Alexandre Dumas fencing teacher. Book fencing teacher read online

Alexandre Dumas's novel The Fencing Teacher is special. In him, of course, you will recognize the usual Alexandre Dumas with adventures and ardent love. The peculiarity is that this novel is about Russia, about Russian history. Dumas has only two books about Russia - this is a documentary book (travel diaries) “Travel Impressions. In Russia" and the novel "The Fencing Teacher". Of course, a fiction novel will be much more relatable to children. Moreover, in it Dumas was one of the first writers to depict the Decembrist uprising. It’s nice that “The Fencing Teacher” does not contain serious distortions of history, which Alexandre Dumas often likes to make in order to make his book more entertaining. But here we managed without them. In “The Fencing Teacher,” the main events of Russian history of the late 18th and early 19th centuries pass before us clearly and clearly. They are told by a foreigner who looks at them from the outside, evaluates them objectively, from the position of an outsider. It is very pleasing that in the novel there is absolutely no “spreading cranberry” that often appears in the works of foreigners about Russia. Dumas here did without European stereotypes and clichés. In the book there are no bears with balalaikas, drinking vodka and dancing Kalinka-Malinka in the Russian frost. Dumas shows Russia extremely objectively in “Travel Notes” and in “The Fencing Teacher.” He has a sober view of a strange and somewhat incomprehensible country for a foreigner.

The plot of Dumas's novel "The Fencing Teacher" is based on the real notes of Augustin Francois Grisier, who lived for a long time in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century and witnessed the Decembrist uprising. Grisier conveyed to Dumas his memories of life in Russia, and Dumas artistically reworked them and published the novel “The Fencing Teacher” in 1840 in Paris. All the events of the novel are given through the eyes of Grisier, a Frenchman who came to Russia to earn money by teaching fencing lessons to noble gentlemen. Grisier settles in St. Petersburg, quickly enters the Russian “high society” and becomes a famous fencing teacher. Many Russian nobles attend his lessons. Grisier is becoming fashionable. The Russian nobility reveals their secrets to him. The fencing teacher learns many interesting facts about recent Russian history: about the morals of Catherine II, about Prince Potemkin, about the bloody murder of Tsar Paul I, etc. Dumas paints all these pictures of Russian history vividly and fascinatingly. The fencing teacher becomes close friends with the French milliner Louise Dupuis and learns that she is beginning to have an ardent love with one of his noble students, Count Alexei Annenkov. Grisier does not believe in the future of love between a Russian aristocrat and a simple Frenchwoman. Unexpectedly, he witnesses the December uprising in St. Petersburg on Senate Square. Dumas talks in detail and fascinatingly about the Decembrist uprising, here he showed the full power of his talent: all the events of the bloody December day pass before the reader as if alive. Many of Grisier's students take part in the uprising, and one of them is Alexei Annenkov. With purely French cynicism, Grisier perceives this doomed and senseless rebellion, although he cannot help but admire the idealists who decided to die for their principles. We will see in detail the entire course of the uprising: the military march through St. Petersburg, and the long useless standing of the regiments on Senate Square, and the horror of the new Emperor Nicholas I that the regiments would march on the palace. But the shelves didn't go anywhere. They simply stood on Senate Square and gave the king time to gather soldiers and artillery loyal to him to shoot the rebels. And so the uprising was suppressed. Alexei Annenkov, along with other Decembrists, was sentenced to exile in Siberia. And then Louise turns to Grisier. She asks to help her organize her wedding with Alexei Annenkov, because she decided to go with him to Siberia, like the wives of other Decembrists.

Dumas tells in the novel “The Fencing Teacher” the real love story of the Frenchwoman Pauline Goble and the Decembrist Ivan Annenkov. They are easily recognizable under the guise of Louise Dupuis and Count Alexei Annenkov. Dumas didn’t even change their names very much, and even left Annenkov’s surname unchanged. While traveling around Russia in 1858-59, Alexandre Dumas will meet the heroes of his novel, who will be returned from exile after the death of Nicholas I. Polina Gobl and Ivan Annenkov will greet the French writer as if they were their own.

