Analysis of Turgenev's work. Ivan Turgenev

Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich was born on October 28, 1818 (according to the new one on November 9). Russian writer, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1860). In the cycle of stories "Notes of a Hunter" (1847-52) he showed the high spiritual qualities and talent of the Russian peasant, the poetry of nature. In the socio-psychological novels "Rudin" (1856), "The Noble Nest" (1859), "On the Eve" (1860), "Fathers and Sons" (1862), the stories "Asya" (1858), "Spring Waters" (1872 ) created images of the outgoing noble culture and new heroes of the era of raznochintsy and democrats, images of selfless Russian women. In the novels "Smoke" (1867) and "Nov" (1877) he depicted the life of Russians abroad, the populist movement in Russia. On the slope of his life he created the lyric-philosophical "Poems in Prose" (1882). A master of language and psychological analysis, Turgenev had a significant impact on the development of Russian and world literature.

He spent his childhood on his mother's estate, the village of Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, Oryol province, where the culture of the "noble nest" contrasted strikingly with feudal arbitrariness. In 1833 he entered Moscow University, a year later he moved to St. Petersburg University to the verbal department of the Faculty of Philosophy (he graduated as a candidate in 1837). T.'s first work that has come down to us is the dramatic poem Steno (written in 1834, published in 1913), dedicated to the hero of a demonic warehouse. By the mid 30s. early poetic experiments of T. The first work that saw the light of day is a review of the book by A. N. Muravyov "Journey to Russian Holy Places" (1836), in 1838 the first poems of T. "Evening" and "K Venus Medicea."

In 1838-40 (with interruptions) he continued his education abroad. At the University of Berlin, he studied philosophy, ancient languages, and history. In Berlin, then in Rome, he became close friends with N. V. Stankevich and M. A. Bakunin. In 1842, T. passed the exam at St. Petersburg University for a master's degree in philosophy. In 1842 he made another trip to Germany. Upon his return, he served in the Ministry of the Interior as an official for special assignments (1842-44). In 1843 T. met the French singer P. Viardot. Friendly relations with her and her family continued throughout the life of the writer, left a deep mark on his work; attachment to Viardot largely explains the frequent trips, and then the long stay of Turgenev abroad. Extremely important for Ivan Sergeevich was his acquaintance at the end of 1842 with V. G. Belinsky; soon Turgenev became close to his circle, with St. Petersburg writers (including A. I. Herzen), whose activities unfolded in line with the ideas of Westernism. The criticism and convictions of Belinsky contributed to the strengthening of Turgenev in anti-serfdom and anti-Slavophil positions; in some of Turgenev's essays from the "Notes of a Hunter" ("Burmaster" and "Two Landowners") there are traces of the direct influence of the "Letter to Gogol", written by Belinsky during a joint stay with Turgenev abroad (1847).

In 1843, the poem Parasha, highly appreciated by Belinsky, was published; following her published poems "Conversation" (1845), "Andrey" (1846) and "Landlord" (1846) - a kind of "physiological sketch" in verse, which determined the place of T. in the circle of writers of the Gogol direction. In Turgenev's poetry there are two heroes - a dreamer, a man of a passionate and rebellious soul, full of inner anxiety, vague hopes, and a skeptic of the Onegin-Pechorinsky type. Sad irony in relation to the homeless "wanderer", longing for the high, ideal, heroic - the main mood of Ivan Sergeevich's poems in the prose works of these years - "Andrei Kolosov" (1844), "Three Portraits" (1846), "Breter" (1847) - Turgenev continued to develop the problem of the individual and society put forward by romanticism. Epigon Pechorin, skeptic in the 2nd half of the 40s. Turgenev did not seem significant, on the contrary, he now sympathizes with a person who is direct and free in the manifestations of his will and feelings. At this time, Turgenev also appeared with critical articles, with reviews (on the translation of Faust by M. Vronchenko, plays by N. V. Kukolnik, S. A. Gedeonov), which expressed the aesthetic position of the writer, close to Belinsky's views on high social purpose literature.

In dramatic works - the genre scenes Lack of Money (1846), Breakfast at the Leader's (1849, published 1856), The Bachelor (1849) and the social drama The Freeloader (1848, staged 1849, published 1857) - in The depiction of the "little man" was influenced by the traditions of N. V. Gogol and the connection with the psychological manner of F. M. Dostoevsky (the image of Kuzovkin). In the plays "Where it's thin, it breaks there" (1848), "Provincial Girl" (1851), "A Month in the Country" (1850, published in 1855), Ivan Sergeevich's characteristic dissatisfaction with the inaction of the reflective noble intelligentsia is expressed, a premonition of a new hero - a commoner. From the drama of a man humiliated by serfdom, Turgenev comes to a deep psychological development of clashes between different social groups, different views (for example, the nobility and the raznochintsy). The dramaturgy of T. prepared the social plays of A. N. Ostrovsky and anticipated the psychological drama of A. P. Chekhov, with its hidden lyricism and a keen sense of the fragmentation of the world and human consciousness.

The cycle of essays "Notes of a Hunter" (1847-52) is the most significant work of the young T. It had a great influence on the development of Russian literature and brought world fame to the author. The book was translated into many European languages and already in the 50s, being actually banned in Russia, it went through many editions in Germany, France, England, and Denmark. According to M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, "Notes of a Hunter" "... laid the foundation for a whole literature that has as its object the people and their needs" (Sobr. soch., vol. 9, 1970, p. 459). In the center of the essays is a serf, smart, talented, but powerless. T. discovered a sharp contrast between the "dead souls" of the landowners and the high spiritual qualities of the peasants, which arose in communion with the majestic, mysterious, and beautiful nature. In accordance with the general idea of the Hunter's Notes about the depth and significance of the people's consciousness, T. in the most artistic manner of depicting peasants takes a step forward in comparison with previous and modern literature. Vivid individualization of peasant types, the image of the psychological life of the people in the change of mental movements, the discovery in the peasant of a personality subtle, complex, deep, like nature - T.'s discoveries made in the "Notes of a Hunter".

Turgenev's conception of the people's character was of great importance for the development of progressive social thought in Russia. Progressive people turned to T.'s book as a convincing argument in favor of the abolition of serfdom in Russia. In the 70s. "Notes ..." turned out to be close to the Narodniks as a recognition of the moral height of the peasant and his plight. They had a noticeable influence on the image of the people in Russian literature (L. N. Tolstoy, V. G. Korolenko, Chekhov). With the "Notes of a Hunter" began T. participation in Nekrasov's "Contemporary", in the circle of which he soon took a prominent place.

In February 1852, T. wrote an obituary note on the death of Gogol, calling him a great writer who "... marked an era in the history of our literature" (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 14, 1967, p. 72), which served a pretext for the arrest and exile of T. under police supervision in the village of Spasskoe for a year and a half. The true reason for this action is the criticism of serfdom in the "Notes of a Hunter". During this period T. wrote the novels Mumu (published 1854) and The Inn (published 1855), which, in their anti-serfdom content, are close to Notes of a Hunter.

In 1856, the novel Rudin appeared in Sovremennik, a peculiar result of T.'s thoughts about the leading hero of our time. The novel was preceded by novels and short stories in which the writer assessed the type of idealist of the 1940s from different angles. If in the stories "Two Friends" (1854) and "Calm" (1854) a portrait of an unstable, reflective person was given with disapproval, then in the stories "Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District" (1849), "The Diary of a Superfluous Man" (1850), "Yakov Pasynkov" (1855), "Correspondence" (1856) revealed the tragedy of the "superfluous person", his painful discord with the world and people. T.'s point of view on the "superfluous person" in "Rudin" is ambiguous: while recognizing the importance of Rudin's "word" in awakening the consciousness of people in the 40s, he notes the insufficiency of propaganda of lofty ideas in the conditions of Russian life in the 50s. As always, T. "checked" his hero with the sensitively grasped requirements of the present, which was awaiting an advanced public figure. Rudin belonged to the generation that prepared the ground for him. N. G. Chernyshevsky and N. A. Dobrolyubov (in those years) were ready to support the protest against feudal reality, which consisted in many psychological features of the “superfluous person”.

