The essay “The spontaneity of the peasant movement in the story of A. S.

Part 1

Chapter I

The day was fading; purple clouds, stretching across the west, barely missed the red rays that were reflected on the tiles of the towers and the bright domes of the monastery. They rang for Vespers; monks and servants walked back and forth along the stone slabs leading from the archimandrite’s cell to the temple; long, black robes with a rustle swept the dust behind them; and they pushed the pilgrims with such important look, as if it were their main position. Under the smoky veil of incense, the flickering fire of the candles seemed dull and red; The pilgrims crowded around the damp pillars, and the dull, solemn rustling of the crowd, repeated by the vaults, showed that the service had not yet begun.

At the monastery gates there was a different picture. Several beggars and cripples awaited the mercy of the pilgrims; they argued, scolded, divided the copper money that jingled in large sacks; these were people rejected by nature and society (only in this case does society agree with nature); these were people who died from lack or excess of hopes, personified reproaches to Providence; creatures deprived of the right to demand pity because they had no virtue, and without any virtue because they had never met pity.

Their clothes were images of their souls: black, torn. The rays of the sunset stopped on heads, shoulders and bent bony knees; the depressions in the faces seemed blacker than usual; each had it written on his forehead in eternal letters poverty!- at least the slightest sign, the slightest remnant of pride separated in the eyes or in the smile!

There was only one in the crowd of beggars - he did not interfere in their conversation and motionlessly looked at the painted holy gates; he was hunchbacked and bow-legged; but his members seemed strong and accustomed to the labors of this shameful state; his face was long and dark; straight nose, curly hair; broad forehead his was yellow as the forehead of a scientist, gloomy as a cloud covering the sun on the day of a storm; blue vein crossed his irregular wrinkles; the lips, thin, pale, were stretched and compressed with some kind of convulsive movement, and a whole future shone in the eyes; his comrades did not know who he was; but the power of the soul is revealed everywhere: they were afraid of his voice and gaze; they respected some great vice in him, and not boundless misfortune, a demon - but not a man: - he was ugly, disgusting, but that was not what frightened them; in his eyes there was so much fire and intelligence, so much unearthly that they, not daring to believe their expression, respected the stranger as a wonderful deceiver. He seemed no more than 28 years old; his face constantly reflected mockery, bitter, endless; the magic circle that enclosed the universe; his soul had not yet truly lived, but was gathering all its strength in order to overflow life and break out into eternity ahead of time; – the beggar stood with folded arms and looked at the devil depicted in faded colors on St. gates, and internally regretted it; he thought: if I were the devil, I would not torture people, but would despise them; Are they worth being seduced by an exile from paradise, a rival of God!.. is another matter for man; to end with contempt, he must begin with hatred!

And his eyes shone under restless eyebrows, and his thin cheeks were covered with red spots: everything was in agreement in the features of the beggar: one passion controlled his heart, or better yet, he controlled only one passion - but absolutely!

“For Christ’s sake, master, for the burned, crippled, blind... For Christ’s sake, a pretty penny!” - the cry of his comrades was heard; he shuddered, turned around - and at that moment his fate was decided. - What did he see? Russian nobleman, Boris Petrovich Palitsyn. Not more.

[Chapter II]

Imagine a man about 50 years old, tall, still healthy, but with gray hair and dull eyes, dressed in a blue caftan with the St. Anne's cross in his buttonhole; his feet, hidden in huge boots, made an unpleasant sound as they stepped on the dusty stones; he walked with importance, waving his arms and wrinkled his high forehead every time the annoying beggars surrounded him; – two servants followed him with servility. “Palitsyn put a silver ruble in the monastery mug and, pushing away the beggars, exclaimed: “Get away, you!” - lazy people. “What good fellows—they ask for Christ’s sake; What are you not working? God grant that the time comes when these vagabonds will be starved without shame. - Here's a ruble for all the brethren. “Just don’t bite too much for him.”

Meanwhile, the hunchbacked beggar silently approached and fixed his bright black eyes on the generous gentleman; this gaze was a stopped lightning, and a person, subject to its mysterious influence, had to shudder and could not answer it in the same way, as if a lead seal was weighing on his eyelids; If magnetism exists, then the beggar's gaze was the strongest magnetism.

When the old gentleman walked away from the crowd, he hurried to catch up with him.