Interestingly, the novel by Alexandre Dumas was strictly prohibited in Russia. For reading it during the time of Nicholas I, one could even go to prison. But despite this, many read and admired him. For the Russian elite of those times, French was almost a native language, so the novel “The Fencing Teacher” was secretly brought from France and read in French. After all, it openly talked about such things that were prohibited in Russia at that time, such as the murder of Paul I and the Decembrist uprising. The novel was not published in pre-revolutionary Russia, although everyone knew about it well. For the first time in Russian, the novel “The Fencing Teacher” by Alexandre Dumas was published only in 1925.

The novel “The Fencing Teacher” by Alexandre Dumas in the series of historical books for children and youth “Tuppum (Clay Tablet)”. The book was published in a hard color cover depicting the murder of Count Miloradovich on Senate Square; The book contains thick, high-quality offset paper; medium font size. Drawings by the artist Boris Kosulnikov, who has already illustrated the novel “The Mysterious City” by Nikolai Zabolotsky, published in a series. Continuity in illustration style is good. Different books in the series acquire a common artistic design. Personally, I like this: it’s immediately clear that the books are from the same series. There are many drawings in the book, they are bright and colorful. The color saturation immediately catches the eye, and the subjects of the illustrations arouse interest. Everything is done in such a way as to attract the child's attention.

Dmitry Matsyuk

Oh my God! What a miracle! - Grisier exclaimed when he saw me on the threshold of the fencing hall, where he lingered after our friends left.
In fact, since the very evening when Alfred de Nerval told us the story of Pauline, I have never entered house No. 4 in Montmartre.
“I hope,” continued our worthy teacher, with the fatherly care that he always showed towards his students, “that it was not some bad thing that brought you here?”
- No, dear master! “I came to ask you for a favor,” I replied, “but it is not one of those that you have shown me before.” - I am at your service. What's the matter?
- Dear friend, you must help me: I am in difficulty.
- If I can help you, consider that it has already been done.
- Thank you. I never doubted you.
- Tell me, I'm waiting.
- Imagine, I just concluded an agreement with my publisher, but I have nothing to give him.
- Damn it!
- So I came to you. Would you mind sharing your memories with me?
- I?
- Exactly you. I have heard you talk more than once about your trip to Russia.
- I do not argue.
- In what years were you there?
- In 1824, 1825 and 1826.
- Just at the most interesting time: the end of the reign of Emperor Alexander I and the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas I.
- I witnessed the first funeral and coronation; second.
- I told you so!
- Amazing story!
- Just what I need.
- Imagine... I actually have something. Are you patient?
- You ask this from a person who does nothing but give lessons.
- In that case, wait. He went to the closet and took out some thick folder.
- This is what you need.
- Manuscript, God forgive me!
- These are travel notes of one of my colleagues who was in St. Petersburg at the same time as me. He saw what I saw, and you can rely on him as you would on myself.
- And you give this manuscript to me?
- Full ownership.
- But this is a treasure!
- A treasure containing more copper than silver, and more silver than gold. In a word, here is the manuscript for you and try to use it to your greatest benefit.
- My dear, I’ll get to work this evening and in two months...
- After two months?
- Your friend will wake up in the morning and see his brainchild printed.
- Is it true?
- You can rest assured.
- Honestly, it will give him pleasure.
- By the way, the manuscript is missing one little thing.
- What exactly?
- Titles.
- How, should I also give you a title?
- My dear, do not do good deeds halfway.
- You didn't look well, there is a title.

The action of one of Dumas’s early novels, “The Fencing Teacher,” is about the fate of the Frenchwoman Pauline Gebl, who became the wife of the Decembrist I.A., exiled to Siberia. Annenkov, takes place in Russia. There is no doubt that Dumas is an excellent storyteller, and no matter what he writes about, we feel how his heroes live, feel the era surrounding them, and become infected by the author’s flight of imagination.