In the novel "The Nest of Nobles" (1859), the question of the historical fate of Russia is sharply raised. The hero of the novel, Lavretsky, is "more ordinary" than Rudin, but he is closer to people's life, better understands the needs of the people. He considers it his duty to alleviate the fate of the peasants. However, for the sake of personal happiness, he forgets about duty, although happiness turns out to be impossible. The heroine of the novel Liza, ready for a great service or feat, does not find high meaning in a world where her moral sense is constantly offended. Lisa's departure to the monastery is a kind of protest and, albeit passive, but still a rejection of life. The image of Lisa is surrounded by "bright poetry", which Saltykov-Shchedrin noted in "every sound of this novel." If "Rudin" is a test of the idealist of the 1940s, then "The Nest of Nobles" is an awareness of his departure from the historical stage.

In connection with "The Nest of Nobles" and the stories "Faust" (1856) and "Asya" (1858) that preceded it, a controversy arose in the press about duty, self-denial, selfishness. In solving these problems, there was a divergence between T. and the revolutionary democrats, who focused their attention on the weakness, indecision of the “superfluous person”, the lack of civic feeling in him (which Chernyshevsky wrote in the article “Russian Man on Rendezvous” in connection with the story of T. "Asya"); they proceeded from the idea of a morally whole person, who does not have a contradiction between internal needs and social duty. The dispute about the new hero touched upon the most essential questions of Russian life on the eve of the reform, in the conditions of a brewing revolutionary situation. Sensitive to the demands of the time, T. in the novel "On the Eve" (1860) expressed the idea of the need for consciously heroic natures. In the image of the commoner Bulgarian Insarov, the writer brought out a person with an integral character, all the moral forces of which are focused on the desire to liberate his homeland. T. paid tribute to the people of a heroic warehouse, although they seemed to him somewhat limited, one-line. Dobrolyubov, who devoted the article "On the Eve" to "When will the real day come?" (1860), noted that Insarov is incompletely described in the novel, not close to the reader, not open to him. And therefore, according to the critic, the main face of the novel is Elena Stakhova; it embodies "the social need of a cause, a living cause, the beginning of contempt for dead principles and passive virtues..." (Sobr. soch., vol. 3, 1952, p. 36). Russia for T. - on the eve of the emergence of consciously heroic natures (for Dobrolyubov - revolutionary). T. could not accept the sharply journalistic interpretation of the novel proposed by Dobrolyubov, could not agree with the revolutionary position of the critic, expressed on the material and with the help of his novel. Therefore, the writer objected to the publication of the article. When, thanks to Nekrasov's persistence, she nevertheless appeared, he left Sovremennik. The main reason for the gap was rooted in the fact that T., who stood on liberal positions, did not believe in the need for a revolution; according to Lenin's definition, he was "... disgusted by the muzhik democratism of Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky" (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 36, p. 206). At the same time, T. paid tribute to the high spiritual qualities of the revolutionary democrats and associated with them the future of Russia.

Therefore, in the novel "Fathers and Sons" (1862), T. continued the artistic study of the "new man." "Fathers and Sons" is a novel not just about the change of generations, but about the struggle of ideological trends (idealism and materialism), about the inevitable and irreconcilable clash of old and new socio-political forces. The novel revealed the cruel and complex process of breaking the old social relations, conflicts in all spheres of life (between landowners and peasants who are out of obedience; between nobles and commoners; within the nobility). This process appeared in the novel as a destructive element, blowing up aristocratic isolation, breaking class barriers, changing the usual course of life. The arrangement of persons in the novel and the development of the action showed which side the author is on. Despite his ambivalent attitude towards the hero, despite the dispute that T. leads with the "nihilist" Bazarov, about his attitude to nature, love, art, this "denier" is deduced as a courageous person, consistent in his convictions, who has a big and important "case". Rationalism of judgments is in conflict with his deep, passionate nature. The defenders of the former "principles" - the "cream" of noble society (the Kirsanov brothers) - are inferior to the hero in moral strength, in understanding the needs of life. The tragic love story of Bazarov and Odintsova, revealing the discrepancy between nature and some of the views of the hero, emphasizes his moral superiority over the best representatives of the nobility. T. soberly and seriously assessed not only the role of the hero, who is on the threshold of the future, constituting a “strange pendant with Pugachev,” but also the place of the people in this process. T. saw the disunity of the people with the advanced intelligentsia, which stood up to protect its interests. This, according to T., is one of the reasons for the tragic situation of the new figures.

Contemporaries reacted sharply to the appearance of the novel. The reactionary press accused T. of currying favor with the youth, while the democratic press reproached the author for slandering the younger generation. D. I. Pisarev understood the novel differently, seeing in it the true image of a new hero. T. himself wrote to K. K. Sluchevsky about Bazarov: "... If he is called a nihilist, then it must be read: revolutionary" (Poln. sobr. soch. and letters. Letters, vol. 4, 1962, p. 380) . However, the well-known inconsistency of T.'s position still gives rise to disputes about the author's attitude towards the hero.

After "Fathers and Sons" for the writer came a period of doubt and disappointment. In an open dispute with A. I. Herzen, he defends the views of the Enlightenment. The stories "Ghosts" (1864), "Enough" (1865) and others appear, filled with sad reflections and pessimistic moods. The genre of Turgenev's novel is changing: the centralizing role of the protagonist in the overall composition of the work is increasingly weakened. At the center of the novel Smoke (1867) is the problem of life in Russia shaken by the reform, when "... the new was received badly, the old lost all its strength" (Soch., vol. 9, 1965, p. 318). There are two main characters in the novel - Litvinov, whose tragic love reflected both the "shaken life" and the contradictory, unstable consciousness of people, and Potugin - the preacher of Western "civilization". The novel was sharply satirical and anti-Slavophile in nature. The author's irony was directed both against the representatives of the revolutionary emigration ("Heidelberg arabesques") and against the higher government circles of Russia ("Baden generals"). However, the condemnation of the post-reform reality ("smoke"), the consideration of the political opposition not as a phenomenon introduced from outside, but as a product of Russian life, distinguish this novel from the "anti-nihilistic" works of other authors. Sad memories of the type of "superfluous person" ("Spring Waters", publ. 1872), reflections on the people and the essence of the Russian character ("Steppe King Lear", published 1870) lead T. to create the most significant work of the last period - the novel " Nov" (1877).

In an atmosphere of heated discussions about the fate of history and art, Nov is born, a novel about the populist movement in Russia. Paying tribute to the heroic impulse of youth, their feat of self-sacrifice, but not believing in the possibility of revolutionary transformations, T. gives the participant "going to the people", "romance of realism" to Nezhdanov, the features of "Russian Hamlet". The sober practitioner-gradualist Solomin with his theory of "small deeds", according to T., is closer to the truth. Deploying in the novel pictures of ideological disputes between representatives of liberal views (Sipyagin), conservative (Kallomeytsev) and populist (Nezhdanov, Marianna, Solomin) views, T. prefers populist views. Nov, although not immediately, reconciled the writer with the younger generation. In the last years of his life T. created several small works, including Poems in Prose (part 1, published 1882); in the poems "The Threshold", "In Memory of Yu. P. Vrevskaya" he glorified the feat of self-sacrifice in the name of the happiness of the people.

In the 1970s, while living in Paris, T. became close to the figures of the populist movement, G. A. Lopatin, P. L. Lavrov, and S. M. Stepnyak-Kravchinsky; financially helps the populist magazine Vperyod. He follows the development of Russian and French art; enters the circle of the largest French writers - G. Flaubert, E. Zola, A. Daudet, the Goncourt brothers, where he enjoys the reputation of one of the largest realist writers. During these years and later, T., with his mature skill, the refined art of psychological analysis, undoubtedly influenced Western European writers. P. Merime considered him one of the leaders of the realistic school. J. Sand, G. Maupassant recognized themselves as students of T. In the Scandinavian countries, T.'s novels, in particular Rudin, were especially popular and attracted the attention of prominent playwrights and prose writers. Swedish criticism noted the "Turgenev element" in A. Strindberg's plays. Very great was the role of T. and as a propagandist of Russian literature abroad.

T. activity in the field of literature, science and art was highly appreciated in France and England. In 1878 he was elected vice-president of the International Literary Congress in Paris. In 1879, Oxford University awarded T. a doctorate in customary law. Arriving in Russia (1879, 1880), T. participated in readings in favor of the society of lovers of Russian literature. In 1880 he gave a speech on Pushkin. Progressive Russia greeted him with applause.