Palitsyn turned around.

- What do you need?

- Very little! - I want a job...

With a caustic grin, the old man looked at the beggar, at his hump and ugly legs... but the poor man was not at all embarrassed, and remained calm, like Socrates, when his wife poured a jug of water on his head, but this was not the composure of a sage - the beggar was more like to a duelist who is confident in the accuracy of his hand.

“If you, master, think that I cannot bear the labor, then I will reassure you on this score.” - He raised big Stone and began to play with it like a ball; Palitsyn was amazed.

- Do you want to be my servant?

The beggar in one minute assumed an air of humility and fervently kissed the hand of his new patron... from a free man, he agreed to be a slave - was it really for nothing? - and what a strange idea to take the name of a slave 2 months before Pugachev.

“I swear on my father’s head that I will fulfill my duty!” - exclaimed the beggar, - and hellish joy flashed on his pale face.

– Your name? -

- A lovely name for such a freak!

The servants picked up the master's joke and laughed; the beggar looked at them with contempt, and the inappropriate gaiety subsided; vile souls are jealous of everything, even grievances that show some attention from their superior.

“Follow me!” said Palitsyn, and everyone left the monastery. Vadim often turned around! on the half-light sky, battlements, towers and churches were drawn, flat black cities, without any shade; but there was something in this spectacle<-то>majestic, forcing the soul to plunge into itself and think about eternity, and think about the greatness of earthly and heavenly, and then dark and wonderful thoughts are born, like a lonely monastery, a motionless monument to the weakness of some people who did not understand that where virtue is hidden, there can be hidden and crime.

Chapter III

Late, late in the evening Boris Petrovich arrived home; the dogs greeted him with a loud bark, and only by the luminous windows could one recognize the building; the wind noisily shook the branches planted around the master's yard, and when the clatter of horses was heard, the servants came out with lanterns to meet them, smiling and inwardly cursing the master, for whom they had left their warm beds, or perhaps something better. Palitsyn went into the house; – it was dark in the hall; the windows shook from the wind and heavy rain; there was a candle in the living room; this room was completely decorated in the taste of the 18th century: multi-colored wallpaper, three round tables; in front of each there is a small canapé; the blank wall located between two high stoves, on which ugly statues stood, was completely daubed; it depicted in faded colors the ceremonial entry of Peter I into Moscow after Poltava: this picture could be called a hand-drawn program.

A fat woman sat in front of a smooth walnut table, yawning around, kind woman!.. to grow fat, to yawn, to scold the maids, the clerk, the headman, the husband, when he is in the spirit... what an enviable life! and all this continues for forty years, and will continue for the same amount of time... and they will mourn her death... and they will remember her, and praise her angelic disposition, and feel sorry for her... what a miracle this life is! especially when you compare our storms with it, consuming entire years, and what is even more terrible - tearing off a person’s feelings, like leaves from a tree, one after another.

On the bench, at your feet<Натальи>Sergevna (that’s what I’ll call Palitsyn’s wife), a young girl, her pupil, was sitting. “He was an angel expelled from heaven for being too sorry for humanity.” - A tallow candle burning on the table illuminated her innocent, open forehead and one cheek, on which, if you looked closely, you could discern a fine golden fluff; the rest of her face was covered with thick shadow; and only when she raised big eyes their own, then sometimes two sparks of light separated in the darkness; this face was one of those that we rarely see in dreams, and almost never in reality. “Her chest swayed quietly, sometimes she bent her head, peering at her work, and long strands of hair burst out from behind her ears and fell into her eyes; then a white hand with elongated fingers came into the light; one such hand could be a whole painting!

Boris Petrovich ascended; both stood up.

“I brought a new slave,” he said. - Treasure! - a beggar who wanted to work! - he shouldn’t be too combative - you can see it in his face - but he will be obedient!.. - you’ll see for yourself - hey! - Vadimka! - alive.

An ugly beggar came up. The lady examined him without attention, like stolen goods... “What a freak!” - she exclaimed. But Vadim did not hear - his soul was in his eyes.

The husband talked with his wife for a long time about the harvest, flax and household affairs; and completely forgot about the beggar; he stood at the door for a whole hour; where was he looking? what did you think? - he discovered a new chord in his soul and a new purpose for his existence. He stood there for a whole hour; nobody noticed;<Наталья>Sergevna went to her room, and then Palitsyn approached her pupil.

