Turgenev gained enormous fame as a novelist only later, outside the “natural school”. The worldwide fame of the Russian novel began with Turgenev and the thought of him.
Turgenev will have the honor of filling the form of the novel with acute ideological content. He transferred into the novel those issues that were discussed in society, the press, and student circles, were the topic of the day, and were of exciting interest.
This was already the first novel “Rudin” (1856), in which the author, a “master of philosophy,” showed in the form of the main character and his student friends (Pokorsky, Lezhnev) his impressions of meetings with M.A. Bakunin, Belinsky, N.V. Stankevich, their theoretical and moral norms, their disputes about the future of Russia. But Turgenev’s main emphasis is on the question of the practical applicability of these dreams and lofty words, about the ability of the average hero to be consistent in his words and deeds. And here catastrophes were discovered not only in large public affairs, but also in personal and intimate ones; the hero gives in, considers it necessary to submit to the circumstances that make his happiness impossible.
Subsequent novels: “The Noble Nest” (1859), “On the Eve” (1860), “Fathers and Sons” (1862) - the most famous of Turgenev’s novels and, finally, “Smoke” (1867) and “Nov” (1870) reflected stages of the democratic, populist movement depicted the feelings and thoughts of people of successive generations. The novels were awaited by the public with great impatience: what Turgenev would say. He was called by modern criticism “the chronicler of the Russian intelligentsia.” Turgenev always acted in disputes as an interested party; he was looking for a leading hero of the time. His general culture, good knowledge of the history of Russian thought, its shades, group varieties, knowledge of the European movement made the conversation professional, easily establishing in certain types of heroes their amateurism, the futility of attacks on “materialism”, “Hegelism”, “nihilism”, and even a philistine version of opposition to everything advanced.
The usual situation in Turgenev's first novels is as follows. For one reason or another, a new stranger, a product of the most fashionable ideas and trends (not necessarily metropolitan), invades the settled, provincial life of a manor, with its specific cultural customs and family loyalties, and he, this stranger, at first arouses curiosity and even sympathy for himself, if not everyone, then part of the estate society, surprises in conversations with his ideas, demands for life, and then disappoints with his inconsistency, bankruptcy, discrepancies between word and deed. He arouses a critical attitude towards himself and is forced, under one pretext or another, to leave the estate society. The storm that disturbed the usual calm turns out to be imaginary. Often a certain romantic story is mixed into events, ending for the gullible (especially young ladies) in tragedy, disappointment in their ideal.
Turgenev's novels are highly lyrical: they almost always begin with a description of nature that is in harmony with human moods. Psychological analysis is carried out in an open way: the facial expressions of the characters directly correspond to their experiences. Turgenev's language and style are exemplary correct (unlike Gogol's), clean and clear, without complicating picturesqueness and colors. They are sparingly introduced only into the speech of peasants and servants or appear in the form of some aphorisms characterizing philosophical debates, but everything in moderation, everything by the way, without obsessive repetitions. This is, for example, the famous place in the novel when, carried away by a fruitless argument with Rudin, the domestic zoil, Pigasov, a loser in everything, tries to challenge the opinion of his opponent, denies all beliefs - no abstractions, just facts.
" - Wonderful! - said Rudin - therefore, in your opinion, there are no convictions?
No - and does not exist.
Is this your belief?
How can you say that they don’t exist? Here's one thing for you, for the first time.
Everyone in the room smiled and looked at each other.” And Basistov’s home teacher devoured Rudin with his eyes, admired his intelligence, believed him as a revelation. The action takes place in the living room of the wealthy landowner Daria Mikhailovna Lasunskaya. She was once known as a beauty, boasted of her social connections, and now lived on the estate, treated with universal respect. She has in her arms an adult daughter of marriageable age - Natalya, who is not like her mother in everything, but is sincere and deeper in her feelings and thoughts.
Rudin appears in this house somewhat by accident, with instructions from a certain count friend to apologize to Daria Mikhailovna that due to circumstances he cannot come to her as he promised. Rudin's arrival confuses all the cards in the house. The young landowner Volyntsev had certain views on Natalya, but Natalya became interested in Rudin. Only one neighboring landowner, Lezhnev, knew Rudin well, from his student years, when they both underwent highly moral self-education in the circle of Pokorsky (read Stankevich). But Rudin always tried to shine and excel, and Lezhnev took a long time to figure out Rudin.
It is believed that Rudin’s prototype for Turgenev was Mikhail Bakunin, also a student and member of Stankevich’s circle. But this version is hard to believe. Bakunin's scale is not at all the same. A highly educated and active man, striking in his activity, he became the leader of international anarchism. Of course, Turgenev never directly depicted historical events and persons.
The time of action in almost all of his novels is indicated, but such a connection of events should be understood conditionally. For the artist Turgenev, the general spiritual atmosphere of the time in which the event will take place is important.
What is Bakunin in Rudin can partly be found in the general idealistic enthusiasm in the German way for the problems of the moral duty of each person to some eternal entities that rule the world, in assessing the role of love in relationships between people, the importance of certain systems in human behavior. It is well known how Bakunin wanted to dominate the minds of not only his family and friends, but even Belinsky, who, on the basis of an incorrect interpretation of the Hegelian formula “everything rational is real, everything real is reasonable”, was drawn into the so-called “reconciliation with Russian reality.” He dictated the hearts of his sisters, one of whom Stankevich was in love with, and the other Belinsky, during the period that Belinsky called “Pryamukhin harmony.” There is none of this in the novel. Rudin, who knew how to captivate Natalya Lasunskaya with the extraordinary style of his speeches, the fire of persuasion, and the prospects for a new life, full of spiritual freedom, gave up at the first difficulty. Daria Mikhailovna resolutely rejected Rudin's proposal to marry her daughter, although she herself admired his speeches.
In the famous scene at Avdyukhin’s pond, when Natalya, ready to run away with him, in tears, asks Rudin what to do, Rudin replies: “... Of course, submit.”
This Rudinsky “submit” has nothing in common with Bakunin’s “reconciliation” with reality. Rudin disappears for a long time, and after wandering around like a tumbleweed, trying to do some useful work (irrigation, land reclamation, teaching), he was unable to prove himself in anything and, by order of the deanery council, was sent to live under supervision in his village. Another curious image has been added to the gallery of “extra people” - Rudin, a man of words and knowledge, but who does not know how to apply them.
Having become close to Rudin, Lezhnev, during a chance meeting, assures that the Rudins are also useful, because “words are also deeds.” Rudins are able to light up the hearts of others - this is also a priceless gift. Over the years, Lezhnev, a dry businessman and landowner-rationalizer, begins to feel the need for a Rudin-like beginning in life. Turgenev, who pronounced a certain verdict on Rudin in the novel, ten years later will try to heroize him on the scale of a genuine Bakunin the revolutionary. The epilogue says that Rudin dies incognito with a banner in his hand at the Paris barricade in 1848.
Turgenev chose a different problematic in “The Noble Nest” (1859), which had even greater success than “Rudin.” The novel “The Noble Nest” is deeper and more artistic than the previous one. Here the basis is one of the results of the recent most complex disputes between “Westerners” and “Slavophiles” about the paths of Russia. The time of action in “The Noble Nest” is 1842, the height of the controversy. Turgenev, by all his convictions, of course, is a “Westernizer,” minus the rejection of certain negative aspects of European civilization, which he knew from experience, since he lived abroad for a long time. He nevertheless wanted Russia to follow this path of civilization, so that serfdom would be eliminated and free competition would begin, promising the flourishing of personality, entrepreneurship, and prosperity. Fewer “buybacks” and more business people (from Lavretsky’s disputes with his student friend Mikhalevich).
At the center of the novel is the image of a young educated landowner Fyodor Lavretsky, who attended lectures at Moscow University, but not in the humanities, but in the physics and mathematics department, preparing himself in advance for a “efficient” life, as it seemed to him.
However, Fyodor Lavretsky was not alien to all the hobbies of his time: he watched Mochalov in the role of Hamlet at the theater, fell romantically in love with the young beauty who was shining in the theater box, the general’s daughter, Varvara Pavlovna, and married her. And then she ruined her life. Lavretsky visited Paris and Berlin, saw a lot, listened to lectures by scientists, translated works on irrigation. Purely Russian in nature, he was also the son of a serf woman whom his father married. Healthy, full of energy, he was eager to get down to business. Turgenev does not show the very struggle between the “Slavophiles” and the “Westerners,” but chooses one of its final results.
There is much in Lavretsky that makes him similar to the Slavophiles. Turgenev, despite his own political preferences, chooses a person alien to himself as the hero of the novel, but tries to objectively highlight all the good, valuable qualities in him. In the end, it is not intergroup fuss that is important, but its practical result for Russia. And here the extremes met.
The novel highlights the image of the chamber cadet Panshin, a zealous reformer, careerist, and rather cynical admirer of everything Western. Following his father, he would like to follow the path of pure acquisitiveness, discarding morality and other obstacles to achieving goals. Panshin is an extremely pointed image of a vulgar “Westerner”. He persistently pestered Lavretsky with the question: “...What do you intend to do?” Lavretsky answered, taking into account the level of understanding of his interlocutor: “Plow the land... and try to plow it as best as possible.” Lavretsky completely crushed Panshin in the ensuing dispute: “He proved to him the impossibility of leaps and arrogant alterations from the heights of bureaucratic self-awareness - alterations that were not justified either by knowledge of their native land or by real faith in an ideal, even a negative one; He cited his own upbringing as an example, demanding, first of all, recognition of the people's truth and humility before it - that humility without which courage against lies is impossible; “Finally, he did not deviate from the well-deserved, in his opinion, reproach for frivolous waste of time and effort.” This is not bravado.
Turgenev shows not the temptations that an educated mind brings with it for the inhabitants of the “noble nest”, but the root, national, Russian significance of these “nests”, the estate culture in which the foundations of national values were laid.
The main plot point in the novel is Lavretsky’s personal relationship with Lisa Kalitina. They fell in love with each other, and Panshin, who was vying for Liza’s hand, turns out to be pushed aside.
