The relevance of the poem to whom in Russia to live well. Scientific work Folklore motifs in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Russia

Poetry has always played an important role in Russian literature. Russian authors have made a significant contribution to the world cultural heritage. Nikolai Nekrasov, perhaps one of the most significant Russian poets, whose work resonates deeply in the soul of every person, also made his contribution. His unfinished poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" became the highest point of the writer's creative life. He put all his creative strength and experience into it, and today most people know about Nekrasov precisely because of his latest creation. The wise Litrekon advises you to delve into a detailed analysis of this work in order to see all the riches of form and content that the poet has invested in his book.

Nekrasov began working on this poem in the sixties of the nineteenth century, when the Russian Empire stood at a historical crossroads, and enthusiasm reigned in the country and a thirst for change arose.

The author came up with a truly epic idea: to create a poem of 6-8 parts that would cover all spheres of life in Russian society. He began work in the early 60s, and already in 1865 the first part of the book was ready. The history of the writing of the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is quite interesting facts:

1. The poet published the Prologue in his journal Sovremennik, and immediately faced censorship. Reactionary and pro-government publications pounced on the published fragment, and the censorship authorities set about editing the work with redoubled enthusiasm. Nekrasov, being an editor, was forced to generously pay off officials in order to release his creation into the light. He organized dinners, hunting and other events at his own expense, if only the inspectors were loyal and looked at his offspring through their fingers. These corrupt tricks helped him to "smuggle" more than one dubious work.
2. Despite such tricks, the publication of fragments from the poem dragged on for 4 years. The writer felt worse and worse. Large-scale plans began to seem unrealizable. In the 70s, he finished a few more parts, but realized that this was the limit. N. A. Nekrasov was sick with cancer, and he knew that his days were numbered. To give his work a semantic completeness, he wrote an Epilogue in the chapter "A Feast for the Whole World." There, the author described in detail the image of the only lucky man in Russia, seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov. However, the seven wanderers never found the one they were looking for. The finale, conceived by the poet, is very symbolic: the poem is not finished, the travelers did not notice their lucky man, because the people had just begun to adapt to new realities and had not yet realized where their happiness was.

The creative history and publication of the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” once again prove that the problems that N.A. Nekrasov, really existed.

Direction, genre, size

• The genre of the work is an epic poem. It is distinguished by such features as a linear composition, a plot covering an entire era, an abundance of characters and storylines, and an impressive volume.
• The direction in which the poet developed his talent is called "realism", however, folklore motifs are obvious in this work. So, in the first part of the poem, fabulous and epic symbols are concentrated: magic numbers 7, 14, 3, talking animals endowed with magical qualities, characteristic coincidences of place and time (dark night in a thicker thicket). However, further the heroes encounter only phenomena from the real world , and everything that reminds of forest magic fits on a self-assembled tablecloth. The descriptions of village life are depicted in such detail and honesty that elegant poetry hardly smoothes the overall impression: men drunk to a fever lie in a pit, some women singing pakhabny songs follow their example. In another chapter, the boy is eaten by pigs. In a word, the author does not skimp on realism, there is as much of it as you like. Thus, the direction characteristic of the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" is more precisely defined as "mystical realism". This concept combines all the features mentioned above: both fantastic folk motifs, and a detailed depiction of reality, it has both fantasy and realism.
• Genus of the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" lyrics and epic. From the poem, it contains a poetic form, poetic symbols and author's digressions. But at the same time, there is a clear storyline and many characters, and the actions of the characters are presented as something influential and large-scale, which makes Nekrasov's creation related to epic literature. This is the genre originality of the work “To whom it is good to live in Russia”: this is not just a great poem, but a lyric-epic poem.
• The poem was written in iambic, the author tried to give it folk features with the help of a special rhythm, a language replete with folk verbal turns.

Composition

The problem of the composition of the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is due to its incompleteness. Initially, the product was supposed to be twice as large as the final result. Due to the imminent death, Nekrasov was forced to reduce the volume of the poem.

As a result, the main part turned out to be much shorter than planned, and takes only two parts, the climax comes in the third, and the finale in the fourth.

The structure of “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is not a consequence of the work of the writer, but the choice of his friends. He passed away so suddenly that he did not even have time to introduce a certain order into the manuscripts. But his close people remembered how important this creation was for the poet, and collected the chapters into a single work after the death of the author. This explains the illogicality and fragmentation of some episodes. There is no complete and solid connection between them.

The order of the chapters is depicted in detail in chapter by chapter from the Wise Litrekon.

essence

Seven peasants, who met by chance on the road, are trying to find the answer to the question: "Who lives happily, freely in Russia?" Every man has his own opinion. The list includes almost all estates, from the clergy to the Russian emperor. Unable to find a consensus, the heroes decide to go on a journey and ask the answer personally from a representative of each class.

During their journey, they meet both a priest and a landowner - however, they are surprised to learn that the powerful of this world live as badly as the rest, and there is no happiness in their lives. However, the main emphasis is on the difficult life and suffering of the peasants, living in poverty and ignorance.

At the climax of the poem, the peasants encounter Grigory Dobrosklonov, a seminarian, singer, and people's intercessor. This young man is a symbol of the emerging national consciousness, an ideological fighter who is ready to give his life for the happiness of his people. It is him that Nekrasov considers the happiest person in Russia, because it is Grigory who is destined to change it. Litrekon spoke in more detail about the content of the poem in a reader's diary.

Main characters and their characteristics

The system of images in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is divided into several types of heroes:

1. Serfs are peasants for whom slavery has become the meaning of life. They do not imagine themselves without a master.
2. Wanderers-truth-seekers - seven men looking for the answer to their question.
3. People's defenders are ordinary people who dared to rebel against the system and to protect their own kind. Here they are, there is a complete list.
4. Sinners are heroes who have gone through the temptation of sin and temptation. A separate chapter is dedicated to them. These stories become instructive parables for ordinary people.
5. The oppressors are the upper classes who profit from the grief of the people. These are the landowners and the highest nobility.
6. Female images are, as a rule, martyrs from the peasantry who sacrifice themselves for the sake of their families and children.
7. The rest of the characters are included in the category "people".

In addition, N.A. Nekrasov depicted the image of Russia in the poem. This is a poor, but at the same time spiritually rich country that needs to be updated. She is generous towards her people, but bound by the chains of autocracy.

The distribution of heroes by type is clearly presented in the table from the Wise Litrekon:

There are many more heroes in the poem, and the Wise Litrekon will gladly tell about them if you write about this need in the comments.

Topics

The theme in the poem “Who should live well in Russia” is an interesting reason for thinking of a modern person:

1. Happiness- The search for and achievement of happiness is put in the first place by Nekrasov and his characters. Despite all the horrors and injustices of life, the writer believed that sooner or later the Russian people would be able to build a new happy world.
2. Patriotism- Love for the homeland of Nekrasov is expressed in selfless service to ordinary people. Only one who is ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of the happiness of his people is a true patriot of his country.
3. Motherland- Serving one's fatherland and people is the highest virtue, according to Nekrasov. Russia needs its heroes, and it deserves their help. It is rich and plentiful, generous and complaisant, beautiful and majestic. It is possible and necessary to live well on this earth.
4. People theme- The Russian people in the poem are presented as poor, tired, oppressed and downtrodden, but at the same time, the people retained their responsiveness, desire for justice and mutual assistance. Nekrasov believed that the Russian people were at the beginning of a new, better era, where there would be no oppression and injustice.
5. road theme- The journey of seven men along the roads of Russia symbolizes a long way that the Russian people have yet to go in order to realize their potential.
6. Landscape- In the poem, Nekrasov gravitates towards the landscapes of provincial peasant Russia. Endless fields, dark forests and dull villages immerse us in the life of ordinary Russian workers of that time. Nature in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" becomes a true friend of the peasants. So, it was alone with the forest and the field that Matryona found peace of mind and strength to continue her hard life.
7. Generosity- The Russian peasant is shown as a sincere generous person who is ready to help those in trouble and even sacrifice their well-being to help their neighbor. Such, for example, is the episode when Pavel Veretennikov gives Vavila money for a gift for his granddaughter.
8. Exile theme also found its way into the text. So, it is precisely the exile to hard labor that punishes the people's defenders - Savely and (in the future) Gregory. This indicates that the greatest grief for a Russian person is separation from his native land.

