At the beginning of 1866, the next issue of the Sovremennik magazine was released in St. Petersburg, and it opened with lines that almost everyone knows today:
"In what year - count
In what land - guess ... "
It was these words that were supposed to draw the reader into an amazing fairy-tale world, and it was with them that the brief retelling of “Who lives in Russia well” begins in the magazine. Over time, many have learned that an amazing bird-chick will emerge, able to talk to people, a self-assembled tablecloth, and many other things that are still in the memory of readers to this day. It is in this way that the brief retelling “Who benefits from living in Russia” begins, which tells us about the adventures of seven men who decided to argue who lives merrily and comfortably in their native land.
Basic information
The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is the summit creation of N. A. Nekrasov, and for quite a long time he nurtured the intention to create this work, he wrote the text for more than fourteen years. Despite the fact that he was not able to complete this poem, it embodies an extremely deep social significance.
The work includes four chapters, which are interconnected by the plot and tell how the men argued about happiness in Russia. At the same time, they tried at first to consider only options that characterize various nobles, but in the end they simply refused to meet with certain categories of people, because in fact they (like the author) tried to find precisely people's happiness.
The plot of the poem is kept in the form of travel, which allowed the author to use a variety of paintings in the process of describing various situations. Already in the prologue, the writer shows us a subtle irony about the real Russian reality, expressing it in the corresponding names of the villages: Gorelova, Dyryavina, Razutova, Neelova and many others.
Beginning of work
The prologue already shows a picture of a real peasant Russia, the main character of this work is represented here - an ordinary peasant, appearing exactly what he should really be: in onuchi, bast shoes and an Armenian, constantly hungry and suffering his grief.
After a brief retelling of “It’s good for anyone to live in Russia” was published in the journal Sovremennik, three years passed, and only then the publication of this poem was resumed, but each individual part was subjected to extremely strict censorship by the tsarist regime, who believed that this the work has an extremely ugly content. In particular, the last chapter, which is known for many by its name “Feast to the World”, was criticized. Unfortunately, the author himself saw only a brief retelling of “Who can live well in Russia,” and he could not find the publication of all the other chapters, because without any distortions or reductions this poem was printed after the end of the October Revolution.
This poem in the work of Nekrasov is given a central place, and it represents its ideological and creative peak, the final result of the author’s thoughts about the fate of the people, his happiness, as well as the path leading to him. All these thoughts were central to the poet throughout his life, and are constantly reflected in various creations. “Orina, the soldier’s mother”, “Railway”, “Frost, Red nose” - all these are important works through which the author came to the poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia”. A peasant woman and a peasant are the main characters of this creation, whose problems are revealed in the most detail.
Writing process
The poet devoted several years to work on this poem, calling it his "beloved brainchild." In the end, he tried to make a real "folk book", calling it "Who should live well in Russia." A peasant or peasant of that time should have seen a real reflection of her life, and descendants could understand how most people felt in those days.
Nekrasov himself said that in the story he intended to expose absolutely all his knowledge about the people, and everything that he heard from the lips of ordinary people. Thus, he created a real epic of peasant life, calling it "To whom it is good to live in Russia." Matrena Timofeevna reflects the image of a real Russian peasant woman, expressing the main character traits and life principles.
The gigantic work of Nekrasov was interrupted by the premature death of the author, as a result of which the work reached us incomplete. However, even despite this, it maintains an incredible artistic and ideological integrity.
Contributed Contribution
In his work, Nekrasov was able to revive the genre of folk epic. If we are talking about truly folk works that would differ in large-scale epic portrayals of folk life, as well as their ideological sound and statement of the fundamental issues of the time, then it comes to mind "Who lives in Russia well." Matrena Timofeevna and many other characters cut into the memory and are distinguished by a unique, realistic character. The writer was able to quite widely use the traditions of oral folklore, as well as the proximity of his poetic language to everyday everyday speech forms and a kind of song lyricism.
Also, the poem of Nekrasov has some features that are characteristic of critical realism. Instead of a specific hero, there is a common folk environment as a whole, and the living environment of completely different social circles is shown. The popular point of view on real things is expressed in the poem directly in the development of the theme, showing us that all of Russia and the events shown are displayed as a real perception of wandering peasants, and presented to the reader, as if in their own vision.
