Fairy tale analysis "Wild Landlord" Saltykov-Shchedrin
The theme of serfdom and the life of the peasantry played an important role in the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The writer could not openly protest the existing system. Saltykov-Shchedrin hides his merciless criticism of the autocracy behind fairy-tale motives. He wrote his political fairy tales from 1883 to 1886. In them, the settler truthfully reflected the life of Russia, in which despotic and all-powerful landlords destroy hard-working peasants.
In this tale, Saltykov-Shchedrin reflects on the unlimited power of the landowners, who in every way torment the peasants, imagining themselves almost as gods. The writer also speaks of the landowner's stupidity and uneducatedness: "that landowner was stupid, he read the newspaper" Vest "and his body was soft, white and crumbly." The disenfranchised position of the peasantry in tsarist Russia Shchedrin also expresses in this tale: "There was no need to light a torch for a peasant in the light, there was no more rod than to sweep the hut." The main idea of the fairy tale was that the landowner cannot and does not know how to live without a peasant, and the work of the landowner only dreamed of in nightmares. So in this tale, the landowner, who had no idea about labor, becomes a dirty and wild beast. After he was abandoned by all the peasants, the landowner never even washed his face: “Yes, I’ve been walking unwashed for many days!”.
The writer caustically ridicules all this negligence of the master class. The life of a landowner without a peasant is far from reminiscent of a normal human life.
The master became so wild that "from head to toe he was overgrown with hair, his nails became like iron, he even lost the ability to utter articulate sounds. But he has not yet acquired a tail." Life without peasants was also disrupted in the uyezd itself: "no one pays taxes, no one drinks wine in taverns." "Normal" life begins in the uyezd only when the peasants return to it. In the image of this one landowner, Saltykov-Shchedrin showed the life of all the gentlemen in Russia. And the final words of the tale are addressed to each landowner: "He lays out grand solitaire, yearns for his former life in the forests, washes only under duress, and at times mumbles."
This fairy tale is full of folk motives, close to Russian folklore. There are no tricky words in it, but there are simple Russian words: "it's said and done", "muzhiks' trousers", etc. Saltykov-Shchedrin sympathizes with the people. He believes that the suffering of the peasants is not endless, and freedom will triumph.
M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in his fairy tales remarkably revealed the main properties of a fairy tale as a folk genre and, skillfully using metaphors, hyperbole, and the sharpness of the grotesque, showed the fairy tale as a satirical genre.
In the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner" the author depicted the real life of the landowner. There is a beginning here in which you can not notice anything satirical or grotesque - the landowner is afraid that the peasant will "take all the good" from him. Perhaps this is a confirmation that the main idea of the tale is taken from reality. Saltykov-Shchedrin simply turns reality into a fairy tale by adding grotesque turns, satirical hyperbole, and fantastic episodes to reality. He shows with sharp satire that the landowner cannot live without peasants, although he shows this by describing the life of a landowner without peasants.
The tale also speaks of the occupations of the landowner. He laid out grand solitaire, dreamed of his future deeds and how he would plant a fertile garden without a peasant and what cars he would order from England, that he would become a minister ...
But they were all just dreams. In fact, without a man, he could not do anything, only ran wild.
Saltykov-Shchedrin also uses fairy-tale elements: three times the actor Sadovsky, then the generals, then the police captain come to the landowner. In a similar way, the fantastic episode of the disappearance of the peasants, and the friendship of the landowner with the bear, are shown. The author endows the bear with the ability to speak.
Fairy tale analysis "Wild Landlord" Saltykov-Shchedrin
The theme of serfdom and the life of the peasantry played an important role in the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The writer could not openly protest the existing system. Saltykov-Shchedrin hides his merciless criticism of the autocracy behind fairy-tale motives. He wrote his political fairy tales from 1883 to 1886. In them, the settler truthfully reflected the life of Russia, in which despotic and all-powerful landlords destroy hard-working peasants.