The moral lessons of the poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is a call for justice and humanity, addressed to all classes, but most of all to the nobles, who are close to the sovereign and can influence the fate of the people.

Main problems

The social and moral problems of the poem “Who should live well in Russia” demonstrate the eternal questions that Russian people are still looking for answers to. Many problems are still unresolved.

In his poem, Nekrasov depicted the withering away of the old world. And the birth of a new one. Russia, which is on the border of two eras, is embarking on the path of change.

On the one hand, we see the survivals of the nobility and traces of serfdom, which mutilate the Russian people, turn them into an amorphous mass of ignorant slaves. On the other hand, we see how the rudiments of self-awareness gradually appear in the peasants, how real patriots of their homeland appear, like Girin and Dobrosklonov. This is the main idea of ​​the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" - to show global changes in Russia and inspire readers to improve the country.

The main idea and author's position of Nekrasov is that Russia will enter a new era renewed and free, and its people will live in peace and prosperity. But for this, people need to unite and realize the new status: she is not subjects and not serfs, but citizens with their own rights and duties.

Folklore and language

Wanting to immerse the reader in the atmosphere of an ordinary Russian province, the poet resorted to a bold combination of literary, colloquial speech and folklore elements. Nekrasov often uses diminutive suffixes and changes the endings of words to dialect ones, which allows him to convey the melodiousness and softness characteristic of folk speech. Numerous inversions are also used:

I bow my head
I carry an angry heart!

A huge amount of folk humor is woven into the story. For example, Nekrasov describes how one wanderer taught girls to sing in his memory, but only later it turned out that he simply “spoiled” them. And about the death of a person, his heroes talk like this:

"Hundred days chirel yes dry"

A variety of songs, riddles, proverbs, legends and epics are often wedged into the plot. For example, the song "Salty", which Grisha Dobrosklonova's mother composed due to a lack of salt.

Criticism

"To whom in Russia to live well" was stormily received by readers and critics.

The literary critic Burenin, noticing some vulgarity and anecdote inherent in Nekrasov's poem, noted its expressiveness and significance. He especially liked the depiction of dying serfdom.

Critics expressed the main idea of ​​the poet's work more than once:

Even a few lines written out by us are enough for the reader to see how Nekrasov, in his last work, remained true to his everlasting idea: to arouse the sympathy of the upper classes for the common people, their needs and needs ... "(M. Velinsky," "To whom it’s good to live in Russia” Nekrasov”, “Kyiv Telegraph”, 1869, May 19, No. 57)

Another critic, Avseenko, accused the writer of being obsolete. The publicist saw in the work only vaudeville and an anecdote. He argued that the problems described by Nekrasov in the poem have long been irrelevant.

Also, reviewers condemned the excessive length of the work:

“This poem is somewhat stretched out, in it you encounter many scenes that are completely superfluous, hindering the overall impression, tiring the reader in vain and thereby in no way harming the integrity of the impression. But for all that, Nekrasov's poem has inalienable merits; there is so much feeling in it, so much a deep understanding of life, that somehow one involuntarily forgets, all minor shortcomings are erased. Many scenes of this poem are felt and expressed so vividly and strongly that you involuntarily run through them several times and the more you read them, the more beautiful they seem ... ”(“ New Time ”, April 22, 1870, No. 109)

And yet, critics recognized that Nekrasov's book is a truly folk work in which every Russian person recognizes himself

Not a single folk book, written with the special purpose of teaching the people, will be as clear to him as "Pedlars" and "Who Lives Well in Russia." And all because every peasant will find in them an echo of his concepts and aspirations; all because he senses in them his simple, artless, human feeling, conveyed in a characteristic and native language; all because the poet taught our people and knows them like no one else.” (critic under the pseudonym A. S., "New Time", 1873, No. 61)

The significance of the poem was also emphasized by the modern critic Dmitry Bykov:

“To whom in Russia it is good to live” is not a satirical poem at all, it is a normal folk epic. The epic of wandering, the Russian "Odyssey", divided into seven, because it is impossible to wander alone in Russia. Not only will you not survive, but you have no one to drink with, no one to talk to.

“To Whom in Russia to Live Well” is considered one of the most famous and significant works of Russian literature, a landmark in the work of the great poet Nekrasov.

Studying the writers of the nineteenth century, one cannot ignore Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. He devoted most of his works to the common people, sought to understand and reveal the Russian soul, often touched on the topic of the liberation of peasants from serfdom. The epic poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” was no exception - the most ambitious work of the poet.

The beginning of the plot in the poem occurs when seven peasants, seven temporarily obligated peasants from different villages, begin to argue about “who lives happily, freely in Russia?” So, without concurring, the main characters go in search of "lucky ones", leaving all their affairs.

It is noteworthy that Nekrasov uses folklore and many fairy-tale elements in his work. I think this allowed the author not only to build a logical composition of the poem, but also to show the people's eternal desire for truth, the belief that good always triumphs over evil.

The first on the way the wanderers meet the priest. He sees happiness in "peace, wealth, honor", and with longing recalls the serf-owning past. Then the church was maintained by wealthy landowners, but with the advent of the new reform they went bankrupt, which could not but affect the material condition of the clergy. The heavy burden of maintaining the clergy fell on the shoulders of the peasant, who "himself needs, and would be glad to give, but there is nothing."

The landowners Obolt-Obolduev and Utyatin, who are found in the poem, also have similar concepts of happiness. They mourn the abolition of serfdom, the loss of their former idleness and luxury of life. Now, everything that was so dear to them was taken away from the landowners: obedient slaves and land, but most of all they regret the loss of their power:

Whom I want - I have mercy

Whoever I want, I will execute.

Law is my wish!

The fist is my police!

And among the common people, seven men are trying to find happy ones. So, those who want to drink a free cup talk about their happiness: the old woman rejoices that “up to a thousand rap was born on a small ridge”, a soldier that “in twenty battles ... was, and not killed”, a courtyard man is happy that he has a “disease honorary”, the bricklayer is proud of his extraordinary strength. But none of the narrators really convinces our wanderers that he is happy. Rather, their joy is based on material possessions, an amazing accident, or simply the absence of unhappiness. No wonder the chapter "happy" ends with the following lines:

Hey, happiness man!

Leaky with patches

Humpbacked with calluses

Get off home.

At the fair, the main characters are told a story about Ermil Girin. "He had everything that is necessary for happiness: peace of mind, money, and honor." That honor was gained by intelligence, honest work and kindness, Yermil enjoyed great respect among the people. It would seem that the men found a happy one, but even this character cannot be considered as such, because he ended up in prison for supporting the peasant uprising.

In his poem, Nekrasov pays special attention to the female image, the difficult fate of Matryona Timofeevna. But you can call her happy only before marriage (“I was lucky in the girls: we had a good, non-drinking family”). Matryona had many difficult trials, which she endured with enviable fortitude, courageously withstood: instead of her son, she lay down under the rods, and saved her husband from recruitment, and survived the famine. It is impossible not to admire the image of a Russian woman who is a double slave: the slave of her husband and the peasantry, but who has retained her honor and dignity. The people consider her happy, but Matrena Timofeevna herself does not agree with this: “It’s not a matter of looking for a happy woman among women.”

I think it is no coincidence that Nekrasov at the end of the poem introduces the image of the "people's protector" Grisha Dobrosklonov. And although fate prepared for the hero "consumption and Siberia", from childhood he decided to devote his whole life to ensuring that "every peasant lived freely and cheerfully in all of holy Russia." In my opinion, it was in the image of Grisha Dobrosklonov that Nekrasov displayed the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe work: true happiness is to make everyone around happy, and this can be achieved only when thoughts of revolutionary transformation enter the people's consciousness.

To whom in Russia to live well? This issue still worries many people, and this fact explains the increased attention to the legendary poem by Nekrasov. The author managed to raise a topic that has become eternal in Russia - the topic of asceticism, voluntary self-denial in the name of saving the fatherland. It is the service of a high goal that makes a Russian person happy, as the writer proved using the example of Grisha Dobrosklonov.

