Why Russians have the right to celebrate the memory of Shakespeare. Why Turgenev was considered a coward and other little-known facts about the great Russian writer

Vinogradova Elizaveta, student of MKOU secondary school No. 3 p. Dinvnoe

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The life and work of Turgenev is a true tragedy, still not properly understood by mankind.

The "real" Turgenev remained, and remains, unknown.

And yet, who is Turgenev? What do we know about him? At best, someone carefully read the biography in the textbook, but there are only dry facts.
My grandmother, a passionate admirer of his work, introduced me to Turgenev's works. These were stories from the Hunter's Notes.

Landscape sketches, memorable images, expressive and emotional language - all this sunk into my soul. I wanted to get acquainted with other works of this great writer.

E Turgenev's only great love, which he never betrayed, was Russian nature, his muse and inspiration.

Indeed, it is difficult not to describe such beauty. A hunter at heart, Ivan Sergeevich could not remain indifferent to the surrounding areas.

. And this unexpressed love delight poured out on paper in the form of amazing landscape sketches. For example:
"...together with the dew, a scarlet gleam falls on the glades, recently drenched in streams of liquid gold..."

How vividly, colorfully and vividly this landscape is described! Reading these lines, you can easily imagine this unique picture. “The singer of Russian nature, Turgenev, with such poetic power and immediacy, showed the captivating beauty and charm of the Russian landscape, like no prose writer before him,” wrote the great critic.
"Notes of a Hunter" is a truly brilliant creation of the artist of the peasant soul, who depicted a picture of contrasts and harmony of the amazing Russian character, combining an untouched natural principle, heroic strength and at the same time sensitivity and vulnerability.
A peasant who can be loved, who can be admired, who lives by nature, beauty, sincerity and love, this is how Turgenev sees the Russian people, not hiding his feelings, admiring and wondering at him, sometimes even shedding a hot tear.
The narrator, whose voice we hear from the pages of the Hunter's Notes, describes nature as a person who subtly feels the beauty of his country. He knows as much about nature as any of the peasants.
The writer reveals himself as a true connoisseur of his characters, he plays with each situation in such a way that one or another trait of the national character manifests itself as brightly as possible. Turgenev refuses to generalize, he draws his heroes as original representatives of the nation.
Turgenev especially depicts the peasantry in the story "Singers". Here, the reader’s eyes see a contrast between reality, everyday sketches and the beauty and purity of the spiritual world of a simple peasant: “I must admit that at no time of the year did Kolotovka present a delightful sight, but it excites a particularly sad feeling when the July sparkling sun floods and floods with its inexorable rays brown, half-swept roofs of houses, and this deep ravine, and a scorched, dusty pasture, along which thin, long-legged hens hopelessly wander, and a gray aspen log house with holes instead of windows, the remnant of the former manor house, all around overgrown with nettles, weeds and wormwood ... " . Against the background of the rough reality that makes up the external life of the peasants, their inner world is revealed, the ability to feel the beauty and admire the touching Russian song pouring from the very depths of the soul.
The heroes of Bezhina Meadow merge with nature, feeling it and living in it. The writer shows children who are closest to the natural beginning, Turgenev depicts their bright characters, gives capacious characteristics, noting the speech of peasant boys, in which everything breathes with an unfeigned sense of naturalness and some naivety. Even nature responds to the stories that the boys listen to with bated breath, without doubting their veracity, as if confirming a belief or a mysterious incident: “Everyone was silent. Suddenly, somewhere in the distance, there was a lingering, ringing, almost groaning sound, one of those incomprehensible nocturnal sounds that sometimes arise amid deep silence, rise, stand in the air and slowly spread at last, as if fading ... The boys looked at each other, shuddered. . Even the hunter himself, an experienced person, believes in signs: the merging of folk signs and the atmosphere in which the heroes of the story live is so natural.
It is impossible to remain indifferent to the sincere world of the soul, which is revealed in every small detail, in the speech and actions of Turgenev's characters. The writer loves the people, he believes in him, playing the strings of his heart, he proves that there is no darkness and downtroddenness, blind humility and humility in him; everything that is bad in the Russian peasant is due to the conditions of existence. On the pages of the Hunter's Notes, the people live with their heart and soul, being able to find outlets in the impenetrable darkness, without getting lost in it and without becoming spiritually poor.

But here is a work of a completely different nature. Which contains a deep philosophical meaning of the appointment of a person, about the ability to forgive and be forgiven.

The story of I. S. Turgenev: “Living Powers” ​​was once highly appreciated by George Sand for the plot. Russian criticism is dominated by religious and patriotic assessments.

Lukerya, a yard girl of a village landowner, a beauty, a songstress, a dancer, a clever girl, in love with a guy, engaged to him, on the eve of her wedding at the age of 21 she accidentally fell, fell ill, “cruel stone immobility” fettered her, and now she lies alone in an old barn She has been away from the village for seven years now, eats almost nothing, and is sometimes looked after by an orphan girl. Being on the hunt, her master came into the barn to Lukerya. He saw a “bronze face”, “fingers-sticks”, “metal cheeks” - not a person, but an “icon of an old letter”, “living relics”. Their conversation reveals to the reader the amazing soul of a girl who creates life apart from her dying body. Suffering did not harden her. As a gift from God, she accepts torment. Through him, he understands the meaning of his life in a new way. And it seems to her that while suffering, she repeats the feat of Jesus, Joan of Arc. But what truth does she carry? The answer to this question is the meaning of the story.