Creativity T. marked a new stage in the development of Russian realism. Sensitivity to topical issues of Russian life, philosophical understanding of events and characters, the truthfulness of the image made T.'s books a kind of chronicle of Russian reality in the 40-70s. 19th century Especially great are his merits in the development of the Russian novel. Continuing the traditions of Pushkin, Gogol, M. Yu. Lermontov, he created a special form of "biographical" or "personal" novel, the hero's novel. The author focuses on the fate of one person, characteristic of his time. T. belongs to a deep and objective study of the type of "superfluous person", which was further developed in the works of I. A. Goncharov, L. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov. An analysis of the hero's character, an assessment of him from a socio-historical point of view, determine the composition of T.'s novel. The location of the characters is also determined by the same principle. The protagonist of the novel defends a certain position in life. How successfully he defends it depends on his fate. Other persons of the novel, expressing their views in disputes-fights, correlate with the main character, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of his convictions and character.

A special place in T.'s prose is occupied by female characters. In the female nature, according to the author, whole, uncompromising, sensitive, dreamy and passionate, the expectation of a new, heroic, characteristic of a certain time, is embodied. Therefore, T. gives the right to judge the hero to his beloved heroines. The story of love is central to the composition of T.'s novel. Understanding love not only as the greatest happiness, but also as a tragedy of human life, an analysis of the "tragic meaning of love" has a conceptual meaning for T. In the incompatibility of public duty and happiness, which reveals contradictions between the nature and beliefs of the hero, T.'s idea is revealed about the insolubility of the conflict between an advanced figure and society in feudal Russia, the impossibility of free manifestation of the human personality. Deep coverage of the main life conflict and characters, the approval of progressive social trends, faith in the social ideal are combined in T. with the consciousness of the impracticability of the ideal in that historical period. Hence the duality in the author's attitude towards the main character: respect for his high moral qualities and doubt about the correctness of his chosen life position. This also explains the sad, lyrical atmosphere that arises around the hero, who fails to realize his convictions, and the heroine, striving for active goodness.

Landscape in T.'s works is not only a background for the development of action, but one of the main means of characterizing characters. The philosophy of nature most fully reveals the features of the worldview and artistic system of the author. T. perceives nature as "indifferent", "imperious", "self-loving", "suppressing" (see Poln. sobr. soch. i pism. Pisma, vol. 1, 1961, p. 481). T.'s nature is simple, open in its reality and naturalness, and infinitely complex in the manifestation of mysterious, spontaneous, often hostile forces. However, in happy moments it is for a person a source of joy, vivacity, heights of spirit and consciousness.

Turgenev is a master of halftones, a dynamic, penetrating lyrical landscape. The main tone of the Turgenev landscape, as in the works of painting, is usually created by lighting. T. captures the life of nature in the alternation of light and shadow, and in this movement notes the similarity with the changeable mood of the characters. The function of the landscape in T.'s novels is ambiguous, it often acquires a generalized, symbolic sound and characterizes not only the hero's transition from one state of mind to another, but also turning points in the development of the action (for example, the scene at Avdyukhin's pond in "Rudin", a thunderstorm in " the day before", etc.). This tradition was continued by L. Tolstoy, Korolenko, Chekhov.

In creating a psychological and satirical portrait of T. - a follower of Pushkin and Gogol. Portrait characteristics are made by T. in an objective manner (T. himself spoke of the need "... to be a psychologist, but secret" - ibid., vol. 4, 1962, p. 135). The tension of spiritual life with a finely defined change of various states is conveyed in its external manifestations - in facial expressions, gestures, movement of the character, behind which, as it were, the missing links of a single psychological chain are guessed. T. continued the work of his great predecessors as an unsurpassed stylist, as a master of the language, who in his prose merged the bookish culture of the Russian word with the riches of living folk speech.

The artistic system created by Turgenev had a noticeable influence on the poetics of not only the Russian, but also the Western European novel of the second half of the 19th century. It largely served as the basis for the "intellectual" novel by L. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, in which the fate of the central characters depends on their solution of an important philosophical issue of universal human significance. Tajik traditions are also developing in the work of many Soviet writers (A. N. Tolstoy, K. G. Paustovsky, and others). His plays are an integral part of the repertoire of Soviet theaters. Many of Turgenev's works have been filmed.

Soviet literary criticism from the first years of the revolution was engaged in a close study of T.'s legacy. A scientific study of the texts was carried out, widely commented collections of essays were published. Museums of T. were created in the city of Orel and the former estate of his mother, Spassky-Lutovinovo

- Every love, happy, as well as unhappy, is a real disaster when you give yourself all to it.
- Do you still not know if you have a talent? Give it time to ripen; and even if it does not turn out to be, does a person really need a poetic talent in order to live and act?
- there are three categories of egoists: egoists who themselves live and let others live; egoists who themselves live and do not let others live; finally, egoists who do not live themselves and do not give to others ...
life is nothing but a contradiction constantly conquered
“Nature... awakens in us the need for love...
- Take care of our language, our beautiful Russian language - this is a treasure, this is a property handed down to us by our predecessors! Treat this mighty weapon with respect
- Marriage based on mutual inclination and on reason is one of the greatest blessings of human life.
“Outside of nationality, there is no art, no truth, no life, nothing.
- In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections about the fate of my homeland - you are my only support and support, oh great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language! .. you can’t believe that such a language was not given to a great people!
- Time flies sometimes like a bird, sometimes crawls like a worm; but it happens especially well for a person when he does not even notice - how soon, how quietly it passes.
- Every Prayer boils down to the following: "Great God, make sure that twice two is not four."
- If there is a chance to do something - fine, but if it doesn’t - at least you will be satisfied that you didn’t talk in vain beforehand.
- Good by decree is not good.
- If striving comes from a pure source, it can still bring great benefits, even if it does not succeed completely, if it does not reach the goal.
- There are three categories of egoists: egoists who themselves live and let others live; egoists who themselves live and do not let others live; finally, egoists who do not live themselves and do not give to others.
"Pitiful is he who lives without an ideal!"
- Cosmopolitan - zero, worse than zero.
Whoever strives for a lofty goal should no longer think about himself.
Love is stronger than death and fear of death. Only her, only love holds and moves life.
“Love… is stronger than death and the fear of death.
- A man can say that two and two is not four, but five or three and a half, and a woman will say that two and two is a stearin candle.
“Music is intelligence embodied in beautiful sounds.
“The one who does not have at least a drop of hope is not jealous.
- It is impossible to believe that such a language was not given to a great people.
“There is nothing more painful than the consciousness of a stupidity just done.
- The unfading laurel, with which a great man is crowned, also rests on the forehead of his people.
- Nowhere does time run so fast as in Russia; in prison, they say, it runs even faster.
“There is nothing more tiring than a gloomy mind.
- Oh, youth! Youth! Maybe the whole secret of your charm is not in the ability to do everything, but in the ability to think that you will do everything.
“You can talk about everything in the world with passion... but you only talk about yourself with appetite.”
- Before eternity, they say, all trifles - yes; but in that case, eternity itself is a trifle.
- Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man is a worker in it.
- Russia can do without each of us, but none of us can do without it. Woe to the one who thinks this, doubly woe to the one who really does without it.
“Self-love is suicide. ... but self-love, as an active striving for perfection, is the source of everything great...
The strong don't need happiness.
“Laughter for no reason is the best laugh in the world.
- It's ridiculous to be afraid - not to love the truth.
“The old thing is death, but a new one for everyone.
- Happiness is like health: when you do not notice it, it means that it is there.
- Only her, only love holds and moves life.
“We all have one anchor from which, if you don’t want to, you will never break: a sense of duty.
“A man without self-love is worthless. Self-love is an Archimedes lever that can move the earth from its place.
- A man is weak, a woman is strong, chance is omnipotent, it is difficult to reconcile with a colorless life, it is impossible to completely forget oneself ... but here is beauty and participation, here is warmth and light - where is there to resist? And you will run like a child to a nanny.
- A person needs to break down the stubborn egoism of his personality in order to give it the right to express itself.
“Honesty was his capital, and he took usurious interest from it.
“Excessive pride is the sign of an insignificant soul.
- This woman, when she comes to you, is as if she is bringing you all the happiness of your life ...
- Every thought is like dough, if you knead it well - you will make everything out of it.
- Only those people remain incomprehensible who either do not yet know what they want, or are not worthy of being understood.