Chapter Four

Louise greeted me with that graceful ease that is characteristic only of us French. She extended her hand to me and sat me down next to her.

“Well,” said Louise, “I’ve already taken care of you.”

“Oh,” I muttered with an expression that made her smile, “let’s not talk about me, but rather let’s talk about you.”

- About me? Am I really interested in getting a job as a fencing teacher? What do you want to say about me?

“I want to tell you that since yesterday you have made me the happiest person, that now I don’t think about anyone or anything except you, that I didn’t sleep a wink all night, fearing that the hour of our meeting would never come.”

– But, listen, this is a formal declaration of love.

“Consider my words as you please.” I tell you not only what I think, but also what I feel.

- Are you joking?

- On my honor, no.

- Are you serious?

- Quite seriously.

“In that case, I must explain myself to you.”

- With me?

– Dear compatriot, I think that there can only be purely friendly relations between us.

- Why?

- Because I have a friend of my heart. And from the example of my sister, you could see that fidelity is our family vice.

- Oh, I'm unhappy!

- No, you are not unhappy! If I had given the opportunity to strengthen your feeling, instead of uprooting it from your heart, you would have been truly unhappy, but now, thank God,” she smiled, “time is not lost yet and I hope that your “disease” didn't have time to develop.

- Let's not talk about this anymore!

- On the contrary, let's talk about it. You will, of course, meet with me the person I love, and you should know how and why I fell in love with him.

- Thank you for your trust...

“You are hurt,” she said, “and completely in vain.” Give me your hand, like a good comrade.

I shook Louise’s hand and, wanting to show her that I was completely reconciled with my fate, said:

– You are acting quite loyally. Your friend is probably some prince?

“Oh no,” she smiled, “I’m not so demanding: he’s only a count.”

“Ah, Mademoiselle Rose,” I exclaimed, “don’t come to St. Petersburg: you will soon forget Auguste here!”

“You judge me without even listening,” said Louise. - This is bad of you. That's why I want to tell you everything. However, you would not be a Frenchman if you accepted my words differently.

– I hope your favorable attitude towards Russians will not prevent you from treating your compatriots fairly?

“I don’t want to be unfair to either one or the other.” I compare, that's all. Every nation has its own shortcomings, which it itself does not notice, because they are deeply rooted in its nature, but foreigners notice them well. Our main drawback is frivolity. A Russian who has been visited by a Frenchman never says that he visited a Frenchman, but expresses himself like this: “I visited a crazy person.” And there is no need to say how crazy he is: everyone knows that we are talking about a Frenchman.

– Are Russians without shortcomings?

- Of course not, but they are usually not noticed by those who enjoy their hospitality.

- Thank you for the lesson.

- Oh, my God, this is not a lesson, but advice! If you want to stay here for a long time, you must become a friend and not an enemy of the Russians.

– You are right as always.

“Wasn’t I once the same as you?” Didn’t I promise myself that never one of these nobles, so obsequious to the king and so arrogant to their subordinates, would ever achieve my favor? And she didn’t keep her word. Do not make any oaths, so as not to break them, as I did.

“Perhaps,” I asked Louise, “you have been struggling with yourself for a long time?”

– Yes, the struggle was difficult and long and almost ended tragically.

– Do you hope that curiosity will triumph over my jealousy?

- No, I just want you to know the truth.

- In that case, speak up, I’m listening to you.

“I worked before,” Louise began, “as you already know from Rosa’s letter, with Madame Xavier, the most famous owner of a fashion store in St. Petersburg. All the nobility of the capital bought from her. Thanks to my youth and what is called beauty, and most of all to the fact that I am French, I, as you probably guess, had no shortage of admirers. Meanwhile, I swear to you, even the most brilliant proposals did not make the slightest impression on me. So a year and a half passed.

