In the early 60s, Nekrasov began working on a work that he himself considered his life’s work, which, in the author’s own words, had been put together for twenty years, word by word - on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” In essence, the idea “To whom in Rus'..” was developed in one more direction. We mean the search for a hero of Russian life, partly realized in Grisha Dobrosklonov. This question turned out to be central in the historical-revolutionary poems dedicated to the Decembrists: “Grandfather” and “Russian Women”. For Nekrasov, who has always lived by the interests of modernity, such an appeal to history is at first glance unusual. The reasons for it are manifold.
Here, it is impossible to speak out loud about contemporary revolutionaries, and the desire to present their deeds not as random, isolated episodes, but in their historical continuity, in the national tradition. The poem is also distinguished by the desire to comprehend the events and their participants on a large-scale and generalized basis. Already in the proofs, the writer will replace the original title “Decembrists” with “Russian Women”. The realized parts of the poem retain great independence. At the same time, the artistic and ideological meaning of each of them is significantly enhanced precisely in relation to the other. Thus they represent a single whole. In general, the poem is a fusion of paintings made in a realistic manner (sketches of Italian life and especially the uprising on Senate Square) with a romantic depiction of events. The composition of the poem is characterized by some fragmentation, fragmentation of sharply contrasting scenes, the heroine is overwhelmed by one all-consuming impulse.
All this brings us back to romantic poem 20s, to the work not only of Pushkin of that time, but also of Ryleev, to Decembrist poetry. Thus, Nekrasov’s romanticism, recreating the flavor of a bygone era, with its entire figurative structure, the very texture of the poems, serves realism. “Princess Volkonskaya” is written differently. “Grandmother’s notes” - this is how the poet explained this part of the poem.
The first-person narrative determined the deep, sincere lyricism of the narrative and gave it the special authenticity of personal testimony. The very form of the work - family memories - allowed the poet to recreate the character of the heroine with great completeness and trace her life.
The plot unfolds as chronologically sequential events: parental home, upbringing, marriage, the struggle for the right to go into exile with her Decembrist husband... - all this is depicted with everyday and historical authenticity. The fact that in the finale of “Princess Volkonskaya” there is a meeting between Volkonskaya and Trubetskoy and finally their meeting with the exiles gives plot completeness to both poems and the work as a whole. “... The self-sacrifice expressed by them,” Nekrasov wrote about the Decembrists, “will forever remain evidence of the great spiritual strength inherent in the Russian woman...”. Suffering, selflessness, great spiritual strength - this is what unites the “majestic Slavic woman” Daria and the “peasant” Maria Volkonskaya. New trends appear in Nekrasov’s late lyrics.
His lyrics of the 70s, more than ever, carry a mood of doubt, anxiety, and sometimes even pessimism. Increasingly, the image of the world as a peasant way of life is being replaced by the image of the world as a general world order. The scale by which life is measured is becoming truly global. The poet's late lyrics are permeated by a feeling of general ill-being and catastrophism.
In poetry there appears a desire for maximum generality, a desire to comprehend the world as a whole and, as a consequence of this, a craving for exhaustive aphorism, for an all-encompassing formula:
Days go by...
The air is still stifling,
The decrepit world is on a fatal path...
Man is terribly soulless,
There is no salvation for the weak!
Starting from specific impressions and facts, the poet strives for a philosophical understanding of life:
Terrible year!
Newspaper flair
And the massacre, the damned massacre!
Impressions of blood and murder,
You have completely worn me out!
O love! – where are all your efforts?
Intelligence! – where are the fruits of your labors?
Greedy world of villainy and violence,
A triumph of buckshot and bayonets!
This year also has things in store for grandchildren.
Seeds of discord and war.
There are no holy and gentle sounds in the world,
No love, freedom, silence!
Where is the enmity, where is the fatal cowardice,
Vengeful - bathed in blood,
The groan stands over the world without ceasing...
The feeling of “universal grief”, the world as a whole as a “decrepit”, terrible world, the consciousness of the hopelessness of the “fatal path” lead to new trends in the poet’s realism. And here Nekrasov achieves enormous artistic power...