Following Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, their follower and successor, among other great writers in Russian literature of the XIX century. Turgenev passed his long, forty-year career. Already at the beginning of this path, in the 40s, his talent was noted and appreciated by Gogol and Belinsky.

“Depict for me,” wrote Gogol (in 1847) to P.V. Annenkov, - a portrait of the young Turgenev, so that I get an idea about him as a person; as a writer, I partly know him: as far as I can judge from what I have read, his talent is remarkable and promises great activity in the future. A few years later, Gogol confirmed his opinion: "In all of today's literature, Turgenev has the most talent."

The heroes and heroines of Turgenev entered the ranks of classical Russian literary images, became artistic generalizations of great cognitive power - a reflection of the cultural and social stages of one of the most remarkable eras of Russian life (idealists of the 30s and 40s, commoners of the 60s, populists of the 70s) . About Turgenev's responsiveness to the demands of life, Dobrolyubov wrote: “A lively attitude to modernity has strengthened Turgenev's constant success with the reading public. We can safely say that if Turgenev touched on any issue in his story, if he depicted some new side of social relations, this serves as a guarantee that this issue is being raised or will soon be raised in the minds of an educated society, that this new side of life begins to stand out and will soon speak out before the eyes of all.

Turgenev was not a revolutionary, but his works, full of thoughts about the fate of the motherland, warmed by love for the people and deep faith in their great future, helped to educate Russian revolutionaries. That is why Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote: "The literary activity of Turgenev was of leading importance for our society, along with the activities of Nekrasov, Belinsky and Dobrolyubov."

The social and literary merit of Turgenev, who created wonderful female images, full of a thirst for activity, selflessness and readiness for a feat, is great. Such Turgenev's heroines as Elena from the novel "On the Eve", the girl from the poem in prose "The Threshold", inspired the struggle, called for the path of serving the people, were an example for many of the writer's contemporaries. “Turgenev,” said L.N. Tolstoy, - did a great job by painting amazing portraits of women. Perhaps there were none as he wrote, but when he wrote them, they appeared. This is the grain; I myself observed. then Turgenev's women in life.

Belinsky also noted Turgenev's "extraordinary skill in depicting pictures of Russian nature." The singer of Russian nature, Turgenev, with such poetic power and spontaneity, showed the captivating beauty and charm of the Russian landscape, like no prose writer before him.

Together with his great predecessors - Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol-Turgenev, he was one of the creators of the Russian literary language. “Our classics,” Gorky wrote, “selected the most accurate, vivid, weighty words from the chaos of speech and created that“ great, beautiful language ”, to serve the further development of which Turgenev begged Leo Tolstoy.”

Turgenev achieved worldwide fame during his lifetime and had a progressive influence on the work of a number of Western writers.

"Hunter's Notes" became very popular in France.

His socio-psychological novels added even more to Turgenev's fame in Western Europe. Progressive circles of readers were captivated by the moral purity in matters of love that Turgenev discovered in his novels; they were captivated by the image of a Russian woman (Elena Stakhova), seized by a deep revolutionary impulse; struck by the figure of the militant democrat Bazarov.

Maupassant bowed before Turgenev - "a great man" and "a brilliant novelist." Georges Sand wrote to him: “Master! We all have to go through your school."

Turgenev's works have become a true revelation about Russia for European society. They gave a magnificent artistic commentary on the events of the life and history of our country.

Turgenev was the first to acquaint foreign readers with the Russian peasant ("Notes of a Hunter"), with Russian commoners and revolutionaries ("Fathers and Sons", "Nov"), with the Russian intelligentsia (in most novels), with a Russian woman (Natalya Lasunskaya , Liza Kalitina, Elena Stakhova, Marianna, etc.). The cultural world recognized Russia from the works of Turgenev as a country where the center of both the revolutionary movement and the ideological searches of the era moved.

And to this day, Turgenev remains one of our favorite writers. The living truth of life, long gone, does not die in his images.

In an era of decisive and sharp class clashes, while defending his "liberalism of the old style", Turgenev more than once found himself between two fires. This is the source of his ideological hesitation, but one should not underestimate the courage of his mind, the depth of his thoughts, the breadth of his views, which freed him from the chains of class egoism. A pet of the landowner's estate, heir to the noble culture, Turgenev was one of the best progressive representatives of his turbulent and difficult "transitional" time. In his writings there is always an open, sincere thought, truth (as he understood it, fearing the "damned idealization of reality") and genuine, intelligent love for a person, homeland, nature, beauty, art.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born into a wealthy noble family. Ever since the days of Kantemir and Fonvizin, thinking Russian people have ridiculed noble fanabery, empty inventions about some special, higher virtues of a noble breed; but these people themselves were nobles, and their ridicule is the real result of the process of accumulation and organic assimilation by the noble environment of the main assets of world culture, without which creativity within the original national culture was unthinkable. But noble culture grew on the soil of serfdom, which determined both the way of life and the customs of the noble masses.

In conversations about his childhood, Turgenev often recalled what serfdom and the customs of their family had a particularly sharp effect on. Of course, in childhood and early youth, Turgenev hardly understood that he, the barchuk, who was flogged for high pedagogical reasons “in rooms” and “loving”, and those coachmen, cooks, hay girls, boys and Cossacks, who, by order his mothers were flogged in the stables, victims of the same order, of the same morality. But he had already learned to sympathize with their suffering passionately, to the point of pain, in this cruel home school.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is known in Russian and world literature as the founder of plots that reflect reality. A small number of novels written by the writer brought him great fame. Novels, short stories, essays, plays, poems in prose also played an important role.

Tergenev was actively published during his lifetime. And although not every work of his caused delight among critics, it did not leave anyone indifferent. Disputes broke out constantly not only because of literary disagreements. Everyone knows that at the time when Ivan Sergeevich lived and worked, censorship was especially strict, and the writer could not openly talk about many things that would affect politics, criticize power or serfdom.

Separate works and complete works of Tergenev are published with enviable regularity. The most voluminous and complete collection of works is considered to be the release of the Nauka publishing house in thirty volumes, which combined all the works of the classic into twelve volumes, and published his letters in eighteen volumes.

Artistic features of the work of I.S. Turgenev

Most of the writer's novels have the same artistic features. Often the focus is on a girl who is beautiful, but not beautiful, developed, but this does not mean at all that she is very smart or educated. According to the plot, this girl is always courted by several applicants, but she chooses one, the one whom the author wants to single out from the crowd, to show his inner world, desires and aspirations.

According to the plot of each writer's novel, these people fall in love with each other, but something is always present in their love and does not make it possible to be together right away. It is probably worth listing all the novels of Ivan Turgenev:

★ Rudin.
★ "Noble Nest".
★ "Fathers and Sons".
★ "The day before".
★ "Smoke".
★ New.

In order to better understand the works of Turgenev, his features of writing, one should consider in more detail several of his novels. After all, most of the novels were written even before the peasant reform was carried out in Russia, and all this was reflected in the works.

Roman "Rudin"

This is the first novel by Turgenev, which was first defined by the author himself as a story. And although the main work on the work was completed in 1855, the author made several adjustments and improvements to his text. This was due to the criticism of the comrades, to whom the manuscript fell into the hands. And in 1860, after the first publications, the author added an epilogue.

The following characters act in Turgenev's novel:

⇒ Lasunskaya.
⇒ Pigasov.
⇒ Pandnlevsky.
⇒ Lipina.
⇒ Volintsev.
⇒ Bass players.

Lasunskaya is the widow of a privy councillor, who was very rich. The writer rewards Daria Mikhailovna not only with beauty, but also with freedom in communication. She participated in all conversations, trying to show her importance, which in reality she did not have at all. She considers Pigasov funny, who shows some kind of malice towards all people, but especially does not like women. Afrikan Semenovich lives alone because he is very ambitious.

The Turgenev hero from the novel, Konstantin Pandelevsky, is interesting, since it was impossible to determine his nationality. But the most remarkable thing about his image is his unusual ability to take care of the ladies in such a way that they then constantly patronized him. But he had nothing to do with Lipina Alexandra, since the woman, despite her young age, was already a widow, although without children. She inherited a large inheritance from her husband, but so that she would not let him down, she lived with her brother. Sergei Volintsev was a staff captain, but already retired. He is decent, and many knew that he was in love with Natalia. The young teacher of Bassists hates Pandelevsky, but respects the main character, Dmitry Rudin.