In terms of skill in depicting the feelings of the characters, conveying the deep lyricism of their mutual sympathy, and the drama of the ups and downs of their relationships, “The Nest of Nobles” is one of the most outstanding works of Russian literature. There is a fatal obstacle that interferes with the happiness of Liza Kalitina and Lavretsky. Lavretsky is married, but he broke off all relations with Varvara Pavlovna when he accidentally learned in Paris about her betrayal with her French lover. The tense conflict temporarily weakens as Lavretsky learns from the newspapers about the unexpected death of his ex-wife. Pure and honest Liza, who is also deeply religious, cannot build. your happiness on the misfortune of another person. She listened to Lavretsky’s deep declarations of love for her, reciprocated them, but she cannot take a decisive step also because she sees how Lavretsky himself is suffering. Some vague fatal premonition prevents him from believing that he can be happy in life. And indeed, at the hour when the fate of Lavretsky and Lisa was to be decided - they were to go down the aisle, Varvara Pavlovna unexpectedly arrived at his estate. Rumors of her death turned out to be false. And so she, with a feeling of repentance, throws herself at the feet of the magnanimous Theodore (that’s how she pronounced the name Fedor in the French manner). She did not come alone, but with her adopted little daughter Ada, who should be considered Lavretsky’s legitimate daughter. The incident crushes Lisa Kalitina, and she goes to the monastery.
It was not for external reasons that Lisa considered it necessary to pray, confess and repent. She was aware of the unseemly structure of the world. She went to the monastery with the consciousness of an important goal: “I know everything, both my sins and those of others, and how daddy acquired wealth; I know everything. We need to pray for all this.” And daddy is a former provincial prosecutor, a well-known businessman in his time, a bilious and stubborn man, there were evil rumors in the area about his ways of acquiring wealth.
Out of noble motives - not to further humiliate the defeated person, and also for the sake of Ada, Lavretsky tells Varvara Pavlovna the words already familiar to us: “we must submit.” But these words mean here differently than in Rudin. Lavretsky still considers himself separated from his wife, but assigns her a distant estate. Varvara Pavlovna acted out a scene of gratitude: she is one of those women who, in their own way, know how to appreciate kindness and generosity.
The novel has an epilogue: Lavretsky visited the monastery where Lisa took monastic vows in order to bow to her, at least from afar. She walked close past him and did not look, only the eyelashes of the eye turned to him trembled slightly.
Lisa and Lavretsky by nature are in many ways the same type of people and it seemed that nature itself was created for each other. But the strange thing is: they constantly argue with each other. And these pages are the deepest in the novel, and have hardly been satisfactorily explained to this day by criticism.
There is nothing fanatical or ascetic in Lisa’s faith in Christ. Naturally and freely, Lisa carries her faith. She is perplexed that such a good person as Lavretsky does not go to church and does not observe holidays. With his usual secular swagger, he asks Lisa to pray for him too, and she replies that she has already prayed and adds: “It’s in vain that you laugh at this.” Liza is the same “Russian soul” as Pushkin’s Tatyana. (Further development of this image in Russian literature is Princess Maria Volkonskaya in Tolstoy.)
Faith united gentlemen and peasants. Patronal and other holidays elevated the soul, cleansed it from sin and defilement, and supported mercy. Lisa wanted to bring Lavretsky to God.
The generally accepted words of politeness, Lavretsky’s declarations of love always have some kind of higher meaning in Lisa’s perceptions, as if they were addressed not specifically to her, Lisa, but to the boundless holiness on which the world rests. Liza was ashamed of Lavretsky that he was so indifferent to the death of his wife. It was not for nothing that she told him that “she was afraid of him,” because there was still a lot of lordly things in him, inspired from the outside, and few connections with the roots of Russian life, the thousand-year-old way of life.
Lavretsky wanders indifferently around the Kalitins’ house, in which preparations for the all-night vigil are being carried out with such importance: in the dining room, on a snow-white tablecloth, images in gold frames are already placed leaning against the wall; an old servant, in a gray tailcoat and boots, walked slowly and decorously and put two more wax candles, crossed himself and went out. Lavretsky somehow stupidly asked: “Isn’t someone the birthday girl?” It was explained to him in a whisper that the all-night vigil had been ordered by Lizaveta Mikhailovna, that is, Liza, and her aunt Marfa Timofeevna Pestova. The sextons and the priest arrived, and everyone came up for blessing. Lavretsky bowed silently, which he received from them.
The vestments began, the smell of incense began: “The maids and footmen came out of the hall and stood in a solid group in front of the doors.” Lavretsky drew attention to Liza, who did not seem to notice him and never looked at him. He saw that some important enthusiasm descended on her. He, who wanted to say something cheerful and humorous about the mortal life here, had to go home.
The pages of the eternal book of existence unfolded before him. Everything seemed to be decay and a trifle compared to what was written in it.
“The Noble Nest” is Turgenev’s most lyrical novel. The author leaves wide space for the intuitive, subconscious in human feelings, allows the characters to act on a whim, when they themselves do not always understand the meaning of their words and actions. The image of the musician Lemm, which has little connection with it, is brought into the novel. The divine improvisations of this German and especially the performance of a Beethoven sonata create a general atmosphere in a novel in which there is so much love and suffering and impulses to the heights of the mountains.
In Turgen studies, two ironic ideas have developed: For the famous novelist, women are always stronger than men, and girls cannot get married. Maybe this is partly true. But the next, third, novel - “On the Eve” - (1860) refutes the above judgments. The main character of the novel, the Bulgarian Insarov, busy with the thought of liberating his homeland from the Turkish yoke, is the strong man who attracted the Russian young lady from a noble family, Elena Stakhova, with him. It is no coincidence that she preferred Insarov to the enthusiastic artist Shubin, the scientist Bersenev, a man of an abstract theoretical mindset, and the chief secretary of the Senate, the careerist Kurnatovsky. Elena marries Insarov, goes with him to Bulgaria and after his death continues his life’s work.
The title of the novel “On the Eve” has a double meaning. There was Bulgaria “on the eve” of the events, rising to fight against the Turks and dreaming of the hour of its liberation; it came much later, in the 70s, thanks to the help of Russian soldiers under the command of General M.D. Skobeleva. But “On the eve” of the reform of 1861 there was Russia itself.
The title once again perfectly conveyed Turgenev’s ability to grasp the issues of our time and respond to the most advanced. But the choice of a Bulgarian as a hero seemed to overshadow Russian democratic figures. It turned out that we still had to wait and wait for our Insarovs.
Regarding the novel, Dobrolyubov wrote an article “When will the real day come?” It seemed to Turgenev that the leading critic of Sovremennik was drawing too arbitrary conclusions from his novel. A sharp conflict occurred, the article was nevertheless published, and Turgenev left the editorial board of Sovremennik. Long later, Turgenev said more than once that his grievances against Dobrolyubov had no real basis, the article was written in the most conscientious manner, did not contain any falsifications and was full of sincere praise.
Of course, Turgenev knew the material in “On the Eve” worse than the material that formed the basis of previous novels. Insarov, his underground activities, his fellow inspirators, and the Bulgarians who found temporary shelter in Russia are outlined schematically. The personal feelings of Insarov and Elena are depicted too straightforwardly. These artistic shortcomings of the novel were noticed by modern critics of various directions, for example A. Grigoriev, D.I. Pisarev, K.N. Leontyev, N.K. Mikhailovsky.
Turgenev's most outstanding novel is Fathers and Sons (1862). Here the skill of the author-artist appears in unprecedented brilliance. The name itself puts two generations at a barrier - people of the 40s and the “sixties”. The bearers of new ideals are students, young people who came to the old people's estate for the holidays and brought with them all the heat of their disputes, new philosophical and moral quests, heated up in classroom and circle skirmishes.
The appearance of the nihilist Bazarov on the Kirsanov estate is completely natural. He was invited to relax in his father’s village by his student friend and admirer Arkady Kirsanov, who was free to choose the direction of his beliefs and thoughts, because he had the opportunity to listen to the pros and cons of all theories. He chose Bazarov, but Arkady is an unreliable friend: at the first difficulty, he will turn onto an easier road, submitting to the conditions and prejudices of a long-established way of life.
The basis of “Fathers and Sons” was the drama personally experienced by Turgenev, as always, living impressions from living persons, of course, in an artistic, transformed form, without petty claims to a bare copy and pamphlet.
Dobrolyubov as a person, as an ideologist, as the author of a number of important articles for Turgenev - that’s who “instilled” in him the idea of the novel “Fathers and Sons”, and perhaps its very name, and the range of controversial issues, and the decisive decisive words and definitions (“nihilists”, “principles”), depicting the characters of the disputing parties, the age of the heroes, and even some of their portrait features. The conflict with Sovremennik did not divert the writer from topical topics; on the contrary, it brought him to them. Turgenev wrote not only from living persons, but also from the experience of his heart.
In any work about Turgenev we will find a number of versions regarding Bazarov’s prototypes and indications of the significance for “Fathers and Sons” of Turgenev’s clash with Dobrolyubov. But the indications are either too general (epochal collision) or too specific (portrait resemblance). Some textual comparisons with Dobrolyubov’s articles were made by N.L. Brodsky and other scientists, but not in full and not thoroughly enough.
The editors of Sovremennik took to heart some of Bazarov’s portrait resemblance to Dobrolyubov (long stature, sideburns, manner of speaking) and too misinterpreted the reduced plan of the entire image in comparison with the true representatives of revolutionary democracy, seeing in this a deliberate exaggeration and caricature of everything progressive movement. The government began persecuting “nihilists” and “arsonists.” Even after his exile, Chernyshevsky believed that Turgenev “wanted to take revenge on Dobrolyubov when he wrote his novel.” The writer Marko Vovchek blamed Turgenev for the same thing. But then, during the hot days of rumors about “Fathers and Sons,” Pisarev did not notice any caricature in Bazarov. He sincerely recognized his generation, modern “children” in the image of Bazarov and raised Bazarov to his shield. In general, Pisarev was right, history - this best judge - has already pronounced its judgment about Bazarov: he is undoubtedly a positive image. Shchedrin, in his obituary about Turgenev, discarding everything previous, superficial, highly appreciated his literary activity - on a par with the activities of Nekrasov, Belinsky and Dobrolyubov. Subsequent democracy, including many populists, also “accepted” Turgenev as their proven, sensitive chronicler.