- How do you like my new slave?

- Freak! - Olga answered, and suddenly she heard something similar to the gnashing of teeth. “We want to bring such scarecrows,” she continued, “for us poor captive birds it’s bad enough without them!”

“It’s bad because you don’t want to agree,” objected Boris Petrovich and intended to hug her.

Olga blushed and pushed his hand away; this movement was too noble for an ordinary woman.

- Cheat! if you knew how beautiful you are: don’t old people have hearts, don’t they have a corner in it where the blood boils and bubbles? - it would be good for you! – if only – listen... I have gold earrings with large pearls, Persian scarves, I have money, money, money...

-You have no shame! - Olga answered; Palitsyn looked at her and flushed; – but hearing a rustling in the other room, he left threateningly.

- God!.. this exclamation involuntarily escaped from her chest; it was prayer and rebuke.

The ugly beggar was still standing in the doorway, arms folded, silent and motionless - a tear flashed on his eyelashes: maybe the first tear - and a tear of despair!.. Such tears exhaust the soul, take away several years of life, can drown a million sweet hopes in one minute ! They are for one person what Napoleon was for the universe: in ten years he moved us forward a whole century.

– Do you know your parents, Olga? – said Vadim.

- Weird question! - she answered.

- I am an orphan; “My father left me when I was a child - and went God knows where - probably very far, because he did not return,” Vadim’s brow darkened, and a bitter, caustic smile gave his features, faintly illuminated by the dying candle, something demonic.

– Do you want to know where?

“I want!..” and her moist eyes shone brightly.

– Think, I’m a stranger to you – maybe I’m joking, mocking!.. think: there are secrets at the bottom of which there is poison, secrets that inextricably link two fates; there are people who infect the happiness of others with their breath; everything that loves and hates them is doomed to destruction... beware of both - having learned my secret, you will give your fate into your hands dangerous person: he will not be able to cherish this flower: he will crush it...

“I definitely want to know...” exclaimed the inexperienced girl.

She looked around - the beggar was no longer in the room.

Chapter IV

Two days passed - Vadim had not yet announced his secret... Did he really just want to incite women's curiosity? if so, then he fully achieved his goal. Under various pretexts, neglecting the anger of her mistress, Olga left her boring work and tried to meet Vadim somewhere in a remote empty room; and strange! she almost always found him where she thought she would find him - and then requests, caresses, all tricks were used to lure out the desired secret - but he was adamant; knew how to divert the conversation to another subject, kept her occupied different stories- but there was no secret; she marveled at his intelligence, his stormy disposition, began to penetrate his gloomy soul and noticed that this man was not born for slavery: - and this made her have confidence in him; no wonder; - power separates proud souls, and captivity unites them.

One day she took his hand.

- Aren't I very ugly! – Vadim exclaimed. She let go of his hand. “Yes,” he continued. - I know that myself. - Heaven did not want anyone in the world to love me, because it created me for hatred; - tomorrow you will find out everything: - why should I take care of you? - Oh, if only... don’t blame me for the long silence. “Perhaps the time will come and you will think: why wasn’t this man born dumb, blind and deaf, if he could have been born lopsided and hunchbacked?..

Vadim’s behavior with the other servants was incomprehensible, because no one knew his goal; I will explain it as much as possible with the following conversation; two servants were sitting on the porch of the house, one old, the other about twenty; these are their words:

- Notice, Fedka, that whoever comes out of the mud goes for gold! - how proud this Vadimka is - such a freak - he never shows me any respect - when the clerk himself always distinguishes me - and how he knows how to flatter the master: like a puppy! – This century has become non-Christian.

“I won’t tell you, Uncle Ipat!.. he’s always kind to me - he’s a dashing guy; Keep your eyes open with him: he’ll immediately take the bait - like yesterday...

- What yesterday?

– I’ll tell you this thing, uncle... listen... yesterday the master was angry with Oleshka Shusherin and ordered him to hit him with 25 sticks; They took Oleshka to the stable - the clerk himself began to beat him; He hit him 25 times and said: this is for the master - but for me - and raised his hand: Vadim stood at a distance all this time, in the corner: his eyebrows converged and diverged. “In an instant he jumped up to the clerk and knocked him to the ground with one blow. Foam from rage swirled on his lips, he wanted to say something - but could not.

