it? Bazarov does not find an answer to this question. Turgenev's attitude to his hero is contradictory. On the one hand, he does not share the views of Bazarov. On the other hand, he feels sympathy and pity for him, which is especially read in the last lines of the novel.

Other characters

A complete analysis of the work "Fathers and Sons" includes a description of each character. Particular attention should be paid, perhaps, to Nikolai Petrovich, the father of Arkady Kirsanov. After all, this hero is opposed to Bazarov.

Nikolai Petrovich does not adhere to strict political and social views. He is by no means ambitious. Kirsanov does not read German philosophers, but he reads Pushkin, which causes Bazarov's obvious disapproval. In addition, the landowner of liberal views loves music and even occasionally plays the cello.

The main difference between him and the lone nihilist, of course, is not in book predilections. Nikolai Petrovich knows how to love. And then at the end of the story, he's one of the few who finds happiness.

Anna Odintsova

There are several female characters in the novel. But the most interesting of them is undoubtedly the image of Anna Odintsova. A rich widow was interested in a young man who makes rather strange, but interesting speeches. But not more.

Anna could not share Evgeny's feelings. She, like him, rejects love. But if Bazarov was previously convinced that love would prevent him from achieving his goal, which, by the way, turned out to be rather vague, then Odintsova refuses love only for the sake of peace. This cold woman likes her measured, calm life without feelings and worries.

In the novel "Fathers and Sons" the characters are very diverse and interesting in their own way. This article provides a brief description of each of them. Until now, the novel "Fathers and Sons" has not lost its relevance. The characters in this work, as well as the problems raised by the author, are interesting in any historical period.

Bazarov Evgeny Vasilievich

The main character of the novel is Yevgeny Vasilievich Bazarov. The reader does not know much about him at first. We know that this is a medical student who came to the countryside for a vacation. The story about the time he spent outside the walls of the educational institution is the plot of the work. First, the student stays with the family of Arkady Kirsanov, his friend, after which he goes with him to the provincial town. Here Yevgeny Bazarov makes acquaintance with Anna Sergeevna Odintsova, lives for some time in her estate, but after an unsuccessful explanation he is forced to leave. Further, the hero finds himself in the parental home. He does not live here for long, as longing makes him repeat the route just described. It turns out that Eugene from the novel "Fathers and Sons" can not be happy anywhere. The characters in the work are alien to him. The hero cannot find a place for himself in Russian reality. He returns home. Where the hero of the novel "Fathers and Sons" dies.

The characters, whose description we are compiling, are curious from the point of view of the refraction of the era in their characters. In Eugene, perhaps, his "nihilism" is most interesting. For him, this is a whole philosophy. This hero is a spokesman for the moods and ideas of the revolutionary youth. Bazarov denies everything, does not recognize any authorities. He is alien to such aspects of life as love, the beauty of nature, music, poetry, family ties, philosophical thinking, altruistic feelings. The hero does not recognize duty, right, duty.

Eugene easily wins in disputes with Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, a moderate liberal. On the side of this hero is not only youth and novelty of the position. The author sees that "nihilism" is associated with popular discontent and social disorder. It expresses the spirit of the times. The hero experiences the longing of loneliness, tragic love. It turns out that he is dependent on the laws of ordinary human life, is involved in human suffering, concerns and interests, like other actors.

Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" is a novel in which different worldviews collide. From this point of view, Eugene's father is also interesting. We invite you to get to know him better.

Bazarov Vasily Ivanovich

This hero is a representative of the patriarchal world that is fading into the past. Turgenev, reminding us of him, makes readers feel the drama of the movement of history. Vasily Ivanovich - retired staff doctor. By origin, he is a commoner. This hero builds his life in the spirit of enlightenment ideals. Vasily Bazarov lives disinterestedly and independently. He works, is interested in social and scientific progress. However, there is an unbridgeable gulf between him and the next generation, which brings a deep drama into his life. Father's love does not find a response, turns into a source of suffering.

Arina Vlasevna Bazarova

Arina Vlasyevna Bazarova is the mother of Evgeny. The author notes that this is a "real Russian noblewoman" of the past. Her life and consciousness are subject to the norms set by tradition. Such a human type has its own charm, but the era to which it belongs has already passed. The author shows that such people will not live their lives in peace. The mental life of the heroine includes suffering, fear and anxiety because of the relationship with her son.

Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov

Arkady Nikolaevich is a friend of Yevgeny, his student in the novel "Fathers and Sons". The main characters of the work are in many ways contrasting. So, unlike Bazarov, the influence of the era in the position of Arkady is combined with the influence of the usual properties of a young age. His enthusiasm for the new teaching is rather superficial. Kirsanov is attracted to "nihilism" by its possibilities, which are valuable for a person just entering into life - independence from authorities and traditions, a sense of freedom, the right to insolence and self-confidence. However, Arkady also has qualities that are far from "nihilistic" principles: he is ingenuously simple, good-natured, attached to traditional life.

Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov

Nikolai Petrovich in Turgenev's novel is Arkady's father. This is no longer a young man who has experienced many misfortunes, but they are his. The hero has romantic inclinations and tastes. He works, tries to transform his economy in the spirit of the times, seeks love and spiritual support. The author describes the character of this hero with obvious sympathy. He is weak, but sensitive, kind, noble and delicate person. In relation to young people, Nikolai Petrovich is friendly and loyal.

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov

Pavel Petrovich is Arkady's uncle, an Englishman, an aristocrat, a moderate liberal. In the novel, he is the antagonist of Eugene. The author endowed this hero with a spectacular biography: secular successes and a brilliant career were interrupted by tragic love. With Pavel Petrovich after that there was a substitution. He refuses to hope for personal happiness, and also does not want to fulfill his civic and moral duty. Pavel Petrovich moves to the village, where other characters in the work "Fathers and Sons" also live. He intends to help his brother in the transformation of the economy. The hero stands for liberal government reforms. Entering into an argument with Bazarov, he defends a program that is based on noble and lofty ideas in its own way. "Western" ideas of individual rights, honor, self-respect, and dignity are combined in it with the "Slavophile" idea of ​​the role of the agricultural community. Turgenev believes that Pavel Petrovich's ideas are far from reality. This is an unhappy and lonely person with an unfulfilled fate and unfulfilled aspirations.

Other characters are no less interesting, one of which is Anna Sergeevna Odintsova. It is definitely worth talking about in detail.

Anna Sergeevna Odintsova

This is an aristocrat, a beauty with whom Bazarov is in love. It shows the features inherent in the new generation of nobles - freedom of opinion, the absence of class arrogance, democracy. Bazarov, however, everything in her is alien, even the features that are characteristic of himself. Odintsova is independent, proud, smart, but completely different from the main character. However, Eugene needs this chaste, proud, cold aristocrat just the way she is. Her calmness attracts and excites him. Bazarov understands that behind him is an inability to hobbies, selfishness, indifference. However, in this he finds a kind of perfection and succumbs to its charm. This love becomes tragic for Eugene. Odintsova easily copes with her feelings. She marries "out of conviction" and not out of love.

Kate

Katya is the younger sister of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova. At first, she seems just a shy and sweet young lady. However, gradually it manifests spiritual strength and independence. The girl is freed from the power of her sister. She helps Arkady overthrow Bazarov's power over him. Katya in Turgenev's novel embodies the beauty and truth of the ordinary.

Kukshina Evdoksia (Avdotya) Nikitishna

The characters in the novel "Fathers and Sons" include two pseudo-nihilists, whose images are parodic. This is Evdoksia Kukshina and Sitnikov. Kukshina is an emancipated woman who is characterized by extreme radicalism. In particular, she is interested in the natural sciences and the "women's question", despises even the "backwardness" of this woman. This woman is vulgar, cheeky, frankly stupid. However, sometimes there is something human in it. "Nihilism", perhaps, hides a feeling of infringement, the source of which is the female inferiority of this heroine (she is abandoned by her husband, does not attract the attention of men, is ugly).

Sitnikov ("Fathers and Sons")

How many characters have you already counted? We talked about nine heroes. One more should be presented. Sitnikov is a pseudo-nihilist who considers himself a "student" of Bazarov. He seeks to demonstrate the sharpness of judgments characteristic of Eugene and freedom of action. However, this similarity turns out to be parodic. "Nihilism" is understood by Sitnikov as a way to overcome complexes. This hero is ashamed, for example, of his father-farmer, who got rich by drinking the people. At the same time, Sitnikov is burdened by his own insignificance.

These are the main actors. "Fathers and Sons" is a novel in which a whole gallery of bright and interesting images has been created. Definitely worth reading in the original.

Turgenev had a hard time leaving Sovremennik: he took part in its organization, collaborated in it for fifteen years; the memory of Belinsky, friendship with Nekrasov, literary fame, finally, were associated with the magazine. But the decisive disagreement with Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, which had grown over the years, reached a climax. What irritated Turgenev in the Dobrolyubov articles?