Two years ago a carriage pulled by four stopped in front of Madame Xavier's store. Out came a lady of about forty-five to fifty, two young girls and a young officer, a cornet of a cavalry regiment. It was Countess Annenkova with her children. The Countess and her daughters lived in Moscow and came to St. Petersburg for the summer to visit her son. Their first visit was to Madame Xavier, who was considered a trendsetter. Women of their circle simply could not do without the help of Madame Xavier.

Both young ladies were very elegant, but as for the young man, I did not pay any attention to him, although he did not take his eyes off me. Having made her purchases, the old lady gave her address: Fontanka, the house of Countess Annenkova.

The next day, a young officer came alone to our store and asked me to change the bow on the hat of one of his sisters.

In the evening I received a letter signed by Alexei Annenkov. Like all such letters, it was from beginning to end a declaration of love. But one circumstance surprised me in this letter - it did not contain any tempting offers or promises: it spoke of winning my heart, but not of buying it. There are situations in which you will be funny if you adhere to too strict morals. If I had been a society girl, I would have sent his letter to the Count without reading it. But I was a modest milliner: I read the letter and... burned it.

The next day the count came again with an order to buy something for his mother. Seeing him, under some pretext I left the store for Madame Xavier’s rooms and remained there until he left.

In the evening I received a second message from him. He wrote in it that he still hopes, because he thinks that I did not receive his first letter. But I left this letter unanswered.

The next day a third letter arrived. His tone struck me: there was a sadness about him, reminiscent of the sadness of a child whose favorite toy was taken away. This was not the despair of a grown man losing what he had hoped for.

He wrote that if I did not answer this letter, he would take a vacation and leave with his family for Moscow. I again responded with silence and a month and a half later I received a letter from him from Moscow, in which he informed me that he was ready to make an insane decision that could ruin his entire future. He begged to answer this letter in order to have at least a grain of hope that would bind him to life.

I thought that the letter was written to scare me, and therefore I left it unanswered, like all the previous ones.

Four months later, he sent me the following note: “I just arrived, and my first thought is about you. I love you as much and perhaps even more than before. You can no longer save my life, but thanks to you I can still love her.”

This persistence, these mysterious hints in his last letters, and finally, their sad tone forced me to write to the count, but my answer was undoubtedly not what he wanted. I ended my letter with the assurance that I do not love him and never will.

“You think this is strange,” Louise interrupted her story, “I see you are smiling: apparently, such a virtue is ridiculous in a poor girl.” But, I assure you, this is not a matter of virtue, but of the education I received. My mother, the widow of an officer, left without any means after the death of her husband, raised Rosa and me in this way.

I was barely sixteen years old when my mother died and we lost the modest pension on which we lived. My sister learned how to make flowers, and I became a saleswoman in a fashion store. Soon Rose fell in love with your friend and gave herself to him, but I did not blame her for this: I consider it quite natural to give up your body when you give up your heart. I haven’t yet met the one I was destined to love.

New Year has arrived. For Russians, as you will soon see, the beginning of the year is celebrated very solemnly. On this day, the nobleman and the peasant, the princess and the young lady from the store, the general and the private, seem to become closer to each other.

On New Year's Day, the tsar hosts his people - about twenty thousand invitees attend a ball in the Winter Palace. At nine o'clock in the evening the doors of the palace open, and its halls are immediately filled with the most diverse public, while throughout the year it is accessible only to the highest aristocracy.

Madame Xavier got us tickets, and we decided to all go to this ball together. Despite the huge crowd of people, at these balls - oddly enough - there is no disorder, no harassment, no theft, and a young girl, even if she finds herself here alone, can feel as safe as in her mother’s bedroom .

We had already been in the palace hall for about half an hour (the crowding was so great that it seemed there was no room for an extra person there), when the sounds of a polonaise were heard and a whisper rang among the guests: “Sir, sovereign!”