Essay on literature on the topic: The idea of ​​the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

Other writings:

1. The image of the people in Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is an epic poem. In its center is an image of post-reform Russia. Nekrasov wrote the poem over the course of twenty years, collecting material for it “word by word.” The poem is unusually broad Read More ......
2. Nekrasov devoted the odes of his life to working on a poem, which he called his “favorite brainchild.” “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to present in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started” Read More ......
3. The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” occupies a central place in Nekrasov’s work. It became a kind of artistic result of more than thirty years of work by the author. All the motives of Nekrasov’s lyrics are developed in the poem, all the problems that worried him were rethought, and his highest artistic achievements were used. Read More......
4. Artistic features of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Having decided to create a book about the people and for the people, Nekrasov subordinates the entire artistic structure of the work to this goal. The poem contains the real linguistic element of folk speech. Here is the speech of wanderers, seekers of happiness, and rich Read More......
5. Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” occupies a special place both in the history of Russian classical literature and in the poet’s creative heritage. It represents a synthesis of Nekrasov’s poetic activity, the completion of many years of creative work of the revolutionary poet. Everything that Nekrasov developed in Read More......
6. Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov worked on his work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” for many years, giving it part of his soul. And throughout the entire period of creation of this work, the poet did not leave high ideas about a perfect life and a perfect person. Poem “To whom Read More ......
7. The poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was written in 1860-1870. In this work, the author depicted Russian society in the post-reform period. He reflects on questions about where Rus' is going, what awaits it in the future, reveals the main Read More......
8. Critical analysis typical mistakes using the example of an essay on the topic of the artistic features of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?”, as a means of revealing its ideological content. I. Nekrasov is the best continuer of folk traditions. II. “Let changing fashion tell us that the topic of the lesson is old Read More ......

The idea of ​​the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

Over the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by N.A. Nekrasov worked for a very long time, from the 1860s until his death. Individual chapters were published in magazines, but there was never a single text of the work.

The idea of ​​the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

It arose only in 1920, when K.I. Chukovsky was preparing for publication the complete collected works of Nekrasov: then he decided to create a poem with a single composition from disparate pieces. The poem is largely based on folklore elements, which was very relevant in the 1860s. The language of this poem is as close as possible to the colloquial speech of peasants.

Nekrasov's idea was to show readers the life of ordinary peasants in Russia after the abolition of serfdom. Nekrasov repeatedly emphasized in his work that the life of peasants after the reform became almost even more difficult. To depict this in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov chooses the form of travel - his hero walks around the world in search of the truth.

The main characters of this poem are seven temporarily obliged

Although it was assumed that all classes would be shown in the poem, Nekrasov still focuses on the peasantry. He paints his life with gloomy colors, especially sympathizes with women.

The poem contains a part “Peasant Woman”, dedicated to a certain Matryona Timofeevna and her sad life. She is overtaken by two misfortunes in a row connected with her sons: first, the baby Dyomushka dies - his grandfather did not keep an eye on him, the boy was trampled by pigs, then the society decides to punish the shepherd son Fedot - he gave the dead sheep to the wolves, for which they wanted to flog him.

But in the end they flogged the selfless mother who saved him. Then Matryona’s husband is drafted into the army, and she, pregnant, goes to the governor for help. As a result, she gives birth right in his waiting room, with the help of his wife. After this, the governor’s wife helps her get her husband back. And, despite all the troubles, Matryona Timofeevna considers herself a happy woman.

The life of a woman is also described in the song “Salty”. The peasant woman ran out of salt for soup in her house because she had no money. But a peasant woman can find a way out of any situation: she begins to cry right over the pan and, as a result, salts the soup with her own tears.

The pessimism of the poem - who will live well after all?

Nekrasov is very sympathetic to the peasants, but his work is deeply pessimistic. Obviously, the intention of this poem is to show: no one is happy in Russia - the priests take money, the landowners complain about the impoverishment of the village, the soldiers are forced to serve hard, and the peasants have to provide themselves with a piece of bread.

There is a chapter in the poem “Happy”, in which temporarily obliged wanderers promise to give vodka to any person who proves that he is happy. However, no one can do this, because... There are no happy people in Rus'. Their only joy in life is that very glass of vodka, without which it would be completely sad.

The only happy person in the entire poem is Grisha Dobrosklonov, who chooses the path of struggle for himself. However, Rus' has hope for a better future, which is connected with the peasants. They do not know how to be free, and Nekrasov identifies three types of peasants: those who are proud of their slavery; aware of slavery, but unable to resist; fighting injustice.

Explanatory note
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is key in the work of N.A. Nekrasov. Its study is provided as part of the traditional literature program in the 10th grade. 5 hours are allotted for studying the work.
The proposed material contains a detailed, detailed lesson plan “The concept, history of creation, composition of the poem. Analysis of the prologue, chapters “Pop”, “Rural Fair”, “Feast for the Whole World”.
The development can be used by literature teachers when preparing for a lesson on the works of N.A. Nekrasov.