In a review of the work of the Kazan philosopher Bervy "Physiological and psychological comparative view of the beginning and end of life", Dobrolyubov stated: "Now a positive method has been adopted in the natural sciences, all conclusions are based on experimental, factual knowledge, and not on dreamy theories ... Now already old authorities are not recognized... Young people... read Moleschott... Vocht, and even then they still don't take his word for it... On the other hand, Mr. Bervy is very wittily able to laugh at skeptics, or, as he puts it, "nihilists" .

In another review, Dobrolyubov, the "nihilist", denounced writers who love to "be ideal" in this way: "Who has not removed idealism with pink flowers - a simple, very understandable inclination towards a woman? .. No, whatever you say, but ... doctors and naturalists have a reason ". It turned out that the feeling of love is fully explained by physiology, doctors and naturalists.

In the first issue of Sovremennik for 1838, Turgenev, with a growing sense of indignation, read Dobrolyubov's review of the seventh, additional volume of Pushkin's Collected Works, prepared by P. V. Annenkov. Pushkin was credited with a view of life "very superficial and biased", "weakness of character", "excessive respect for the bayonet". It was argued that the late Pushkin "finally inclined to the idea that whips, dungeons, axes are needed to correct people." Pushkin was accused of "submission to routine", of "genealogical prejudices", of serving "pure art". So unceremoniously treated the young critic with the work of the poet, whom Turgenev idolized.

On mature reflection, one could to some extent justify such polemical attacks by the youthful enthusiasm of a critic, outraged by the retinue's articles about Pushkin, which preach "pure art." But why should Pushkin pay for Druzhinin? And where does Dobrolyubov develop such a dismissive attitude towards the artistic word?

Finally, in the second and fourth issues of Sovremennik for 1859, Dobrolyubov's article "Literary trivia of the past year" appeared, clearly polemical in relation to Turgenev's social and literary views. According to Dobrolyubov, modern progressive youth saw in the generation of Turgenev's peers perhaps their main enemies. “People of that generation,” Dobrolyubov wrote, “were imbued with lofty, but somewhat abstract aspirations. They strove for the truth, wished for the good, they were captivated by everything beautiful; but the principle was above all for them ... Having excellent command of abstract logic, they did not know at all logic of life...

They are being replaced by the younger generation - "a type of real people, with strong nerves and a healthy imagination", which differs from "phrasers" and "dreamers" by "calmness and quiet firmness." The younger generation "does not know how to shine and make noise", "very strong sounds" prevail in its voice, it "does its job smoothly and calmly".

And so, from the position of this generation of "realists," Dobrolyubov, with merciless irony, attacked liberal glasnost, the modern press, where social issues are discussed. Why, then, with such reckless radicalism, is it necessary to destroy the noble cause of glasnost in the bud, why ridicule the living political thought that has awakened after thirty years of hibernation under the reign of Nicholas? Why underestimate the strength of the feudal lords and hit on their own? Turgenev could not help but feel that the young forces of Sovremennik were turning from allies of the liberal party into its determined enemies. A historical split was taking place, which Turgenev was unable to prevent.

In the summer of 1860, Turgenev turned to the study of the German vulgar materialists, to whom Dobrolyubov referred. He diligently read the works of K. Vogt and wrote to his friends: "This vile materialist is terribly clever and subtle!" What do these smart Germans, their idols, teach the Russian "nihilists"? It turned out that human thought is the elementary functions of brain matter. And since the human brain is depleted in the process of aging, both the mental and psychic abilities of a person become inferior. Since classical antiquity, old age has been synonymous with wisdom: the Roman word "senate" meant "an assembly of old people." But the "vile materialist" proves that the "young generation" should not at all listen to the experience of the "fathers", to the traditions of Russian history, but to believe only in the sensations of their young brain substance. Further - more: it is argued that the "capacity of the skull of the race" as civilization develops "slowly increases", that there are full-fledged races - Aryans, and inferior ones - Negroes, for example.

Turgenev was shaking from such "revelations". After all, in the end it turned out: there is no love, but there is only "physiological attraction"; there is no beauty in nature, but only the eternal cycle of chemical matter; there are no spiritual pleasures in art - there is only "physiological irritation of nerve endings"; there is no continuity in the change of generations, and young people must immediately deny the "old" ideals of the "old men". Matter and force!