“Who is living well in Russia” is one of the last works of Nekrasov. When he wrote it, he was already seriously ill: he was struck by cancer. That is why it is not finished. It was collected bit by bit by the poet's close friends and arranged the fragments in random order, barely capturing the confused logic of the creator, broken by a fatal illness and endless pains. He was dying in agony, and yet he was able to answer the question posed at the very beginning: Who lives well in Russia? In a broad sense, he himself turned out to be lucky, because he faithfully and selflessly served the interests of the people. This ministry supported him in the fight against the fatal illness. Thus, the history of the poem began in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century, approximately in 1863 (serfdom was abolished in 1861), and the first part was completed in 1865.

The book was published in fragments. The prologue was already published in the January issue of Sovremennik in 1866. More chapters came out later. All this time, the work attracted the attention of censors and was mercilessly criticized. In the 70s, the author wrote the main parts of the poem: "Last Child", "Peasant Woman", "Feast for the Whole World". He planned to write much more, but due to the rapid development of the disease, he could not and stopped at "Feast ...", where he expressed his main idea regarding the future of Russia. He believed that such holy people as Dobrosklonov would be able to help his homeland, mired in poverty and injustice. Despite the fierce attacks of reviewers, he found the strength to stand up for a just cause to the end.

Genre, genre, direction

ON THE. Nekrasov called his creation “the epic of modern peasant life” and was precise in his wording: the genre of the work “Who should live well in Russia?” - epic poem. That is, at the base of the book, not one kind of literature coexists, but two whole: lyrics and epic:

1. epic component. In the history of the development of Russian society in the 1860s, there was a turning point when people learned to live in new conditions after the abolition of serfdom and other fundamental changes in the usual way of life. This difficult historical period was described by the writer, reflecting the realities of that time without embellishment and falsity. In addition, the poem has a clear linear plot and many original characters, which indicates the scale of the work, comparable only to a novel (epic genre). The book also absorbed the folklore elements of heroic songs that tell about the military campaigns of heroes against enemy camps. All these are generic features of the epic.
2. lyric component. The work is written in verse - this is the main property of lyrics, as a kind. The book also has a place for author's digressions and typical poetic symbols, means of artistic expression, features of the characters' confession.

The direction within which the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” was written is realism. However, the author significantly expanded its boundaries by adding fantastic and folklore elements (prologue, beginnings, symbolism of numbers, fragments and heroes from folk legends). The poet chose the form of travel for his idea, as a metaphor for the search for truth and happiness, which each of us carries out. Many researchers of Nekrasov's work compare the plot structure with the structure of the folk epic.

Composition

The laws of the genre determined the composition and plot of the poem. Nekrasov was finishing the book in terrible agony, but still did not have time to finish it. This explains the chaotic composition and many branches from the plot, because the works were formed and restored from drafts by his friends. In the last months of his life, he himself was unable to clearly adhere to the original concept of creation. Thus, the composition “Who is living well in Russia?”, comparable only to the folk epic, is unique. It was developed as a result of the creative assimilation of world literature, and not the direct borrowing of some well-known model.

1. Exposition (Prologue). The meeting of seven men - the heroes of the poem: "On the pillar path / Seven men came together."
2. The plot is the oath of the heroes not to return home until they find the answer to their question.
3. The main part consists of many autonomous parts: the reader gets to know a soldier happy that he was not beaten, a serf proud of his privilege to eat out of the master's bowls, a grandmother whose turnip was mutilated in her garden to her delight ... While the search for happiness stands still, the slow but steady growth of national self-consciousness is depicted, which the author wanted to show even more than the declared happiness in Russia. From random episodes, a general picture of Russia emerges: impoverished, drunk, but not hopeless, striving for a better life. In addition, the poem contains several large and independent interstitial episodes, some of which are even placed in autonomous chapters (“Last Child”, “Peasant Woman”).
4. Climax. The writer calls Grisha Dobrosklonov, a fighter for the people's happiness, a happy man in Russia.
5. Interchange. A serious illness prevented the author from completing his great plan. Even those chapters that he managed to write were sorted and marked by his confidants after his death. It must be understood that the poem is not finished, it was written by a very sick person, therefore this work is the most complex and confusing of Nekrasov's entire literary heritage.
6. The final chapter is called "A Feast for the Whole World". All night the peasants sing about the old and new times. Kind and hopeful songs are sung by Grisha Dobrosklonov.

What is the poem about?

Seven peasants met on the road and argued about who should live well in Russia? The essence of the poem is that they were looking for an answer to this question on the way, talking with representatives of different classes. The revelation of each of them is a separate story. So, the heroes went for a walk in order to resolve the dispute, but only quarreled, starting a fight. In the night forest, at the moment of a fight, a chick fell from the bird's nest, and one of the men picked it up. The interlocutors sat down by the fire and began to dream in order to also acquire wings and everything necessary for traveling in search of the truth. The warbler bird turns out to be magical and, as a ransom for her chick, tells people how to find a self-assembled tablecloth that will provide them with food and clothes. They find her and feast, and during the feast they vow to find the answer to their question together, but until then they will not see any of their relatives and not return home.

On the way, they meet a priest, a peasant woman, a farce Petrushka, a beggar, an overworked worker and a paralyzed former courtyard, an honest man Yermila Girin, a landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, a survivor of the mind of the Last Duck and his family, a serf Yakov the faithful, God's wanderer Ion Lyapushkin but none of them were happy people. Each of them is associated with a story full of genuine tragedy of suffering and misfortune. The goal of the journey is reached only when the wanderers stumble upon the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, who is happy with his selfless service to his homeland. With good songs, he instills hope in the people, and this is how the poem “Who lives well in Russia” ends. Nekrasov wanted to continue the story, but did not have time, but he gave his heroes a chance to gain faith in the future of Russia.

Main characters and their characteristics

It is safe to say about the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Russia” that they represent a complete system of images that streamlines and structures the text. For example, the work emphasizes the unity of the seven wanderers. They do not show individuality, character, they express the common features of national self-consciousness for all. These characters are a single whole, their dialogues, in fact, are a collective speech that originates from oral folk art. This feature makes Nekrasov's poem related to the Russian folklore tradition.