The concept, history of creation, composition of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Analysis of the prologue, chapters “Pop”, “Rural Fair”, “Feast for the Whole World”

Target: Determine the problem of the poem, its historical significance
Tasks:
Educational:
1. Introduce the history of the creation of the poem and its composition.
2. Determine the author’s intention through the analysis of the “Prologue” (folklore, epic motifs, road motif) for further holistic perception of the work.
3. Teach to compare and generalize facts, to think and speak logically and reasonedly, to develop attention to the artistic word.
Educational:
1. Development of communication and research competencies, dialogical thinking, creative self-development, the opportunity to realize oneself in different types activity, reflection.
Educational:
1. Arouse interest in the poem, prompting it to be read
2 Raising an attentive reader, love for native language and literature.
3. Formation of a personality capable of navigating the sociocultural space: readiness for independent spiritual development of artistic values.
Equipment: multimedia projector
1. Organizational moment. Checking homework.
Teacher's word. We continue to get acquainted with the work of the great Russian poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov.
Today we will talk about the poem - the epic “Who Lives Well in Rus'?”
At home you should have found the answer to the question: What does “epic poem” mean?

A poem is a large poetic work with a plot-narrative organization; a story or novel in verse; a multi-part work in which the epic and lyrical principles merge together.
Epic is a generic designation for large epic and similar works:
In terms of genre, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is in many ways closer to a prose narrative than to the lyric-epic poems characteristic of Russian literature of the first half of the 20th century.
1. An extensive narrative in poetry or prose about outstanding national historical events.
2. A complex, long history of something, including a number of major events.
2. Introduction to the history of the creation of the poem, its composition (student message)
The history of the creation of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
The idea of ​​the poem. “The people are liberated, but are the people happy?” - this line from “Elegy” explains N.A.’s position. Nekrasov in relation to the Peasant Reform of 1861, which only formally deprived the landowners of their former power,

But in fact, she deceived and robbed peasant Rus'. The poem was begun shortly after the Peasant Reform. Nekrasov considered its goal to be the depiction of the disadvantaged lower peasantry, among whom - as in all of Russia - there is no happy person. The search for happiness among the upper echelons of society was for Nekrasov only a compositional device. The happiness of the “strong” and “well-fed” was beyond doubt for him. The very word “lucky”, according to Nekrasov, is a synonym for a representative of the privileged classes. (Cf. “... but the happy are deaf to good” - “Reflections at the main entrance.”) Depicting the ruling classes (priest, landowner), Nekrasov first of all focuses on the fact that the reform hit not so much “with one end at the master”, but "different people like men." 2. The history of the creation of the poem and its composition. The poet worked on the poem from 1863 to 1877, i.e. about 14 years. During this time, his plan changed, but the poem was never completed by the author, so there is no consensus in criticism about its composition. The poet calls the wanderers “time-bound,” which shows that the poem was begun no later than 1863, since later this term was very rarely applied to peasants.
2) Composition - the construction of a work.(On the screen)
The poem includes 4 parts. Scientists were faced with the question of the sequence of parts. The majority came to the conclusion that the first part was followed by “The Peasant Woman,” then “The Last One,” and finally “A Feast for the Whole World.” Arguments: in the first part and in “The Peasant Woman” an old, obsolete world is depicted. In "The Last One" - the death of this world. In “The Feast...” there are signs of new life. In some editions, the poem is printed in the following sequence: the first part, “The Last One,” “The Peasant Woman,” “A Feast for the Whole World.”
3. Analysis of the chapter “Prologue”
Let us turn to the beginning of the work, to the chapter called “Prologue,” that is, to the beginning. Let's give a fragment of it (read by one of the students). What are the features of the language? Nekrasov managed to convey richness and expressiveness vernacular? Determine the poetic size of the poem.
(Many diminutive suffixes, inversions - “I left the house before noon”, “they started an argument”; constant epithets - a gray bunny, black shadows, a red sun, hyperboles - “And their yellow eyes burn like fourteen candles of bright wax”
What other artistic and expressive means does the author use - comparisons - “Fourteen candles burn like burning wax!” , metaphors - “frequent stars lit up”; personifications - “Oh shadows, black shadows, who won’t you catch up with? Who won’t you overtake?”
“The echo woke up and went for a walk.”
- What other techniques bring the poem closer to folklore? (style of folklore storytelling, songs, riddles - Nobody saw him,
And everyone has heard,
Without a body - but it lives,
Without a tongue - screams;
proverbs, sayings, phraseological units - some kind of whim will stick in your head - you can’t knock it out of there with a stake; “I looked - I scattered my mind”, fairy-tale motifs - “self-assembled tablecloth”, talking animals). It is also no coincidence that the author talks about seven men; it was the number seven that was a sacred number in Rus'.
The poem is written in “free” language, as close as possible to common speech. Researchers call the verse of the poem Nekrasov’s “brilliant find.” Free and flexible poetic meter and independence from rhyme opened up the opportunity to generously convey the originality of the folk language, preserving all its accuracy.
Thus, we can conclude that in his work A.N. Nekrasov uses a fairy-tale beginning; the author seeks to embrace the country not only in its present, but also in the past - in all its historical significance and geographical immensity + the author's irony over the unformed consciousness of the peasant.
- Let's turn to the plot of the prologue:
The narrative of the poem begins with a riddle, try to solve it
In what year - calculate
In which land - guess...(1st stanza)
(The land is all of Rus': poor, ruined, hungry. The year is the time of “temporarily obliged” peasants (disclosure of the term)? Liberation of peasants from any point in Russia (speaking toponymy)
Conclusion: sedentary Russia begins to move. Let's prove this with examples from the text:
Another unconscious step of the peasants is leaving home (but at the same time for many)
Chance meeting + association and path side by side.
What path lies before them? They do not know.
Motive “Go there, I don’t know where.
What problem does the author pose in the first chapters of the novel? (The problem of national happiness after the abolition of serfdom)
What feelings that N.A. Nekrasov felt for his people were reflected in the “Prologue” (Compassion, pity)
Why do the men there ask little for the tablecloth - self-assembly? (Because the thought of free wealth does not occur to them, they only ask for what they need)
- Compose a syncwine on the topic: “Heroes of the poem”
Example: guys
hungry, unhappy
argue, search, think
who is at ease in Rus'
people
4. Questions and tasks for discussing the chapter “Pop”, “Rural Fair”. Compiling a table
Did the men find happiness in this chapter? Why does the priest himself consider himself unhappy? So How does the chapter depict the situation of the peasants? What troubles befall them? (No, they didn’t find it, the peasants come across mostly “small people” - peasants, artisans, beggars, soldiers. The travelers don’t even ask them anything: what kind of happiness is there?
The priest considers himself unhappy, because happiness, in the priest’s opinion, lies in three things: “peace, wealth, honor,” and this, after the abolition of serfdom, no longer exists.
What words and expressions paint figurative pictures of the life of the priest and peasants? What is the author's attitude towards them? The peasant himself is in need and would be glad to give, but there is nothing..., the author treats the peasants with pity:
There is no heart to endure.
Without any trepidation
Death rattle
Funeral lament
Orphan's sadness!