Withered, half-dead, it perceives the world mainly through smells, sounds, color, rarely through the life of animals, plants, people. Lukerya told her story almost cheerfully, without oohs and sighs, without complaining in the least and without asking for participation. She conquered pain with a poetic feeling, the ability to be surprised, delighted, and laugh. With extreme effort, she could even sing a song, cry, make fun of herself. She taught an orphan girl caring for her to sing songs. She seemed to be doing some duty.

How does Lukerya answer the world? Paralyzed Lukerya - the courage to live. She turns her unhappiness into a way to be happy. Through the ability to overcome suffering, she affirms life on earth, understands this, and in this understanding her happiness. In the courage to be happy is her answer to the world.

Pairing himself with the world, Lukerya believes that he is fulfilling some kind of moral duty. Which?

She is not particularly concerned with the God of the church. Father Alexei, a priest, decided not to confess her - she was not the right person; the Christian calendar gave and took away, because he sees that it is of little use. And although she constantly feels the presence of "heaven" in her life, her thought is not focused on "heaven", on herself. Lukerya's human duty is to live, suffering and overcoming suffering.

She refused to go to the hospital. She doesn't want to be pitied. He doesn't pray much, he doesn't see much point in it. He does not know many prayers: “Our Father”, “Virgin Mary”, “Akathist”. “Yes, and what will the Lord God bore me with? What can I ask him? He knows better than me what I need ... ". And at the same time, he believes that no one will help a person if he does not help himself. Everyone is satisfied.

Turgenev here interprets the gospel idea that Jesus suffered for all people when he voluntarily ascended the cross. Lukerya pities everyone: his ex-fiance Vasya, who married a healthy woman, and a swallow killed by a hunter, and landless peasants, and an orphan girl, and all the serfs. Suffering and regretting, she lives in the world, and not in her pain - this is her moral feat. And happiness. And the divine she suffered.

Lukerya is one of Turgenev's interpretations of the image of Jesus. She is a poetic person. “Only I am alive!”, “And it seems to me that it will dawn on me”, “Thinking will come like a cloud will shed”, - only a poet can speak with such images-“pictures”. And in this Turgenev did not deviate from the truth - Jesus was a poet. The meaning of Jesus, Lukerya, Echo is a way to fulfill the duty to which the poet is called by his sacrificial soul.

Amazing ending to the story.

Turgenev's story repeats the tragic fate of Jesus, Joan of Arc, Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev himself, and all the poets of the world.

This is a way for a person to comprehend the search for the divine in himself through the sacrificial feat of love for people as through a new measure of the divine. But the feat of love is only possible for those who are able to let the cross, and the fire, and many years of stone immobility, and the worst thing - “no response!” Through his poetic soul.

Why are Turgenev's works so true? Maybe because the author experienced or saw everything that happens himself. Turgenev once said: "My entire biography is in my writings." It seems to me that this is indeed the case. For example,November 1, 1843 Turgenev meets the singerPauline Viardot (Viardot Garcia), love for which will largely determine the external course of his life.

Forever and ever Turgenev connected with the great artist a great, ardent love. She brought a lot of happiness to the writer, but happiness and sorrow, joy and despair walked side by side. The beloved woman could not become Turgenev's wife: she had children and a husband. And their relationship retained the purity and charm of true friendship, behind which lurked a high feeling of love.

“When I am gone, when everything that was me crumbles to dust - oh you, my only friend, oh you, whom I loved so deeply and so tenderly, you who will probably outlive me - do not go to my grave. ."

This prose poem was dedicated to the beloved woman - Pauline Viardot.

Love is invariably present in Turgenev's stories. However, it rarely ends happily: the writer brings a touch of tragedy to the love theme. Love in the image of Turgenev is a cruel and wayward force that plays with human destinies. This is an unusual, violent element that equalizes people, regardless of their position, character, intellect, internal appearance.

Before this element, the most diverse people often turn out to be defenseless: the democrat Bazarov and the aristocrat Pavel Petrovich are equally unhappy (“Fathers and Sons”), it is difficult to come to terms with their fate for a young, naive girl, Liza Kalitina, and an experienced, mature man, nobleman Lavretsky, who is ready was to a new life in his homeland ("Noble Nest").
Lonely, with broken hopes and a vain dream of happiness, remains Mr. N.N., the hero of the story "Asya". When you read the story, it seems that the whole meaning of it lies in the famous Pushkin phrase - “And happiness was so possible, so close ...” Tatyana says it in “Eugene Onegin”, forever separating her fate from the fate of her chosen one. The hero of Turgenev finds himself in a similar situation. From his unfulfilled dream, only a farewell note and a dried geranium flower remain, which he sacredly keeps.
After reading such works by Turgenev as “The Nest of Nobles”, “On the Eve”, “First Love”, “Spring Waters”, I saw how poetically, how subtly the writer draws the feeling of love. Love that brings a person both joy and sorrow, making him better, purer, sublime. Only one who himself experienced this feeling in all its beauty and strength could write about love in this way. Most often in the stories and novels of Turgenev, love is tragic. Undoubtedly, this was the life drama of the writer.
I must say that I prefer books that touch on the theme of love, and therefore I would like to devote my essay to such works.
One of the first Turgenev novels was the novel "The Nest of Nobles". He was an exceptional success, and, it seems to me, not by chance. “Nowhere did the poetry of a dying noble estate overflow with such a calm and sad light as in The Noble Nest,” Belinsky wrote. Before us is a detailed description of the life of a kind and quiet Russian gentleman Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky.