1. Seven Wanderers are former serfs "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutov, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhayka, too." All of them put forward their own versions of who lives well in Russia: a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a sovereign minister or a tsar. Perseverance is expressed in their character: they all demonstrate unwillingness to take sides. Strength, courage and the pursuit of truth - that's what unites them. They are ardent, easily succumb to anger, but the appeasement compensates for these shortcomings. Kindness and responsiveness make them pleasant interlocutors, even despite some meticulousness. Their temper is harsh and cool, but life did not spoil them with luxury: the former serfs always bent their backs, working for the master, and after the reform, no one bothered to attach them properly. So they wandered in Russia in search of truth and justice. The search itself characterizes them as serious, thoughtful and thorough people. The symbolic number "7" means a hint of good luck that awaited them at the end of the journey.
2. Main character- Grisha Dobrosklonov, seminarian, son of a deacon. By nature, he is a dreamer, a romantic, loves to compose songs and make people happy. In them, he talks about the fate of Russia, about her misfortunes, and at the same time about her mighty strength, which will someday come out and crush injustice. Although he is an idealist, his character is firm, as are his convictions to devote his life to the service of the truth. The character feels a calling to be a people's leader and singer of Russia. He is happy to sacrifice himself to a lofty idea and help his homeland. However, the author hints that a difficult fate awaits him: jails, exile, hard labor. The authorities do not want to hear the voice of the people, they will try to shut them up, and then Grisha will be doomed to torment. But Nekrasov makes it clear with all his might that happiness is a state of spiritual euphoria, and it can only be known by being inspired by a lofty idea.
3. Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina- the main character, a peasant woman, whom the neighbors call lucky because she begged the wife of her husband's military commander (he, the only breadwinner of the family, was to be recruited for 25 years). However, the story of a woman's life reveals not luck or good fortune, but grief and humiliation. She knew the loss of her only child, the anger of her mother-in-law, everyday, exhausting work. Detailed and her fate is described in an essay on our website, be sure to look.
4. Savely Korchagin- the grandfather of Matryona's husband, a real Russian hero. At one time, he killed a German manager who mercilessly mocked the peasants entrusted to him. For this, a strong and proud man paid for decades of hard labor. Upon his return, he was no longer good for anything, years of imprisonment trampled on his body, but did not break his will, because, as before, he stood up for justice with a mountain. The hero always said about the Russian peasant: "And it bends, but does not break." However, without knowing it, the grandfather turns out to be the executioner of his own great-grandson. He did not notice the child, and the pigs ate it.
5. Ermil Girin- a man of exceptional honesty, a steward in the estate of Prince Yurlov. When he needed to buy the mill, he stood in the square and asked people to rush to help him. After the hero got to his feet, he returned all the borrowed money to the people. For this he deserved respect and honor. But he is unhappy, because he paid for his authority with freedom: after the peasant revolt, suspicion fell on him in his organization, and he was imprisoned.
6. Landlords in the poem“To whom in Russia to live well” are presented in abundance. The author portrays them objectively and even gives some images a positive character. For example, the governor's wife Elena Alexandrovna, who helped Matryona, appears as a people's benefactor. Also, with a note of compassion, the writer portrays Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, who also treated the peasants tolerably, even arranged holidays for them, and with the abolition of serfdom, he lost the ground under his feet: he was too accustomed to the old order. In contrast to these characters, the image of the Last Duck and his treacherous, prudent family was created. The relatives of the hard-hearted old serf-owner decided to deceive him and persuaded the former slaves to participate in the performance in exchange for profitable territories. However, when the old man died, the rich heirs brazenly deceived the common people and drove him away with nothing. The apogee of the nobility of the nobility is the landowner Polivanov, who beats his faithful servant and sends his son to the recruits for trying to marry his beloved girl. Thus, the writer is far from denigrating the nobility everywhere, he is trying to show both sides of the coin.
7. Kholop Yakov- an indicative figure of a serf, the antagonist of the hero Saveliy. Yakov absorbed the whole slavish essence of the oppressed class, downtrodden with lack of rights and ignorance. When the master beats him and even sends his son to certain death, the servant meekly and meekly endures the offense. His revenge was a match for this humility: he hanged himself in the forest right in front of the master, who was crippled and could not get home without his help.
8. Iona Lyapushkin- God's wanderer, who told the peasants several stories about the life of people in Russia. It tells about the epiphany of ataman Kudeyara, who decided to atone for sins by killing for good, and about the cunning of Gleb the headman, who violated the will of the late master and did not release the serfs on his orders.
9. Pop- a representative of the clergy, who complains about the difficult life of a priest. The constant clash with grief and poverty saddens the heart, not to mention the popular witticisms against his dignity.

The characters in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" are diverse and allow us to paint a picture of the customs and life of that time.

Topic

• The main theme of the piece is freedom- rests on the problem that the Russian peasant did not know what to do with it, and how to adapt to new realities. The national character is also “problematic”: people-thinkers, people-seekers of truth still drink, live in oblivion and empty talk. They are not able to squeeze slaves out of themselves until their poverty acquires at least the modest dignity of poverty, until they stop living in drunken illusions, until they realize their strength and pride, trampled down by centuries of humiliating state of affairs that have been sold, lost and bought.
• Happiness Theme. The poet believes that a person can get the highest satisfaction from life only by helping other people. The real value of being is to feel needed by society, to bring goodness, love and justice to the world. Selfless and selfless service to a good cause fills every moment with sublime meaning, with an idea, without which time loses color, becomes dull from inaction or selfishness. Grisha Dobrosklonov is happy not with wealth and position in the world, but with the fact that he leads Russia and his people to a brighter future.
• Homeland Theme. Although Russia appears in the eyes of readers as a poor and tortured, but still a beautiful country with a great future and a heroic past. Nekrasov pities his homeland, devoting himself to its correction and improvement. The homeland for him is the people, the people are his muse. All these concepts are closely intertwined in the poem "To whom in Russia it is good to live." The author's patriotism is especially pronounced at the end of the book, when wanderers find a lucky man who lives in the interests of society. In a strong and patient Russian woman, in the justice and honor of a peasant hero, in the sincere good-heartedness of a folk singer, the creator sees the true image of his state, full of dignity and spirituality.
• The theme of labor. Useful activity elevates the impoverished heroes of Nekrasov above the vanity and depravity of the nobility. It is idleness that destroys the Russian master, turning him into a self-satisfied and arrogant nonentity. But the common people have skills that are really important for society and genuine virtue, without them there will be no Russia, but the country will manage without noble tyrants, revelers and greedy seekers of wealth. So the writer comes to the conclusion that the value of each citizen is determined only by his contribution to the common cause - the prosperity of the motherland.
• mystical motif. Fantastic elements appear already in the Prologue and immerse the reader in the fabulous atmosphere of the epic, where you have to follow the development of the idea, and not the realism of the circumstances. Seven owls on seven trees - the magic number 7, which promises good luck. The raven praying to the devil is another guise of the devil, because the raven symbolizes death, grave decay and infernal forces. He is opposed by a good force in the form of a warbler bird, which equips the men on the road. A self-assembled tablecloth is a poetic symbol of happiness and contentment. The “Wide Path” is a symbol of the open ending of the poem and the basis of the plot, because on both sides of the road, travelers open up a multifaceted and genuine panorama of Russian life. Symbolic is the image of an unknown fish in unknown seas, which has swallowed "the keys to female happiness." A weeping she-wolf with bloodied nipples also clearly demonstrates the difficult fate of a Russian peasant woman. One of the most vivid images of the reform is the “great chain”, which, having broken, “spread one end along the gentleman, the other along the peasant!”. The seven wanderers are a symbol of the entire people of Russia, restless, waiting for change and seeking happiness.

Issues

• In the epic poem, Nekrasov touched on a large number of acute and topical issues of that time. The main problem is “Who is it good to live in Russia?” - the problem of happiness, both socially and philosophically. It is connected with the social theme of the abolition of serfdom, which greatly changed (and not for the better) the traditional way of life of all segments of the population. It would seem that here it is, freedom, what else do people need? Is this not happiness? However, in reality, it turned out that the people, who, due to long slavery, do not know how to live independently, turned out to be thrown to the mercy of fate. A priest, a landowner, a peasant woman, Grisha Dobrosklonov and seven peasants are real Russian characters and destinies. The author described them, relying on rich experience of communicating with people from the common people. The problems of the work are also taken from life: disorder and confusion after the reform to abolish serfdom really affected all classes. No one organized jobs for yesterday's serfs, or at least land allotments, no one provided the landowner with competent instructions and laws governing his new relationship with workers.
• The problem of alcoholism. Wanderers come to an unpleasant conclusion: life in Russia is so hard that without drunkenness the peasant will completely die. Forgetfulness and fog are necessary for him in order to somehow pull the strap of a hopeless existence and hard labor.
• The problem of social inequality. The landlords have been torturing the peasants with impunity for years, and Savelyia has been deformed for the murder of such an oppressor all her life. For the deceit, there will be nothing for the relatives of the Last, and their servants will again be left with nothing.
• The philosophical problem of the search for truth, which each of us encounters, is allegorically expressed in the campaign of seven wanderers who understand that without this discovery their life is depreciated.

The idea of ​​the work

The road skirmish of the peasants is not an everyday quarrel, but an eternal, great dispute, in which all layers of Russian society of that time appear to one degree or another. All its main representatives (priest, landowner, merchant, official, tsar) are called to the peasant court. For the first time men can and have the right to judge. For all the years of slavery and poverty, they are not looking for retribution, but for an answer: how to live? This is the meaning of Nekrasov's poem "Who is living well in Russia?" - the growth of national consciousness on the ruins of the old system. The author's point of view is expressed by Grisha Dobrosklonov in his songs: “And your burden was lightened by fate, companion of the days of the Slav! You are still a slave in the family, but the mother is already a free son! ..». Despite the negative consequences of the reform of 1861, the creator believes that behind it is a happy future for the fatherland. It is always difficult at the beginning of change, but this work will be rewarded a hundredfold.