Let's make a table (in the future, students will supplement this table with other examples)
Chapter Hero Causes of misfortune
"Pop" Soldiers Soldiers shave with an awl,
Soldiers warm themselves with smoke -
What happiness is there?
"Pop" Pop No peace, wealth and honor

Questions and tasks for discussing the chapter “Rural Fair”, “Feast for the Whole World”
What, according to Nekrasov, prevented the peasants from being happy? What are the best and worst features of the Russian national character that Nekrasov depicts in the poem? Let's create a cluster (a cluster can be created in any form)
Peasants - fights, drunkenness, laziness, rudeness, lack of education, BUT - kindness, simplicity, mutual assistance, sincerity, hard work
4. Independent work of students.
Answer the following questions in writing:
Who is Pavlusha Veretennikov? What is his lifestyle? What author's characteristics of this image did you notice?
What meaning does the author give to the image of a bench “with paintings and books” at the fair? What is his attitude towards public education?
What mood does this chapter evoke? Why, despite adversity, did the Russian peasant not consider himself unhappy? What qualities of the Russian peasant do the author admire?
Conclusions.
Nekrasov, following Pushkin and Gogol, decided to depict a broad canvas of the life of the Russian people and their main mass - the Russian peasant of the post-reform era, to show the predatory nature of the peasant reform and the deterioration of the people's lot. At the same time, the author’s task included satirical image"tops", where the poet follows Gogol's traditions. But the main thing is to demonstrate the talent, will, perseverance and optimism of the Russian peasant. In its stylistic features and poetic intonations, the poem is close to works of folklore. The composition of the poem is complex, first of all, because its concept changed over time, the work remained unfinished, and a number of fragments were not published due to censorship restrictions.

Quiz
1. Who is bigger?
What are the names of the villages from which the men came? (Zaplatovo, Znobishino, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Gorelovo, Neelovo, Neurozhaika).
2. What are the names of the characters in the poem? (Roman, Demyan, Ivan, Mitrodor, old man Pakhom, Prov, Luka).
3. Who, according to the heroes of the poem, lives happily and freely in Rus'? (landowner, official, priest, merchant, noble boyar, sovereign minister, tsar).