The meeting with the beautiful Varvara Pavlovna abruptly turned his whole fate upside down. He married, but the marriage soon ended in a break through the fault of Varvara Pavlovna. It was not easy for him to survive the family drama. But now a new love has come, the story of which is the plot core of the novel: Lavretsky met Lisa Kalitina.
Lisa was a deeply religious girl. This shaped her inner world. Her attitude to life and people was determined by resigned obedience to a sense of duty, fear of causing someone suffering, offending.
Misled by false news of the death of Varvara Pavlovna, Lavretsky is about to marry a second time, but then his wife suddenly appears. The sad ending has come. Liza went to a monastery; Lavretsky stopped thinking about his own happiness, calmed down, grew old, withdrew. The last feature that completes his image is his bitter appeal to himself: “Hello, lonely old age! Burn down, useless life!"

Most recently, I read another wonderful story by Turgenev - "Spring Waters". What drew me to this story? Turgenev, within the framework of a story about love, poses broad life questions, raises important problems of our time.

I must say that Turgenev's female types are stronger natures than male ones.

Turgenev found high words, poetic colors to depict the feelings of lovers. The author sings of this wonderful and unique feeling - first love: “First love is the same revolution ... youth stands on the barricade, its bright banner curls high - and no matter what awaits it ahead - death or new life - it sends everything your enthusiastic greetings.
But Sanin betrays this great feeling. He meets the brilliant beauty Mrs. Polozova, and attraction to her makes him abandon Gemma. Polozova is shown not only as a depraved woman, but also as a serf-owner, as a clever businesswoman. She is a predator both in her business practices and in love. The world of Gemma is the world of freedom, the world of the rich woman Polozova is the world of slavery. But it is not only love that Sanin betrays. He also betrayed those ideals that were sacred to Gemma. To get married, Sanin must raise funds. And he decides to sell his estate to Polozova. This also meant the sale of his serfs. But Sanin used to say that selling living people is immoral.

I would advise my peers to read at least a few stories by this wonderful writer, and I am sure that these works will not leave them indifferent. In any case, acquaintance with these most talented works was a turning point in my life. I suddenly discovered what an enormous spiritual wealth is hidden in our literature, if it contains such talents as Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.

It is customary to say that art is tested by time. This is true.

But after all, time itself is a thing not only “unusually long”, but also complex. Now we know how much relativity is in this concept and how differently we experience this reality - time. Absorbed in our daily affairs - large and small - we usually do not notice it. And most often this happens under the influence of genuine art.
Russia, as Turgenev knew it, changed in a way that it had not changed, perhaps a whole thousand years before him. In essence, everything that we meet in the foreground of his works is irrevocably a thing of the past. Time has long since destroyed the last remnants of the overwhelming majority of those lordly estates that so often met on the roads of this writer; the very bad memory of the landlords and of the nobility as a whole has in our time very noticeably lost in its social acuteness.

And the Russian village is no longer the same.
But it turns out that the fate of his heroes, so far from our life, excites the most immediate interest in us; it turns out that everything that Turgenev hated is, in the end, hated by us too; what he considered good is most often so from our point of view. The writer has conquered time.

That is why native nature, magnificent landscapes, wonderful types of Russian people, life, customs, folklore, inexplicable charm, spilled like sunlight - there are many of these in Turgenev's works, and all this is written easily, freely, as if all this is even uncomplicated but really deep and serious.

Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich, whose stories, novels and novels are known and loved by many today, was born on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel, into an old noble family. Ivan was the second son of Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva (nee Lutovinova) and Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev.

Turgenev's parents

His father was in the service of the Elisavetgrad Cavalry Regiment. After his marriage, he retired with the rank of colonel. Sergei Nikolayevich belonged to an old noble family. His ancestors are believed to have been Tatars. Ivan Sergeevich's mother was not as well-born as her father, but she surpassed him in wealth. The vast lands located in belonged to Varvara Petrovna. Sergei Nikolaevich stood out for his elegance of manners and secular sophistication. He had a subtle soul, he was handsome. Mother's temper was not like that. This woman lost her father early. She had to experience a terrible shock in her adolescence, when her stepfather tried to seduce her. Barbara ran away from home. Ivan's mother, who survived humiliation and oppression, tried to use the power given to her by law and nature over her sons. This woman was strong willed. She arbitrarily loved her children, and was cruel to the serfs, often punishing them with flogging for insignificant infractions.

