19th century literature was revolutionary. Writers and poets published works about the difficult peasant fate. They, as carriers of advanced revolutionary ideas, dreamed of equality of estates, the abolition of serfdom. Fortunately, in the same 19th century, peasants became free.
In this article we will consider Nekrasov’s poem “On the Road”. This is one of the author’s many works about the life of peasants.
The work of Nekrasov
Nikolai Alekseevich was the son of a nobleman who oppressed his serfs. From childhood, he watched the sad fate of the peasants. He was against serfdom. All his work is devoted to depicting the life of peasants, their plight.
Childhood, family, and the environment had a strong influence on his literary activity. His father was a tyrant and oppressed the mother of Nikolai Alekseevich. This was reflected in the work of Nekrasov. He wrote about a difficult female share.
Observing the life of the lower classes, compassion for them, the poet published works describing the injustice of this life. He was sensitive to human pain, had revolutionary views.
One of his early works is On the Road. In it, the author also raised the theme of peasant fate. What it was portrayed by Nekrasov in his poem (“On the Road”), analysis will show.
To begin with, we will present the work.
The content of the poem "On the Road"
The work begins with the gentleman's appeal to the coachman. He says that he is bored, asks to disperse his longing by some story. For example, about the recruitment, separation or fiction, about what the coachman saw in his life. To which he replies that he himself is not happy, and begins to talk about his young wife.
She was brought up in a noble family. There she learned to sew, knit, received scientific knowledge, read, played a musical instrument, and learned good manners. She dressed in satin, ate plenty of different goodies. In a word, she lived with the young lady, like a noble daughter.
So describes the heroine peasant in her poem Nekrasov "On the Road." Further the plot changes. The coachman says that the young lady got married, her father died. After this, the brother-in-law sent a white-peasant woman to the village, her native place. There she was married to a coachman. The peasant girl, who lived in a noble manner, could neither mow nor milk cows. With difficulty dragged firewood and water, went to corvee. The coachman was pained to look at her suffering. The girl roared furtively because of such a change in life. “The gentlemen have destroyed her,” the coachman says.
His wife, being a peasant, reads books, looks at some portrait. He also teaches his son to read and write, takes care of him, washes, cuts his hair, and does not allow him to beat.
The coachman shares his misfortune. He says that his wife, Pear, is completely emaciated, pale, doesn’t want to eat anything, she barely walks. She is afraid that she will die soon. Although he admits that he did not torment her with hard work, he dressed, fed. I tried not to scold or beat.
Barin tells the coachman that he dispelled his boredom.
What the author wanted to show in his work, we learn by analyzing Nekrasov’s poem “On the Road”. Let us consider how sad the fate of the peasant woman is, what problem the poet raises.
Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “On the Road”
The work is a dialogue between two completely different people: master and coachman. They are from opposite classes. Their thoughts, the inner world are different. Barin is bored. Everything is smooth in his life. Coachman is not up to the fun. He has grief: his wife is dying. Barin asks to disperse his boredom. For him, fun is a story about how people are separated. The troubles of the lower classes do not touch him, on the contrary, they amuse him.
The coachman talks about how his wife, although growing up with young ladies, remained a peasant. She lived in a different environment, but, being unnecessary, was sent back.
An analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “On the Road” shows how the landowners treated the peasants. They were not interested in the feelings and troubles of ordinary people. The tragedy of the peasant woman Pear did not excite the gentleman. She only dispelled his longing.
The author shows us how the peasants are subject to the landlords, how the bar decide their fate. However, they are guided only by their interests and moods.
Expressive means in the work
Nekrasov wrote “On the Road” using vernacular words: “girl”, “woman”, “man” and others. Thus, the author makes his work naturalistic. For presentation, he used dialogue to better reveal the essence of heroes through their words.
Conclusion
An analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “On the Road” showed us the indifference of the landowners to the fate of serfs. The hero of the work, the coachman, does not understand why his wife dies. The point is not so much that the peasant woman Pear has new responsibilities and life has changed. Most likely, she suffered from the fact that her human dignity was humiliated. She realized that, being in the power of the landowners, she did not decide her fate, no one considered her. And no matter how close she is to the noble family, they can get rid of her at any moment, because she is just a serf.
In the new environment, she is like a stranger. Her husband is not able to understand her, to share interests with her. She married not out of love, for a man whom she did not know. She dies from loneliness and an unfair fate.