The epic poem is dedicated to a peasant (Russian man) who finds himself at a crossroads (this image appears repeatedly in the text), searching for himself and his path in life.
The first chapters prepare the reader to perceive and understand the intent of the poem - to show Rus' at a turning point.
III. Reflection.
- Do you think Nekrasov himself knew the answer to the question posed in the title of the poem?
Gleb Uspensky conveys his conversation with Nekrasov this way: “Once I asked him: “What will be the end of ‘Who lives well in Rus'’?” And what do you think?
Nekrasov smiled and waited.
This smile made me understand that N.A. Nekrasov has some kind of unexpected answer to my question, and in order to evoke it, I randomly named one of the lucky ones named at the beginning of the poem. This? - I asked.
- Here you go! What happiness there!
And Nekrasov, with few but vivid features, outlined the countless dark moments and ghostly joys of the lucky man I named. So who? - I asked again.
And then Nekrasov, smiling again, said with emphasis: ....”
- What are your assumptions? (guys' answers)
End quote:
- Drink-no-mu!
Then he told how exactly he intended to finish the poem. Not finding a happy person in Rus', the wandering men return to their seven villages: Gorelov, Neelov, etc. These villages are “adjacent”, stand close to each other, and from each there is a path to the tavern. Here at this tavern they meet a drunken man, “belted with a sash,” and with him, over a glass, they find out who has a good life.
- Is this the answer the poem itself gives? We will talk about this in the next lessons and maybe change this opinion
Homework: Finish reading the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Finish filling out the table.

According to the researchers, “it is impossible to establish the exact date when work on the poem began, but it is clear that 1861 served as the starting point for its conception.” In it Nekrasov, in his own words, “he decided to present in a coherent story everything that he knew about the people, everything that he happened to hear from their lips.” “This will be an epic of modern peasant life,” said the poet.

By 1865, the first part of the work was basically completed. The same year, 1865, researchers date the emergence of the idea for “The Last One” and “The Peasant Woman”. “The Last One” was completed in 1872, “The Peasant Woman” - in 1873. At the same time, in 1873-1874, “A Feast for the Whole World” was conceived, on which the poet worked in 1876-1877. The poem remained unfinished. The dying Nekrasov bitterly told one of his contemporary that his poem was “a thing that can only have its meaning as a whole.” “When I started,” the author admitted, “I didn’t clearly see where it would end, but now everything has worked out for me, and I feel that the poem would win and win.”

The incompleteness of the poem and the length of work on it, which also affected the evolution of the author’s thought and the author’s task, make it extremely difficult to solve the problem of design, which, not by chance, has become one of the controversial ones for non-krasologists.

In the “Prologue,” a clear plot line is outlined - seven temporary peasants who met by chance began arguing about “who lives happily and freely in Rus'”: the landowner, the official, the priest, the “thick-bellied merchant,” “the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister,” or the tsar. Without resolving the dispute, they “promised to each other” “not to toss and turn in their houses”, “not to see their wives or little children”, “until they find out, / No matter what - for certain, / Who lives happily, / At ease in Rus'."

How to interpret this storyline? Did Nekrasov want to show in the poem that only the “tops” are happy, or did he intend to create a picture of a universal, painful, difficult existence in Rus'? After all, already the first possible “candidates” for the lucky ones that the men met - the priest and the landowner - painted very sad pictures of the life of the entire priestly and landowner class. And the landowner even takes the question itself: is he happy, as a joke and jokingly, “like a doctor, he felt everyone’s hand, looked into their faces, / grabbed his sides / And began to laugh...” The question of the landowner’s happiness seems to him ridiculous. At the same time, each of the narrators, both the priest and the landowner, complaining about their lot, opens the reader to the opportunity to see the reasons for their misfortunes. All of them are not of a personal nature, but are connected with the life of the country, with the poverty of the peasantry and the ruin of the landowners after the reform of 1861.

In Nekrasov’s rough drafts, the chapter “Death” remained, which told about the plight in Russia during the anthrax epidemic. In this chapter, the men listen to the story of the official’s misfortunes. After this chapter, Nekrasov, according to his confession, “finishes off with that guy who claimed that the official was happy.” But even in this chapter, as can be judged from the remaining notes, the story about the moral suffering of an official, forced to take the last crumbs from the peasants, opens up new aspects of the unified picture of all-Russian life, the hardships and suffering of the people.

The author’s plan for continuing the poem includes the arrival of the men in “St. Petersburg” and a meeting with the “sovereign minister” and the tsar, who, perhaps, also had to talk about their affairs and troubles. At the end of the poem, Nekrasov, according to the recollections of people close to him, wanted to complete the story about the misfortunes of Russia with a general pessimistic conclusion: it is good to live in Rus' only if you are drunk. Relaying his plan from Nekrasov’s words, Gleb Uspensky wrote: “Not finding a happy person in Rus', wandering men return to their seven villages: Gorelov, Neelov, etc. These villages are adjacent, that is, they are close to each other, and from each there is a path to the tavern. It’s at this tavern that they meet a drunken man, “belted with a sash,” and with him, over a glass, they find out who has a good life.”