What happened then, at the very moment of the break with Sovremennik and in those coming months when Turgenev was creating his novel Fathers and Sons (conceived in August 1860, completed in August 1861)? Is it just a departure from the democrats, as the writer’s biographers usually willingly and in detail talk about, or a departure from some of his own routine, which can be judged by his work? After all, Turgenev himself just brilliantly revealed this, wanting to comment on the typical character of Bazarov’s image. The researchers deviated to the side, lined up long rows of bearers of its individual features: here were the democrats Chernyshevsky, Pisarev, and the natural scientists Nozhin, Butlerov, Sechenov, Kovalevsky, Mendeleev and the district doctors V. Yakushkin (brother of the folklorist), a certain Dmitriev. Turgenev himself pointed to Dmitriev, but so far no reliable information about him has been found. Didn't Turgenev come up with it in order to ward off slander in his caricature of Dobrolyubov? One researcher recently argued that Bazarov’s prototype was... L.N. Tolstoy. As we see, the problem was posed a long time ago, but many of the named outstanding individuals have nothing to do with the genesis of the image of Bazarov. None of them were so close to Turgenev, none of them stood at the center of the drama he experienced, no one concentrated in himself the complex of Bazarov’s main signs as much as Dobrolyubov. At that moment, Turgenev, in his own way, distinguished Dobrolyubov from Chernyshevsky, his teacher and complete like-minded person. Let us remember Turgenev’s words about the “simple” snake and the “spectacled” snake. Aware of all the conventionality of the problem of prototypes and the enormous difference between the genius Dobrolyubov and the ordinary “nihilist” Bazarov, we must still look for the roots of this image not outside Turgenev’s main experience, but in the totality of circumstances, events and impressions that characterize the ideological drama experienced by the writer.
If Turgenev introduced into the public consciousness the formulas “fathers and sons”, “nihilists”, gave the concept of the irreconcilability of the split between generations, outlined the approximate range of problems controversial between them, then the main incentives to write a novel about “fathers” and “sons”, suggestions, in what direction to go after “On the Eve”, he could find precisely in the articles of Dobrolyubov, with whom he argued and whom he could not argue with. In the articles “Physiological-psychological comparative view of the beginning and end of life” (1858), “Literary trivia of the past year” (1859), “When will the real day come?” (1860) contains many of the slogans of the novel “Fathers and Sons”; some of its situations and details are predetermined. Turgenev read these articles avidly. When they were published, he was in Russia, moving in the Sovremennik circle, experiencing clashes with Dobrolyubov, which we can judge from Chernyshevsky’s meticulous notes in “Memoirs” about Turgenev’s relationship with Dobrolyubov and the breakdown of friendship between Turgenev and Nekrasov.
The words “nihilism” and “nihilists” characterize a lot in the image of Bazarov. These terms were introduced by Turgenev, and in all dictionaries they are rightly credited to him. But Dobrolyubov “led” him to these words.
A number of years ago, a discussion took place about the term “nihilism” between researchers B.P. Kozmin and A.I. Batyuto. They argued who used the term “nihilism” earlier - Turgenev or Katkov. The novel “Fathers and Sons” was published in February 1862 in the magazine “Russian Herald”. But back in November 1861, having the opportunity to read the novel in manuscript, Katkov used the term “nihilism” in his article “Something about Progress.” B.P. Kozmin concluded that one of the decisive words that characterizes Bazarov’s appearance was inspired by Katkov to Turgenev. A.I. Batyuto, disputing this conclusion, drew attention to the fact that back in September of the same year, Turgenev handed Katkov the manuscript of “Fathers and Sons” for publication in the “Russian Messenger”; Naturally, Katkov managed to read it and could borrow a biting word from Turgenev. But both disputing sides simply forgot M.P.’s article. Alekseev “On the history of the word “nihilism”,” published in 1928 in the collection ORYAS, dedicated to the memory of Academician A.I. Sobolevsky, in which, among even earlier uses of this term, the following fact was recorded: in 1858, Dobrolyubov used this term in Sovremennik in a review of the book by Kazan professor V. Bervy “Physiological-psychological comparative view of the beginning and end of life.” To the task of M.P. Alekseev did not include a comprehensive understanding of the term “nihilism” in connection with the genesis of the image of Bazarov; the scientist stated only the fact of its use four years before the publication of “Fathers and Sons” (Dobrolyubov did not live to see the publication of the novel).
Turgenev gave broad life to the term “nihilism” with his novel. But before that, he could read something about “nihilists” in a mediocre book by V. Bervi (father of V.V. Bervi-Flerovsky, a famous sociologist, writer-publicist, revolutionary populist). The Dobrolyubov context in the review directly led Turgenev to the modern fullness of understanding of the term, its militant, polemical orientation. A conservative and scholastic who lagged behind modern science, V. Bervy Sr. threw the term “nihilism” in the face of young people in his book, and Dobrolyubov picked up the term and interpreted it in a positive sense, as the banner of “children.”
Three times in Latin, V. Bervy threw the word “nihilistbi” at those young “skeptics” who do not believe in his alchemical-idealistic teaching about the need for a “life principle” in the body. Dobrolyubov repeated the cutting-edge Latin three times in his review, ridiculing Bervy’s impotent poisonousness against the “nihilists” - skeptics. Turgenev forces the representative of the “fathers” Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov to pronounce the word “nihil” in Latin: “... This is from the Latin nihil - nothing... this word means a person... who does not recognize anything.” In the novel it turns out that a nihilist is more than just a skeptic. And Bazarov confirms this; he deploys a whole program of denial. But even before that, an important rethinking of concepts had already occurred in Dobrolyubov’s review. He sympathetically assigned the word “nihilist” to the younger generation and clearly distinguished between the old and young generations and their mutual disagreements. “Nowadays, the ancient authorities that Mr. Bervy reveres are no longer recognized,” wrote Dobrolyubov, “and in general, authorities in the matter of scientific research do not have much importance.” Having listened to Bazarov, Arkady Kirsanov explains his credo to his father and uncle: “A nihilist is a person who does not bow to any authorities, who does not take a single principle on faith, no matter how respected this principle may be.” Dobrolyubov continued: “Young people today not only call Paracelsian dreams, without hesitation, nonsense, but even find errors in Liebig, of whom Mr. Bervy, it seems, has never heard, read Moleschott, Dubois-Reymond and Focht...” young people, if they are engaged in the natural sciences, then follow “the most courageous and practical of Hegel’s students...”, that is, they follow Feuerbach and other materialists. (Censorship did not allow Chernyshevsky to speak openly about Feuerbach, and he resorted to the formula “students of Hegel.”) In “Fathers and Sons,” this connection of words and names received the following twist: Nikolai Petrovich stuttered, it was to seem completely modern: “I I heard that Liebig made amazing discoveries about fertilizing fields. You can help me in my agronomic work; you can give some useful advice.” Bazarov sharply retorted: “I am at your service, Nikolai Petrovich, but where are we from Liebig! First you need to learn the alphabet...” Pavel Petrovich, who was present, retorted sarcastically: “Yes. Before there were Hegelists, and now there are nihilists. Let's see how you will exist in emptiness, in airless space..."
In his next article, “Literary trifles of the past year” (1859), Dobrolyubov already spoke so sharply and deeply about the divergence of generations and put forward into the public arena “a type of real people, with strong nerves and a healthy imagination,” whom “elderly people” reproach without due grounds in “coldness, callousness, dispassion”, that Herzen in London wrote an article full of concern for his generation “Very dangerous!!!” ("Very dangerous!!!"). But Bazarov’s new type of “zhelchevikov” boldly followed its own path and occupied a place in all spheres, crowding out “elderly” people.
Who are these young men and these elderly? In “Literary Trifles” the age of generations is outlined, and it exactly corresponds to the age of the “fathers” and “children” in Turgenev’s novel. But first Dobrolyubov remembered that there were “seventy-year-old elders” who had completely outlived their days - reactionaries. In the pre-reform era, the elderly and young people, who longed for renewal and openness, united against them. “Between two generations,” says Dobrolyubov, drawing on personal experience of cooperation with Turgenev in the editorial office of Sovremennik, “a strong alliance was concluded, silently and heartily, against the third generation, outdated, paralyzed...” But not even a year had passed (and this corresponds exactly to the facts, since Dobrolyubov came to Sovremennik in the fall of 1857, and discord with Turgenev began a year later, as evidenced by Chernyshevsky. - V.K.), how young people saw the fragility and uselessness of their union with mature sages...” With the release of each new book in the magazine, the enthusiasm of young people towards these figures, who felt somehow out of place and did not know what to do and say, became increasingly weaker. It is curious that Dobrolyubov chose journalism as the field in which the union of two generations was tested. This indicates that Dobrolyubov was thinking in terms of the categories that emerged in his clash with Turgenev in Sovremennik. “Young men,” continues Dobrolyubov, “hitherto engaged, together with mature sages, in the defeat of seventy-year-old elders, now decided to transfer their criticism to people of fifty and even forty years.” Here are the age calculations of generations, here we have “grandfathers”, “fathers” and “children”: 70 years, 40-50 years and 20-25 years. Turgenev was over forty at that time. Dobrolyubov is over twenty. In the novel “Fathers and Sons,” Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov is forty-four years old, and Pavel Petrovich is forty-five. Bazarov is half their age. This is very simple arithmetic, and it was somehow taken into account by Dobrolyubov. And Turgenev did not pass by her, as soon as he placed the last two generations at the barrier and indicated the age of the “fathers”.
On one side was “nihilism”, on the other – “principles”. And Dobrolyubov clearly conducted this clash of worldviews. He continued the conversation begun in the previous review and introduced new touches to the concept of nihilism. The young men understood, says the critic, that “there is nothing absolute in the world, and everything has only relative significance.” And “instead of all the vague abstractions and signs of past generations,” they “saw in the world only a person, a real person, consisting of flesh and blood, with his real, and not fantastic, relationships to the entire outside world.” Bazarov also, without unnecessary metaphysics, resolved the issue of his own nailing into the bosom of the world: “Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man is a worker in it.” “I like it so much and that’s it!” - this is Bazarov’s entire tale about absolute truth. Pavel Petrovich, amazed at Bazarov’s swagger, still asked: “You don’t recognize any authorities? Don't you believe them? And he answered: “Why should I believe? They'll tell me the matter. I agree - that’s all.” So to speak, he does not believe in “principles”, but believes in “frogs”, that is, in “experience”, he believes in “practical truth”. Thus, to say that he does not believe in anything is incorrect, he simply has different “principles”. But since this word was intercepted by the opposing party, he does not fight over words. All that matters is what they mean by principles. Essentially, Dobrolyubov confronts the principles of two generations in his article. A certain amount of “principles” of the old generation is accumulated. Here’s one: “Pereat mundus et fiat justitia,” that is, let the world perish so long as justice prevails. But this “principle” can mean everything: both conventional morality and indifference to one’s neighbor. Elderly people, “aristocrats” grouped under “justice” certain virtues of the old time, which they themselves violated: Pavel Petrovich, this “Pechorin in retirement,” broke his heart in unsuccessful love, and loyalty to the “principles” makes him even a “liberal” " But his ideal is the code of the English aristocracy: “They do not deviate from their rights, and therefore they respect the rights of others,” that is, as it were, “Credo, quia absurdum est” (“I believe because it is absurd.” - Lat.) On “credo” and the whole old world holds on. Only nihilists do not respect this credo, they have their own theory of rational egoism, and instead of “abstractions” they put “man and his direct essential good”; “This is what takes the place of principle among them.”