Case in Bern

In 1822, the Turgenevs went on a trip abroad. In Bern, a Swiss city, Ivan Sergeevich almost died. The fact is that the father put the boy on the railing of the fence, which surrounded a large pit with city bears entertaining the public. Ivan fell off the railing. Sergei Nikolaevich at the last moment grabbed his son by the leg.

An introduction to belles-lettres

The Turgenevs returned from their trip abroad to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, their mother's estate, located ten miles from Mtsensk (Oryol province). Here Ivan discovered literature for himself: one courtyard man from a serf mother read to the boy in the old manner, singsongly and measuredly, the poem "Rossiada" by Kheraskov. Kheraskov in solemn verses sang the battles for Kazan of the Tatars and Russians during the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. Many years later, Turgenev in his 1874 story "Punin and Baburin" endowed one of the heroes of the work with love for "Rossiada".

The first love

The family of Ivan Sergeevich was in Moscow from the end of the 1820s to the first half of the 1830s. At the age of 15, Turgenev fell in love for the first time in his life. At this time, the family was at Engel's dacha. They were neighbors with their daughter, Princess Catherine, who was 3 years older than Ivan Turgenev. First love seemed to Turgenev captivating, beautiful. He was in awe of the girl, afraid to confess the sweet and languid feeling that had taken possession of him. However, the end of joys and torments, fears and hopes came suddenly: Ivan Sergeevich accidentally found out that Catherine was his father's beloved. Turgenev was haunted by pain for a long time. He will present his love story for a young girl to the hero of the 1860 story "First Love". In this work, Catherine became the prototype of Princess Zinaida Zasekina.

Studying at the universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the death of his father

The biography of Ivan Turgenev continues with a period of study. Turgenev in September 1834 entered the Moscow University, the verbal department. However, he was not satisfied with his studies at the university. He liked Pogorelsky, a mathematics teacher, and Dubensky, who taught Russian. Most of the teachers and courses left the student Turgenev completely indifferent. And some teachers even caused obvious antipathy. This is especially true of Pobedonostsev, who tediously and for a long time talked about literature and could not advance in his predilections further than Lomonosov. After 5 years, Turgenev will continue his studies in Germany. About Moscow University he will say: "It is full of fools."

Ivan Sergeevich studied in Moscow for only a year. Already in the summer of 1834 he moved to St. Petersburg. Here, his brother Nikolai was in military service. Ivan Turgenev continued to study. His father died in October of the same year from kidney stones, right in Ivan's arms. By this time, he was already living apart from his wife. Ivan Turgenev's father was amorous and quickly lost interest in his wife. Varvara Petrovna did not forgive him for his betrayals and, exaggerating her own misfortunes and illnesses, exposed herself as a victim of his callousness and irresponsibility.

Turgenev left a deep wound in his soul. He began to think about life and death, about the meaning of being. Turgenev at that time was attracted by powerful passions, vivid characters, throwing and struggles of the soul, expressed in an unusual, sublime language. He reveled in the poems of V. G. Benediktov and N. V. Kukolnik, the stories of A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Ivan Turgenev wrote in imitation of Byron (the author of "Manfred") his dramatic poem called "The Wall". After more than 30 years, he will say that this is "a completely ridiculous work."

Writing poetry, republican ideas

Turgenev in the winter of 1834-1835. fell seriously ill. He had a weakness in his body, he could not eat or sleep. Having recovered, Ivan Sergeevich changed a lot spiritually and physically. He became very stretched out, and also lost interest in mathematics, which attracted him before, and became more and more interested in belles-lettres. Turgenev began to compose many poems, but still imitative and weak. At the same time, he became interested in republican ideas. He felt the serfdom that existed in the country as a shame and the greatest injustice. In Turgenev, a sense of guilt in front of all the peasants strengthened, because his mother treated them cruelly. And he took an oath to himself to do everything to ensure that there was no class of "slaves" in Russia.

Acquaintance with Pletnev and Pushkin, publication of the first poems

Student Turgenev in his third year met P. A. Pletnev, professor of Russian literature. This is a literary critic, poet, friend of A. S. Pushkin, to whom the novel "Eugene Onegin" is dedicated. At the beginning of 1837, at a literary evening with him, Ivan Sergeevich also ran into Pushkin himself.

In 1838, two poems by Turgenev were published in the Sovremennik magazine (the first and fourth issues): "To the Venus of the Medicean" and "Evening". Ivan Sergeevich published poetry after that. The first tests of the pen, which were printed, did not bring him fame.

Continued studies in Germany

In 1837 Turgenev graduated from St. Petersburg University (language department). He was not satisfied with the education he received, feeling gaps in his knowledge. German universities were considered the standard of that time. And in the spring of 1838, Ivan Sergeevich went to this country. He decided to graduate from the University of Berlin, where Hegel's philosophy was taught.