And if the poem had developed only according to this intended scheme: consistently telling about the meetings of wanderers with representatives of all classes, about the troubles and sorrows of priests and landowners, officials and peasants, then the author’s intention could be understood as a desire to show the illusory nature of the well-being of everyone in Rus' estates - from the peasantry to the nobility.

But Nekrasov already in the first part deviates from the main storyline: after meeting with the priest, the men go to the “rural fair” to question the “men and women”, to look for the happy ones among them. The chapter from part two - “The Last One” - is not connected with the storyline outlined in the “Prologue”. She presents one of the episodes on the path of the men: a story about the “stupid comedy” played by the Vakhlak men. After “The Last One,” Nekrasov writes the chapter “Peasant Woman,” dedicated to the fates of two peasants - Matryona Timofeevna and Savely Korchagin. But here, too, Nekrasov complicates the task to the utmost: behind the stories of the two peasants there emerges a generalized, broad picture of the life of the entire Russian peasantry. Almost all aspects of this life are touched upon by Nekrasov: raising children, the problem of marriage, intra-family relations, the problem of “recruitment”, the relationship of peasants with the authorities (from the smallest rulers of their destinies - mayors and managers - to landowners and governors).

IN last years Nekrasov’s life, seemingly clearly deviating from the intended scheme, is working on the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World,” the central theme of which is the tragic past of the Russian people, the search for the causes of the people’s tragedy and reflection on the future fate of the people.

It is impossible not to notice that some other plot lines outlined in the Prologue do not receive development. Thus, it can be assumed that the search for the happy should have taken place against the backdrop of national disaster: in the Prologue and the first part of the poem, the leitmotif is the idea of ​​impending famine. Famine is also prophesied by the description of winter and spring; it is foreshadowed by the priest met by the peasants, the “feisty Old Believers.” For example, the priest’s words sound like a terrible prophecy:

Pray, Orthodox Christians!
Great trouble threatens
And this year:
The winter was fierce
Spring is rainy
It should have been sowing long ago,
And there is water in the fields!

But these prophecies disappear in further parts of the poem. In the chapters from the second and third parts created by Nekrasov, on the contrary, the richness of the crops being grown, the beauty of the fields of rye and wheat, and the peasant joy at the sight of the future harvest are emphasized.

Another intended line does not find development either - the prophecy-warning of the warbler bird, which gave the men a self-assembled tablecloth, that they should not ask the tablecloth for more than what they are entitled to, otherwise “they will be in trouble.” According to the traditions of the folk tale, on which the Prologue is based, this warning should have been fulfilled. But it is not fulfilled, moreover, in “A Feast for the Whole World,” written by Nekrasov in 1876-1877, the self-assembled tablecloth itself disappears.

At one time V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov expressed the point of view accepted by many researchers of the poem: that its concept has changed. “Under the influence of what was happening in the country,” suggested V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov, - the poet resolutely pushes into the background the question of the happiness of the “fat-bellied merchant”, “official”, “noble boyar - minister of the sovereign”, finally, the “tsar” and devoted his poem entirely to the question of what life was like for the people and what the paths lead to people's happiness." B.Ya. also writes about the same thing. Bukhshtab: “The topic of lack of happiness in folk life already in the first part of the poem it prevails over the theme of the master’s grief, and in subsequent parts it completely displaces it.<...>At some stage of work on the poem, the idea of ​​asking the owners of life whether they were happy completely disappeared or was pushed back.” The idea that the plan changed during the work on the poem is shared by V.V. Prokshin. In his opinion, the original plan was supplanted by a new idea - to show the evolution of wanderers: “travel quickly makes men wise. Their new thoughts and intentions are revealed in a new storyline of the search for true national happiness. This second line not only complements, but decisively displaces the first.”

A different point of view was expressed by K.I. Chukovsky. He argued that the “real intention” of the poem was initially the author’s desire to show “how deeply unhappy the people were “blessed” by the notorious reform,” “and only to disguise this secret plan the poet raised the problem of the well-being of merchants, landowners, priests and royal dignitaries, which in fact had nothing to do with the plot.” Fairly objecting to K. Chukovsky, B.Ya. Bukhshtab points out the vulnerability of this judgment: the theme of people's suffering is the central theme of Nekrasov's works, and in order to address it, there was no need for a disguise plot.

However, a number of researchers, with some clarification, share the position of K.I. Chukovsky, for example, L.A. Evstigneeva. She defines Nekrasov’s innermost plan differently, seeing it in the poet’s desire to show that the happiness of the people lies in his own hands. In other words, the meaning of the poem is a call for a peasant revolution. Comparing different editions of the poem, L.A. Evstigneeva notes that fairy-tale images did not appear immediately, but only in the second edition of the poem. One of their main functions, according to the researcher, is to “disguise the revolutionary meaning of the poem.” But at the same time, they are intended not only to be a means of Aesopian storytelling. “The special form of folk poetic tale found by Nekrasov organically included elements of folklore: fairy tales, songs, epics, parables, etc. The same warbler bird that gives the men a magical tablecloth, answers their question about happiness and contentment: “If you find it, you will find it yourself.” Thus, already in the “Prologue” Nekrasov’s central idea is born that the happiness of the people is in their own hands,” believes L.A. Evstigneeva.