This whole problem of “fathers” and “children”, passionately discussed in articles, turned out to be closely brought to Turgenev in the article “When will the real day come?” Of course, Turgenev was frightened by the direct interpretations of some aspects in the novel “On the Eve”. But what else could have offended him in this article, which he later accepted? We are still surprised and don’t know the answer: everything in the article is fine. Again, and once again, it is said: “...The instinct of the present moment and this time did not deceive the author” of the novel “On the Eve.” This novel is a new step forward after “Rudin” and “The Noble Nest”. Without prompting, through organic development and internal experience, Turgenev went beyond the line of “superfluous people” and began to look for active heroes. The novel “On the Eve” turned out only in the form of a certain correct logical construction, answering the question of where to go, but artistically unconvincing. This applied to the two main characters: the Bulgarian Insarov and Elena. The novel shows only preparations for the struggle, but not the struggle itself. There is not a single scene in which, in the name of “active good,” the heroes intervened in the usual course of life. The heroic epic did not work out because the author did not or did not want to put the heroes face to face with the matter itself, with the parties, with the people, with his like-minded people, with the enemy force, with the government. All this sounded like a reproach to Dobrolyubov. We are “waiting,” he wrote, “for at least someone to explain to us what to do.” So, an idea was given about a future novel on the topic “what to do?” It is known that Chernyshevsky’s novel was written with a polemical overtone in relation to “Fathers and Sons”, where Bazarov is shown outside the struggle, although he is a real hero, an important milestone on the way to the “Russian Insarov”, who rebelled against the “internal Turks”. Turgenev "What to do?" didn't write it, but he wrote Fathers and Sons. And regarding the latter, there is Dobrolyubov’s last hint to the writer, imbued with the pathos of political struggle, or, as they wrote then, “uplifting force.” It was this that was most difficult for Turgenev to survive: in order to fulfill it, that is, in order to take the next step after “On the Eve,” he himself had to be reborn, to accept as good much of what he had just rejected in the generation of Dobrolyubov and the “nihilists” , breaking with Sovremennik. The Russian Insarov's struggle with the internal enemy will be many times more difficult. And yet there are guarantees of victory, heroes will come: “... the old social routine is becoming obsolete,” Dobrolyubov wrote, “a few more hesitations, a few more strong words and favorable facts, and the leaders will appear! “Dobrolyubov knew a young generation of such skeptics, nihilists, workers for the good of man, opponents of routine, who shook faith in the old “principles.” Society itself took up the task of educating these people. Nihilists are not isolated eccentrics, they are children of time, of an irresistible historical process, appearing everywhere, throughout Russia. It is clear that they deny only the old, but behind them everything is new. Everything, everywhere, not just in chemistry and natural science. They are the political force of the future Russia. “Self-awareness is noticeable everywhere and in everything,” continued Dobrolyubov, “everywhere the inconsistency of the old order of things is understood, reforms and corrections are expected everywhere, and no one lulls their children to sleep (!) with a song about what incomprehensible perfection the modern order of affairs represents in every corner of Russia . On the contrary, now everyone is waiting, everyone is hoping, and children (!) are now growing up, imbued with hopes and dreams of a better future, and not being forcibly attached to the corpse of an outdated past. When their turn comes to get down to business, they will already bring into it that energy, consistency and harmony of heart and thought, about which we could barely acquire a theoretical concept.
Then a complete, sharply and vividly outlined image of the Russian Insarov will appear in literature.”
Nothing better than these words of Dobrolyubov could have guided Turgenev to what he should do as a writer. It is said where to look for the hero and what is the political meaning of his sharp and lively character. Turgenev fulfilled the dictates of the time - he created the image of Bazarov.
But, figuring out from large to small the personal situation in which Turgenev could create the novel “Fathers and Sons,” we should not simplify the problem of the prototypes of his images. Of course, he “described” not only himself and not only Dobrolyubov. His heroes were not geniuses. Turgenev removed, for example, on the advice of P.V. Annenkov, initially there were references in the novel to Palmerston and Cavour and about the subjects of disputes between Bazarov and Kirsanov, which alluded too much to the articles of Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, in which these Western figures were discussed. He deliberately avoided obvious, unartistic correspondences of this kind. Turgenev, in the end, painted average people, mass types of struggling generations, peering into the endless distances of living life.
Let's return to the image of Bazarov. We should not be deluded by the fact that some Dobrolyubov traits were reflected in him and that Bazarov beats the Kirsanovs in all disputes. No matter how historically the ideas he preaches are supported and his gestures of self-confidence are justified, there is still a lot of tension in the image, and this is not due to Turgenev, who is not inclined towards him in everything. We ourselves should not be completely disposed towards him. Bazarov's denial knows no bounds; it is capable of destroying all living things. On the basis of such nihilism, nothing grows except anarchism, arbitrariness, and impunity. The Kirsanovs, no matter how flimsy liberals they may look, no matter how their “song” is sung, are connected by many threads with a civilization that has centuries-old traditions and universal human experience.
Bazarov's passion for Odintsova is that ineradicable naturalness, “nature” that should always be inherent in a person. A person cannot be equated to a beetle, a frog, or a “cog” - nature is not a simple “workshop”. And nature needs a humane attitude towards itself.
It is believed that the last two novels - “Smoke” and “New” - were not entirely successful for Turgenev. This can be said to a greater extent about the novel “Smoke”. There is no youth representative here who professes advanced ideas; the ideas themselves turn out to be “smoke.” Turgenev comes to the pessimistic conclusion that no one in Russia: neither the hero of the novel Litvinov, an ordinary liberal, a “gradualist,” nor Potugin, a “Westernizer” who wants purely bourgeois progress for Russia, will lead Russia forward.
The novel “New” is dedicated to the populist movement and is again filled with inner optimism. Young people are striving for the light, the truth: Nadezhdin, Marianna - the more mercilessly the post-reform leaders are being removed: Sipyagin and Kallomiytsev. One covers up his reactionary nature, the other openly preaches it. Far from being a supporter of the revolution, Turgenev sympathizes with the moderate populist Solomin, a pragmatist who knows how to get along with workers and employers. Solomin is looking for commercial compromises between employers and workers, the latter’s participation in profits. But the image of Solomin needs a broad interpretation, taking into account the historical experience of Russia over the past century. Pragmatics on a socialist basis, actions and cooperation are not such a false path.
True, in Turgenev’s time the priority task was not economic problems or the welfare of the working people, but the overthrow of the autocracy. This could only be achieved through revolutionary means. The most valuable thing in the novel is sympathy for youth, the tragedy of their fate, their sacrificial path. That is why, when Turgenev died, among the discordant assessments of his significance, the voice of representatives of revolutionary populism was heard. In the obituary written by P.F. Yakubovich-Melypin said that the modern young movement is grateful to Turgenev, considers him its chronicler and does not condemn him for the novel “Nov”. Turgenev maintained his main role, which he took upon himself, starting with the novel “Rudin”.
From the very beginning of his literary activity, Turgenev was drawn to “new people.” Belinsky had a huge influence on him. It is not for nothing that Turgenev dedicated his best novel, “Fathers and Sons,” to Belinsky and bequeathed to bury himself next to him. From France, Turgenev's ashes were delivered to St. Petersburg and buried in the Volkov cemetery near Belinsky's grave.
Tergenev published actively during his lifetime. And although not every work of his delighted critics, it did not leave anyone indifferent. Disputes flared up constantly not only because of literary differences. Everyone knows that at the time when Ivan Sergeevich lived and worked, censorship was especially strict, and the writer could not openly talk about many things that would affect politics, criticize the government or serfdom.
Individual works and complete works of Tergenev are published with enviable regularity. The most voluminous and complete collection of works is considered to be the release of the Nauka publishing house in thirty volumes, which combined all the works of the classic into twelve volumes, and published his letters in eighteen volumes.
Artistic features of I.S. Turgenev’s creativity
Most of the writer's novels have the same artistic features. Often the center of attention is a girl who is beautiful, but not beautiful, developed, but this does not mean at all that she is very smart or educated. According to the plot, this girl is always courted by several suitors, but she chooses one, the one whom the author wants to highlight from the crowd, to show his inner world, desires and aspirations.
According to the plot of each novel by the writer, these people fall in love with each other, but there is always something present in their love that does not make it possible to be together right away. It’s probably worth listing all the novels of Ivan Turgenev:
★ "Rudin".
★ "Nobles' Nest".
★ “Fathers and Sons.”
★ “The day before.”
★ “Smoke.”
★ “New.”
To better understand Turgenev’s works and his peculiarities of writing, we should consider several of his novels in more detail. After all, most of the novels were written before the peasant reform was carried out in Russia and all this was reflected in the works.
Roman "Rudin"
This is Turgenev's first novel, which was first defined by the author himself as a story. And although the main work on the work was completed in 1855, the author made adjustments and improvements to his text several times. This was due to criticism from comrades who received the manuscript. And in 1860, after the first publications, the author added an epilogue.
The following characters act in Turgenev's novel:
⇒ Lasunskaya.
⇒ Pigasov.
⇒ Pandnlevsky.
⇒ Lipina.
⇒ Volyntsev.
⇒ Bassists.
Lasunskaya is the widow of a privy councilor who was very rich. The writer rewards Daria Mikhailovna not only with beauty, but also with freedom in communication. She participated in all conversations, trying to show her importance, which in reality she did not have at all. She finds Pigasov funny, who shows some kind of anger towards all people, but especially does not like women. Afrikan Semenovich lives alone because he is very ambitious.
Turgenev's hero from the novel is interesting - Konstantin Pandelevsky, since it was impossible to determine his nationality. But the most remarkable thing in his image is his unusual ability to court ladies in such a way that they then constantly patronized him. But he had no business with Lipina Alexandra, since the woman, despite her young age, was already a widow, although without children. She inherited a large inheritance from her husband, but so that she would not waste it, she lived with her brother. Sergei Volyntsev was a headquarters captain, but already retired. He is decent, and many knew that he was in love with Natalya. The young teacher Basistov hates Pandelevsky, but respects the main character - Dmitry Rudin.