- It's a pity! - the old man objected, - this man will not live to see gray hair. “He felt sorry from the bottom of his heart, as best he could, as old people usually feel sorry for young men who die prematurely, in the prime of life, whom death takes instead of them, just as a storm often breaks thin tall trees and spares hundred-year-old stumps.

Why did Vadim try to gain the love and trust of young servants? - I answer this: the incidents I describe happened 2 months before Pugachevsky’s rebellion.

Minds anticipated a revolution and were worried: every old and new cruelty of the master was recorded by his slaves in the book of vengeance, and only blood<его>could wash away these shameful chronicles. People, when they suffer, are usually submissive; but if once they managed to throw off their burden, then the lamb turns into a tiger: the oppressed becomes the oppressor and pays a hundredfold - and then woe to the vanquished!..

The Russian people, this hundred-armed giant, would rather endure the cruelty and arrogance of their ruler than his weakness; he wants to be punished, but fairly, he agrees to serve - but he wants to be proud of his slavery, wants to raise his head to look at his master, and will forgive him for the excess of vices rather than the lack of virtues! In the 18th century, the nobility, having already lost their former unlimited power and the ways to maintain it, did not know how to change their behavior: this is one of the secret reasons that gave rise to the Pugachev year!

[Chapter V]

But let's turn to our story.

Boris Petrovich's house stood on the banks of the Sura, on high mountain, ending towards the river with a clay-colored cliff; around the courtyard and along the shore there are huts built, smoky, black, tilted, stretching out in two lines along the edges of the road, like beggars bowing to passers-by; on the other side of the river visible in the distance birch groves and even further, wooded hills with blackening spruce trees, to the left a low bank, strewn with bushes, stretches smoothly - and far, far away the hills turn blue like waves. Evening sun sometimes golden tints played on the plank roof and in the glass; painted carved shutters, swayed by the wind, knocked and creaked<ели>, swinging on rusty hinges. Around old house there is a carved wooden holo-deck that serves as a balcony; here, sitting at work, Olga often forgot her sewing and watched the blue wandering waters and barges with white sails and multi-colored weather vanes. People there are free and happy! Every day they see a new shore - and new hopes! - The songs of peasants coming from the hayfield, the distant bell often entertained her attention - who is coming, the merchant? master? mail? - but what does she care!.. does she care... and yet it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find out.

How entertaining full life, is not it?

Now she has gone from one extreme to the other: now, wrapped in a black velvet coat trimmed with hare fur, she tremblingly opens the door to the hunger strike. - What should you be afraid of, inexperienced girl: Boris Petrovich went to the city, his wife to the monastery, to listen to the teachings of the monks and news and<з>the lips of the praying mantises, no less respected by her.

Who comes to meet her? - This is Vadim. - She shuddered; - She turned pale because the fateful moment had arrived.

“What’s wrong with you,” he said.

- Nothing...

- A! Understand! – he bit his lips: – you scared me...

“Why should I be afraid of you,” Olga answered proudly.

- All the better! - he continued... - this already means a lot - so you’re not afraid of me! not disgusting... oh my creator! this is great bliss! really, it seems to me that this is the first... - he stopped...

- Listen, what if my soul is worse than my appearance? Am I to blame... I didn’t ask people for anything except bread - they added contempt and ridicule to it... I had heaven, earth and myself, I was rich in all feelings... I saw the sun and was happy... but gradually everything disappeared: one thought, one discovery, one drop of poison - beware of this thought, Olga.

“What are we here for,” she asked impatiently.

- I'm here to see you.

- And that’s not what I’m here for...

- Again, again! – Vadim exclaimed. “Listen, if you want to achieve something from me, then don’t hint about my ugliness: I’m envious, I’m angry, I’m everything you want... but spare me.” “He covered his face with both hands. “She felt sorry: this man, gifted with the greatest pride, asked her, a weak girl, she, even more defenseless than he, for regret - or not... less... he asked that she not insult him.

Such speeches sometimes touch a woman's heart.

She broke the unpleasant silence:

– You said, Vadim, that you know where my father is?..

He thought:

- Promise never to reproach me for revealing my secret to you.

- Never.

- Listen: your father was a nobleman - rich - happy - and like many, he ended his life on straw... you shuddered... but that’s nothing!..