The researcher sees proof of his point of view in the fact that already in the first part Nekrasov deviates from the plot scheme outlined in the Prologue: truth-seekers, contrary to their own plans, begin to look for the lucky ones among the peasants. This indicates, according to L.A. Evstigneeva, that “the action of the poem develops not according to the plot scheme, but in accordance with the development of Nekrasov’s innermost plan.” Based on examination of both the final text and the rough drafts, the researcher concludes: “<...>The widespread opinion about a radical change in the intent of the poem is not confirmed by analysis of the manuscripts. There was an embodiment of the plan, its implementation and, at the same time, complication, but not evolution as such. The architectonics of the poem reflected this process. The originality of the compositional structure of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” lies in the fact that it is based not on the development of the plot, but on the implementation of Nekrasov’s grandiose idea - about the inevitability of a people’s revolution - born at the moment of the highest rise of the liberation struggle of the 60s.”

A similar point of view is expressed by M.V. Teplinsky. He believes that “from the very beginning, Nekrasov’s plan was not identical to peasant ideas about the direction of the search for the supposed lucky man. The poem was structured in such a way as not only to show the falsity of peasant illusions, but also to lead wanderers (and with them readers) to the perception of the revolutionary democratic idea of ​​​​the need to fight for people's happiness. Nekrasov had to prove that Russian reality itself forces wanderers to change their original point of view.” Thus, according to the researcher, the idea is to show the path to people's happiness.

Summing up the thoughts of the researchers, it should be said that Nekrasov’s plan cannot be reduced to one idea, to one thought. Creating the “epic of peasant life,” the poet sought to cover in his poem all aspects of people’s life, all the problems that the reform clearly revealed: the poverty of the peasants, and the moral consequences of the “age-old illness” - slavery, which formed “habits”, certain ideas, norms of behavior and attitude to life. According to the fair observation of F.M. Dostoevsky, the fate of the people is determined by their national character. This idea turns out to be very close to the author of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” A journey through Rus' also becomes a journey into the depths of the Russian soul, reveals the Russian soul and ultimately explains the vicissitudes of Russian history.

But no less important is another meaning of the journey that the heroes undertake at the will of the author. The plot of the journey, already known in ancient Russian literature, had a special meaning: the movement of the heroes of ancient Russian hagiographic works in geographical space became “movement along the vertical scale of religious and moral values,” and “geography acted as a type of knowledge.” Researchers noted a “special attitude towards the traveler and travel” among ancient Russian scribes: “a long journey increases the holiness of a person.” This perception of wandering as a moral quest, the moral improvement of a person, is fully characteristic of Nekrasov. The journey of his wanderers symbolizes Rus' seeking truth, Rus', “awakened” and “full of strength” to find the answer to the question of the reasons for its misfortune, about the “secret” of “people's contentment.”

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”: concept, plot, composition. Review of the contents of the poem. Historical information about the peasant reform of 1861

On February 19, 1861, Alexander II issued a Manifesto and Regulations that abolished serfdom. What did the men get from the gentlemen?

The peasants were promised personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property. The land was recognized as the property of landowners. Landowners were charged with the responsibility of allocating a plot of land and field plots to the peasants.

The peasants had to buy the land from the landowner. The transition to the purchase of land plots depended not on the wishes of the peasants, but on the will of the landowner. The peasants who, with his permission, switched to the redemption of land plots were called owners, and those who did not switch to the redemption were called temporarily obligated. For the right to use the plot of land received from the landowner before the transfer to redemption, they had to fulfill compulsory duties (pay quitrent or work corvée).

The establishment of temporary obligatory relations preserves the feudal system of exploitation for an indefinite period. The value of the allotment was determined not by the actual market value of the land, but by the income received by the landowner from the estate under serfdom. When buying land, peasants paid for it twice and three times its actual value. For landowners, the redemption operation made it possible to retain full size the income they received before the reform.

The beggarly allotment could not feed the peasant, and he had to go to the same landowner with a request to accept sharecropping: to cultivate the master's land with his own tools and receive half the harvest for his labor. This mass enslavement of the peasants ended with the massive destruction of the old village. In no other country in the world has the peasantry experienced such ruin, such poverty, even after “liberation”, as in Russia. That is why the first reaction to the Manifesto and the Regulations was the open resistance of the bulk of the peasantry, expressed in the refusal to accept these documents.