The main character is a poor man, although he is a nobleman by birth. He received a good education at the university. And although he grew up in the village, he is quite smart. He knew how to speak beautifully and for a long time, which surprised those around him. Unfortunately, his words and actions differ. His philosophical views pleased Natalya Lasunskaya, who falls in love with him. He constantly said that he was also in love with the girl, but this turned out to be a lie. And when she denounces him, Dmitry Nikolaevich immediately leaves, and soon dies in France on the barricades.
According to composition, Turgenev's entire novel is divided into four parts. The first part tells how Rudin comes to Natalya’s house and sees her for the first time. In the second part, the author shows how much the girl is in love with Nikolai. The third part is the departure of the main character. The fourth part is an epilogue.
Novel "The Noble Nest"
This is Ivan Sergeevich’s second novel, work on which lasted two years. Like the first novel, “The Noble Nest” was published in the Sovremennik magazine. This work caused a storm in literary circles, from disagreements in the interpretation of the plot to outright accusations of plagiarism. But the work was a great success among the readership, and the name “Noble Nest” became a real catchphrase and has firmly entered into everyday life to this day.
There are a large number of heroes in the novel, who will always be interesting in their character and Turgenev’s description to readers. The female images of the work are presented by Kalitina, who is already fifty years old. Marya Dmitrievna was not only rich, but also a very capricious noblewoman. She was so spoiled that she could cry at any moment because her wishes were not fulfilled. Her aunt, Marya Timofeevna, caused her particular trouble. Pestova was already seventy years old, but she easily and always told everyone the truth. Marya Dmitrievna had children. Lisa, the eldest daughter, is already 19 years old. She is friendly and very pious. This was due to the influence of the nanny. The second female image in Turgenev's novel is Lavretskaya, who is not only beautiful, but also married. Although after her betrayal her husband left her abroad, this still did not stop Varvara Pavlovna.
There are many heroes in the novel. There are those that play an important role in the plot, and there are episodic ones. For example, several times in Turgenev’s novel a certain Sergei Petrovich appears, who is a gossip from a secular society. The handsome Pashin, who is very young and has a position in society, comes to the city for his work. He is obsequious, but easily liked by the people around him. It is worth noting that he is very talented: he composes music and poetry himself, and then performs them. But his soul is cold. He likes Lisa.
A music teacher comes to the Kalitins' house, who was a hereditary musician, but fate was against him. He is poor, although he is German. He does not like to communicate with people, but he perfectly understands everything that happens around him. The main characters include Lavretsky, who is thirty-five years old. He is a relative of the Kalitins. But he could not boast of his education, although he was a kind person in himself. Fyodor Ivanovich has a noble dream - to plow the land, because he has failed to do anything else. He is counting on his friend, the poet Mikhalevich, who will help him realize all his plans.
According to the plot, Fyodor Ivanovich comes to the province to realize his dream, where he meets Lisa and falls in love with her. The girl reciprocates his feelings. But then Lavretsky’s unfaithful wife arrives. He is forced to leave, and Lisa goes to a monastery.
The composition of Turgenev's novel is divided into six parts. The first part tells the story of how Fyodor Ivanovich arrives in the province. And therefore, the second part talks about the main character himself. In the third part, Lavretsky, Kalitin, and other heroes go to Vasilyevskoye. Here the rapprochement between Lisa and Fyodor Ivanovich begins, but this is already described in the fourth part. But the fifth part is very sad, since Lavretsky’s wife arrives. The sixth part is an epilogue.
Novel "On the Eve"
This novel was created by Ivan Turgenev in anticipation of a coup in Russia. The main character of his work is a Bulgarian. It is known that the novel was written by a famous writer in 1859, and the very next year it was published in one of the magazines.
The plot is based on the Stakhov family. Nikolai Artemyevich Stakhov, who not only spoke French well, but was also a great debater. In addition, he was also known as a philosopher who was always bored at home. He met a German widow and now spent all his time with her. This state of affairs greatly upset his wife, Anna Vasilievna, a calm and sad woman who complained to everyone in the house about her husband’s infidelity. She loved her daughter, but in her own way. By the way, Elena was already twenty years old at that time, although at the age of 16 she left parental care, and then lived as if she were on her own. She had a need to constantly take care of the poor, the unfortunate, and it didn’t matter whether they were people or animals. But for those around her, she seemed a little strange.
Elena was simply created to share her life with Dmitry Insarov. This young man, who was barely 30 years old, has an amazing and unusual fate. His purpose was to liberate his land. Therefore, Elena follows him and begins to believe in his ideas. After the death of her spouse, she decides to devote herself to a noble mission - she becomes a sister of mercy.
The meaning of Turgenev's novels
All the novels of the famous writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev reflect the history of Russian society. He doesn't just portray his characters and tell their life stories. The writer walks the path together with his characters and guides the reader along this path, forcing them to philosophize together about what the meaning of life is, what goodness and love are. Landscapes also play a huge role in Turgenev’s novels, reflecting the mood of the characters.
M. Katkov wrote about Turgenev’s novels:
“Clarity of ideas, skill in depicting types, simplicity in design and course of action.”
Turgenev's novels have not only educational, but also historical significance, since the writer reveals the moral problems of the entire society. In the fates of his heroes, the fates of thousands of Russians who lived more than one hundred and fifty years ago are guessed. This is a real excursion into the history of both high society and ordinary people.
, – novel “Rudin”. The writer's idea was inspired by modern life. Having entered into direct communication with the idealists of the 1830s in his youth and many times talking and arguing with friends about the distinctive features of people of this type and their attitude to life, Turgenev decided to portray a similar type in a work of fiction. The novel “Rudin” was an attempt of this kind. The novel was a success both because it served as a response to the life we were experiencing and because of its artistic merits. Since the center of gravity of the novel lies in its hero, Rudin, whose character is exclusively reflected in words and reasoning, and not in action, there is little movement in the novel, but on the contrary, the characters in it indulge almost entirely in reflection and reasoning. In portraying Rudin, Turgenev wanted to bring out in him not some eccentric, a rare phenomenon of contemporary reality, but, on the contrary, a typical face, embodying the characteristic features of the younger generation. Turgenev himself had many of these traits; in addition, he saw them in most of the friends of Stankevich’s circle. This socio-psychological type was very widespread among us at that time, and in depicting it, Turgenev made the first attempt to reflect the moment of social life in its characteristic manifestations.
Rudin. Feature film based on Turgenev's novel
General features of Rudin. A man of the 1830s and 1840s, Dmitry Rudin embodies the typical features of this generation. The distinctive features of this type of people are that in their lives abstract, mental interests, which have very little connection with real life, are in the foreground. Immersed in poetry and philosophy, staying at the heights of abstract speculation, they develop high life ideals, which they talk about a lot and enthusiastically. But these ideals remain so in their words and friendly letters and have no influence on their own lives. Enthusiastically believing in goodness and preaching their moral ideals, these dreamers do not see what a sad discord is revealed between their preaching and life, both their personal and those around them. All these features distinguish the nature of Rudin, who is, as it were, a mirror of the type common at that time. The story of his life has features of the biography of the author of the novel himself.
Childhood. A spoiled son, his mother's favorite, Rudin from childhood was accustomed to adoration and constant care for him. His mother doted on her only son and forestalled all his desires. The proud boy is accustomed to looking at himself as an object of adoration, accepting it as a natural tribute to his exceptional nature.
In a circle of idealists. Having entered Moscow University, Rudin, like Turgenev in his youth, became involved in a literary and philosophical student circle, fascinated by the teachings of Schelling and Hegel. In the center of the circle stood the young man Pokorsky, who had a great influence on everyone and left in the memory of his friends the memory of his charming appearance. Reading about Pokorsky, you involuntarily remember Stankevich. In this circle, Rudin occupied a prominent place, since his pursuit of philosophy was facilitated by his ability and love for abstract thinking, a penchant for reflection, and a pure-headed life. With his gift to quickly grasp the main features of a philosophical concept, clearly assimilate them and harmoniously convey them to listeners in an eloquent and captivating speech - Rudin resembled one of the members of Stankevich’s circle - M. Bakunin. In the literature, views have been expressed that the author copied Rudin from Bakunin. Fervently devoting himself to philosophy and poetry, always occupied with the ideas and images of literature, Rudin expressed his new views and convictions in front of a circle of comrades in fascinating speeches and brilliant improvisations. His gift of eloquence won him great success among young people. Somehow, involuntarily, Rudin becomes some kind of preacher, a speaker at circle and random evenings and gatherings, becomes a man of his word, always ready for an exciting speech, for streams of lofty words about God, about truth, about the future of humanity, etc.
Personal traits of Rudin. In the end, his whole life boils down to the fact that he, not really busy with anything, wanders around other people’s corners, not having his own, and delivering his tirades and sermons. This gives reason in the first part of the novel for the sober and businesslike Lezhnev to make a very unflattering characterization of Rudin, treating him with rather caustic irony. Rudin's eloquence and passion act primarily on young men, on young people who sacredly believe every word spoken with passion. But Lezhnev is clear that Rudin’s words do not matter, that they remain only good words that have no influence on life. Lezhnev emphasizes that Rudin is interested in words for the sake of words themselves, that he loves the very process of speech, loves to produce an effect, to win an argument to captivate the enemy with eloquence and show it off in front of the youth. But for Lezhnev himself, it later becomes clear that the dreamer and enthusiast Rudin could not find the application of his powers not only because of his personal traits, but also due to the contemporary conditions of social life, and found himself in the role of a “superfluous person” in which so many people found themselves heroes of Russian literature and by the way Beltov in Herzen's novel. Rudin is always in an excited and restless state, he is always seething and carried away, he is an eternal youth until old age, and when he surrenders to the flow of his eloquence, then with all his soul he believes every word he says, and in this sincerity lies the secret of his charming effect. speeches to youth. A passionate and internally active nature, Rudin made one feel this energy of his inner life in his speeches. But between Rudin’s intense inner life and outer life there is an irreconcilable discord.