- Oh, if it’s nothing, then don’t continue.

- No, listen: he had a kind neighbor, his friend and acquaintance, who occupied the first place at his table, a hunting companion who caressed his children - a simple-hearted one who always stood next to him in church, supplied him with money in case of need, vouched for him. for him with your own head - well... isn’t that enough for a person’s destruction? - wait... don’t turn pale... give me your hand: the fire flowing in my veins will pour into you... listen further: once while hunting, your father’s dog jumped up his friend’s dog; he laughed at him: from that moment irreconcilable hostility began - 5 years later your father no longer laughed. - Woe to the one who punished this laughter with tears! A friend of your father opened an old dispute about lands and won it and took away all his property; I saw your father before his death; his gray head, motionless, dry, like a white stone, fixed a piercing gaze on me, where the last spark of life and hatred burned... and it remained as an inheritance for me; and his curse is alive, alive and every year it launches new branches, and every year it increasingly surrounds the villain’s family with its shadow... I don’t know how all this happened... but who do you think, who is this gentle friend? - how, heaven!.. for 17 years not a single tongue whispered to her: this bread was bought at the price of blood - yours - his blood! and without me, a poor creature, who instead of a soul has only an insatiable feeling of vengeance, without an ugly beggar, this innocent heart would beat for him with nothing but gratitude.

– Vadim, what did you say?

- Gratitude! - he continued with a bitter laugh. - Gratitude! A word invented to deceive honest people!.. a word turned into a feeling! - oh heavenly wisdom!.. how easy it is for you to make the most holy feeling out of nothing!.. no, it’s better to die of hunger and thirst in some desert than to be the tool of a madman and lick the hand that throws me the remains of the feast... - oh, gratitude! ..

And he walked back and forth with quick steps, clasping his hands in a cross, and seemed to have forgotten that he had not said the name of the insidious villain... and, it seemed, he did not notice the fear of the unknown and expectation in the face of the unfortunate girl... he was completely buried in himself, in the grave, from which no one comes out either... in the living grave, where there is also a worm, gnawing forever and forever insatiable.

Vadim’s ugly features miraculously came to life, genius shone on his forehead - and his eyes, if they had stopped at that moment on a man, they would have produced the effect of the eyes of a basilisk: but they were turned upward!..

- I guessed it right! - the young girl exclaimed, approaching Vadim with firmness... - I understood you!.. this is Boris Petrovich...

She actually guessed right: great souls have a special advantage of understanding each other; they read in the hearts of others like themselves, as in a book they have long known; they have signs that are known to them alone, and are dark to the crowd; one word in their mouth is sometimes a whole story, a whole passion with all its shades.

Palitsyn was that same false friend who killed the father of young Olga - and took in his daughter, a 3-year-old child, in order to force the silence of some nobles who condemned his act; he raised her as a slave, and boasted of his charity; ten years ago he played with her curls, amused himself with her childishness, and now in his thoughts he was preparing her for shameful pleasures. It was also revenge of its kind... who would have thought!.. so much suffering because one dog overtook another... how insignificant people are! how to trust the general opinion! “Palitsyn was known as the most honest man in the whole neighborhood—and that’s true!” he killed only one family.

I said that great souls understand each other, that’s why Vadim looked at her, without surprise, but with secret delight.

She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into the room where a crystal lamp burned in front of the images, and its ray merged with the ray of the setting sun on golden frames strewn with pearls and stones; - Olga fell to her knees in front of the icon of the Mother of God, her back and shoulders were separated by the pale light of dawn from the dark walls; and the reddish shine of the trembling lamp illuminated her face, inspired, beautiful, too beautiful for the feelings that rebelled in her chest; Vadim did not take his eyes off this unearthly creature, as if he was happy.

Olga tore the rich necklace from her neck and threw it on the ground.

- So I’m destroying the last remnant of gratitude... God! God! I’m innocent... you, you yourself gave me a free soul, and he wanted to make me a slave, his slave!.. impossible! It is impossible for a woman to love for such a benefit... to endure, to suffer, I agree... but do not demand more; God! if you now ordered me to honor him as my benefactor, I would stop loving you too!.. my life, my destiny belong to you, creator, and to whomever you want - but my heart is in my power!..

Tears rolled from her eyes, she bowed her head, her hand trembled in Vadim’s hand...