Content
In “To whom it is good to live in Russia”, the problem of public life is fully disclosed. The events of this work unfold in the first years after the adoption of the reform in 1861 with the subsequent liberation of the peasants. The peasantry and the people themselves are a positive, genuine hero, and it was with him that the author pinned his hopes on a brighter future, although he perfectly understood how weak the peasant protest could be due to the immaturity of the masses for any serious revolutionary action.
In “To whom it is good to live in Russia”, the problem of the peasantry is expressed in the image of the peasant Savely, whose appearance resembles the “svjatorsky and home-serving hero”, personifying the indestructible stamina and strength of the people. In Savely, the features of famous heroes of the folk epic are displayed. Nekrasov himself associates this image with the central theme of this poem - this is a search for the path to national happiness, which describes "Who should live well in Russia." The analysis of the poem makes one pay special attention to Matrena Timofeevna, who speaks about travelers to Savelia: “He was lucky too.” The main character’s happiness lies in liberty and understanding of how important the people's struggle is, because this is the only way to truly achieve a “free-living” life.
Other images
It is these elements that make it memorable among many other poems, namely, “Who lives in Russia well”. The analysis of the poem allows you to see a lot of memorable images of peasants, including the clever old man Vlas, who has seen a lot in his lifetime, and Yakim Nagoy, who is a characteristic peasant. It is worth noting that the author of Yakim Nagoy is depicted as far from a standard slaughtered and dark peasant who left the patriarchal village. Deeply aware of his dignity, he tries extremely ardently to defend the honor of the people, making fiery speeches in defense of the whole people.
When reading “Who Should Live Well in Russia” chapter by chapter, one can notice that a rather important role in the poem is given to the image of Yermil Girin, who is an incorruptible and pure “people's defender” who decided to defend the rebellious peasants and eventually end up in prison.
Matrena Timofeevna
The beautiful feminine image of Matrena Timofeevna is revealed in "Who Should Live Well in Russia" in chapters, where the poet tries to outline the characteristic features of the Russian peasant woman. Talking about the harsh female share, Nekrasov wrote a fairly large number of exciting poems, but at the same time with the love and warmth with which he outlined Matrenushka in the poem, he had never written.
Minor Characters
Together with various peasant characters of this work, who evoke love for themselves and draw in participation, Nekrasov also tries to depict some other types of peasants who act in the image and likeness of courtyards - toadies, submissive slaves, lordly hangers-on and direct traitors. It is worth noting that the poet tried to depict these images in some satirical tones, and the more clearly the protest of the peasantry was visible, the more faith appeared in their release, and the more implacably the author condemned slavish humiliation, servility and servility.
That is exactly how, in "To whom it is good to live in Russia," the theme of the narrative describes Jacob's "approximate serf", who ultimately understands how humiliating his position is. After that, he decides to resort to a completely helpless and miserable, but at the same time terrible revenge in his slavish consciousness - he decides to kill himself in front of his patron.
Also suitable are Ipat, who is presented in the poem as “sensitive lackey,” and the scammer Yegorka Shutov, who received the title “spy of his own,” who played a significant role in “To live well in Russia.” After his death, the landowner left a will in which he ordered the release of eight thousand peasants, but the headman Gleb was seduced by the heir's promises and ultimately simply decided to destroy the document.
Hidden intentions
Showing rudeness, superstition, ignorance and the huge Russian villages of that time remained, Nekrasov tried to maximally emphasize the temporary nature of the various aspects of peasant life, which historically constantly went to extremes. The world, which was poetically recreated in this work, is a place of social contrasts and a huge number of clashes with sharp life contradictions.
For example, in “To Whom It Is Good to Live in Russia”, the landowner Obolt-Obolduyev, who met strangers and was presented as “tidy, puzatenky, ruddy and usatenky,” completely exposes the frivolity and emptiness of people who are not used to seriously reflecting on their own lives. Hiding behind the guise of a good man, showing only kind courtesy and ostentatious cordiality, the landowner is actually filled with malice and arrogance, and he barely manages to restrain hatred and aversion to the peasants.