Abroad, Ivan Sergeevich became friends with the thinker and poet N.V. Stankevich, and also became friends with M.A. Bakunin, who later became a famous revolutionary. He had conversations on historical and philosophical topics with T. N. Granovsky, the future famous historian. Ivan Sergeevich became a staunch Westerner. Russia, in his opinion, should take an example from Europe, getting rid of lack of culture, laziness, ignorance.

public service

Turgenev, returning to Russia in 1841, wanted to teach philosophy. However, his plans were not destined to come true: the department he wanted to enter was not restored. Ivan Sergeevich in June 1843 was enlisted in the Ministry of the Interior for service. At that time, the issue of the liberation of the peasants was being studied, so Turgenev reacted to the service with enthusiasm. However, Ivan Sergeevich did not serve long in the ministry: he quickly became disillusioned with the usefulness of his work. He began to be burdened by the need to fulfill all the instructions of his superiors. In April 1845, Ivan Sergeevich retired and was never again in the public service.

Turgenev becomes famous

Turgenev in the 1840s began to play the role of a secular lion in society: always well-groomed, neat, with the manners of an aristocrat. He wanted success and attention.

In 1843, in April, Turgenev's poem Parasha was published. Its plot is the touching love of the landowner's daughter for a neighbor on the estate. The work is a kind of ironic echo of "Eugene Onegin". However, unlike Pushkin, in Turgenev's poem everything ends happily with the marriage of the heroes. Nevertheless, happiness is deceptive, doubtful - it's just ordinary well-being.

The work was highly appreciated by V. G. Belinsky, the most influential and well-known critic of that time. Turgenev met Druzhinin, Panaev, Nekrasov. Following Parasha, Ivan Sergeevich wrote the following poems: in 1844 - Conversation, in 1845 - Andrey and Landowner. Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich also created stories and novels (in 1844 - "Andrey Kolosov", in 1846 - "Three Portraits" and "Breter", in 1847 - "Petushkov"). In addition, Turgenev wrote the comedy Lack of Money in 1846, and the drama Indiscretion in 1843. He followed the principles of the "natural school" of writers, to which Grigorovich, Nekrasov, Herzen, Goncharov belonged. Writers belonging to this trend depicted "non-poetic" subjects: the daily life of people, everyday life, paid primary attention to the influence of circumstances and the environment on the fate and character of a person.

"Hunter's Notes"

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in 1847 published an essay "Khor and Kalinich", created under the impression of hunting trips in 1846 through the fields and forests of the Tula, Kaluga and Oryol provinces. Two heroes in it - Khor and Kalinich - are presented not just as Russian peasants. These are individuals with their own complex inner world. On the pages of this work, as well as other essays by Ivan Sergeevich, published in the book "Notes of a Hunter" in 1852, the peasants have their own voice, which differs from the manner of the narrator. The author recreated the customs and life of the landlord and peasant Russia. His book was evaluated as a protest against serfdom. Society accepted it with enthusiasm.

Relationship with Pauline Viardot, mother's death

In 1843, a young opera singer from France, Pauline Viardot, arrived on tour. She was greeted enthusiastically. Ivan Turgenev was also delighted with her talent. He was captivated by this woman for the rest of his life. Ivan Sergeevich followed her and her family to France (Viardot was married), accompanied Polina on a tour of Europe. His life was henceforth divided between France and Russia. The love of Ivan Turgenev has passed the test of time - Ivan Sergeevich has been waiting for the first kiss for two years. And only in June 1849 Polina became his lover.

Turgenev's mother was categorically against this connection. She refused to give him the funds received from the income from the estates. Death reconciled them: Turgenev's mother was dying hard, suffocating. She died in 1850 on November 16 in Moscow. Ivan was informed of her illness too late and did not have time to say goodbye to her.

Arrest and exile

In 1852, N. V. Gogol died. I. S. Turgenev wrote an obituary on this occasion. There were no reprehensible thoughts in him. However, it was not customary in the press to recall the duel that led to as well as recall the death of Lermontov. On April 16 of the same year, Ivan Sergeevich was put under arrest for a month. Then he was exiled to Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, not allowed to leave the Oryol province. At the request of the exile, after 1.5 years he was allowed to leave Spassky, but only in 1856 was he granted the right to go abroad.

New works

During the years of exile, Ivan Turgenev wrote new works. His books became more and more popular. In 1852, Ivan Sergeevich created the story "Inn". In the same year, Ivan Turgenev wrote Mumu, one of his most famous works. In the period from the late 1840s to the mid-1850s, he created other stories: in 1850 - "The Diary of a Superfluous Man", in 1853 - "Two Friends", in 1854 - "Correspondence" and "Calm" , in 1856 - "Yakov Pasynkov". Their heroes are naive and lofty idealists who fail in their attempts to benefit society or find happiness in their personal lives. Criticism called them "superfluous people." Thus, the creator of a new type of hero was Ivan Turgenev. His books were interesting for their novelty and topicality.

"Rudin"

The fame acquired by the mid-1850s by Ivan Sergeevich was strengthened by the novel Rudin. The author wrote it in 1855 in seven weeks. Turgenev in his first novel made an attempt to recreate the type of ideologist and thinker, modern man. The protagonist is an "extra person", who is depicted both in weakness and in attractiveness at the same time. The writer, creating it, endowed his hero with the features of Bakunin.