The most important condition for further prosperity is to overcome internal slavery:

Enough! Finished with the last calculation,
Done with sir!
The Russian people gather with strength
And learning to be a citizen

Despite the fact that the poem is not finished, Nekrasov voiced the main idea. Already the first of the songs of “A Feast for the Whole World” gives an answer to the question posed in the title: “The share of the people, their happiness, light and freedom, first of all!”

End

In the finale, the author expresses his point of view on the changes that have taken place in Russia in connection with the abolition of serfdom and, finally, sums up the results of the search: Grisha Dobrosklonov is recognized as the lucky one. It is he who is the bearer of Nekrasov's opinion, and in his songs the true attitude of Nikolai Alekseevich to what he described is hidden. The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” ends with a feast for the whole world in the truest sense of the word: this is the name of the last chapter, where the characters celebrate and rejoice at the happy end of the search.

Conclusion

In Russia, the hero of Nekrasov, Grisha Dobrosklonov, is well, as he serves people, and, therefore, lives with meaning. Grisha is a fighter for the truth, a prototype of a revolutionary. The conclusion that can be drawn on the basis of the work is simple: a lucky man has been found, Russia is embarking on the path of reforms, the people, through thorns, are drawn to the title of citizen. This bright omen is the great meaning of the poem. For more than a century it has been teaching people altruism, the ability to serve high ideals, and not vulgar and passing cults. From the point of view of literary skill, the book is also of great importance: it is truly a folk epic, reflecting a controversial, complex, and at the same time the most important historical era.

Of course, the poem would not be so valuable if it only gave lessons in history and literature. She gives life lessons, and this is her most important property. The moral of the work “Who lives well in Russia” is that it is necessary to work for the good of one’s homeland, not to scold it, but to help it with deeds, because it’s easier to push around with a word, but not everyone can and wants to really change something. Here it is, happiness - to be in your place, to be needed not only for yourself, but also for the people. Only together can a significant result be achieved, only together can we overcome the problems and hardships of this overcoming. Grisha Dobrosklonov, with his songs, tried to unite, rally people so that they would meet changes shoulder to shoulder. This is his holy purpose, and everyone has it, it is important not to be too lazy to go out on the road and look for him, as the seven wanderers did.

Criticism

The reviewers were attentive to the work of Nekrasov, because he himself was an important person in literary circles and had great authority. Entire monographs were devoted to his phenomenal civil lyrics with a detailed analysis of the creative methodology and the ideological and thematic originality of his poetry. For example, here is how the writer S.A. spoke about his style. Andreevsky:

He retrieved the anapaest abandoned on Olympus from oblivion and for many years made this heavy, but flexible meter as walking as from the time of Pushkin to Nekrasov only airy and melodious iambic remained. This rhythm, chosen by the poet, reminiscent of the rotational movement of a hurdy-gurdy, made it possible to stay on the borders of poetry and prose, to joke with the crowd, to speak fluently and vulgarly, to insert a cheerful and cruel joke, to express bitter truths and imperceptibly, slowing down the tact, with more solemn words, to turn into ornate.

Korney Chukovsky spoke with inspiration about the thorough preparation of Nikolai Alekseevich for work, citing this example of writing as a standard:

Nekrasov himself constantly “visited Russian huts”, thanks to which both soldier and peasant speech became thoroughly known to him from childhood: not only from books, but also in practice, he studied the common language and from his youth became a great connoisseur of folk poetic images, folk forms thinking, folk aesthetics.

The death of the poet came as a surprise and a blow to many of his friends and colleagues. As you know, F.M. Dostoevsky with a heartfelt speech inspired by the impressions of a recently read poem. Specifically, among other things, he said:

He, indeed, was highly original and, indeed, came with a "new word."

The “new word”, first of all, was his poem “Who should live well in Russia”. No one before him was so deeply aware of the peasant, simple, worldly grief. His colleague in his speech noted that Nekrasov was dear to him precisely because he bowed "to the people's truth with his whole being, which he testified to in his best creations." However, Fedor Mikhailovich did not support his radical views on the reorganization of Russia, however, like many thinkers of that time. Therefore, criticism reacted violently to the publication, and in some cases aggressively. In this situation, the honor of a friend was defended by a well-known reviewer, a master of the word Vissarion Belinsky:

N. Nekrasov in his last work remained true to his idea: to arouse the sympathy of the upper classes of society for the common people, their needs and requirements.

Quite sharply, recalling, apparently, professional disagreements, I. S. Turgenev spoke about the work:

Nekrasov's poems, collected in one trick, are burning.

The liberal writer was not a supporter of his former editor and openly expressed his doubts about his talent as an artist:

In white threads sewn together, seasoned with all sorts of absurdities, painfully hatched fabrications of the mournful muse of Mr. Nekrasov - she, poetry, is not even worth a penny ”

He really was a man of very high nobility of soul and a man of great mind. And as a poet he is, of course, superior to all poets.

Chelyabinsk Law College
Department of General Humanitarian and Socio-Economic Disciplines

Research work
in the discipline "Literature"
Folklore motifs in N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who should live well in Russia”

Student
Gr. T-1-08, economic department: "_____" Barabash V.A. __ 2009

Teacher: "_____" Akhmetshina E.Z. 2009

Chelyabinsk
2009

Introduction
______________________________ ______________________________ _____________1
Chapter 1. Folklore
______________________________ ______________________________ _____________3
Chapter 2. Genres of folklore
______________________________ ______________________________ _____________5
Chapter 3
______________________________ ______________________________ _____________6
Chapter 4
Folklore motifs in the work of N.A. Nekrasov "Who should live well in Russia"
______________________________ ______________________________ _____________9
Conclusion
______________________________ ______________________________ _____________18
Bibliography
______________________________ ______________________________ ____________ 19

Introduction
The topic "Folklore in the work of Nekrasov" has repeatedly attracted the attention of researchers. Nevertheless, I consider it useful to return to it once again. In numerous studies, the attention of researchers was drawn mainly to the study of textual or stylistic coincidences of folklore texts and texts belonging to Nekrasov, to the establishment of "borrowings" and "sources", etc. Until now, however, the topic has not been raised in the literary plan. . After all, we are dealing with an artist-master. It goes without saying that this master artist, a great poetic individual, is at the same time a social figure. Nekrasov is a poet of revolutionary democracy, and this determines the nature of his poetry. And of course, it would be interesting to explore how Nekrasov uses folklore material? What goals does he set for himself? What kind of folklore material does Nekrasov take (not in the sense of an exact definition of sources, but in the sense of the qualitative, artistic and social characteristics of this material)? What does he do with this material (that is, with what compositional techniques does he introduce it, how much and how does he change it)? What is the result of his work (because this result may not coincide with the subjective goals of the artist, i.e. the artist may not their tasks)? This is to be clarified in the course of the study.
Topic Folklore motifs in N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who should live well in Russia”. Target The work consists in finding and classifying folklore motifs in the work of the revolutionary democrat of the sixties, the famous Russian poet N.A. Nekrasov “Who in Russia should live well”.
Tasks To acquaint listeners with the definition of "folklore", to tell about its goals and objectives. Briefly reveal the main genres of folklore. Tell the story of the creation of the poem "To whom in Russia to live well."
Investigate and classify folklore motifs in the poem "Who lives well in Russia." To note the goals of Nekrasov's use of folk art in his works, his attitude towards it, as well as to understand what methods and methods the author uses to weave folklore into the narrative and what result he is trying to achieve.
Relevance Of course, the theme of folklore motifs in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is relevant to this day. Folklore in this work helps us to better understand the life of the difficulties of people, their way of life, thoughts and moods. Although the way of life has changed now (there is no serfdom, people have equal rights), we still face some problems at the present time. And oral folk art, as in those days, helps to distract from the burden of problems of everyday life. Hypothesis Meaning and methods of using folklore in the work of Nekrasov. object studies are the motives of oral folk art in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov “Who in Russia should live well”.

Subject The method of comparative analysis is used in the work. Literature Description Many collections of oral folk art of various authors were involved in the work: Rybnikov, Barsov, Shein and others. They helped to understand exactly how Nekrasov modified folklore texts, including them in his works. Also involved were reviews and criticism of the poem, articles analyzing the use of folklore in Nekrasov's work and literature in general.