Also, the images “To whom it is good to live in Russia” are satirically noted by the landowner-tyrant Prince Utyatin, who received the nickname Lastman from the peasants. The characteristic "nose with a beak like a hawk", predatory gaze, voluptuousness and chronic alcoholism - all these are only additional elements of the disgusting appearance of a typical representative of the landowners' environment, filled with inveterate despots and serfs. Such images make this work so interesting and unique, in comparison with the others.
It seems that the content of “To whom it is good to live in Russia” includes the resolution of a dispute between ordinary men who try to decide which of the listed people lives happier: the tsar, minister, priest, merchant, official or landowner. However, in the process of developing the actions of this poem, the Nekrasov gradually begins to move beyond the plot, which were set by the eyeballs, and the peasants begin to search not only for representatives of the ruling classes. Studying the content of “To whom it is good to live in Russia,” one can pay attention to the fact that the disputants are already starting to search among ordinary people, trying to find someone who lives happily, and they directly say to Posledysh that they are trying to find national happiness, the best peasant share - an unsolicited volost, a non-rotated province and an excess village.
Description of current issues
Starting this story in a peculiar playful half-hint tone, over time, the author more and more delves into the meaning of the question of happiness, as a result of which he is given a much sharper social sound. Most of all, the peasants of those times could see the author’s original intentions in “To live well in Russia” in the “Feast for the whole world” part, but at that time it was banned by censorship. The story about Grisha Dobrosklonov, which began in this part, was to become the main one in the development of the theme of happiness and continuous struggle. In this chapter, the author speaks directly about the path and the path that may ultimately lead to the ideal embodiment of national happiness. For Grisha, happiness lies in a conscious struggle for a happy future for his own people, and he wants “every peasant in Holy Russia to live merrily and freely.” That is exactly how Nekrasov reveals in “To whom to live well in Russia” the problem of happiness, which he considered one of the most important in his life.
The image of Grisha completes a series of “people's intercessors”, which the author depicted in his poetry. Nekrasov tried to emphasize in this character his direct proximity to the people, the possibility of constant communication with the peasants, because he really entered into full understanding with them and could find support. Thus, Grisha looks like an inspired dreamer-poet who decided to take on the role of the composer of “good songs” for his people.
The work “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is the highest example of folk style from the whole range of Nekrasov’s poetry. The peculiar fairy tale and folk song element of this poem allows us to ultimately give it a peculiar national flavor and has a direct connection with the faith of Nekrasov that the Russian people can have a great future. The main theme of this poem is the search for happiness, and goes back to various folk songs, fairy tales and other folklore sources, in which it was said a lot that the peasants are looking for a happy land, wealth, truth, treasures and much more. This topic fully expressed the most cherished dream of the people, their continuous desire to achieve happiness, as well as the age-old dream of all peoples to achieve a just social system.
In this poem, Nekrasov tried to use almost all the genre variety of folk poetry in Russia available to him, including epics, legends, tales, proverbs, riddles, sayings and many different songs. Thus, using folklore, he received incredibly rich material in order to judge peasant life and rural mores.
The style of the poem is filled with a wealth of emotional sounds, as well as a huge variety of poetic intonations, including a crafty smile with a leisurely narrative in the prologue, which then begins to be replaced more and more in the scenes by the polyphony of the chaotic fair crowd, the satirical mockery in The Last, some lyrical agitation and deep drama in "Peasant Woman", as well as revolutionary pathetics and heroic tension in the chapter "Feast to the World".
With this work, Nekrasov was able to show how subtly he feels and how he loves the beauty of Russian nature in the northern latitudes. The use of the landscape here is found in order to create an emotional tone, as well as to make sure that in “To whom to live well in Russia” the characterization of the soul of the characters could be reflected more fully and vividly.
Thanks to all this, this poem is given a special place in Russian poetry, because it fully reflects the fearless truth of the paintings of folk life, representing it in the halo of poetic fairy tale and beauty of folk art, and the satire and cry of protest merge with the heroic revolutionary struggle. All this N. A. Nekrasov tried to express as much as possible with artistic force, releasing his immortal work, known to many today.
That is why it is recommended that everyone read "Who Can Live Well in Russia", because this book will help answer the questions that many people have today.