- I'm your brother! – he exclaimed beside himself. She turned around, stood up... as if she didn’t understand... as if she was horrified... Her hands dropped like the hands of a dead woman, and her closed lips held her breath.

- I'm your brother! – he repeated in a trembling, terrible voice.

She was silent.

Vadim looked at her last time, grabbed his head and walked out; and on his way out he stopped at the door... and for one minute he thought of crushing his head on the doorframe... but this crazy thought soon flew by... he went out.

- Brother! - Olga said, looking after him. - Brother! And exhausted, she fell onto a chair.

“Vadim” is an unfinished youth novel by M.Yu. Lermontov (1832 - 34?). The title, which is not in the manuscript, was given by the editors. The work was created during the poet’s years of study at the school of guards ensigns and cavalry cadets.
The plot is based on the story of revenge for the trampled human dignity. The main character, the beggar Vadim, is an exceptional and passionate person. The fates of other characters in the work are dramatically intertwined around him. The action of the novel takes place in places familiar to M.Yu. Lermontov since childhood.
The novel is based on true historical events, associated with the Pugachev movement that swept the Penza province in the summer of 1774. That year, the rebel Cossacks visited Tarkhany, then owned by the landowner I.A. Naryshkin. Tradition has preserved the story of how the manager managed to prudently distribute all the master's grain to the peasants and only because of this was not hanged. Historically accurate reconstruction of the uprising is the task of M.Yu. Lermontov was not included, written documents he did not study the era, the character and spirit of events was reproduced by him on the basis oral traditions. During his Tarkhan years, there were still old people alive who remembered those events well, M.Yu. knew. Lermontov and the stories of the surrounding landowners, some of whom hid from the Pugachevites in caves, while others went over to the side of the “people's king.” He heard a lot from the courtyard peasants, from the neighboring landowners, and, of course, from grandmother E.A. Arsenyeva. Through her, the grandson could learn the story of the unfair litigation of the wealthy Tambov nobleman, Colonel S.P. Kryukova with her poor neighbor, Lieutenant I.Ya. Muratov, as a result of which the latter was ruined. A similar fact in his novel main character informs his sister Olga.
Having become interested in the topic of the peasant uprising, relying on independently collected historical material, twenty-year-old M.Yu. Lermontov tried to find an answer to the question that tormented him about the reasons that gave rise to the terrible Pugachev year. “People, when they suffer, are usually submissive,” he reflected on the pages of the novel, “but if once they managed to throw off their burden, then the lamb turns into a tiger, the oppressed becomes the oppressor and pays a hundredfold - and then woe to the vanquished!...”.
The novel remained unfinished, but in 1840 the poet, according to V.G. Belinsky, was considering “a romantic trilogy, three novels from three eras in the life of Russian society.” It is possible that in the first of them, dedicated to the century of Catherine II, he was going to somehow return to the themes and images of the unfinished work.
An attempt at a stage interpretation of the novel was made by director A.S. Gulyaev in the Penza regional drama theater named after A.S. Lunacharsky. Without affecting philosophical issues Lermontov's youthful work, the director brought to the fore the love story of Yuri Palitsin and the protagonist's sister, Olga. The play premiered in October 2003. Main role performed by S.A. Kazakov.

"Tarkhan Encyclopedia". M., 2013.

Illustration: Cover of the manuscript of the novel “Vadim”, drawing by M.Yu. Lermontov. Pen and ink, 1832-1834.

Quotes from the novel "Vadim"

Mean souls are jealous of everything, even grievances that show some attention from their superior.

Great souls have the special advantage of understanding each other; they read in the hearts of others like themselves, as if in a book they have long known...

There are creatures that highest degree misfortunes are so able to chop off and sharpen their disastrous soul that it loses all abilities except the first and last: to live!

Now the life of young people is more thought than action; there are no heroes, but too many observers...

Happiness is a woman: if she suddenly loves at first, she will stop loving in the end.

People, when they suffer, are usually submissive; but if once they managed to throw off their burden, then the lamb turns into a tiger; the oppressed becomes the oppressor and pays a hundredfold - and then woe to the vanquished!..

What is a people? A stone hanging on a half-mountain, which can be moved by the effort of a child, but despite the fact that it crushes everything it encounters in its unconscious desire.