His Majesty appears at the door with the wife of the English ambassador. The whole yard follows him. The audience parts, and the dancers rush into the resulting space. A stream of diamonds, feathers, velvet, perfume flashes before my eyes. Separated from my friends, I try to join them, but to no avail. I only notice that they rush past me, as if caught by a whirlwind, and I immediately lose sight of them. I can’t break through the dense human wall that separated me from them, and I find myself alone among twenty-five thousand people I don’t know.

Completely at a loss, I am ready to turn to the first person I meet for help, but then a man in dominoes approaches me, in whom I recognize Count Alexei.

- How are you here alone? – he was surprised.

“Oh, it’s you, Count,” I was delighted, “help me, for God’s sake, get out of here.” Get me a carriage.

“Allow me to take you, and I will be grateful to the opportunity that gave me more than all my efforts.”

- No, thank you. I would like a cab driver.

“But it’s impossible to find a cab driver here at this hour.” Stay one more hour.

- No, I have to leave.

“In that case, allow my people to take you.” And since you don’t want to see me, what can you do? – you won’t see me.

- My God, I wish...

– There is no other choice. Either stay here a little longer, or agree to go in my sleigh, you can’t leave here alone, on foot and in such frost!

- Okay, Count. I agree to leave in your sleigh.

Alexey offered me his hand, and we made our way through the crowd for almost an hour until we finally found ourselves at the doors overlooking Admiralty Square. The count called his servants, and a minute later a lovely sleigh in the form of a covered carriage appeared at the entrance. I sat in them and gave the address to Madame Xavier. The Count kissed my hand, closed the door and said a few words in Russian to his people. The sleigh rushed off with the speed of lightning.

A minute later the horses seemed to run even faster, and the driver seemed to be making incredible efforts to hold them back. I began to scream, but my screams were lost in the depths of the cart. I wanted to open the door, but I couldn’t. After futile efforts, I fell on the seat, thinking that the horses had bolted and that we were about to run into something and crash.

However, after a quarter of an hour, the sleigh stopped and the door opened. I was so upset by everything that had happened that I absolutely did not understand what was wrong with me. Then they wrapped my head in some kind of shawl, carried me somewhere, and I felt that they lowered me onto the sofa. Having difficulty throwing off my shawl, I saw an unfamiliar room and Count Alexei at my feet.

“Oh,” I exclaimed, “you deceived me!” This is vile!

“Forgive me,” he said, “I didn’t want to miss such an opportunity, it won’t present itself another time.” Let me tell you for once in my life that...

“You won’t say a single word, Count!” – I screamed, jumping up from the sofa. “And this very minute tell me to take me home, otherwise you will act like a dishonest person.”

- For God's sake!..

- In no case!..

- I just want to say... I haven’t seen you for so long, I haven’t spoken to you for so long... Is it really my love and my requests...

– I don’t want to hear anything!

“I see,” he continued, “that you do not love me and will never love me.” Your letter gave me hope, but it also deceived me. I have listened to your sentence and will obey it, I only ask you to give me five minutes - and you will be free.

– Do you give your word that in five minutes I will be free?

- I swear!

- In that case, speak up.

– Listen to me, Louise. I am rich, of noble birth, I have a mother who adores me, two sisters who love me. From early childhood I was surrounded by people who were obliged to obey me, and, despite all this, I am sick with the disease that most of my compatriots suffer at the age of twenty: I am tired of life, I am bored.

This disease is my evil genius. Neither balls, nor celebrations, nor pleasures removed from my eyes that gray, dull coating that obscures life from me. I thought that perhaps the war with its adventures and dangers would heal my spirit, but now peace has established in Europe, and there is no more Napoleon, the stunning and overthrowing state.

Tired of everything, I was trying to travel when I met you. What I felt for you was not a whim of love. I wrote to you, believing that this letter was enough for you to yield to my requests. But, contrary to my expectations, you did not answer me. I insisted because your resistance hurt me, but I soon became convinced that I had real, deep love for you. I didn’t try to overcome this feeling, because any struggle with myself tires me and makes me despondent. I wrote to you that I was leaving, and I really did leave.