The protagonist is a poor man, although he is a nobleman by origin. He received a good education at the university. And although he grew up in the village, he is smart enough. He knew how to speak beautifully and for a long time, which surprised others. Unfortunately, his words and deeds differ. His philosophical views were liked by Natalya Lasunskaya, who falls in love with him. He constantly said that he was also in love with a girl, but this turned out to be a lie. And when she denounces him, Dmitry Nikolayevich immediately leaves, and soon dies in France on the barricades.

By composition, the entire Turgenev novel is divided into four parts. The first part tells how Rudin arrives at Natalya's house, sees her for the first time. In the second part, the author shows how much the girl is in love with Nikolai. The third part is the departure of the protagonist. The fourth part is an epilogue.

Novel "The Nest of Nobles"

This is the second novel by Ivan Sergeevich, the work on which lasted two years. Like the first novel, The Nest of Nobles was published in the Sovremennik magazine. This work caused a storm in literary circles, from disagreement in the interpretation of the plot, to outright accusations of plagiarism. But the work was a great success with the readership, and the name "Noble Nest" has become a real catchphrase and has become firmly established in the flesh to this day.

There are a large number of characters in the novel who will always be interesting in their character and Turgenev's description to readers. The female images of the work are represented by Kalitina, who is already fifty years old. Marya Dmitrievna was not only a rich, but also a very capricious noblewoman. She was so spoiled that at any moment she could cry because her desires were not fulfilled. Her aunt, Marya Timofeevnea, brought her special trouble. Pestova was already seventy years old, but she easily and always told the truth to everyone. Marya Dmitrievna had children. Liza, the eldest daughter, is already 19 years old. She is friendly and very kind. This was the influence of the nanny. The second female image in Turgenev's novel is Lavretskaya, who is not only beautiful, but also married. Although after her betrayal, her husband left her abroad, but this alone did not stop Varvara Pavlovna.

There are many characters in the novel. There are those that play an important role in the plot, and there are episodic ones. For example, a certain Sergei Petrovich appears several times in Turgenev's novel, who is a gossip from a secular society. A handsome Pashin, who is very young and has a position in society, comes to the city on his work. He is obsequious, but easily liked by the people around him. It is worth noting that he is very talented: he composes music and poetry himself, and then performs them. But only his soul is cold. He likes Lisa.

A music teacher comes to the Kalitins' house, who was a hereditary musician, but fate was against him. He is poor, although he is German. He does not like to communicate with people, but he perfectly understands everything that happens around him. The main characters include Lavretsky, who is thirty-five years old. He is a relative of the Kalitins. But he could not boast of his education, although in himself he was a kind person. Fedor Ivanovich has a noble dream - to plow the land, because he did not succeed in anything else. He is counting on a friend, the poet Mikhalevich, who will help him realize all his plans.

According to the plot, Fedor Ivanovich comes to the province to realize his dream, where he meets Liza and falls in love with her. The girl loves him back. But here comes the unfaithful wife of Lavretsky. He is forced to leave, and Liza goes to the monastery.

The composition of Turgenev's novel is divided into six parts. In the first part there is a story about how Fyodor Ivanovich arrives in the province. And so in the second part tells about the main character. In the third part, Lavretsky, and Kalitins, and other heroes go to Vasilyevskoye. Here begins the rapprochement between Liza and Fedor Ivanovich, but this is already discussed in the fourth part. But the fifth part is very sad, as Lavretsky's wife arrives. The sixth part is an epilogue.

Novel "On the Eve"

This novel was created by Ivan Turgenev in anticipation of a coup in Russia. The main character of his work becomes a Bulgarian. It is known that the novel was written by a famous writer in 1859, and the very next year it was published in one of the magazines.

The plot is based on the Stakhov family. Stakhov Nikolay Artemyevich, who not only spoke good French, but was also a great debater. In addition, he was also known as a philosopher who was bored at home all the time. He met a German widow and now spent all his time with her. This state of affairs greatly upset his wife, Anna Vasilievna, a calm and sad woman who complained to everyone in the house about her husband's infidelity. She loved her daughter, but in her own way. By the way, Elena at that time was already twenty years old, although from the age of 16 she left her parental care, and then she lived like herself. She had a need to constantly take care of the poor, the unfortunate, and it doesn’t matter whether they are people or animals. But for the environment, she seemed a little strange.

Elena was simply created to share her life with Dmitry Insarov. This young man, who is barely 30 years old, has an amazing and unusual fate. His mission was to free his land. Therefore, Elena follows him, begins to believe in his ideas. After the death of her husband, she decides to devote herself to a noble mission - she becomes a sister of mercy.

The meaning of Turgenev's novels

All the novels of the famous writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev reflect the history of Russian society. He doesn't just portray his characters and tell their life stories. The writer walks the path together with his characters and guides the reader along this path, forcing them to philosophize together about what the meaning of life is, what kindness and love are. A huge role in Turgenev's novels is played by landscapes that reflect the mood of the acting characters.

M. Katkov wrote about Turgenev's novels:

"Clarity of ideas, skill in delineation of types, simplicity in conception and course of action."

Turgenev's novels have not only educational, but also historical significance, as the writer reveals the moral problems of the whole society. In the fates of his heroes, the fates of thousands of Russians who lived more than one hundred and fifty years ago are guessed. This is a real digression into the history of both high society and the common people.

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Introduction

Turgenev achieved worldwide fame during his lifetime and had a progressive influence on the work of a number of Western writers.

"Hunter's Notes" became very popular in France.

Maupassant bowed before Turgenev - "a great man" and "a brilliant novelist." Georges Sand wrote to him: “Master! We all have to go through your school."

Turgenev's works have become a true revelation about Russia for European society. They gave a magnificent artistic commentary on the events of the life and history of our country.

And to this day, Turgenev remains one of our favorite writers. The living truth of life, long gone, does not die in his images.

1. From romanticism to realism. "Hunter's Notes"

In the development of Russian and world literature, Turgenev's time is the time of transition from romanticism to realism, the time of the establishment and flourishing of realism. Turgenev himself saw in the “great realistic current that currently dominates everywhere in literature and the arts” the most remarkable manifestation of the artistic development of his time, as he wrote in 1875 in the preface to the French translation of “The Two Hussars” by L.N. Tolstoy. Realism, he pointed out, "expressed that special trend of human thought, which, replacing the romanticism of the 30s and every year more and more spreading in European literature, also penetrated into art, into painting, into music." Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev himself was an outstanding representative of this trend in world literature.

Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol laid the unshakable foundation of the new realistic Russian literature. The successes of realism were due to the fact that it provided art with unlimited possibilities for a truthful artistic reflection of reality, created diverse artistic forms, and made literature a powerful means of influencing the ideological, moral and aesthetic development of society.

In the 40s of the 19th century, a brilliant galaxy of new realist writers, brought up by criticism of Belinsky, followers of Pushkin and Gogol, entered Russian literature. Among them was Turgenev. In 1845-1846. He was still not sure of his writing vocation and even “had,” as he wrote in his memoirs, “a firm intention to leave literature altogether; only due to the requests of I.I. Panaev, who did not have anything to fill the mixture section in the 1st issue of Sovremennik, I left him an essay entitled "Khor and Kalinich." The story was highly appreciated by Belinsky: "Turgenev came to the people from such a side from which no one had yet reached him."

The main idea of Turgenev's original work was to indicate the "sorrows and questions" of the time. It was in the development of this theme that the great critic saw the guarantee of further success in the development of Russian literature. We can say that the entire period of the 1840s, all the work of Turgenev in those years was subordinated to one super-task - the writer was looking for his solution to the social theme in literature.

His appeal to peasant life naturally followed from the anti-serfdom sentiments that arose in the writer in the years of his youth. The main idea of the "Hunter's Notes" was a protest against serfdom. “Under this name, I collected and concentrated everything against which I decided to fight to the end, with which I swore never to reconcile ... This was my Annibal oath; and I was not the only one who gave it to myself then, ”Turgenev later recalled.

The peasant theme has been one of the main themes of Russian literature since Radishchev's Travels from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The appearance of images of peasants in Turgenev's work corresponded to an important trend in the general development of realistic Russian literature in the 1940s - its desire for artistic knowledge of folk life, for rapprochement with the people.

The Hunter's Notes was the most direct and most profound expression of the social and literary struggle of the 1840s of the 19th century.