Discord between word and life. Although active in his inner life, Rudin, due to some properties of his nature and the conditions of his contemporary life, was doomed to complete passivity, to inaction. His predilection for the world of abstract interests made him a man of ideas and words, but not of practical deeds. For Rudin there was an abyss between developing ideals and putting them into practice. He was helpless and weak in practical life, and the sharp discord between his word and life became clear. Capable of passion, outbursts, courageous and noble acts in a moment of passion, Rudin is completely unsuitable for systematic life work to achieve his goals. He sets himself problems that he does not solve, he drafts essays that he does not write. One of the significant reasons for his practical inactivity is his complete ignorance of the surrounding life, its conditions in which he could work. Immersed in his mental, personal life, Rudin makes no attempt to get acquainted with the peculiarities of the life that takes place around him. He knows everything abstractly, theoretically, because he does not live a real life, but only talks about life. That’s why his slightest attempts to take on anything end in complete failure, and Rudin is forced to admit that he has no ground under his feet.” Lezhnev in his characteristics emphasizes that Rudin does not know Russia, does not know Russian life, and therefore finds himself, as it were, thrown overboard, alien to life and unadapted to it.
Weakness of will. This purely cerebral character of life, the predominance of mental, abstract interests over everything else in life, serves as an explanation for the weakness of will shown by Rudin. Rudin avoids practical steps and direct actions, avoids active external life, because it is easier and more convenient for him in the sphere of abstract reasoning and general phrases. This is the element that is dear to his soul. He excites the soul of a young girl, Natalya, with calls for the fullness of immediate life, but in the beginning of the novel he reveals a desire to avoid decisive action and remain in the realm of only words and reasoning. He is determined in words, but he is weak and helpless in life. An important role is also played here by the fact that, prone to reflection and eternal introspection, Rudin lives not by feeling, but by thought; he is incapable of being captured by a strong passion and quickly: he extinguishes in his impulses, making himself and his feelings the subject of petty and detailed analysis.
Social significance of the Rudin type. As a result, Rudin’s life is sad, he calls himself “tumbleweed,” because he always wanders without a corner or shelter, without his favorite job, always worried about lofty goals and not having or knowing how to implement them. However, a warm corner would hardly have pleased this restless and spiritually searching person. Rudin himself reflects bitterly on his life and sums it up sadly, calling his life useless. But Lezhnev correctly explains the great vital importance of types like Rudin. In contrast to the skeptic, as in the same novel Pigasov, whose skepticism deadens and poisons everything that is alive and captivated in life, in contrast to the practicality and sobriety of Lezhnev himself, in which there is some heaviness and dryness and in which the absence of another principle is striking - enthusiasm, youth, spiritual pathos - Rudin is abundantly endowed with precisely this youthful fervor of the soul and the precious ability to be carried away by the high and ideal and to captivate others. Rudins are a fermenting principle in the world, bringing into it pathos, animation, and a youthful upsurge of life. Being himself inactive and passive, Rudin, with his fascinating words, sows good seeds in young souls that can bear good fruit. A stimulator of enthusiasm and spiritual impulses, Rudin brings into young life something that is more important than skepticism and no less valuable than sober businesslikeness: idealism, that faith in life that merges with a sense of poetry, beauty and the lofty truth of life. This is the vital significance of types like Rudin; they made their contribution to the development and enlightenment of their native country, preparing future figures in literature and public life with their moral influence.
Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter,” which appeared as a separate edition in 1852, anticipated the pathos of Russian literature of the 1860s and a special role in the artistic consciousness of the era of “folk thought.” And the writer’s novels turned into a kind of chronicle of the change of different mental trends in the cultural stratum of Russian society: an idealist-dreamer, an “extra person” of the 30-40s in the novel “Rudin”; the nobleman Lavretsky, striving to merge with the people, in “The Noble Nest”; “new man”, revolutionary commoner - first Dmitry Insarov in “On the Eve”, and then Evgeny Bazarov in “Fathers and Sons”; the era of ideological impassability in “Smoke”; a new wave of social upsurge in the 70s in Novi.
Novels in Turgenev's work represent a special variety (as opposed to stories). Turgenev created a very recognizable type of novel, endowed with stable features characteristic of 5 of his novels. First of all, there is stable composition, in the center always the plot young woman, which is characterized discreet beauty, development(which does not always mean that she is smart and educated), moral strength(she is always stronger than a man). A hero with a horse in a woman’s pocket is a very Turgenev move. In addition, a whole gallery of suitors for her hand, she chooses one and this one is main character novel, at the same time this is the type who most important for Turgenev and For Russia. This hero himself is built on connection of two spheres and two ways of assessing his personality and his actions: one sphere - historical, the other - universal. Turgenev builds the image in such a way that none of this dominates. The hero and heroine, as expected, fall in love with each other, but there is always some obstacle on the way to their happiness that does not give them the opportunity to immediately rush into each other’s arms. As the plot develops, these obstacles are removed, but at the moment when everything seemed to be fine, another fatal obstacle arises, because of which they cannot be together.
Turgenev's first novel "Rudin" scandalous circumstances of creation: the prototype of the main character is Bakunin. In the first version of the novel, which has not reached us, Bakunin was portrayed more satirically. In the image of Rudin, Turgenev portrayed a Hegelian, in the sense that Turgenev represented him... On the one hand, he is an intelligent person, a good speaker, capable of subjugating minds, but at the same time, it was those close to him who felt that there was nothing behind this - behind all the ideas there is no true faith. How to react to his preaching is an important question. And Dostoevsky, in the image of Stavrogin, will portray the hyperbolic Rudin. According to Dostoevsky, we should not trust these ideas. Turgenev has a different position: it doesn’t matter who speaks, what matters is whether you believe with your mind, and even if the person is weak and unable to embody his own words. Turgenev has a secular - European type - consciousness, relying on the independence of a person capable of independently drawing conclusions. Turgenev was concerned with the question of what a noble hero could do in modern conditions, when society was faced with specific practical issues.
At first the novel was called “Nature of Brilliant.” By “genius” Turgenev understood the ability to enlightenment, a versatile mind and broad education, and by “nature” - firmness of will, a keen sense of the urgent needs of social development, and the ability to translate words into deeds. As he worked on the novel, this title ceased to satisfy Turgenev. It turned out that when applied to Rudin, the definition of “genius nature” sounds ironic: he has “genius”, but no “nature”; he has the talent to awaken the minds and hearts of people, but does not have the strength and ability to lead them. Pandalevsky is a ghost man without social, national and family roots. The features of groundlessness in Pandalevsky are absurd, but symbolic in their own way. With his presence in the novel, he highlights the ghostly existence of some of the wealthy nobility.
Years of abstract philosophical work have dried up the living springs of the heart and soul in Rudin. The preponderance of the head over the heart is especially obvious in the scene of the love confession. Natalya’s retreating steps have not yet sounded, and Rudin indulges in reflection: “I’m happy,” he said in an undertone. “Yes, I’m happy,” he repeated, as if wanting to convince himself.” In love, Rudin clearly lacks “nature”. The hero does not pass the test, revealing his human and, consequently, social inferiority, his inability to move from words to deeds.
But at the same time, the love affair between Rudin and Natalya is not limited to exposing the social inferiority of the “superfluous person”: there is a deep artistic meaning in the hidden parallel that exists in the novel between the morning of Natalya’s life and Rudin’s joyless morning at the dry Avdyukhin pond.
After a love disaster, Rudin tries to find a worthy business for himself. And this is where it turns out that the “extra person” is guilty not only through his own fault. Of course, not content with little, the romantic enthusiast sets his sights on obviously impossible things: rebuilding the entire teaching system at the gymnasium single-handedly, making the river navigable, regardless of the interests of hundreds of owners of small mills on it. But the tragedy of Rudin the practitioner lies in something else: he is not capable of being Stolz, he does not know how and does not want to adapt and dodge.
Rudin in the novel has an antipode - Lezhnev, affected by the same disease of time, but only in a different version: if Rudin soars in the clouds, then Lezhnev huddles to the ground. Turgenev sympathizes with this hero, recognizes the legitimacy of his practical interests, but does not hide their limitations.
And yet Rudin’s life is not fruitless. In the novel there is a kind of passing of the baton. Rudin’s enthusiastic speeches are eagerly captured by the young commoner Basistov, in whom one senses the young generation of “new people”, the future Dobrolyubovs and Chernyshevskys. Rudin’s preaching bears fruit: “He still sows good seed.” And with his death, despite its apparent senselessness, Rudin defends the high value of the eternal search for truth, the indestructibility of heroic impulses. Rudin cannot be a hero of modern times, but he did everything possible in his position to make these heroes appear. This is the final result of the socio-historical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the “superfluous man”, the cultural nobleman of the era of the 30s - early 40s.
« Noble Nest"(1859 was received warmly, everyone liked it. The pathos is that a person renounces the claims of the Rudinsky scale. Hence the very image of a noble estate is somewhat in the Pushkin spirit. The belief that the noble family ties a person to the land and gives a sense of duty to his country , a duty that is higher than personal passions. Lavretsky is a hero who combines the best qualities of the patriotic and democratically minded part of the liberal nobility. He is not alone in the novel: he is followed by the backstory of an entire noble family. Turgenev introduces it into the novel not only in order to explain the character of the main character. The backstory enlarges the problems of the novel, creates the necessary epic background. We are talking not only about the personal fate of Lavretsky, but about the historical fate of an entire class, the last scion of which is the hero. Revealing the life story of the Lavretsky “nest”, Turgenev sharply criticizes the groundlessness of the nobility, the isolation of this class from their native culture, from Russian roots, from the people. The best pages of the novel are devoted to how the prodigal son regains his lost sense of homeland. Lavretsky’s devastated soul greedily absorbs forgotten impressions: long boundaries overgrown with Chernobyl, wormwood and field ash, fresh steppe bareness and wilderness, long hills, ravines, gray villages, a dilapidated manor house with closed shutters and a crooked porch, a garden with weeds and burdocks. , gooseberries and raspberries.
“The Noble Nest” for the first time embodied the ideal image of Turgenev’s Russia, which constantly lived in his soul and largely determined his value orientation in the era of the 60-70s. This image is recreated in the novel with careful, filial love. He is covertly polemical in relation to the extremes of liberal Westernism and revolutionary maximalism. Turgenev warns: do not rush to reshape Russia in a new way, stop,
shut up, listen. Learn from the Russian plowman to do the historical work of renewal slowly, without fuss and chatter, without rash, rash steps. Matching this majestic, unhurried life, flowing silently, “like water through swamp grasses,” are the best characters of people from the nobility and peasants who grew up on its soil. This is Marfa Timofeevna, an old patriarchal noblewoman, Liza Kalitina’s aunt. The living personification of the homeland, people's Russia, is the central heroine of the novel, Liza Kalitina.
The catastrophe of the love affair between Lisa and Lavretsky is not perceived as a fatal accident. In it the hero sees retribution for neglect of public duty, for the life of his father, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, for the past of Lavretsky himself. Lisa also accepts what happened as retribution and decides to go to a monastery, thereby committing a moral feat.