Folklore

Folklore is called verbal art, which includes proverbs, ditties, fairy tales, legends, myths, tongue twisters, riddles, heroic epics, epics, legends, etc.
The word itself came to us from the Old English language and is translated as "folk wisdom". And this is profoundly true. After all, folklore embodies folk experience, traditions, ideals, worldview, that is, folk wisdom is really conveyed.
But folklore is not only folk wisdom. It is also a manifestation of the soul of the people, its self-consciousness. Each work is an expression of the life of the people, their history and way of life.
Life has never been easy for most people, and it still is, and it inevitably will always be. Many people have to work hard, routinely, earning themselves only a small bread, a tolerable existence for themselves and their loved ones. And people have long noticed that it is necessary to distract themselves, those around them, colleagues in misfortune from everyday work with something fun or distracting attention from topical everyday life and unbearable conditions of hard and low-paid work.
The folklore created by the people reveals the philosophy of the people, their undying faith in justice and happiness, in the victory of good over evil. The age-old ideas of folklore for the creativity of all peoples without exception, but at the same time, each people expresses general ideas in their national forms, which have evolved over the centuries and reflect the features of life and its history. For example, the hero of Russian folk tales Ivan the Fool, Emelya , the characters of the folk theater Russian Petrushka or Italian Pulcinello always triumph over their enemies, important ranks and titles, often defeat even the seemingly invincible death itself.
The huge wealth of the images presented, the variety of visual means, the expressiveness of the language, laconism - these are the distinctive qualities of folk art. Since even a very skilled writer is not able to catch up with the diverse and versatile folk fantasy, and the number of various words and their successful intricacies honed over the centuries. The artistic and aesthetic significance of folklore is very great.
Folklore, its artistic perfection, the significance of meaningful forms, like honey, attracts numerous composers, artists and writers. Many managed to inscribe themselves in history by using folklore in their works in a timely and competent manner, borrowing free of charge and learning from the people artistic skills that cannot be measured by experience, the quantity and quality of fantasy. Many people know the names of the masters of the pen who grew up on a prepared

centuries on the basis of folklore. The German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe created his immortal Faust on the basis of legends, and the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen retold many folk tales to children and adults. Liked to turn to the disinterested help of folklore and Russian writers A.S. Pushkin, V.V. Mayakovsky, Maxim Gorky, N.A. Nekrasov and others (very many).

Genres of folklore

Mystery - from the old Russian "guess", which meant - to think. In a riddle, a subject description is given of a phenomenon, for recognition - guessing of which reflection is required. The riddle makes you comprehend the language of metaphor, learn to play with traditional images. Proverb is a genre of folklore. It is a logically complete phrase or a figurative aphoristic saying. Proverb always carries an instructive meaning and in most cases has a rhythmic organization. Example proverbs: "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched". Proverb- genre of folklore. AT proverb there is a certain complete meaning, unlike the proverb. Proverb - a walking expression that has not developed to a full proverb, a new image that replaces the usual word (for example, “does not knit a bast” instead of “drunk”, “I didn’t invent gunpowder” instead of “fool”, “I pull the strap”). Story - from "say"; specific, traditional narrative. The term exists only in Russian and German, in other cultures this form is referred to as a myth. In a number of studies it is designated as "small mythology". In folk culture - a form of worldly wisdom. Chastushki - a term of folk origin, introduced into literary use by G.I. Uspensky. and united the local names of ditties - gimmicks, choruses, matani, pribaski, etc. CONSPIRACY - one of the oldest genres of folklore, embodied in an artistic form the archaic ideas of our ancestors. In the broadest sense of the word, a conspiracy is a verbal formula that has a magical meaning. Russian conspiracies in Siberia are often called like this: slander, amulets, drying, dryness, whispering, words, etc. Legend (from cf.- lat. legenda"collection of liturgical passages for daily service") - one of the varietiesnon-fabulous prose folklore. poetic tradition about some historical event. In a figurative sense, it refers to the glorious, admirable events of the past. Patter - a short syntactically correct phrase in any language with an artificially complicated articulation . Tongue twisters contain similar in sound, but different phonemes (for example, c and sh) and combinations of phonemes that are difficult to pronounce. Often contain alliterations and rhymes . Used for training diction and pronunciation.

The history of the creation of the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia"
Nekrasov gave many years of his life to work on a poem, which he called his "favorite brainchild." “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to state in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started “Who should live well in Russia“. It will be the epic of modern peasant life.” The writer accumulated material for the poem, as he admitted, “by word of mouth for twenty years.” Death interrupted this gigantic work. The poem remained unfinished. Shortly before his death, the poet said: “One thing that I deeply regret is that I didn’t finish my poem “Who Lives Well in Russia.” Nekrasov began work on the poem in the first half of the 60s of the XIX century. The manuscript of the first part of the poem was marked by Nekrasov in 1865. In that year the first part of the poem had already been written, although it had evidently begun a few years earlier. The mention in the first part of the exiled Poles (chapter "Landowner") allows us to consider 1863 as the date before which this chapter could not be written, since the suppression of the uprising in Poland dates back to 1863-1864. However, the first sketches for the poem could have appeared even earlier . An indication of this is contained, for example, in the memoirs of G. Potanin, who, describing his visit to Nekrasov’s apartment in the autumn of 1860, conveys the following words of the poet: poem "To whom in Russia it is good to live". It did not appear in print for a long time after that.” Thus, it can be assumed that some images and episodes of the future poem, the material for which had been collected for many years, arose in the creative imagination of the poet and were partially embodied in poems earlier than 1865, which is dated the manuscript of the first part of the poem. Nekrasov began to continue his work only in the 70s, after a seven-year break. The second, third and fourth parts of the poem follow one after another at short intervals: "Last Child" was created in 1872, "Peasant Woman" - in July-August 1873, "Feast - for the whole world" - in the autumn of 1876. Publication of the poem Nekrasov began shortly after finishing work on the first part. Already in the January book of Sovremennik for 1866, the prologue of the poem appeared. The printing of the first part lasted for four years. Fearing to shake the already precarious position of Sovremennik, Nekrasov refrained from publishing the subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem. Nekrasov was afraid of censorship, which began immediately after the publication of the first chapter of the poem ("Pop"), published in 1868 in the first issue of the new Nekrasov magazine "Domestic Notes". Censor A. Lebedev gave the following description of this chapter: “In the aforementioned poem, like his other works, Nekrasov remained true to his direction; in it, he tries to present the gloomy and sad side of the Russian person with his grief and material shortcomings ... in it there are ... places that are sharp in their indecency. Although the Censorship Committee allowed the book “Notes of the Fatherland” to be printed, it nevertheless sent a disapproving opinion about the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” to the highest censorship authority. The subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem were published in the February issues of “Notes of the Fatherland” for 1869 (“Country Fair” and “Drunken Night”) and 1870 (“Happy” and “Landowner”). The entire first part of the poem appeared in print only eight years after it was written. content ... is in the nature of a libel for the entire nobility. ”The next part of the poem,“ Peasant Woman ”, created by Nekrasov in the summer of 1873, was published in the winter of 1874 in the January book “Notes of the Fatherland.” Nekrasov never saw a separate edition of the poem during his lifetime. In the last year of his life, Nekrasov, having returned seriously ill from the Crimea, where he had basically completed the fourth part of the poem - "Feast - for the whole world", with amazing energy and perseverance entered into combat with censorship, hoping to print "Feast ...". This part of the poem was especially virulently attacked by the censors. The censor wrote that he finds “the entire poem“ A feast for the whole world ”is extremely harmful in its content, since it can arouse hostile feelings between the two estates, and that it is especially offensive to the nobility, who so recently enjoyed landlord rights ... "However, Nekrasov did not stop fighting censorship. Bedridden by illness, he stubbornly continued to seek the publication of "The Feast ...". He alters the text, shortens it, crosses it out. “Here it is, our craft as a writer,” complained Nekrasov. - When I began my literary activity and wrote my first thing, I immediately met with scissors; 37 years have passed since then, and here I am, dying, writing my last work, and again I encounter the same scissors! Having “spoiled” the text of the fourth part of the poem (as the poet called the alteration of the work for the sake of censorship), Nekrasov counted on permission. However, "Feast - for the whole world" was again banned. “Unfortunately,” recalled Saltykov-Shchedrin, “it’s almost useless to bother: everything is so full of hatred and threats that it’s hard to approach even from a distance.” But even after that, Nekrasov still did not lay down his arms and decided to “approach”, as a last resort, the head of the Main Directorate for Censorship V. Grigoriev, who, back in the spring of 1876, promised him “his personal intercession” and, according to rumors, came down through F. Dostoevsky, allegedly considered "Feast - for the whole world" "quite possible to be printed." Nekrasov intended to bypass censorship altogether, with the permission of the tsar himself. To do this, the poet wanted to use his acquaintance with the Minister of the Court, Count Adlerberg, and also resort to the mediation of S. Botkin, who was at that time the court physician (Botkin, who treated Nekrasov, was dedicated to "Feast - for the whole world"). Obviously, it was precisely for this case that Nekrasov inserted into the text of the poem “with gnashing of teeth” the well-known lines dedicated to the tsar “Glory to the people who gave freedom!”. We do not know whether Nekrasov took real steps in this direction or abandoned his intention, realizing the futility of the hassle. "Feast - for the whole world" remained under a censorship ban until 1881, when it appeared in the second book of "Notes of the Fatherland", however, with large reductions and distortions: the songs “Merry”, “Corvee”, “Soldier”, “There is an oak deck ...” and others were omitted. Most of the excerpts from "Feast - for the Whole World" thrown out by censorship were first made public only in 1908, and the entire poem, in an uncensored edition, was published in 1920 by K. I. Chukovsky. The poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" in its unfinished the form consists of four separate parts, arranged in the following order, according to the time of their writing: part one, consisting of a prologue and five chapters; "The Last"; "Peasant Woman", consisting of a prologue and eight chapters; "Feast - for the whole world." From Nekrasov's papers it is clear that according to the plan for the further development of the poem, it was supposed to create at least three more chapters or parts. In one of them, tentatively called by Nekrasov "Smertushka", it was supposed to be about the stay of seven peasants on the Sheksna River, where they fall in the midst of an indiscriminate death of cattle from anthrax, about their meeting with an official. Quoting several verses from the future chapter, Nekrasov writes: “This is a song from the new chapter “To Whom It Is Good to Live in Russia.” The poet began collecting materials for this chapter in the summer of 1873. However, it remained unwritten. Only a few prose and poetic rough passages have survived. It is also known about the poet’s intention to tell about the arrival of the peasants in St. Petersburg, where they were supposed to seek access to the minister, and to describe their meeting with the tsar on a bear hunt. In the last lifetime edition of “Poems” by N. A. Nekrasov (1873-1874) it is good to live in Russia” is printed in the following form: “Prologue; Part One" (1865); "Last Child" (From the second part of "Who Lives Well in Russia") (1872); “Peasant Woman” (From the third part of “Who Lives Well in Russia”) (1873).