After the publication of each new essay or story from the Hunter's Notes, this conviction was strengthened more and more. First of all, the breadth of the author's outlook attracted attention; Turgenev seemed to write from nature, but his essays and stories did not give the impression of sketches or ethnographic sketches, although he did not skimp on ethnographic and "local history" details. The private life of apparently non-fictional people is usually given in his system of comparisons, which show that in the author's field of vision is all of Russia in its relations with the whole world. Thanks to this, each figure, each episode, with all its individual immediacy, and sometimes seeming transience or chance, acquires special significance, and the content of this or that thing turns out to be wider than the vital material reproduced in it.

In The Hunter's Notes, Turgenev's heroes often compare "old" and "new" times. But no matter what the heroes say about this - whether they praise the old years or disapprove - the author's position is extremely clear: the "golden age" of the Russian nobility - the age of Catherine and Alexander - is mainly the age of noble revelry, extravagance (one has only to recall the fun and fun of Count A.G. Orlov-Chesmensky, which Luka Petrovich Ovsyanikov tells about), debauchery and arrogant arbitrariness. Well, what about the new, Nikolaev times? Strange as it may seem, but it was precisely at this dead time that the state scribes shouted more than ever about the successes of enlightenment, especially among the landowners. In the story "The Burmister" it is just about one "most enlightened" landowner - about Arkady Pavlych Penochkin, Turgenev leaves nothing for the reader to guess: the mask of "enlightenment" is torn off right before his eyes. As a matter of fact, Penochkin puts it on only on special occasions. In this sense, the episode of pacifying the “rebellion” in Shipilovka is indicative: “No, brother, I don’t advise you to rebel ... with me ... (Arkady Pavlych stepped forward, yes, he probably remembered my presence, turned away and put his hands in his pockets.)” There is a generalization of great power in this hideous figure.

The first stories and essays by Turgenev were written and published during the years of relative revival in the public life of Russia, when even in government circles they were thinking about the abolition of serfdom. But at the beginning of 1848, a revolution broke out in France, and Nicholas I, who never forgot what a coward he celebrated on December 14, 1825, immediately decided to stop any liberal encroachments. Punishers undertook a genuine campaign against literature. Naturally, first of all, they paid attention to the most advanced magazine - Sovremennik. Nekrasov and Panaev were summoned to the Third Section, where they were given a suggestion and an explanation about Siberia. Turgenev was also taken under suspicion, whose works were one of the most important components of the success of Sovremennik. They were just waiting for the right opportunity to deal with him. Such an opportunity soon presented itself. Turgenev wrote a short heated article on Gogol's death, which the chairman of the St. Petersburg censorship committee banned on the grounds that Gogol was a "lackey writer." Then Turgenev sent the article to Moscow, and there it was published through the efforts of his friends - Botkin and Feoktistov. An investigation was immediately appointed, as a result of which Turgenev (at the behest of Nicholas I) was arrested on April 28, 1852. Then he was sent to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo (the estate of Turgenev's mother) under police supervision, again on the personal orders of Nicholas I.

Even in the time of Turgenev, such a punishment looked cruel, so there was practically no doubt that the note about Gogol was not the only fault of the writer.

In this involuntary seclusion, Turgenev was able to sum up the most important results of his work. He finally became convinced that not a single topic in literature could be more or less satisfactorily resolved without its direct or indirect correlation with the elements of folk life. This also applied to the topic of personality, a topic that, in the real conditions of Russian social development in the first half of the 19th century, was inextricably linked with the question of the fate of the noble intelligentsia.

The criterion of nationality deepened the theme of the noble intelligentsia in a new way understood by the idea of duty. A developed, and even more so, a gifted personality should strive to realize the possibilities inherent in it; this is her duty, a duty to herself, to the idea of Humanity. Without access to the wide world of Mankind, the Motherland, to the world of people's life, a noble intellectual is doomed to the collapse of his personality. We needed a hero who decided on this exit. Apparently, in order to represent such a person, the stories of Turgenev's usual scale and form were no longer suitable. This theme of entering the wide world of activity - activity on the scale of the whole of Russia - demanded a big story, as Turgenev often said, that is, it demanded a novel.

2 . Roman "Rudin"

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev began work on Rudin in 1855.

The appearance of the novel in print caused a lot of talk and controversy in literary circles and among readers.

The critic of "Notes of the Fatherland" considered Rudin only as a pale copy of the previous heroes of Russian literature - Onegin, Pechorin, Beltov. But Chernyshevsky objected to him in Sovremennik, noting that Turgenev was able to show in the image of Rudin a man of a new era of social development. Comparing Rudin with Beltov and Pechorin, Chernyshevsky emphasized that "these are people of different eras, different natures - people who make up a perfect contrast to one another."

After the novel was published, Nekrasov expressed confidence that for Turgenev “a new era of activity begins, for his talent has gained new strength, that he will give us works even more significant than those that deserved the first place in the eyes of the public in our latest literature after Gogol. ".

In a letter to Turgenev, Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov spoke about the vitality of the Rudin type image and noted that the novel "raises many petty questions and reveals the deep secrets of the spiritual nature of man."

Speaking about the recognition of the novel among the populist intelligentsia, one cannot ignore the words of V.N. Figner: “It seems to me that the whole novel is taken directly from life, and Rudin is the purest product of our Russian reality, not a parody, not a mockery, but a real tragedy, which has not died at all, which is still alive, is still going on ...”. “In every educated person of our time there is a particle of Dmitry Rudin,” wrote Stepnyak-Kravchinsky.

Rudin is one of the best representatives of the cultural nobility. He was educated in Germany, like Mikhail Bakunin, who served as his prototype, and like Turgenev himself. The character of Rudin is revealed in the word. This is a brilliant speaker. Appearing in the estate of the landowner Lasunskaya, he immediately captivates those present. “Rudin possessed almost the highest secret - the secret of eloquence. He knew how, by striking one string of hearts, to make all others vaguely ring and tremble. In his philosophical speeches about the meaning of life, about the high purpose of man, Rudin is simply irresistible. A person cannot, should not subordinate his life only to practical goals, concerns about existence, he argues. Without the desire to find "common principles in the particular phenomena" of life, without faith in the power of reason, there is no science, no enlightenment, no progress, and "if a person does not have a strong beginning in which he believes, there is no ground on which he stands firmly, how can he give himself an account of the needs, the meaning, the future of his people?

Enlightenment, science, the meaning of life - that's what Rudin talks about with such enthusiasm, inspiration and poetry. He tells a legend about a bird that flew into the fire and again disappeared into the darkness. It would seem that a person, like this bird, appears from non-existence and, having lived a short life, disappears into obscurity. Yes, “our life is fast and insignificant; but all great things are done through people.”

His statements inspire and call for the renewal of life, for extraordinary, heroic accomplishments. The force of Rudin's influence on the listeners, the conviction in a word, is felt by everyone. And everyone admires Rudin for his "extraordinary mind." Only Pigasov does not recognize the merits of Rudin - out of resentment for his defeat in the dispute.

But in the very first conversation between Rudin and Natalya, one of the main contradictions of his character is revealed. After all, only the day before he spoke so inspiredly about the future, about the meaning of life, about the purpose of man, and suddenly he appears as a tired man who does not believe in his own strength or in the sympathy of people. True, one objection of the surprised Natalya is enough - and Rudin reproaches himself for cowardice and again preaches the need to do the job. But the author has already cast doubt into the soul of the reader that Rudin's words are consistent with deeds, and intentions with deeds.

The writer subjects the contradictory nature of his hero to a serious test - love. This feeling in Turgenev is sometimes bright, sometimes tragic and destructive, but it is always a force that exposes the soul, the true nature of a person. This is where the real character of Rudin is revealed. Although Rudin's speeches are full of enthusiasm, years of abstract philosophical work have dried up in him the living sources of heart and soul. The preponderance of the head over the heart is felt already in the scene of the first love confession.

The first obstacle that arose in his path - the refusal of Darya Mikhailovna Lasunskaya to marry her daughter to a poor person - leads Rudin to complete confusion. In response to the question: “What do you think we need to do now?” - Natalia hears: "Of course, submit." And then Natalya Rudina throws many bitter words: she reproaches him for cowardice, cowardice, for the fact that his lofty words are far from deeds. And Rudin feels miserable and insignificant in front of her. He does not stand the test of love, revealing his human inferiority.