In this tale, Saltykov-Shchedrin reflects on the unlimited power of the landowners, who in every way torment the peasants, imagining themselves almost as gods. The writer also speaks of the landowner's stupidity and uneducatedness: "that landowner was stupid, he read the newspaper Vest, and his body was soft, white and crumbly." The disenfranchised position of the peasantry in tsarist Russia Shchedrin also expresses in this tale: "There was no need to light a torch for a peasant in the light, there was no more rod than to sweep the hut." The main idea of the fairy tale was that the landowner cannot and does not know how to live without a peasant, and the work of the landowner only dreamed of in nightmares. So in this tale, the landowner, who had no idea about labor, becomes a dirty and wild beast. After he was abandoned by all the peasants, the landowner never even washed his face: “Yes, I’ve been walking unwashed for many days!”.
The writer caustically ridicules all this negligence of the master class. The life of a landowner without a peasant is far from reminiscent of a normal human life.
The master became so wild that "from head to toe he was overgrown with hair, his nails became like iron, he even lost the ability to utter articulate sounds. But he has not yet acquired a tail." Life without peasants was also disrupted in the uyezd itself: "no one pays taxes, no one drinks wine in taverns." "Normal" life begins in the uyezd only when the peasants return to it. In the image of this one landowner, Saltykov-Shchedrin showed the life of all the gentlemen in Russia. And the final words of the tale are addressed to each landowner: "He lays out grand solitaire, yearns for his former life in the forests, washes only under duress, and at times mumbles."
This fairy tale is full of folk motives, close to Russian folklore. There are no tricky words in it, but there are simple Russian words: "it's said and done", "muzhiks' trousers", etc. Saltykov-Shchedrin sympathizes with the people. He believes that the suffering of the peasants is not endless, and freedom will triumph.
The fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, intended for adults, introduce the peculiarities of Russian society better than historical works. The story of the wild landowner is like an ordinary fairy tale, but it combines reality with fiction. The landowner, who has become the hero of the story, often reads the actually existing reactionary newspaper Vest.
Left alone, the landowner at first rejoices that his wish has come true. Later comes the realization of one's own stupidity. The swaggering guests, without embarrassment, tell him about stupidity, realizing that the landowner had only candy left from the treats. This is also the official opinion of the police officer who collects taxes, who understands the inseparability of peasant taxes from the stability of the state.
But the landowner does not heed the voice of reason and does not listen to other people's advice. He maintains a firm spirit and dreams of fantastic foreign cars, designed to replace the peasants. A naive dreamer does not realize that in reality he is not able to wash himself. He is completely helpless because he can't do anything.
The tale ends sadly: the stubborn man becomes overgrown with hair, gets on all fours and starts throwing himself at people. It turned out that the gentleman, noble on the outside, had the essence of the simplest creature. He remained human as long as food was brought to him on a plate and dressed in clean clothes.
The higher authorities decided to return the peasants to the estate so that they would work, pay taxes to the treasury and produce food for their masters.
And the landowner remained wild forever. He was caught, cleaned, but he still gravitates towards the forest life and does not like to wash himself. Such is the hero: the ruler in the serf world, but guarded by the simple peasant Senka.
The author laughs at the mores of Russian society. He sympathizes with the peasants and accuses them of being too patient and submissive. At the same time, the writer demonstrates the impotence of the landlords, who cannot live without servants. The tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin call for respect for the people, who are the foundation supporting the well-being of such landowners.
Option 2
Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote his famous work, which was called "The Wild Landowner", in 1869. There he considers quite topical issues, relevant both at that time and now. For him, the genre of fairy tales is central, which he writes far from for children. The author confronts the tragic with the comic in his work, uses such techniques as the grotesque and hyperbole, as well as Aesopian language. Thus, he ridicules autocracy and serfdom, which still exist on the territory of the country.
In the center of events is an ordinary landowner who has a special pride in the fact that noble blood flows in his veins. His goal is just to pamper the body, relax and be yourself. He actually rests and he can afford such a lifestyle only thanks to the peasants, to whom he treats very cruelly, he cannot even bear the spirit of ordinary men.