In Moscow I met old friends. They found me gloomy and boring and tried to amuse me. But they failed. Then they began to look for the reason for my sad mood, decided that I was consumed by a love of freedom and invited me to join a secret society directed against the king.

“My God,” I cried out in horror, “I hope you refused?!”

– I wrote to you that my decision will depend on your answer. If you loved me, my life would not belong to me, but to you, and I would not have the right to dispose of it. When you didn’t answer me, thereby proving that you didn’t love me, life lost all interest for me. CONSPIRACY? Let it be so, at least it will serve as entertainment for me. What if it is revealed? Well, we will die on the scaffold. I often thought about suicide, in which case everything would resolve itself: I wouldn’t have to commit suicide.

- Oh my God! Are you telling the truth?

“I’m telling you, Louise, the real truth.” Look,” he said, taking an envelope from the small table, “I couldn’t foresee that I would meet you today. I didn't even know if I'd ever see you. Read what is written here.

– Your spiritual testament!

- Yes. I made it in Moscow, the day after joining the secret society.

- My God! You leave me thirty thousand rubles of annual income!

“If you didn’t love me during my lifetime, I wanted you to keep a good memory of me at least after my death.”

- But what happened to this conspiracy, with thoughts of suicide? Have you given up on all this?

- Louise, you can go now. Five minutes are up. But you are my last hope, the last thing that binds me to life. If you leave here never to return again, I give you my word of honor, the word of the count, that before the door closes behind you, I will put a bullet in my forehead.

- You're crazy!

- No. I'm just a bored person.

-You won't do what you say!

- Try it!

- For God's sake, Count...

– Listen, Louise, I fought to the end. Yesterday I made the decision to end it all. Today I saw you and I wanted to take a chance again, in the hope that maybe I’ll win. I put my life on the line. Well? I lost - I have to pay!

If he had told me all this in a frenzy of passion, I would not have believed him, but he was completely calm. There was so much truth in all his words that I could not leave: I looked at this handsome young man, full of life, who only needs me in order for him to be completely happy. I remembered his mother and two sisters who love him madly, I remembered their happy, smiling faces. I imagined him disfigured, bleeding, and them sobbing and grief-stricken, and I asked myself, what right do I have to break the happiness of these people, destroy their sweet hopes? In addition, I must confess to you that such persistent attachment has borne fruit: in the silence of the night, in my complete loneliness, I have often thought about this man who constantly thinks about me. And before parting with him forever, I looked deeper into my soul and became convinced that I too... loved him... I stayed...

Alexei was telling the truth: the only thing he lacked in life was my love. We've been in love for two years now, and he's happy, or at least seems happy. He forgot about the secret society, which he joined out of boredom and disgust for life. Not wanting me to stay any longer with Madame Xavier, he, without saying a word, rented this store for me. And now, for a year and a half now, I have been living a different life and even studying the sciences that I neglected in my youth, in a word, I am replenishing my education. This explains the difference that you found in me compared to other girls of my profession. You see, therefore,” she finished her story, “that it was not for nothing that I detained you: a coquette would have acted differently. And you understand that I cannot love you because I love him.

- Yes. I understand now with the help of whom you are going to provide me with protection.

– I already talked to him about you.

- Thank you, but I refuse.

-Are you crazy?

– Maybe, but that’s my character.

“Do you want to quarrel with me forever?” Yes?

- Oh, that would be terrible for me, because besides you, I don’t know anyone here.

- Well, then look at me as a sister and leave me to act.

– Do you really want this?

- I demand it!

At that moment the door opened and Count Alexei Annenkov entered the room.

He was a handsome young man of about twenty-five or six, flexible, slender, with soft features, who, as we have already said, served as a cornet in a cavalry regiment. This privileged regiment was for a long time commanded by Grand Duke Constantine, brother of Emperor Alexander, who was at that time the Polish governor. The count was in uniform and wearing orders. Louise greeted him with a smile.