Folklore motifs in the poem "Who should live well in Russia"

First of all, let us agree that by folklore we will understand the features of traditional oral poetic creativity, and not the features of lively, colloquial peasant speech. When Nekrasov wrote, for example:

Cursing swearing,
No wonder they get stuck
In each other's hair...
Look - already grabbed!
Roman hits Pakhomushka,
Demyan hits Luka,
And two brothers Gubina
Ironing the rights of the hefty,
And everyone screams!

then it was very “folklore” from the point of view of an intelligent reader and, of course, quite understandable and accessible to a peasant reader, but there is no need to speak of folklore here: this is not peasant poetry, but a peasant language. The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is not completely homogeneous in character: if the “Prologue”, the first part, “The Peasant Woman” and “Last Child” are designed almost entirely for the peasant reader, then already in the part “A Feast for the Whole World” there are chapters and episodes presented in a completely different way (this is especially true of chapter IV - “Good time - good songs”). For
illustrations of this can be compared with at least two songs from this part. In the chapter ("Bitter Time - Bitter Songs") there is such a song ("Corvee"):

Poor, unkempt Kalinushka,
Nothing for him to flaunt
Only the back is painted
Yes, you don’t know behind the shirt ... Etc.

In chapter IV, you can take one of Grisha's songs:

In moments of despondency, oh motherland!
I am thinking ahead.
You are still destined to suffer a lot,
But you won't die, I know... Etc.

Two different styles of Nekrasov (relatively speaking, "folk" and "civilian"), it seems to me, are manifested quite clearly here. However, the poem is mostly written in the "folk" style. In this regard, there is also a wide use of folklore in it. Folklore and fairy-tale material, of course, entered the plot basis of the poem. So, a talking warbler, interfering in a dispute between men and promising a ransom for a chick, is a fabulous image. A fairy tale motif is also a self-assembled tablecloth, although its use in Nekrasov's poem is completely original: it is supposed to feed and clothe the peasants during their wanderings.
The fabulous form of plot development chosen by Nekrasov opened up the widest possibilities for him and made it possible to give a number of vivid realistic pictures of Russian reality; "fabulousness" did not interfere with realism in essence and at the same time helped to create a number of sharp clashes (otherwise it is very difficult
would be to carry out, for example, a meeting of the peasants with the king). In the future, the actual folklore material Nekrasov especially widely uses in the part "Peasant Woman". However, various folklore genres are not used equally. Particularly widely used here are, firstly, funeral lamentations (according to Barsov's collection "Lamentations of the Northern Territory"), secondly, the bride's wedding lamentations, and thirdly, lyrical family songs. Nekrasov takes mainly works of a lyrical nature, because it was in these works that the moods, feelings and thoughts of the peasantry were most clearly and effectively reflected. But Nekrasov often turns these lyrical works into an epic narrative, moreover, he fuses them into one whole, thereby creating such a complex complex that does not and cannot exist in folklore. Nekrasov inserts some songs into the narrative precisely as songs and sometimes cites them with absolute accuracy. Thus, Chapter I (“Before Marriage”) is built almost entirely on wedding lamentations from Rybnikov's collection. In this regard, it is appropriate to draw the following parallel, which allows us to draw some conclusions.

Nekrasov's chapter ends like this: The dear father ordered.
Blessed by mother
Parents put
To the oak table
With the edges of the spell poured:
“Take a tray, stranger guests
Take it with a bow!”
For the first time I bowed -
Frisky legs shuddered;
The second I bowed -
Faded white face;
I bowed for the third
And the will rolled down
From a girl's head... From Rybnikov: Commanded my sir-father,
Bless my mother...
... Parents put
To the oak table in the capital,
To green wine in pourers.
I stood at the oak table, -
There were gilded trays in the runes.

There were crystal cups on the trays,
Drinking green wine in cups
Villains foreign strangers,
These guests are unfamiliar.
And subdued her young little head: The first time I bowed, -
My volushka rolled off the head,
Another time I bowed, -
My white face faded
The third time I bowed, -
Frisky little legs trembled,
The red girl shamed her kind-tribe ...