And now the desire of the landowner is fulfilled, and he is left alone, while God fulfilled not the desire of the landowner, but the desire of the peasants, who are completely exhausted from constant control and supervision.
Thus, Shchedrin ridicules the share of the Russian people, which is quite difficult. Only after a while the hero realizes that he has committed a real stupidity.
And in the end, the landowner is completely wild, inside the highest being of man, the most ordinary animal is hiding, which lives only for the sake of fulfilling its desires.
The hero was restored in a serf society, and a simple Russian peasant named Senka will take care of him.
The fairy tale "The Wild Landowner" is one of the brilliant works of the writer working in the genre of satire. He has to ridicule the socio-political system, he has to expose the existing mores and types of society in which there is a rather strange morality that is not subject to reflection. It shows how helpless the landlords are, who are constantly looked after by simple serfs. All this is ridiculed by the author, who is forced to live in such a society, it is difficult for him to cope with the existing situation, so he tries to show its absurdity, to condemn what is happening in society.
Analysis of the Wild Landlord
One of the best works of Saltykov-Shchedrin was published in 1869 and it is called the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner". This work can be attributed to the genre of satire. Why fairy tale? The author chose this genre for a reason, so he bypassed censorship. The characters in the story do not have names. A peculiar hint from the author that the landowner is a composite image and corresponds to many landowners in Rus' in the 19th century. Well, take the rest of the heroes, the peasants and Senka, these are peasants. The author raises a very interesting topic. The main thing for the author is that the peasant, honest and hardworking people are always higher in everything than the nobles.
Thanks to the fairy tale genre, the author's work is very simple and full of irony and various artistic details. With the help of details, the author can very clearly convey the images of the characters. For example, he calls the landowner stupid and soft-bodied. Who did not know grief and rejoiced in life.
The main problem of this work is the difficult life of the common people. In the author's tale, the landowner acts as a soulless and tough monster, he only does what humiliates the poor peasants and tries to take even the last thing from them. The peasants prayed, there was nothing left for them, they, like people, wanted a normal life. The landowner wanted to get rid of them, and in the end, God fulfilled the desire of the peasants to live better and the desire of the landowner to get rid of the peasants. After that, it becomes clear that the whole luxurious life of the landowner is provided by the peasants. With the disappearance of the "serfs", life has changed, now the landowner has become like an animal. He changed outwardly, became more terrible, overgrown, stopped eating normally. The men disappeared and life changed bright colors to gray and dull. Even while spending time as before, in entertainment, the landowner feels that all the same, this is not it. The author reveals the real meaning of the work, which refers to real life. The boyars, the landowners oppress the peasants, they do not read them as people. But, in the absence of "serfs" they cannot live a normal life, because it is the peasants and workers who provide everything that is good for them personally and for the country. And the upper strata of society, apart from problems and troubles, do not carry anything else.
The people in this work, namely the peasants, are honest people, open and loving work. With the help of their labor, the landowner lived happily ever after. By the way, the author shows the peasants not just as one thoughtless crowd, but as smart and insightful people. In this work, justice is very important for the peasants. They considered such an attitude towards themselves unfair and therefore asked God for help.
Saltykov-Shchedrin directly respects the peasants very much, which he shows in the work. This can be seen, very clearly, when the landowner disappeared and lived without peasants, and at the time when he returned. As a result, it turns out that the author brings the reader to one true opinion. Not high-ranking officials, not officials decide the fate of the country and each of the landowners, namely the peasants. All the well-being and all the benefits of rich people rest on them. This is the main idea of the work.
N. S. Leskov is an outstanding Russian author. They said about him that it was he who "knows the Russian people as they are." In his author's works, Leskov depicted Russian reality without embellishment.
Home is the best place on earth. Everyone should have a place that is dear to the soul and heart, where you can relax from business, relieve stress, plunge into memories.
When creating their literary creations, many writers of past centuries were inspired by historical figures and used their image in their works. One of these historical images was Emelyan Pugachev.