In the novel, Lezhnev is opposed to the protagonist - openly, straightforwardly. Rudin is eloquent - Lezhnev is usually laconic. Rudin cannot understand himself - Lezhnev perfectly understands people and helps his loved ones without further ado, thanks to his spiritual tact and sensitivity. Rudin does nothing - Lezhnev is always busy with something.

But Lezhnev is not only Rudin's antagonist, he is the hero's interpreter. Lezhnev's assessments are not the same at different moments, even contradictory, but on the whole they inspire the reader with an understanding of the complex nature of the hero and his place in life.

Thus, Rudin is given the highest rating by his antagonist, a man of a practical warehouse. Maybe he is the true hero of the novel? Lezhnev was rewarded with both intelligence and understanding of people, but his activities are limited by the existing order of things. The author constantly emphasizes its everyday life. He is businesslike, but for Turgenev it is impossible to reduce the whole meaning of life to efficiency, not inspired by a higher idea.

Rudin reflects the tragic fate of a man of the Turgenev generation. Departure into abstract thinking could not but entail negative consequences: speculation, poor familiarity with the practical side. People like Rudin, bearers of lofty ideals, guardians of culture, serve the progress of society, but are clearly devoid of practical potential. An ardent opponent of serfdom, Rudin turned out to be absolutely helpless in realizing his ideal.

In Russian life, he is destined to remain a wanderer. His fate is echoed by another image of the wanderer, the image of the immortal Don Quixote.

The ending of the novel is heroic and tragic at the same time. Rudin dies on the barricades of Paris. I recall the words from Rudin's letter to Natalya: "I will end up sacrificing myself for some nonsense that I won't even believe in ...".

3 . "Noble Nest"

Compared to Turgenev's first novel in The Nest of Nobles, everything seems soft, balanced, there are no such sharp oppositions as the opposition of Rudin and Pigasov, Basistov and Pandalevsky. Even Panshin, who embodies exemplary noble morality, is not distinguished by obvious, conspicuous negativity. One can understand Lisa, who for a long time could not determine her attitude towards Panshin and, in essence, did not resist Marya Dmitrievna's intention to marry her to Panshin. he draws and paints, composes music and poetry. And who knows how Lisa's fate would have turned out if not for the dispute. In general, it should be noted that ideological disputes always play a huge role in the composition of Turgenev's novels. In The Nest of Nobles, the "outset" dispute is the dispute between Panshin and Lavretsky about the people. Turgenev once remarked that this was a dispute between a Westerner and a Slavophile. This author's description should not be taken too literally. The fact is that both Panshin is a Westernizer of a special, official type, and Lavretsky Slavophile is not orthodox. In his attitude towards the people, Lavretsky most of all resembles the author of The Hunter's Notes, that is, Turgenev himself. He does not try to give the Russian people some simple, easy-to-remember definition; like Turgenev, Lavretsky believes that before inventing and imposing recipes for arranging people's life, one must understand this life, study the character of the people. Here he expresses essentially the same idea that Rudin expressed in the dispute with Pigasov.

"The Nest of Nobles" is a novel about the historical fate of the nobility in Russia. The father of the protagonist of the novel, Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky, spent his whole life abroad, first in the service, and then "for his own pleasure." This man in all his hobbies is infinitely far from Russia and its people. A supporter of the constitution, he does not tolerate the sight of "fellow citizens" - peasants.

Fedor Ivanovich, after the death of his father, falls into the love networks of the cold and prudent egoist Varvara Pavlovna. He lives with her in France until a chance opens his eyes to his wife's infidelity. As if freeing himself from an obsession, Lavretsky returns home and seems to see his native places anew, where life flows "inaudibly, like water over swamp grasses." In this silence, where even the clouds seem to "know where and why they are floating", he meets his true love - Lisa Kalitina. But even this love was not destined to become happy, although the amazing music composed by the old eccentric Lemm, Lisa's teacher, promised happiness to the heroes. Varvara Pavlovna, who was considered dead, turned out to be alive, which means that the marriage of Fyodor Ivanovich and Liz became impossible. In the finale, Lisa goes to the monastery to atone for the sins of her father, who obtained wealth in unrighteous ways. Lavretsky is left alone to live out a bleak life.

Lisa and Lavretsky are the heirs of the best features of the patriarchal nobility (their bearer in the novel is Marfa Timofeevna, Lisa's aunt), and at the same time they are alien to both the barbarism and ignorance of the past, and blind admiration for the West.

They are capable of self-sacrifice and are ready for long, hard work. The characters of the honest, slightly awkward “buyback” Lavretsky (in many ways he resembles Pierre Bezukhov from Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”) and the modest, religious Lisa Kalitina are truly national. Turgenev saw in them that healthy beginning of the Russian nobility, without which, from his point of view, the social renewal of the country could not take place.

The beginning of folk morality in the character of Lisa, in her entire worldview, is also expressed by a definition. With all her behavior, her calm grace, she more than all Turgenev's heroines resembles Pushkin's Tatyana. But in the character of Liza there is one property that is only outlined in the character of Tatiana, but which will become the main distinguishing property of that type of Russian women, which is usually called "Turgenev's". It is selflessness, readiness for self-sacrifice. Liza has only one predecessor: Lukerya from Turgenev's story "Living Powers".

It is difficult for us to put up with the fact that at the end of the novel we see Lisa Kalitina in the monastery. But, in essence, this is an amazingly courageous, true touch of the artist. After all, there was no way for Lisa to live in the name of goodness (and Liza only dreamed of such a life). It is hard to imagine what would have happened to Lisa if Lavretsky had gone beyond his dreams, if he had been threatened by some great danger. Probably, then the fate of Lisa would have been different. Her monastic share is an accusation not only to Lavretsky, but to the whole society, which kills everything pure that is born in it.

turgenev novel realism creative

4 . Turgenev's revolutionary moods - the novel "On the Eve"

The novel "On the Eve" was written and published in the midst of the revolutionary situation of 1859-1861.

The action of this novel takes place in 1963, before the Crimean defeat, but it does not feel such an oppressive atmosphere that existed in the last years of the reign of Nicholas I. The novel was written after the Crimean War, during the years of the public awakening of Russia, in the pursuit of freedom, freedom in everything: in social activities, in feelings, in personal life. This penetrating novel pathos is embodied primarily in the image of Elena Stakhova.

In concrete historical terms, the image of Turgenev's heroine testified to the growth of public self-awareness among the Russian female youth of that time. When Elena, after the death of Insarov, becoming a sister of mercy, took part in the liberation war of the Bulgarian people against the Turkish yoke, readers could not help but recall the memorable images of the first Russian sisters of mercy and their exploits during the defense of Sevastopol.

When the novel was published, opinions about it were sharply divided, even those who welcomed the novel were forced to speak, first of all, and most of all about Elena. She seemed to be the most convincing artistically, and the way of life she chose was a new word in Russian literature. And the image of Insarov was considered unsuccessful by many. His restraint in expressing feelings seemed unnatural, composed.

Turgenev chose a Bulgarian as his hero not on a whim. Russian society followed with great attention and sympathy the struggle waged by the peoples of the Slavic countries against the Turkish yoke. It was quite natural that the Russian writer not only became interested in this struggle, but also made one of its participants the hero of his work. So there was nothing invented in Elena's decision. In fact, there were many cases in those days when Russian young people, one way or another, joined the liberation movement against Turkish rule in the Balkans.

In the novel "On the Eve" social issues are in the foreground. “Note,” says Insarov, “the last peasant, the last beggar in Bulgaria and I - we want the same thing. We all have one goal. Understand what confidence and strength this gives! Here, in essence, the dual unity of the theme of Turgenev's novel is most clearly manifested. Insarov speaks about Bulgaria and Turkey. Turgenev wanted the reader to think about the “internal Turks”, that is, about the defenders of serfdom, about serfdom, against which all the healthy forces of Russian society should unite, forgetting, at least for a while, internal strife and misunderstandings. Turgenev dreamed of uniting all the forces of Russian society, of jointly preparing the coming transformations.

Turgenev found himself in an extremely difficult position: neither the revolutionary democrats nor the conservatives accepted his idea. If we consistently reveal the dual theme of the novel, then we have to admit that the writer was quite sympathetic to how the Bulgarians were fighting the Turkish yoke (we were talking about armed struggle). It turned out that, introducing the internal theme, developing it, Turgenev did not deny the most decisive forms of struggle against serfdom.