"Nest of Nobles" and new novels

In 1858, Turgenev's second novel, The Nest of Nobles, appeared. His themes are the history of an old noble family; the love of a nobleman, by the will of circumstances hopeless. The poetry of love, full of grace and subtlety, the careful depiction of the characters' experiences, the spiritualization of nature - these are the distinctive features of Turgenev's style, perhaps most clearly expressed in The Noble Nest. They are also characteristic of some stories, such as "Faust" of 1856, "A Trip to Polissya" (years of creation - 1853-1857), "Asya" and "First Love" (both works were written in 1860). "Noble Nest" was warmly welcomed. He was praised by many critics, in particular Annenkov, Pisarev, Grigoriev. However, Turgenev's next novel met a completely different fate.

"The Eve"

In 1860, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev published the novel "On the Eve". A brief summary of it is as follows. In the center of the work - Elena Stakhova. This heroine is a brave, determined, devotedly loving girl. She fell in love with the revolutionary Insarov, a Bulgarian who devoted his life to liberating his homeland from the rule of the Turks. The story of their relationship ends, as usual with Ivan Sergeevich, tragically. The revolutionary dies, and Elena, who has become his wife, decides to continue the work of her late husband. This is the plot of the new novel, which was created by Ivan Turgenev. Of course, we have described its summary only in general terms.

This novel caused conflicting assessments. Dobrolyubov, for example, in an instructive tone in his article reprimanded the author where he was wrong. Ivan Sergeevich was furious. Radical democratic publications published texts with scandalous and malicious allusions to the details of Turgenev's personal life. The writer broke off relations with Sovremennik, where he had been published for many years. The younger generation stopped seeing Ivan Sergeevich as an idol.

"Fathers and Sons"

In the period from 1860 to 1861, Ivan Turgenev wrote Fathers and Sons, his new novel. It was published in Russkiy Vestnik in 1862. Most readers and critics did not appreciate it.

"Enough"

In 1862-1864. a story-miniature "Enough" was created (published in 1864). It is imbued with motives of disappointment in the values ​​of life, including art and love, which are so dear to Turgenev. In the face of inexorable and blind death, everything loses its meaning.

"Smoke"

Written in 1865-1867. the novel "Smoke" is also imbued with a gloomy mood. The work was published in 1867. In it, the author tried to recreate a picture of modern Russian society, the ideological moods that dominated it.

"Nov"

Turgenev's last novel appeared in the mid-1870s. In 1877 it was printed. Turgenev in it presented populist revolutionaries who are trying to convey their ideas to the peasants. He assessed their actions as a sacrificial feat. However, this is a feat of the doomed.

The last years of the life of I. S. Turgenev

Turgenev from the mid-1860s almost constantly lived abroad, only visiting his homeland on short visits. He built himself a house in Baden-Baden, near the house of the Viardot family. In 1870, after the Franco-Prussian war, Polina and Ivan Sergeevich left the city and settled in France.

In 1882, Turgenev fell ill with spinal cancer. The last months of his life were difficult, and death was also difficult. The life of Ivan Turgenev ended on August 22, 1883. He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery, near the grave of Belinsky.

Ivan Turgenev, whose stories, novels and novels are included in the school curriculum and known to many, is one of the greatest Russian writers of the 19th century.

Recently, the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of the great Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. More than one generation of people grew up on his works, which have become classics of world fiction. In this review, we have collected interesting facts from his biography, which allow us to see the writer as a person - on the one hand, high in his actions and thoughts, but also endowed with certain shortcomings, on the other.

"Mothers and Children"

The writer had a difficult relationship with his own mother all his life. His father, Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, married the rich old maid Lutovinova (the bride who sat in the girls was already 28 years old!). Varvara Petrovna was 6 years older than her husband and remained a real domestic tyrant all her life. Ivan Sergeevich wrote in his memoirs:

“I have nothing to remember my childhood. Not a single happy memory. I was afraid of my mother like fire. I was punished for every trifle - in a word, they drilled me like a recruit. A rare day passed without a rod; when I dared to ask why I was punished, my mother categorically stated: “You better know about it, guess.”

Probably, the mother became the "muse" thanks to which Turgenev hated serfdom and fought against it in all ways available to him. It was she who he described in the image of a lady in the story "Mu-mu". He completely stopped relations with her after, for the solemn meeting of her son, the imperious woman lined up all the serfs along the driveway with the order to greet Ivan Sergeevich with loud cries. Immediately turning around and leaving back to Petersburg, Turgenev did not see his mother again until her death.

Real male passion

It seems that besides literature, Turgenev's true passion was hunting. The writer indulged in this hobby constantly, a lot and willingly. For the sake of hunting expeditions, he traveled around the Orel, Tula, Tambov, Kursk, Kaluga provinces, and also studied the best lands of England, France and Germany, trying to recreate the atmosphere and rituals of Russian hunting abroad. He kept a kennel for almost 150 dogs (hounds and greyhounds). In addition to fiction, which glorified hunting, he was the author of three specialized books on this subject. Tempting his fellow writers with this occupation, he even created a kind of hunting circle, which included Nekrasov, Fet, Ostrovsky, Nikolai and Lev Tolstoy, the artist P. P. Sokolov (the first illustrator of the Hunter's Notes).