Undoubtedly, Nekrasov used this particular text, since the proximity
is quite obvious here. But the author did not use the material mechanically.
We see in Nekrasov an extraordinary compression of the entire text by the number of lines. Except
moreover, and each line in Nekrasov is shorter than the corresponding folklore line
(for example, Rybnikov’s “To the oak table in the capital”, Nekrasov’s “K
oak table). This gives Nekrasov's verse a great emotional
tension (folk meter is slower and more epic) and more
energy (in particular, masculine monosyllabic
clauses used by Nekrasov, while in folklore
they are not in the text). The rearrangement made by Nekrasov is characteristic: in the folklore text, at the first bow, the will rolled away, at the second, the face faded, at the third, the bride's legs quivered; Nekrasov rearranges these moments
(at first “frisky legs trembled”, then “the white face faded”, and,
finally, “the will rolled off the girl’s head”) and thus gives the presentation
great power and logic. In addition, Nekrasov has the words "And the will"
rolled off a girl's head "(with a strong male ending) complete
Matrena Timofeevna's story about a girl's life, while in folklore
lamentation further goes a long continuation, which weakens the meaning
this motive. So the master artist gives great strength and significance
the material to which he refers.
In chapter II (“Songs”), song material is presented precisely in the form of songs,
illustrating the position of a married woman. All three songs (“Stand by the court
breaks legs”, “I sleep as a baby, dozing” and “My hateful husband
rises") are known from folklore records (in particular, analogies to
the first and the third are in Rybnikov's collection, the second - in Shane). First
the song is apparently built on the basis of Rybnikov's text, but significantly
shortened and refined. Nekrasov gave the second song, apparently, completely
exactly (or almost exactly), but without the last verse, in which the husband affectionately
turns to his wife: thus, Nekrasov’s mitigation of the topic disappears. Third
the song is again given very precisely, but again without the last part, in which
the wife submits to her husband; and here Nekrasov avoids a softening ending. Except
Moreover, this song in the records is called a round dance and is a game: a guy,
depicting a husband, jokingly hits the girl-wife with a handkerchief, and after the last
couplet picks her up from her knees and kisses her (the game ends with the traditional
round dance kiss). Nekrasov gives this song as a household and
she reinforces the story of Matryona Timofeevna about the beatings of her husband. This clearly
Nekrasov's desire to show precisely the plight of
peasantry and, in particular, the peasant woman.
In the same chapter, a description of the beauty of Demushka (“How written Demushka was”)
relies on the text of the glorification of the groom; and here Nekrasov produces
significant reduction in text. Chapter IV (“Demushka”) is largely built on the basis of 9 funeral lamentations by Irina Fedosova (from the collection of Barsov). Often Nekraso uses a specific lamentation text; but it is the text that is important here,
which in itself allows you to expand the picture of peasant life. Except
Moreover, we learn in this way about the fact of the existence of funeral lamentations in
peasant environment. This use of folklore, in turn, has
double meaning: firstly, the author selects the strongest and brightest in
artistically, data and themes increase emotionality and
figurativeness of his work, and secondly, folklore
works makes it more accessible to the peasant (and in general
democratic) audience, namely this orientation towards democratic
audience is typical for Nekrasov. Especially significant here
borrowings from "Lament for the Elder", one of the most acute in the social
respect. At the same time, Nekrasov freely handles the material and, together with
that somewhat modifies it. Particularly striking is the comparison
curses to the judges at Nekrasov and Irina Fedosova. Irina Fedosova
ends Lament for the Elder thus:

You will fall, mourn my tears,
You will not fall on the water, not on the ground.
You are not on God's church, on a construction site,
You will fall, mourn my tears,
etc.................

The works of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov are always socially oriented, he created his poems and poems “about the people and for the people”, describing their problems, thoughts and interests, life and customs. Is no exception and "Who in Russia to live well?". This well-known work reflected the difficult situation that developed in Russia after the abolition of serfdom.

At the very beginning of the poem, in the prologue, seven men gathered who started an argument, trying to find out "who lives happily, freely in Russia." And for this they set off on a journey, meeting on their way and listening to stories about people completely different in their position in society. This is the priest, and the landowner, and the peasant woman Matryona Timofeevna, and Yermil Girin, and the soldier who returned to his homeland and sees his happiness in this, and the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, and many others. Few heroes we can call truly happy, from the point of view of the author, and none - according to the men. After all, what is happiness for them? A clear definition of this is given by the sexton, who appears at the very beginning of their journey, who said:

What is happiness, in your opinion?

Peace, wealth, honor?

Isn't that right, dear ones?

They said, "Yes."

You can try to apply this “formula” to the fates of different heroes and understand why the wanderers did not find happy people among everyone they met on the way.

The first person with whom the peasants started a conversation about a subject of interest to them was a priest. From his very first words (“Orthodox! It’s a sin to grumble at God…”) we understand that the story will not be joyful, that the clergymen do not live freely and cheerfully, that everything they say about them is the invention of ignorant people. After all, the priest has neither wealth, nor honor, nor peace. And where would they come from if the priest lives only on donations from parishioners and money earned at weddings and funerals, not being able, unlike the peasants, to cultivate their own land. If at any hour, on any day of the week, in any weather, be it frost, thunderstorm, severe heat or flood, he must go to a dying person, confess him, perform the necessary rites, and then serve the service and deal with his pressing problems. If people “compose joker tales and obscene songs” about clergymen, name-calling his wife and children, then what kind of happiness can we talk about? The priest has no peace, no respect, no money.

The situation is no better for the landlords. After the abolition of serfdom, they turned out to be completely unadapted to the new conditions, they do not know how to do anything, because their parents and teachers prepared them for a quiet life based on the exploitation of the labor of serfs, because they were not taught the things necessary for the new time. And the image of a "ruddy, portly, squat" landowner makes us feel sorry, because maybe he would like to start all over again now, but he cannot. “The great chain broke, it broke, it jumped. One end on the master, the other on the peasant! .. "

A little closer to the "ideal" Ermil Girin. He has two components of happiness: the respect of others and wealth. With his honesty, decency, nobility and high morality, he earned the trust of all the people who surround him, he was elected headman. But, despite all this, Ermila has no peace, which means that there is no full-fledged happiness. Once having stumbled, he cannot forgive himself for this, although from the point of view of those around him, the act is completely justified and does not cause indignation or contempt and anger. And in fact, what is wrong with the fact that instead of his brother, he recruited another person, and not with vile deceit and betrayal, but by paying him and his mother a lot of money for this. Girin's conscience cannot stand such a test: he wants to hang himself, and when he is literally taken out of the noose, he retires and decides to take up the mill. Moreover, when buying at auction, and when using it, we can again be convinced of the honesty and decency of this person, in his incorruptibility and nobility. Unfortunately, people like Yermil really cannot find peace, because a truly honest person is honest in everything. And in the end, when Kirin refuses to take part in the suppression of the rebellion, he is imprisoned.

But all these are male characters, and Nekrasov also refers to a woman in his work - Matryona Timofeevna, whose fate is described in a whole chapter. The female lot in Russia is hard, the heroine had a hard time in life. At first, she is forced to endure the constant nit-picking of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, the harassment of the “master manager”, then she experiences the death of her first-born, Dyomushka, incurs disgrace by accepting flogging instead of her son Fedotushka, hunger. Then a new misfortune comes: Matryona's husband is recruited, and here the brave woman is ready to fight for her happiness: she goes to the city and makes her way to the governor's wife, who helps her restore justice. She has no wealth, no honor, much less peace. All her life she must work to feed and provide for her family, endure humiliation and numerous losses, but she also has joy in life - she loves and is loved. And this means a lot, because not many Russian women were so lucky with their husbands. In conclusion, Matryona Timofeevna tells the wanderers words that are very capacious in their essence: “But what you started is not a business - to look for a happy woman among the women!”.

So, according to the author, among these heroes there is not a single happy person. So who is the person who lives "freely in Russia"? This is Grisha Dobrosklonov, who appears in the poem only in the last chapter. He was a sympathetic and loving son, and "in the heart of a boy with love for a poor mother, love for the whole Vakhlachin merged," he dreamed of going to Moscow and studying at the Novovorsite.

Of the two roads that the author designates as "the road of the road, the slave of passions" and "the narrow road, the honest road", he chooses the second. And follows it to the end. What lies ahead for him? "Fate prepared a glorious path for him, a loud name of the people's intercessor, consumption and Siberia."

His life path is not easy, fate is harsh. He has no money, no peace, no universal respect, but he decided to devote his life to the struggle for the happiness of the people, for their liberation from serf chains.

"... And fifteen years

Gregory already knew for sure

What will live for happiness

Wretched and dark native corner".

And it is the good deeds for the people, it is the zeal for the “humiliated, offended”, the desire for general well-being that Nekrasov sometimes considers at the cost of his life to be real human happiness. You don't need money, you don't need family and honor. The lofty goal of living and, perhaps, dying for their homeland and the Russian people is the destiny of a person, this is the meaning of his whole life.

In the poem "Who is it good to live in Russia?" The concept of happiness is multifaceted and somewhat unusual. It does not include love and friendship, that is, those feelings without which it is difficult for a person to live in the world, but the social orientation is clearly indicated: the people, their liberation from serfdom, which Grisha calls a snake.