Analyzing the novel, Dobrolyubov in the article “When will the real day come?” (1860) offered his own interpretation of his main idea, which differs from Turgenev’s: if Turgenev believed that Insarov, as a heroic nature, “could not develop and manifest himself in modern Russian society,” he was possible only in Bulgaria, then Dobrolyubov, on the contrary, argued that that "now in our society there is already a place for great ideas and sympathies, and that the time is not far off when these ideas can be manifested in action." These direct revolutionary conclusions from the novel "On the Eve" were not acceptable to Turgenev. After reading Dobrolyubov's article in manuscript, he asked Nekrasov, the editor of Sovremennik, not to publish it even after it had been censored. Nekrasov refused. Then Turgenev posed the question sharply: “Me or Dobrolyubov?” Nekrasov preferred Dobrolyubov. After that, Turgenev left for Sovremennik.

5 . "Fathers and Sons"

Under the influence of communication with the ideological leaders of Sovremennik - Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky - the writer nevertheless began to think intently about how to show new heroes in the work of art - raznochintsy-democrats, whose social role was growing stronger every day. As a result of these writer's reflections and observations, the novel "Fathers and Sons" soon appeared, where the central character is Bazarov, a raznochinets-democrat.

In this novel, the dispute is between liberals, such as Turgenev and his closest friends, and a revolutionary democrat such as Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov (Dobrolyubov served in part as the prototype for Bazarov). When Turgenev created the image of Bazarov, he thought not so much about embodying Dobrolyubov’s unpleasant features in this figure, but about conveying as fully as possible the charm of strength and integrity that attracted him to new people.

The son of the doctor, Yevgeny Bazarov, contemptuously calls the nobles who never worked anywhere “barchuks”. But in the work, not only representatives of different social groups, but also generations collide.

A month and a half before the end of the novel, Turgenev noted in one letter: "Real clashes are those in which both sides are right to a certain extent." The conflict of ideological opponents, Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov and Yevgeny Bazarov, representing the "fathers" and "children" respectively, is just that. The position of the educated liberal Pavel Petrovich is in many ways close to the author. His "principles" and "authorities" are a sign of respect and trust in the experience of past generations. But he is not able to treat the mental demands and anxiety of the "children" with "paternal" attention. Bazarov, who mercilessly denies love, poetry, morality and, perhaps, the entire world order, is an extreme individualist. In the novel, he is characterized as a nihilist: "From the Latin nihil, nothing ... therefore, this word denotes a person who ... does not recognize anything." But his nihilism (this word was picked up with the advent of Turgenev's novel) feeds on the latent fermentation of popular discontent and is strong for this.

Turgenev was called "the chronicler of the Russian intelligentsia" for a reason. He sensitively captured the underlying movements, feelings and thoughts of the "cultural layer" of the Russian people. In his novels, he embodied not only already existing "types and ideals", but also barely emerging ones. The latter also includes the image of Bazarov. Even a few years later, the critic D.I. Pisarev complained that there were still too few Bazarovs in Russia.

In disputes with Pavel Petrovich, Bazarov turns out to be morally stronger and almost emerges victorious from them. The failure of his nihilism is proved not by Pavel Petrovich, but by the entire artistic structure of the novel.

Critic N.N. Strakhov defined Turgenev's "mysterious moralizing" as follows: "Bazarov turns his back on nature... Turgenev... draws nature in all its beauty. Bazarov does not value friendship and renounces romantic love ... the author ... depicts Arkady's friendship for Bazarov himself and his happy love for Katya. Bazarov denies the close ties between parents and children ... the author ... unfolds before us a picture of parental love. Bazarov eschews life... the author... shows us life in all its beauty. Bazarov rejects poetry; Turgenev ... portrays him with all the luxury and insight of poetry. ... Bazarov ... was defeated not by persons and not by the accidents of life, but by the very idea of \u200b\u200bthis life.

The love rejected by Bazarov irresistibly chained him to the cold aristocrat Odintsova and broke his spiritual strength. Bazarov dies by a stupid accident. A finger cut was enough to kill the "giant" (as he thought of himself). The death of Bazarov accepts with dignity the victims of fate. As in other works of Turgenev, inexplicable higher forces triumph over a person, controlling his life and death.

Turgenev did not like people like Bazarov. And yet the image of a nihilist turned out to be by no means caricatured, as in a series of “anti-nihilistic novels” that followed Fathers and Sons. Paradoxically, the statements of his nihilist are in many ways consonant with the moods of Turgenev himself (in particular, Bazarov’s words about the “narrow place” where human life passes senselessly, about the “burdock” that will grow on the grave of a suffering and thinking being, etc. ). Turgenev even admitted: "With the exception of Bazarov's views on art, I share almost all of his convictions." It is no coincidence that Bazarov came out of him as a truly tragic figure.

Turgenev began work on the novel in early August 1860, and finished it in July 1861. "Fathers and Sons" appeared in the February book of the magazine "Russian Messenger" for 1862. In the same year, the novel was published as a separate edition with a dedication to the memory of V.G. Belinsky.

The action of the novel takes place in the summer of 1859, the epilogue tells about the events that followed after the fall of serfdom, in 1861. Turgenev follows, one might say, on the heels of the events of Russian life - he has never yet created a work whose vital content in time would almost coincide with the moment of the very work on it.

Conclusion

Turgenev admitted in one of his letters that when he wrote to Bazarov, in the end, he felt not dislike for him, but admiration. And when he wrote the scene of Bazarov's death, he sobbed uncontrollably. These were not tears of pity, these were the tears of an artist who saw the tragedy of a man who embodied part of his own ideal.

"Fathers and Sons" caused, apparently, the most fierce controversy in the entire history of Russian literature of the 19th century. Pisarev believed that Bazarov unusually fully embodied the qualities of a revolutionary of the generation of the 60s, Sovremennik in an article by M.A. Antonovich spoke sharply negatively about Turgenev's novel, seeing in the image of Bazarov slander on "children".

In the second half of the 1960s, Turgenev's conflict with the revolutionary democrats reached its peak. The writer believed that he had been unfairly offended, was indignant, complained, threatened to "put down his pen", but at the same time he did not stop following the ups and downs of the social struggle in Russia with intense attention. An artist, always faithful to the truth of life, he realized that both in the years of reaction and in the years of a new upsurge in the liberation movement, it was precisely the young followers of Chernyshevsky who played the leading role. Even now he did not agree with their methods of struggle; but before their nobility, before their readiness for the good of the people to make the greatest sacrifices, he openly bowed. It was this feeling that guided him when he wrote both his last novel, Nov, and the famous hymn to revolutionary feat, The Threshold.

Turgenev was a highly developed, convinced man who never left the soil of universal ideals. He carried these ideals into Russian life with that conscious constancy that constitutes his main and inestimable service to Russian society. In this sense, he is a direct successor of Pushkin and does not know other rivals in Russian literature.

In terms of the epic nature of his works, Turgenev is second only to Tolstoy. Tolstoy's compositions, spanning whole years, revealing the life of the nation from top to bottom, approach the epic, while Turgenev's novel is close to the story. However, the very possibility of the emergence of a "thick novel" was prepared by Turgenev, his careful development of the fate of the characters in their relationship with the environment, with the typical circumstances of their life, their upbringing, their spiritual and moral development ...

Turgenev is one of the creators of the great Russian realistic novel, the truthfulness, depth and artistic merit of which amazed the world. And if it is true that the main avenue for the development of world literature in the era of realism was the novel, then there is no doubt that one of the central figures of this development in the middle of the 19th century was Turgenev.

Bibliography

1. Belinsky, V.G. Poly. coll. op. T 7. M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1955. S. 78.

2. I.S. Turgenev in Russian criticism. M: Goslitizdat, 1953. S. 397-398.

3. Turgenev. I.S. Complete Works and Letters. In 28 volumes. Letters. T. 3. M.; L., 1961.

4. Library of world literature. Series two. T. 117.

I. Turgenev “Notes of a hunter. The day before. Fathers and Sons". Publishing house "Fiction" Moscow 1971

5. "Russian literature of the XIX-XX centuries: in two volumes", Vol. 1. Textbook for applicants to universities. Comp. and scientific ed. B.S. Bugrov, M.M. Golubkov. - 12th edition. - M.: Moscow University Publishing House, 2013

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