In a letter to I. S. Aksakov in November 1859, Turgenev said this about the concept of the novel "The day before":“My story is based on the idea of the need for consciously heroic natures in order for things to move forward.” The social and everyday plot of the novel has symbolic overtones. Young Elena personifies young Russia “on the eve” of upcoming changes. Who does she need most now: people of science, people of art, honest officials or consciously heroic natures, people of civic achievement? Elena's choice of Insarova gives an unambiguous answer to this question. The artistic description of Insarov's strengths and weaknesses ends with a key episode with two statuettes of the hero, which were sculpted by Shubin. On the first of them, Insarov was presented as a hero, and on the second - as a ram, rising on its hind legs and bowing its horns to strike.
Next to the social plot, partly growing out of it, partly rising above it, the philosophical plot unfolds in the novel. The novel opens with a dispute between Shubin and Bersenev about happiness and duty. “Each of us wants happiness for ourselves,” argues Bersenev, “but is this word: “happiness” that would unite, ignite us both, force us to shake hands with each other? Isn’t it selfish, I want to say, isn’t this a divisive word?” The words unite people: “motherland, science, freedom, justice.” And - love, if it is not “love-pleasure”, but “love-sacrifice”.
The novel “On the Eve” is Turgenev’s weakest novel, it is the most schematic. In Insarov, Turgenev wanted to bring out a type of chela in which there is no discrepancy between words and action. Apparently, by making the main character a Bulgarian, he wanted to say that he does not see such types in Russia. The most interesting is the ending, where the influence of Schopenhauer was felt. It is not for nothing that Venice was chosen: a very beautiful city (for some, the epitome of beauty) and here this terrible, senseless evil is committed. The ideas of Schopenhauer were reflected here: he taught that the world is based on evil, a certain irrational will hostile to man, turning human life into a series of suffering, and the only thing that reconciles us with life is the beauty of this world, which is something like a veil. According to Sh., it is important that this veil, on the one hand, separates us from evil, and on the other, it is an expression of this evil.
In the novel "Fathers and Sons" the unity of the living forces of national life explodes into social conflict. Arkady, in the eyes of the radical Bazarov, is a weakling, a soft-spoken liberal baric. Bazarov does not want to accept and admit that Arkady’s kind-heartedness and Nikolai Petrovich’s dove-like meekness are also a consequence of the artistic talent of their natures, poetic, dreamy, sensitive to music and poetry. Turgenev considered these qualities to be deeply Russian; he endowed them with Kalinich, Kasyan, Kostya, and the famous singers from the Prytynny tavern. They are as organically connected with the substance of people's life as the impulses of Bazarov's negation. But in “Fathers and Sons” the unity between them disappeared, a tragic discord emerged, affecting not only political and social beliefs, but also enduring cultural values. In the ability of the Russian man to easily break himself, Turgenev now saw not only a great advantage, but also the danger of breaking the connection of times. Therefore, he gave broad national historical coverage to the social struggle of revolutionary democrats with liberals. It was about cultural continuity during the historical succession of one generation to another.
The conflict of the novel “Fathers and Sons” in family spheres, of course, is not limited to family spheres, but its tragic depth is verified by the violation of “family life”, in connections between generations, between opposing social trends. The contradictions went so deep that they touched the natural foundations of existence.
"Smoke" differs in many ways from Turgenev's novels. First of all, it lacks a typical hero around whom the plot is organized. Litvinov is far from his predecessors - Rudin, Lavretsky, Insarov and Bazarov. This is not an outstanding person, who does not pretend to be a public figure of the first magnitude. He strives for modest and quiet economic activity in one of the remote corners of Russia. We meet him abroad, where he improved his agronomic and economic knowledge, preparing to become a competent landowner. This novel touched a lot of people. An extreme Westerner was identified in the person of Potugin; Fet is considered one of the prototypes. “If Russia disappeared from the world map tomorrow, no one would notice,” is Potugin’s most famous maxim. Finally, the novel does not contain a typical Turgenev heroine, capable of deep and strong love, prone to selflessness and self-sacrifice. Irina is corrupted by secular society and deeply unhappy: she despises the life of people in her circle, but at the same time she cannot free herself from it.
The novel is also unusual in its basic tone. Satirical motifs, not very characteristic of Turgenev, play a significant role in it. In the tones of a pamphlet, “Smoke” paints a broad picture of the life of the Russian revolutionary emigration. The author devotes many pages to a satirical depiction of the ruling elite of Russian society in the scene of the generals' picnic in Baden-Baden.
The plot of the novel “Smoke” is also unusual. The satirical pictures that have grown in it, at first glance, are confused by digressions, loosely connected with Litvinov’s storyline. Yes, and Potuginskys
the episodes seem to fall out of the main plot of the novel.
The novel does weaken the cohesive storyline. Several artistic branches run from it in different directions: Gubarev’s circle, the generals’ picnic, the story of Potugin and his “Westernizing” monologues. But this plot looseness is meaningful in its own way. Seemingly going aside, Turgenev achieves a broad coverage of life in the novel. The unity of the book rests not on the plot, but on the internal roll calls of different plot motifs. The key image of “smoke” appears everywhere, an image of life that has lost its meaning.
Only 10 years later the novel comes out "Nove." Here the populists became the central types. An epigraph expresses the main idea best. Nov – uncultivated soil. “The new crop should be lifted not with a shallow plow, but with a deep-reaching plow.” It differs from other novels in that the main character commits suicide. The action of “Novi” dates back to the very beginning of “going to the people.” Turgenev shows that the populist movement did not arise by chance. The peasant reform disappointed expectations; the situation of the people after February 19, 1861 not only did not improve, but sharply worsened. The novel depicts a tragicomic picture of populist revolutionary propaganda led by Nezhdanov. Of course, Nezhdanov is not the only one to blame for the failures of “propaganda” of this kind. Turgenev also shows something else - the darkness of the people in civil and political matters. But one way or another, a blank wall of misunderstanding arises between the revolutionary intelligentsia and the people. And therefore, “going to the people” is portrayed by Turgenev as going through torment, where heavy defeats and bitter disappointments await the Russian revolutionary at every step. Finally, at the center of the novel “New” are not so much the individual fates of individual representatives of the era, but rather the fate of an entire social movement - populism. The breadth of coverage of reality increases, the social resonance of the novel becomes sharper. The love theme no longer occupies a central position in Novi and is not key in revealing Nezhdanov’s character.
“The physiognomy of Russian people of the cultural stratum” changed very quickly in Turgenev’s era - and this brought a special touch of drama to the writer’s novels, characterized by a rapid start and an unexpected denouement, “tragic, as a rule, endings.” Turgenev's novels are strictly confined to a narrow period of historical time; precise chronology plays a significant role in them. The life of Turgenev's hero is extremely limited compared to the heroes of the novels of Pushkin, Lermontov, and Goncharov. The characters of Onegin, Pechorin, Oblomov “reflected a century”; in Rudin, Lavretsky or Bazarov - the mental trends of several years. The life of Turgenev's heroes is like a spark that flashes brightly, but quickly fades. History, in its inexorable movement, measures out a tense, but too short-term fate for them. All Turgenev's novels are subject to the cruel rhythm of the annual natural cycle. The action in them begins, as a rule, in early spring, reaches its climax on the hot days of summer, and ends with the “whistle of the autumn wind” or “in the cloudless silence of the January frosts.” Turgenev shows his heroes in happy moments of maximum growth and flowering of their vitality. But these minutes turn out to be tragic: Rudin dies on the Parisian barricades, during a heroic takeoff, the life of Insarov, and then Bazarov, Nezhdanov, is unexpectedly cut short.
With Turgenev, the poetic image of the companion of the Russian hero, Turgenev's girl - Natalya Lasunskaya, Lisa Kalitina, Elena Stakhova, Marianna - entered not only literature, but also life. The writer depicts in his novels and stories the most flourishing period in a woman’s destiny, when, in anticipation of the chosen one, the female soul blossoms, and all its potential possibilities awaken to temporary triumph.
Together with the image of Turgenev’s girl, the image of “Turgenev’s love” enters into the writer’s work. This feeling is akin to revolution: “... the monotonously correct structure of established life is broken and destroyed in an instant, youth stands on the barricade, its bright banner flutters high, and no matter what awaits it ahead - death or a new life - it is all sends his enthusiastic greetings." All Turgenev's heroes undergo the test of love - a kind of test of viability not only in intimate, but also in public beliefs.
A loving hero is beautiful, spiritually inspired, but the higher he flies on the wings of love, the closer the tragic denouement and fall are. Love, according to Turgenev, is tragic because both weak and strong people are defenseless before its elemental power. Wayward, fatal, uncontrollable, love whimsically disposes of human destiny. This feeling is also tragic because the ideal dream to which a soul in love surrenders cannot be fully realized within the confines of the earthly natural circle.
And, however, the dramatic notes in Turgenev’s work are not the result of fatigue or disappointment in the meaning of life and history. Quite the opposite. They are generated by a passionate love for life, reaching the thirst for immortality, to the desire for human individuality not to fade away, so that the beauty of a phenomenon turns into an eternal, imperishable beauty that remains on earth. Momentary events, living characters and conflicts are revealed in Turgenev’s novels and stories in the face of eternity. The philosophical background enlarges the characters and takes the problems of the works beyond the limits of narrow temporal interests. A tense dialogical relationship is established between the writer’s philosophical reasoning and the direct depiction of the heroes of the time at the culminating moments of their lives. Turgenev loves to close moments for eternity and give timeless interest and meaning to a transitory phenomenon.
Novel “Fathers and Sons” Summary
“Fathers and Sons” is one of the most famous works of the Russian writer I.S. Turgenev. One of the fun facts: L.N. Tolstoy fell asleep while reading this novel. Why did it happen so?
In the book by P. Weil and A. Genis “Native Speech”, in the chapter dedicated to Turgenev’s novel, it is said in black and white that “Fathers and Sons” are perceived as something official. The problem is simple: the last thing art wants to do is serve anything or anyone. On the contrary, art requires sacrifice.
Turgenev relied on objectivity - and the result was a situation where it was impossible to understand whose side the writer was on.
A brief retelling of the plot of Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”
Arkady Kirsanov returns home with his friend Evgeny Bazarov. The young people had just graduated from university. They develop a difficult relationship with the older Kirsanovs - Arkady's father and his uncle. There is a clash between two generations - fathers and children. The elders adhere to patriarchal views, and the younger ones are infected with the youth’s vision of the world and nihilism. Two generations argue and cannot find a common language.