It is known that in 1843, at the time of meeting Pauline Viardot, a mutual friend introduced him like this: “This is a young Russian landowner. Glorious hunter and bad poet"(Turgenev at the beginning of his literary activity was going to become a poet and wrote poems that were published in Sovremennik).

Character features

Turgenev was a perfect illustration of the idea that genius should be scattered. This trait of his reached the point of absurdity. However, contemporaries for his forgetfulness found other, less flattering terms, for example, "all-Russian negligence" and "Oblomovism." It was said that the writer could invite guests to dinner and forget about it, going about his business. Several times he, having taken an advance payment for the manuscript, simply did not give it to print. And once, due to the optionality of the famous writer, the Russian revolutionary Arthur Benny was seriously injured, since Turgenev did not bring a letter to London justifying the slander against him, having forgotten the envelope at home.

At the age of 20, Turgenev showed society an example of obvious cowardice, the trace of this event for a long time then cast a shadow on his reputation. In 1838, while traveling in Germany, the young writer sailed on a ship. There was a fire, which, fortunately, was quickly extinguished, but during the panic, Turgenev, according to eyewitnesses, behaved not at all like a gentleman, pushing women and children near the lifeboats. He bribed a sailor, promising him a reward from his rich mother if he would save him. Having safely reached the shore, he was immediately ashamed of his momentary weakness, but the rumors about her and ridicule could no longer be stopped. As a true writer, Turgenev creatively reworked this life lesson of his and described it in the short story Fire at Sea.

Features of physiology

After the death of the brilliant writer, his body was examined by Sergei Petrovich Botkin himself and it turned out that the French doctors made a mistake with the diagnosis. In recent years, Turgenev was treated for angina pectoris and intercostal neuralgia. Botkin wrote in conclusion that "The true cause of death was determined only after the autopsy", it turned out to be microsarcoma of the spine.

At the same time, a study of the writer's brain was carried out. It turned out that his weight was 2012 grams, which is about 600 grams more than the average person. This fact has made its way into many anatomy textbooks, although physiologists are wary of the idea of ​​a direct link between intelligence and brain size.

Turgenev's love story has become an example of a high and pure feeling. Read more:

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev lived his life in a struggle with circumstances and with himself. We offer you to take a look at how successful the “battle for the soul” turned out to be, and what price did the Russian classic have to pay for his weaknesses?

Mother

The despotic Varvara Petrovna was the worst example not only of a Russian landowner, but also of a mother. Everyone suffered from her tyranny: from serfs to her beloved son Ivan. The peasants who did not break their hats went to Siberia, and the disobedient son, who did not want to serve at first, and then did not return from a trip abroad for a long time, is deprived of his livelihood. Little Ivan's mother "tore" with her own hands almost daily. However, for a long time Turgenev managed to resist the desire to rebel against his parent. She commands and he goes to Germany to continue his studies. Then, again trying to please his mother, not too zealously seeks a place in the Ministry of the Interior in the department of the ethnographer Dahl. Soon, however, he resigns and is punished for his desire to engage in "paperwork" - his mother reduces the monthly allowance so much that he can hardly pay for his own lunch. Before her death, Varvara Petrovna will “give” to her two sons - Nikolai, who retired and “lived at random” and Ivan, who “dragged after the singer” and lived abroad - on the estate, however, without signing the deeds and selling stocks for a pittance for the future sowing campaign. Turgenev will not be able to accept - in the heat of a quarrel, he will leave his mother: “Who are you not torturing? Everyone!”, to which she hears from Varvara Petrovna, who has turned white with anger: “I have no children!” The son will make several attempts to reconcile with his mother - in the hope of a conversation, he will walk 18 miles from his father's small estate Turgenevo every day. But the mother will soon die, leaving no orders, never forgiving her disobedient son.

Pauline Viardot

For success in the literary field, Turgenev will have to pay a high price. His "passion" for the role of "Russian friend" will last for almost 40 years. Obsession with Pauline Viardot will dictate its own rules. He will be presented to the opera diva on November 1, 1843 - and from that moment on, life will never be the same. He will become her most devoted admirer, spending long hours on the third paw of a polar bear, whose skin was spread on the floor of his "angel's" St. Petersburg dressing room. Trying to outshine the more successful admirers of Viardot, he will be generous with gifts and flowers. In pursuit of personal happiness, with a barely glimmering hope for reciprocity, he will follow the "inimitable" to Europe. Over time, he will become a good friend of the Viardot family. Experiencing material difficulties, he will live at their expense, and having received an inheritance, he will be able to thank his friends. Life in the Courtavnel castle, 60 kilometers from the French capital, will be the best time for Turgenev: his beloved woman is nearby, he breathes the same air with her, he hears her divine singing every evening. He is happy, although for a long time he receives only royal indulgence. Turgenev will not be able to overcome this temptation, harboring the hope that sooner or later he will completely possess this woman. He will get what he wants, however, for a very short time.