Yabeda "Kapnista", "Vadim Novgorodsky" Knyazhnina.

Ode "Liberty".

"Liberty" - this is an ode written around 1781 - 1783. (excerpts were published in “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”).

I’ll try to summarize the main ideas briefly:

1) Freedom must be expected only from the severity of enslavement.

2) Power is blind and reckless.

3) The peasant is legally dead and has no chance of resurrection.

4) Landowners are exploiters and immoral.

The ode provides a lot of arguments in favor of the abolition of serfdom:

1. All people are equal. All classes are also equal: peasants, nobles, merchants and nobles.

2. The peasant is a producer. The peasant is a breadwinner, with a sense of self-esteem.

3. Serfdom economically unprofitable.

Such arguments imply a new Pugachev uprising. The right of the collective to revolt. We are already talking about an unspoken agreement between the state and the citizen: a person was originally born free, and laws must be for the benefit of the entire society. Radishchev refers to the experience of the French and English revolutions, saying that society develops not in a spiral, but in a vicious circle. It is worth noting that the work is sentimental, since the same idea is given through many examples. In this regard, we must not forget to talk about the crystallization of thought through many examples and comparisons. Radishchev analyzes events through feelings, and then draws conclusions. The genre of the ode is a sentimental diary, with special sensitivity - the ability to compassion, expressed in emotional speech.

Radishchev absolutely clearly glorifies liberty, political freedom. He points to historical examples triumph of liberty, as I wrote above (on English revolution XVII century). He believes that an equal law for everyone is the key to ensuring political freedom in the country and, as it turned out much later, he turned out to be right, just like Pushkin, who followed his maxims in his ode “Liberty.” Radishchev's ode is a call for a people's revolution, for the overthrow royal power at all , although Pushkin’s ode “Liberty” is directed only against “tyrants” who place themselves above the law.

Radishchev, bearing for a long time revolutionary ideas overthrow of the autocracy, creates the ode "Liberty". But it is especially worth noting how consistent he was in his denial of tyranny, and how bold he was in his poetic “experimentation.” To glorify political and civil freedom, the poet chooses the traditional genre of ode. And the first logical question: what then remains in it from the tradition of classicism? After all, Radishchev does not glorify an outstanding commander and not statesman and, especially, not a monarch, but true freedom... The very beginning of the work is polemical in this regard:

ABOUT! blessed gift from heaven,

The source of all great things,

O liberty, liberty, priceless gift,

Let the slave sing your praises.

Radishchev proves in his ode the right of the people to execute the tyrant king. The people are the creator of all earthly blessings, and the king, who imagines that he is the true Lord, and not the people, is “the greatest criminal of all”:

Rejoice, the nations are riveted.

This is nature's avenged right

The king was put on the block.

Thus, Radishchev’s ode “Liberty” is the first word of Russian revolutionary poetry, containing a call for revolution and expressing it in accordance with the principles of the poet’s aesthetics. A true creator, as Radishchev himself asserted, opens to his fellow citizens “various paths of knowledge,” poetry without thought is worthless—“a meager source of literature without thoughts.”

You. You. Kapnist is a progressive, liberal-minded noble writer. Began lit. activity in 1780 " Ode to Hope", in which civil and political motives are visible. IN " Ode to slavery”, which appeared after the decree on the enslavement of the peasants of some Ukrainian governorships (K. was Ukrainian), expressed anti-serfdom ideas. Tears, grief, tirades against tyranny. When Catherine issued a decree where she allowed not “slave” but “loyal subject” to be signed on official papers (a big deal), K. wrote “Ode to the extermination of the title of slave in Russia,” where he praised Catherine in every possible way.

Entered friendly circle Lvov together with Khemnitser, Derzhavin. The motifs of the poetry of the circle members are also characteristic of K.’s poetry: the glorification of peace, silence, solitude, the joy of communication with family and friends.

In the most significant work " Snitch» K. denounces legal proceedings, chicanery, bribery and other social vices. K. managed to reveal this social evil as a phenomenon typical. Lawlessness is the system of the entire bureaucratic state. The rampant tyranny and robbery of officials is the theme of “I.” K. himself had to face judicial procedures, which gave the comedy a vitally truthful character.