And in Turgenev's mind, a vague image of a hero arose, convinced that natural scientific discoveries explain literally everything in man and society. What would become of such a person if he tried to put his views into practice? He dreamed of a Russian rebel, breaking all authorities, all cultural values ​​without pity and without mercy. In a word, some semblance of an intellectual Pugachev was seen.

Having gone at the end of July 1860 to the town of Ventnor on the English Isle of Wight for sea bathing, Turgenev was already considering a plan for a new novel. It was here, on the Isle of Wight, that the “Formal list of characters in the new story” was compiled, where under the heading “Eugene Bazarov” Turgenev sketched a preliminary portrait of the protagonist: “Nihilist. Preobrazhensky.) Lives small; does not want to be a doctor, waiting for an opportunity.- He knows how to talk with the people, although he despises them in his soul. He does not have and does not recognize the artistic element ... the most fruitless subject - the antipode of Rudin - for without any enthusiasm and faith ... An independent soul and a proud man of the first hand.

Dobrolyubov as a prototype here, as we see, is indicated first. Behind him is Ivan Vasilyevich Pavlov, a doctor and writer, an acquaintance of Turgenev, an atheist and materialist. Turgenev was friendly to him, although he was often embarrassed and jarred by the directness and harshness of the judgments of this man.

Nikolai Sergeevich Preobrazhensky - a friend of Dobrolyubov at the Pedagogical Institute with an original appearance - short stature, long nose and hair standing on end, despite all the efforts of the comb. He was a young man with heightened conceit, with arrogance and freedom of opinion, which aroused admiration even from Dobrolyubov. He called Preobrazhensky "a guy not timid".

It is impossible not to notice that in the original plan, the figure of Bazarov looks very sharp and angular. The author denies the hero the spiritual depth, the hidden "artistic element". However, in the process of working on the novel, the character of Bazarov captivates Turgenev so much that he keeps a diary on behalf of the hero, learns to see the world through his eyes. Work continues in the autumn and winter of 1860/61 in Paris. The democratic writer Nikolai Uspensky, traveling through Europe, dined at Turgenev's and scolded Pushkin, assuring us that in all his poems our poet did nothing but shout: "To fight, to fight for Holy Rus'!" Another example of the Bazarov type is taken into account, another Russian nature "with a wide swing without a blow," as Belinsky used to say. But in Paris, work on the novel was slow and difficult.

In May 1861, Turgenev returned to Spasskoye, where he was destined to endure the loss of hope for unity with the people. Two years before the manifesto, Turgenev "started a farm", that is, he transferred his peasants to quitrent and switched to cultivating the land by civilian labor. But Turgenev now did not feel any moral satisfaction from his economic activity. The peasants do not want to obey the advice of the landowner, they do not want to go to rent, they refuse to sign statutory letters and enter into any kind of "amicable" agreements with the gentlemen.

In such a disturbing environment, the writer completes work on Fathers and Sons. On July 30, he wrote a "blissful last word." On the way to France, leaving the manuscript in the editorial office of Russkiy Vestnik, Turgenev asked the editor of the journal, M. N. Katkov, to be sure to let P. V. Annenkov read it. In Paris, he received two letters at once with an assessment of the novel: one from Katkov, the other from Annenkov. The meaning of these letters largely coincided. It seemed to both Katkov and Annenkov that Turgenev was too carried away by Bazarov and put him on a very high pedestal. Since Turgenev considered it a rule to see a grain of truth in any, even the sharpest remark, he made a number of additions to the novel, put a few touches that strengthened the negative traits in Bazarov's character. Subsequently, Turgenev eliminated many of these amendments in a separate edition of Fathers and Sons.

When the work on the novel was completed, the writer had deep doubts about the expediency of its publication: the historical moment turned out to be too inopportune. The democrat poet M. L. Mikhailov was arrested for distributing leaflets to the youth. Petersburg University students rebelled against the new charter: two hundred people were arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. In November 1861, Dobrolyubov died. “I regretted the death of Dobrolyubov, although I did not share his views,” Turgenev wrote to his friends, “the man was gifted - young ... Sorry for the lost, wasted strength!”

For all these reasons, Turgenev wanted to postpone the publication of the novel, but the "literary merchant" Katkov, "persistently demanding the sold goods" and having received corrections from Paris, no longer stood on ceremony. "Fathers and Sons" saw the light in the midst of government persecution of the younger generation, in the February book of the "Russian Messenger" for 1862.