After some time, Arkady and Evgeny meet the young widow Anna Odintsova and her younger sister Katerina. The young people simultaneously fall in love with Anna. Bazarov’s foundations, in particular, the denial of marriage and feelings, are crumbling. He confesses his love to Anna, but gets turned around. Arkady abandons nihilism and realizes that he is in love with Katerina. A duel takes place between Evgeniy and Uncle Arkady. Fortunately, everyone remains alive. Evgeny goes to his parents and soon dies, contracting typhus, and his friend marries Katerina. Uncle Arkady is leaving the country. Anna Odintsova is getting married again.
Novel “Fathers and Sons” Summary in parts
Part one
The story begins in mid-May 1859. Arkady, the high-society bear, is about to return to the estate of Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov. But before talking about the master's son, the writer spoke in detail about the master himself. Nikolai Kirsanov was not known for his courage, and avoided military service by breaking his leg and remaining lame for life. The master's parents died, unable to adapt to life in St. Petersburg.
Nikolai Petrovich married, and lived as a family man for twelve years. Having been widowed, the master went abroad, but the Hungarian Revolution broke out, and he had to return to Russia.
The memories of the prematurely aged widower master were interrupted by the sound of wheels. Arkady Kirsanov arrived on a tarantass. And not alone, but in the company of a friend - Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov. We learn that Bazarov is a graduate of a medical university. And since he is a doctor, his character is harsh and cynical.
A little later it turned out that Evgeny Bazarov is not only a supporter of progress. Talking with the yard boys, the young doctor decided to go after the frogs. To the logical question “what do you need frogs for?” Bazarov said that he wanted to find out how the frog’s body works. And knowledge will be useful if you have to treat a person.
In a conversation with his father and uncle, Arkady Kirsanov reveals the secret of his friend. It turns out that Bazarov is a nihilist, that is, he does not recognize any authorities and looks at everything critically.
In a conversation with the Kirsanov family, Bazarov, an expert in medicine and natural sciences, began to glorify science with all his might. It turned out that the Germans should be honored - their science is very advanced, not like in Russia. On top of that, the young doctor directly says that a decent chemist is much better than any poet.
Part two
Arkady Kirsanov, in a conversation with Evgeny Bazarov, remembers his uncle. It turned out that Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov at one time fell in love with a married lady. It would be nice if she was a beauty, but no, she didn’t see much beauty. The reason for everything turned out to be a mysterious look, and it became the beginning of the drama.
At first, love brought joy to both the secular leopard and the tigress in human form. But, alas, sooner or later they had to part, and this happened. Love left, and Pavel Kirsanov suffered terribly. He retired. Several years passed, and Kirsanov learned the sad news: the princess died. The ring with the figurine of the sphinx returned to Pavel Petrovich, only on the figurine there was an image of a cross. It turned out that the married lady bore a heavy cross when during the day she pretended to be a social coquette, and at night she suffered from the fact that she was terribly sinning before God.
After listening to his friend’s story, Bazarov spoke ironically about Pavel Petrovich, and then stated that the so-called mysterious look had nowhere to come from. Moreover, the doctor expressed an interesting opinion: “Let’s go and look at the beetle.”
Part three
Arkady Kirsanov became a typical gentleman with sybarite habits. But Evgeny Bazarov worked hard, learned the wisdom of physics and chemistry, as well as medicine. It is interesting that Arkady sincerely believed that his friend was right, and Nikolai Petrovich admitted a lot. But Pavel Petrovich did not hide his dissatisfaction - nihilism was too unpleasant for him. And sometimes Bazarov attacked art - he denied the greatness of Raphael, declared that there was no need to read Pushkin, something businesslike would be better.
Later, both Kirsanov brothers breathed a sigh of relief: Bazarov decided to visit the landowners, and together with a friend he went on this trip. And after visiting those weirdos, the friends visited the so-called advanced woman (however, given her vulgar and simply abnormal habits, a word suggests itself, which is an antonym of the word “advanced”).
During the conversation, it turned out that Bazarov and this “advanced” woman are friends, which is not surprising. Now is the time to remember the saying “tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are.” The emancipated fool did not consider smoking and drinking to be vices (outrageous!), denied the existence of God, and sincerely rejoiced at her childlessness (got it!). It is precisely these women that L.N. Tolstoy couldn't stand it.
True, the friendship with the “advanced” woman was short-lived, because Bazarov soon lost interest in her.
Part four
During the governor's ball, Arkady Kirsanov met with Odintsova. Although the age difference between them was small, the young socialite felt, at best, like a high school student. The style of their conversation was forced at first, but then a relaxed conversation about life began. At the end of the conversation, Odintsova expressed her desire to meet Bazarov.
The friends started talking, and the doctor once again amazed the secular gentleman with his cynicism. The friends calmly left, and the emancipated “woman” was offended by the fact that she turned out to be inconspicuous (which is not surprising, because excessive vulgarity quickly brings on terrible boredom).
A little later we learn something from the life of the young princess-widow, and then an interesting intrigue unfolds: Bazarov and Kirsanov come to Anna Odintsova’s room. A conversation ensued between the social bear and the nihilist, and it turned out that Odintsova did not waste time and managed to read several good books. It is interesting that when meeting the widow and saying goodbye to her, Bazarov was embarrassed (and surprised at himself).
On the street, a secular romantic decided to find out what the nihilist thought about Odintsova. Bazarov again flashed his signature medical humor, speaking about a “rich body” and “anatomical theater.”
Part five
A little later, the friends end up at the estate of Princess Odintsova. Oddly enough, it was with the young widow that the cynical nihilist quickly found a common language. They calmly discussed the problems of society associated with bad upbringing, then calmly played a game of preference. Bazarov lost, and, oddly enough, this insignificant loss hurt him a little. But much bigger troubles awaited the nihilist. But that happened later.
So far there was no reason for trouble: during dinner the widow started talking about botany and expressed a desire to learn the Latin names of plants the next day. And Arkady Kirsanov had a fun time with Katya, the sister of the widow princess.
So fifteen days passed. Bazarov constantly wondered at himself: how can one be a nihilist, and at the same time understand that it is impossible to command the heart to immediately stop loving Odintsova. It turned out to be a situation where they say “the mind and the heart are not in harmony.”
On the thirteenth day, Evgeny Bazarov decided to look at his father. Having met his teacher, Evgeniy Vasilyevich asked about his parents and found out that they were in good health. Bazarov decided to visit his parents and made the teacher promise that he would inform about the upcoming visit.
That evening, the nihilist and the widow princess talked for a long time about happiness. The next day the conversation resumed, and at one point Odintsova decided to find out why Bazarov was so tense and restrained. It turned out that mad love was to blame for everything (although it was more of a passion, fierce, bestial). The passion of the nihilist frightened the widow princess. In the evening, she realized the reason for her fear: looking beyond the line of prudence, Anna Odintsova saw something disgusting.
The next day, during a conversation with the princess, the nihilist said that he had to leave. After spending the last day at the Odintsov estate, the friends went to Bazarov’s parents. It is interesting that the cynic himself felt out of place, and it is not surprising: the exam related to love was completely failed. It was an unpleasant start.
Part six
For some time, Evgeny Bazarov felt calmer when he and Arkady Kirsanov arrived at his parents’ estate. Father and mother were delighted: finally, after so many years of separation, the son returned to his home!
Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov began a casual affair with his son and his friend. During the conversation, opinions were expressed that many scientific theories become outdated after about twenty years. The imaginary science of phrenology (also known as craniology) was also mentioned. During the conversation, Bazarov Jr. notes that he is already ridiculing not only imaginary sciences, but also medicine, although he will become a district doctor.
Then the friends' paths diverged in different directions. Evgeny Bazarov delved into science with all his might, conducting chemical experiments with frogs, and Arkady Kirsanov had fun at the Odintsovs’ estate. Princess Katya once told Arkady that Bazarov was a stranger to them: he was one of the “predatory” ones, and they were one of the “tame” ones. It’s not hard to guess what these words meant: predatory – not tolerant of any rules, tame – recognizing the rules.
The nihilist soon returned to his parents and began practicing medicine. And once Evgeny Bazarov participated in the autopsy procedure of a man who died of typhus. During the autopsy, the young cynic managed to injure his finger, and cadaveric poison got into the wound. It was possible to cauterize the wound only a few hours later, when Bazarov returned to his father’s house.
Two days later, what is called sepsis began, that is, blood poisoning. The nihilist directly said that he would die in a few days. At one point, Bazarov noted that it is useless to deny death - because “it denies you, and that’s it!”
Anna Odintsova came to the dying cynic. This was their last conversation. By evening, Bazarov lost consciousness and died the next day.
Epilogue
The Bazarovs often come to their son's grave. There they stay for a long time, pray, and remember him.
What about the other characters? Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov and his son Arkady had a successful fate: both became married and happy men. Anna Odintsova found herself a good husband. And Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov settled in Germany, in Dresden.
Characters of the novel "Fathers and Sons"
- Arkady Kirsanov - University graduate. He was a friend of Bazarov, but gradually their paths diverged. He experienced brotherly love for Princess Katya Odintsova, but gradually this feeling grew into true love. Soon they got married.
- Evgeny Bazarov - a nihilist, his life principle is associated with the denial of various kinds of rules. According to Weil and Genis, this character managed to fail almost all life exams. At the end of the story, the cynic injured his finger while autopsying a man who died of typhus; cadaveric poison got into the wound. Bazarov died from blood poisoning.
- Anna Odintsova - a young princess-widow. For some time she was friends with Bazarov, but the nature of the nihilist prevented a truly close friendship. At the end of the story she became the wife of a certain influential man.
- Ekaterina Odintsova - Anna Odintsova's younger sister. She became friends with Arkady Kirsanov. Gradually, friendship grew into love. At the end of the story, Catherine became the wife of Arkady and the mother of the family.
- Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov - owner of the estate. He had serious problems with hired workers, but gradually everything went smoothly (his acquaintance with Bazarov had an impact). At the end of the story, he married the maid Fenya.
- Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov - Uncle Arkady, a typical social dandy. He didn’t like Bazarov, and it was mutual. The enmity turned into a duel, then reconciliation. At the end of the story he settled in Dresden.
- Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov - retired doctor. I am sincerely confident that his son Evgeniy will become a great man. The grief was even greater when my son died.
- Evdoksiya Kukshina– obviously a minor character. A typical “advanced” dumbass, extremely unnatural. After a short friendship, Bazarov lost interest in her.