The rich landowner Pravolov, an “evil sneaker,” is trying to take away the estate from his neighbor, the landowner Pryamikov. Pravolov bribes officials Civil Chamber, even preparing to become related to its chairman in the interests of the business. Type of landowner Pravolov characteristic for Russian landowners. Honest Pryamikov encounters an organized and powerful gang of robbers. It seems that there is no fall on bribe takers - because the same rules reign in other institutions of Russia.

"I." amazed with its life's truthfulness. K.'s public indignation is especially evident in the scenes of the officials' drinking bout and the court hearing. At the end of the comedy, vice is punished - although this does not inspire bright hopes. The comedy was highly appreciated Belinsky.

"I." written according to the rules classicism: 5 acts, unity, strictly + and – characters, speaking names(Khvatayko, Krivosudov, drunkard Bulbulkin). Iambic verse and live Speaking, aphorism, sayings. Realistic tendencies: satirical orientation and typically generalized images, language.

"I." was staged in 1798, but after 4 performances it was “highly” prohibited.

Yakov Borisovich Knyazhnin - son of the vice-governor, studied in St. Petersburg, served in foreign board Panin, was a military man, but left the service for embezzling government money. Served as secretary of the nobleman Betsky. He began writing early, under the influence of Sumarokov’s work. Posted by 8 tragedies, 4 comedies, 5 comic operas and melodramas, poems. Autocracy and the attitude towards it is the main political theme of K.’s tragedies, which he resolved as a struggle against autocracy in the name of freedom. During the years of political reaction, his tragedies brought him trouble. The famous tragedy of K. - “Rosslav” - is deeply patriotic. In “The Destroyers of the Fatherland” K. smashes the tyrants. “Vadim Novgorodsky” (1789) was associated with K.’s desire to respond to Catherine, who wrote "Historical presentation from the life of Rurik." There, Vadim is depicted not as an opponent of autocracy, but as a power-hungry who organizes a conspiracy. Her Rurik is an ideal monarch; Vadim in the end turns out to be devoted to the generous Rurik. K.’s Rurik is also generous, elected by the people of Novgorod themselves. But the titanic figure of Vadim, who performs ardent patriot And defender of liberty hometown , a champion of tyranny as such ( IMHO, Vadim in the tragedy is the last tyrant and idiot, but okay). Tatarinova writes that the creation heroic image Vadim is K.’s greatest merit. The main political conflict of the tragedy is caused by the fight for the republic against the monarchy, even if the monarch is enlightened. This is the first republican tragedy with the first hero - an unwavering republican. Vadim’s tragedy is that the people do not support him. But according to the author, Vadim wins a moral victory. It is written within the framework of classicism, but in the tragedy there is no clear division into + and – heroes.

When the tragedy was published in 1793, Catherine immediately banned it and ordered it to be burned (K. himself was already dead by then). It was published in full only in 1914.

Summary"Sneaks" see in ticket No. 11 I already made.

Brief summary of “Vadim Novgorodsky”

Characters: Rurik(Prince of Novgorod), Vadim(posadnik and commander), Ramida- daughter of Vadim, Praeneste, Vigor(landers), Izved(confidant of Rurik), Selena- Ramida's confidante. Warriors, people.

Everyone speaks in a lofty, pompous and pathetic style.

At night, Vigor and Prenest are waiting for Vadim on the square - and they are surprised why he, returning to his homeland after the victorious war, asked only the two of them to meet him. And Prenest says that this is probably due to the ever-increasing autocratic power of Rurik. Vadim appears and rants about something people before Novgorod was great and proud, and now Rurik has come and subjugates everyone to himself. Next comes Vadim’s argument with Vigor and Prenest that since they love the fatherland, as they say, they must prove their love by deeds and not grovel before the Tsar. Vigor says: when Vadim left, a rebellion reigned in Novgorod, the nobles staged God knows what there. The then Prince Gostomysl called for help from Rurik, who helped calm the uprising. When Gostomysl died (he was old), he bequeathed power to Rurik. He initially refused, but the people persuaded him. The people were grateful to him. Vadim is indignant - why is he grateful? Enslavement? Then he turns the topic to Ramida, his daughter. He says that he will give her in marriage only to a true fighter of tyranny. Vigor and Prenest immediately agree to help Vadim in every possible way in order to get her as his wife. When Vigor leaves, Prenest swears that his love will not interfere with his duty. And Vadim says that he will not show himself to his daughter for now - he will do it later.