Often works of literary creativity that are far from modernity for many years and even centuries turn out to be difficult for perception, understanding and assimilation not only by school students, but even by adults. That is why today we will talk about such a poet of the 2nd half of the 18th - 1st half of the 19th century, like Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin. “Felitsa”, a brief summary of which will be considered in this article, will help us better understand the author and his creative heritage.
Historical comment: creation
It is impossible to start a conversation about a work without determining what Derzhavin himself lived at the time of its creation. “Felitsa” (a summary and even analysis is the topic of this material) was written by Gabriel Romanovich in St. Petersburg, in 1782. The genre of the traditional solemn ode in this case was destroyed by the poet: he decided on the crime of the law of three calm and in his creation combined book vocabulary with running, conversational. In addition, satirical and laudatory was mixed in the space of one work, which also contradicted established canons.
Favorable combination of circumstances
Derzhavin’s friends, the first to hear the ode, were delighted with it, but hastened to cool the poet’s ardor: there was nothing to hope for publication of the work, because in it attacks against the noble Catherine nobles were so clearly read. Nevertheless, fate itself seemed to adjust everything so that the work did not lie forever in the drawer of the Derzhavinsky table. A year later, the ode came to the poet Osip Kozoddevlev, from him - to the literature lover I.I. Shuvalov, who read these verses at a dinner in front of the company of the gentlemen, among whom was Prince Potemkin, one of the veiled persons ridiculed in an ode. The prince decided to pretend that the composition did not touch him and had nothing to do with him, as a result of which Gabriel Romanovich was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
The reaction of Catherine II
What could the still little-known poet Derzhavin count on further? The Felitsa, a short summary of which will be described shortly, was liked by the president of the Russian Academy, E. Dashkova, and in 1783 the work was anonymously printed in one of the spring issues of the magazine Interlocutor of Russian Word Lovers. Dashkova presented the poem to the Empress herself; Catherine was moved to tears and was very interested in the author of the work. As a result, Derzhavin received from the Empress an envelope with 500 gold rubles and a gold snuffbox sprinkled with diamonds. Soon, Gabriel Romanovich was introduced to the court and blessed by the queen. Thus, it was after the creation of this ode that Derzhavin gained literary fame. Felitsa, a brief summary of which will answer questions of interest, is a groundbreaking work. It was qualitatively different in thought and form from everything that existed before.
G. R. Derzhavin, “Felitsa”: a brief summary of the stanzas. Start
Ode consists of 25 stanzas. Its beginning is traditionally classic: in the first stanzas a solemn, sublime image is drawn. Catherine is called the Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess because at that time the poet himself had villages in the then Orenburg province, not far from which began the territory of the Kyrgyz horde, subject to the empress. In addition, a certain tale about Tsarevich Chlor is mentioned here - this is an oriental colorful work, which was written and printed in 1781 by Catherine herself for a 5-year-old grandson, the future emperor Alexander Pavlovich (known as Alexander I). Chlorine, abducted by the khan, was the son of the great Kiev prince. The kidnapper, wanting to test the boy’s abilities, sent him to certain death, ordering to get a rose without thorns. Felitsa helped the chlorine - the amiable, kind and cheerful Khan's daughter, who gave him an assistant, her son, whose name was Reason, as a guide. The boy was tempted: Murza Lentyag wanted to lead him astray, but Chlor was always helped by Reason. Finally, the comrades reached the rocky mountain, where the rose without thorns grew - as it turned out, it was a Virtue. As a result, Chlorine safely obtained it and returned to his father, the king of Kiev. It is the theme of virtue that runs through the whole ode with a red thread. The empress herself is named the empress in honor of the Roman goddess of bliss, success and happiness.
The main part of the ode. Image of a monarchine
What else is Derzhavin talking about in his creation? Felitsa (a brief summary will help anyone who wants to understand the meaning of the work) is further contrasted not only with his court and those close to him, but also with the author himself, who is extremely critical in considering his person. So, Catherine is poeticized so much that her literary portrait is completely devoid of flaws. Her perfect moral and psychological inner world is revealed through habits, a description of actions, orders, state acts. The Empress loves to walk in silence, eat simply and without frills, read and write a lot. The descriptive part and the image of the exterior are compensated by the general mood, the impression of the depicted features of an enlightened monarchine: she is modest, democratic, unpretentious, simple, friendly, smart and talented in the field of public activity.
Antithesis "empress - nobles"
Whom did the Empress Derzhavin contrast with the ideal in every sense? “Felitsa” (in abbreviation this is understood especially clearly) describes to us a certain corrupted “I”; behind it lies a collective image of an approximate courtroom, which, in essence, includes the features of all the closest associates of the queen. This is the already mentioned Prince Grigory Potemkin, whose portrait can be seen below, and Catherine's favorites Grigory and Alexei Orlov, revelers, lovers of horse racing and fist fighting, Field Marshal Pyotr Panin, first a hunter, and only then a public servant, Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, who especially revered popular stories, and many others. And to whom did Derzhavin himself relate? “Felitsa” (analysis of the ode, brief summary and analysis helps to establish this) is a work in which the author approaches his personality without bias, and therefore relates himself to a noble company, because by this time Gavriil Romanovich had already become a state adviser. However, at the same time, he was able to objectively admit his own sins, weaknesses, vices, and, according to the personal observation of the poet, "stupidity." Derzhavin does not condemn the human passions of court servants and noble men: he understands that, peculiar to many, they are sometimes balanced by a brilliant mind and talent, which serve the good of the Russian state and in the name of its prosperity.
Satirical criticism of the past
However, Derzhavin is not malicious everywhere. “Felitsa”, a brief description of the main idea of which was presented in this article, also shows the reader one more line - this is a description of the period of the reign of Anna Ioannovna. Here, the poet does not hide his indignation over the case of the forcible marriage of the noble prince M. Golitsyn at the queen’s whim on an old ugly dwarf, because of which a worthy man turned into a court jester (stanza 18). According to Derzhavin, other representatives of noble Russian families were humiliated - Count A. Apraksin and Prince N. Volkonsky. Oda G.R. Derzhavin's “Felitsa”, the brief content of which allows to evaluate her large-scale idea, among other things, confirms the inviolability of the human right to preserve personal dignity and honor. Violation of these categories is considered by Gabriel Romanovich as a great sin, and therefore he calls on both the reader and the empress to respect them. For this, Catherine must comply with the laws, be the guarantor of their supremacy, protect the "weak" and "wretched", and show mercy.
Final lines
Finally, the artistic originality of G. R. Derzhavin’s ode “Felitsa”, a brief summary of which was presented in detail in the sections above, also appears in the final stanzas of the work. Here, the exaltation of the empress and her reign rises to a new limit - the author asks the “great prophet” and “heavenly powers” to bless Catherine and save her from illness and evil.
Although the end brings the reader back into the mainstream of classicism and the canonical ode, nevertheless, in conjunction with the rest of the content, it seems to carry a new, rethought meaning. The praise here is not a simple tribute to the direction, traditions and conventions, but a real rush of the soul of the author, who at that time still sincerely believed in the image of Catherine created by him. The famous critic Belinsky called this work “one of the best creations” of 18th-century Russian poetry.