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is Nekrasov’s pinnacle work.

Nekrasov, following Pushkin and Gogol, decided to depict a broad canvas of the life of the Russian people and their main mass - the Russian peasant of the post-reform era, to show the predatory nature of the peasant reform and the deterioration of the people's lot. An important image of the poem is the image of the road, which brings the author’s position closer to the motifs of the biblical way of the cross, with the traditions of Gogol and Russian folklore. At the same time, the author’s task also included a satirical depiction of the “tops,” where the poet follows Gogol’s traditions. But the main thing is to demonstrate the talent, will, perseverance and optimism of the Russian peasant. In its stylistic features and poetic intonations, the poem is close to works of folklore. The composition of the poem is complex primarily because its concept changed over time, the work remained unfinished, and a number of fragments were not published due to censorship restrictions.

1. The idea of ​​the poem.“The people are liberated, but are the people happy?” - this line from “Elegy” explains Nekrasov’s position in relation to the peasant reform of 1861, which only formally deprived the landowners of their former power, but in fact deceived and robbed peasant Rus'.

2. The history of the creation of the poem. The poem was begun shortly after the peasant reform. The poet worked on the poem from 1863 to 1877, that is, about 14 years. Nekrasov considered its goal to be the depiction of the disadvantaged lower peasantry, among whom - as in all of Russia - there is no happy person. The search for happiness among the upper echelons of society was for Nekrasov only a compositional device. The happiness of the “strong” and “well-fed” was beyond doubt for him. The very word “lucky”, according to Nekrasov, is a synonym for a representative of the privileged classes. Depicting the ruling classes (priest, landowner), Nekrasov first of all focuses on the fact that the reform hit not so much “with one end on the master” as “with the other on the peasant.”

3. Composition of the poem. During the work on the poem, its concept changed, but the poem was never completed by the author, so in criticism there is no consensus on its composition, there is no exact location of its chapters.

The poet calls the wanderers “temporarily obliged,” which shows that the poem was begun no later than 1863, since later this term was very rarely applied to peasants.

Under the chapter “Landowner” there is a date set by the author - 1865, which indicates that before that the poet worked on its first part.

Dates of writing other chapters: “The Last One” - 1872; “Peasant Woman” - 1873; "A Feast for the Whole World" - 1877

Nekrasov wrote “A Feast for the Whole World” while already in a state of mortal illness, but he did not consider this part to be the last, intending to continue the poem with the image of wanderers in St. Petersburg.

It was V.V. Gippius who found in the poem itself objective indications of the sequence of parts: “Time is calculated in it “according to the calendar”: the action of the “Prologue” begins in the spring, when the birds build nests and the cuckoo crows. In the chapter “Pop,” the wanderers say: “And the time is not early, the month of May is approaching.” In the chapter “Rural Fair” there is a mention: “The weather only stared at Nikola in the spring”; Apparently, on St. Nicholas Day (May 9, old style) the fair itself takes place. “The Last One” also begins with the exact date: “Petrovka. It's a hot time. Haymaking is in full swing." In “A Feast for the Whole World” the haymaking is already over: the peasants are going to the market with hay. Finally, in “The Peasant Woman” - the harvest. The events described in “A Feast for the Whole World” refer to early autumn (Gregory is picking mushrooms in Chapter IV), and the “St. Petersburg part” conceived but not implemented by Nekrasov was supposed to take place in winter, when wanderers would come to St. Petersburg to seek access to “ to the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister.” Presumably, the poem could have ended with the St. Petersburg episodes.”

The poet did not have time to make an order about the sequence of parts of the poem. The only thing that is known is that Nekrasov wanted to place the part “A Feast for the Whole World” after “The Last One.” So, literary scholars have come to the conclusion that behind the “Prologue. Part One” should be followed by the parts “Peasant Woman”, “Last One”, “Feast for the Whole World”. All these parts are connected by the theme of the road.

4. Genre of the poem. According to M. G. Kachurin, “before us epic» – piece of art, which reflects “great historical events, entire eras in the life of the country and people.” The objectivity of the depiction of life is expressed in the fact that the author’s voice is fused with the collective consciousness of the nation; the author depicts life, assessing it from the position of the people. Hence the connection of the poem with folklore, with the people's perception of existence. Thus, “Who lives well in Rus'” - realistic epic poem.

About the plot. The plot is close to folk tales about men's search for a happy man. The beginning of the poem (“In what year - calculate, in what land - guess ...") resembles a fairy tale beginning. Seven men from six the villages “came together”, argued (“Who lives happily and freely in Rus'?”) and went in search of a truly happy person. Everything that the wanderers saw during their journey through Rus', who they met, who they listened to, forms the content of the epic poem.