Fear

In a critical situation, Turgenev will not be able to defeat his instinctive fear either. He will go to study in Germany by ship. The fire that started on the ship and the panic that gripped everyone will force the young Turgenev to show cowardice. He will desperately push passengers aside, trying to be the first to take a place in a lifeboat, not noticing children and women in distress among the distressed. The horror of the fire dictates only one desire - to be saved. Later, in the autobiographical story “Fire at Sea,” he writes: “I remember that I grabbed the sailor’s hand and promised him ten thousand rubles on behalf of my mother if he managed to save me.” Fortunately, no one will suffer, but the bitter feeling of shame will be added to the joy of salvation, which will poison Turgenev's life for many years to come.

Copper pipes

Did Turgenev dream of one day reaching the glory of the greatest? Of course, but can you blame him for this? He will show his first poem, The Steno, written in imitation of Byron's Manfred, to the professor of Russian literature, Pletnev. Pletnev, benevolent and possessing a wonderful flair, will find the work mediocre, however, he will recommend the author to continue the search and even invite him to one of the literary evenings. It was in the entrance hall of Pletnev that Turgenev would first see Pushkin, his idol. A little earlier, he would attend Gogol's lecture on world history and be extremely disappointed to see a man whispering something incoherently, terribly embarrassed, who, among other things, had little understanding of the subject he was talking about. Later, he will meet Dostoevsky, who will seem to him pretentious, awkward and ridiculous. Dostoevsky will become for Turgenev the personification of what he did not accept in people: verbosity, lack of tact, extravagance. Then he will not yet know that it is Dostoevsky who will become his main rival in his literary career. Turgenev worked at the same time as Tolstoy and Nekrasov, Fet and Dobrolyubov, Emile Zola and Prosper Merimee, Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, James, Thackeray, Dickens. And he will become a classic of Russian literature, writing "A Hunter's Notes", "A Nest of Nobles", "On the Eve", "Fathers and Sons". He will translate a lot, opening up Russian literature for Europeans and bestowing on his compatriots the best works of Western classics.

Friends

Of the entire galaxy of celebrities who surrounded Turgenev, relations with many grew from purely business to friendly. However, the vulnerable and subjective Ivan Sergeevich could decisively stop any relations with friends without understanding the motivation for the act or not accepting the opinion. So, after the publication of an article by Dobrolyubov in Sovremennik, in which criticism of The Eve was voiced, Turgenev will put Nekrasov before a choice, and when he chooses Dobrolyubov, Ivan Sergeevich will leave Sovremennik and stop communicating with his best friend. Already for 10 years, Turgenev quarreled with Dostoevsky because of disagreement with the themes and characters of the novel "Smoke". For a long 17 years, Turgenev will stop communicating with Leo Tolstoy - a quarrel will begin because of the difference in views on the methods of education. In particular, Tolstoy considers the situation insincere when a “dressed girl” (Turgenev’s illegitimate daughter) repairs the clothes of the poor. The remark will hurt Turgenev extremely: he will lose his self-control, will sharply answer, although this was not characteristic of his nature, and, allegedly, will even rush at Tolstoy with his fists. The case could have ended in a duel, but, fortunately, the murder did not take place. Interestingly, however, it was not usually Turgenev who took the first steps towards reconciliation.

Revolution

The French Revolution of 1848 found Turgenev in Brussels, and half an hour later he was already rushing to Paris to witness fundamental changes. But when he saw blood, massacres, vain sacrifices, the obsession of his friend Bakunin, who rejoiced in the riot of the oppressed masses, Turgenev realized that he was not capable of active struggle, decisive action, and most importantly, he was not ready to go to extremes. Peaceful by nature and prone to reflection, he undoubtedly dreamed of a better world and a different life for people, however, he was not a supporter of revolutionary bloodshed. Contemplation of the French events allowed him to clearly realize that his vocation is reflection, love and work. Interestingly, after becoming the full owner of the Spasskoye estate after the death of his mother, he will give only a few peasants the opportunity to pay off. Yes, he condemned serfdom, however, like many people of that time, he believed that men left to themselves would disappear. Extreme measures and decisive actions were clearly not for Turgenev. He preferred humility and contemplation.

Daughter

And yet, sometimes he rebelled, violated prohibitions (for example, he published a forbidden obituary on Gogol's death), went against circumstances, succumbed to temptations, but got up and continued on his way. Turgenev's attitude towards his illegitimate daughter, whom he "pulled out" from the tenacious "embraces" of his grandmother, who treated the girl as a servant, can serve as a vivid illustration of correcting a mistake. Turgenev first sent Pelageya to St. Petersburg, and then asked Pauline Viardot to take her daughter up. So a Russian girl with a new name Polinetta (or Polina) ended up in France. True, after the death of her father, the young lady fell into an extremely difficult financial situation, because Turgenev bequeathed his fortune to Pauline Viardot. And he could not overcome this passion. However, if Turgenev had resisted all temptations, then he would not have been a man, but a saint.