The satirical depiction of reality manifested itself in Saltykov-Shchedrin (along with other genres) in fairy tales. Here, as in folk tales, fantasy and reality are combined. So, often in Saltykov-Shchedrin animals are humanized, they personify the vices of people.
But the writer has a cycle of fairy tales, where people are the heroes. Here Saltykov-Shchedrin chooses other methods for ridiculing vices. It is, as a rule, grotesque, hyperbole, fantasy.
Such is Shchedrin's fairy tale "The Wild Landowner". In it, the stupidity of the landowner is brought to the limit. The writer sneers at the "merits" of the gentleman: "The peasants see: although they have a stupid landowner, he has been given a great mind. He shortened them so that there was nowhere to stick out his nose; wherever they look - everything is impossible, but not allowed, but not yours! The cattle will go to the watering place - the landowner shouts: “My water!” The chicken will come out of the village - the landowner shouts: "My land!" And the earth, and water, and air - everything became his!
The landowner considers himself not a man, but a kind of deity. Or, at least, a person of the highest rank. It is in the order of things for him to enjoy the fruits of someone else's labor and not even think about it.
The peasants of the "wild landowner" are languishing from hard work and severe need. Tormented by oppression, the peasants finally prayed: “Lord! It’s easier for us to disappear even with small children than to suffer like this all our lives!” God heard them, and "there was no peasant in the entire space of the possessions of the stupid landowner."
At first it seemed to the master that now he would live well without the peasants. Yes, and all the noble guests of the landowner approved of his decision: “Oh, how good it is! - the generals praise the landowner, - so now you will not have this servile smell at all? “Not at all,” the landowner replies.
It seems that the hero does not realize the deplorability of his situation. The landowner only indulges in dreams, empty in their essence: “and now he walks, walks around the rooms, then sits down and sits. And everyone thinks. He thinks what kind of cars he will order from England, so that everything is by ferry and steam, but there is not at all a servile spirit; he thinks what a fruitful garden he will plant: here there will be pears, plums ... ”Without his peasants, the“ wild landowner ”was only engaged in the fact that he did not live his“ loose, white, crumbly body ”.
This is where the climax of the story begins. Without his peasants, the landowner, unable to lift a finger without a peasant, begins to run wild. In Shchedrin's fairy tale cycle, full scope is given for the development of the motive of reincarnation. It was the grotesque in describing the process of the landowner's savagery that helped the writer to clearly show how greedy representatives of the "conducting class" can turn into real wild animals.
But if in folk tales the process of transformation itself is not depicted, then Saltykov reproduces it in all details and details. This is the unique artistic invention of the satirist. It can be called a grotesque portrait: the landowner, completely run wild after the fantastic disappearance of the peasants, turns into a primitive man. “All of him, from head to toe, was overgrown with hair, like the ancient Esau ... and his nails became like iron,” Saltykov-Shchedrin slowly narrates. - He stopped blowing his nose a long time ago, walked more and more on all fours and was even surprised how he had not noticed before that this way of walking was the most decent and most convenient. I even lost the ability to utter articulate sounds and learned some special victory cry, the average between whistling, hissing and barking.
Under the new conditions, all the severity of the landowner lost its strength. He became helpless, like a little child. Now even “the little mouse was smart and understood that the landowner without Senka could not do him any harm. He only wagged his tail in response to the landowner's menacing exclamation, and in a moment was peering at him from under the sofa, as if to say: Wait a minute, stupid landowner! it's only the beginning! I will not only eat cards, but I will also eat your robe, how you oil it properly!
Thus, the fairy tale “The Wild Landowner” shows the degradation of a person, the impoverishment of his spiritual world (and did he exist at all in this case ?!), the withering away of all human qualities.
This is explained very simply. In his fairy tales, as in his satires, for all their tragic gloominess and accusatory severity, Saltykov remained a moralist and educator. Showing the horror of human fall and its most sinister vices, he nevertheless believed that in the future there would be a moral revival of society and times of social and spiritual harmony would come.