- Welcome, Your Excellency. Let me introduce you to my compatriot, whom I have already told you about. This is who I ask for your high patronage.

The Count greeted me very kindly and, kissing Louise’s hand, said:

“Alas, dear Louise, my patronage is worth little.” But first, I want to offer your compatriot two students: my brother and myself.

“That’s already something,” Louise noted, “but didn’t you mention the position of a fencing teacher in one of the local regiments?”

– Yes, and since yesterday I have made some inquiries. It turns out that in St. Petersburg there are already two fencing teachers: one Russian, the other French, a certain Valville, your compatriot, sir,” he turned to me. “I don’t presume to judge his merits, but he managed to please the sovereign, who promoted him to major and awarded him several orders. Now he is a fencing teacher in the imperial guard. As for my compatriot, he is the sweetest, most wonderful person, whose only drawback in our eyes is that he is Russian. He once gave fencing lessons to the sovereign himself, received the rank of colonel and the Order of St. Vladimir. I hope you are not going to turn both of them against yourself to begin with?

“Of course not,” I replied.

- In this case, you need to do the following: arrange a public session and show your art at it. When rumors about you spread throughout the city, I will give you an excellent recommendation, with which you will appear before Grand Duke Constantine, who is located right in Strelna and, I hope, will deign to present your petition to His Majesty.

- Great! – cried Louise, very pleased with the count’s favor towards me. – See, I didn’t deceive you.

- I never doubted you. The Count is the most kind of patrons, and you are the most excellent of women. As soon as this evening I will start drawing up my program.

“That’s good,” the count remarked.

“Excuse me, Count,” I said, “but I want to ask you to give me some information about the conditions here.” I give this session not to make money, but to establish myself. Please tell me what should I do: should I send out invitations, like for an evening, or set an entrance fee, like for a performance?

“Be sure to set a fee,” said the count, “otherwise no one will come to you.” Specify ten rubles for a ticket and send me a hundred tickets: I will place them among my friends.

The count's rare courtesy vanished my jealousy. I thanked him and took my leave.

The next day my posters were posted all over the city, and a week later I gave a public session, in which neither Valville nor Sinebryukhov, a French and Russian fencing teacher, took part, but only amateurs from the audience.

I do not intend to list here my exploits, the number of blows I gave and received. I will only say that already during the session, our ambassador, Count de la Ferrone, invited me to give lessons to his son, Count Charles, and that the next day I received many letters of praise, among other things, from the Duke of Württemberg, who also asked me to give lessons for his son, and Count Bobrinsky, who himself began to take lessons from me.

When we met again with Count Annenkov, he told me:

– Your session was very successful, and you acquired a reputation as an excellent expert in your field. Now you need an official certificate. Here is a letter to the Grand Duke's adjutant. The prince himself has already heard about you. Take with you a petition addressed to the highest name, flatter Constantine and try to enlist his protection.

- But will he accept me, Count? – I asked uncertainly. – I want to say, will he be polite to me?

“Listen,” Count Alexei laughed, “you do us too much honor.” You consider us civilized people, while we are barbarians. Here is the letter, but I can’t vouch for anything: everything depends on the good or bad mood of the Grand Duke. Choose the right moment. You are a Frenchman, which means you are a clever man. You need to endure the struggle and win.

“Yes, but I don’t want to crowd into the hallways and I’m afraid of palace intrigues.” I assure you, Your Excellency, I would prefer a real duel to all this.

– Jean Bart was no more accustomed than you to smooth parquet floors and court customs. How did he get out of the situation by coming to Versailles?

- With the help of fists, Count!

- You should do the same. By the way, I must tell you that Naryshkin, Count Chernyshev and Colonel Muravyov asked me to tell you that they would like to take fencing lessons from you.

“You are extremely kind, Count.”

- Not at all, sir: I am fulfilling the instructions given to me, that’s all.

“It seems to me that everything is going well,” Louise remarked.

- Good morning!

The Count's encouraging words were by no means superfluous. I had already heard something about the Grand Duke, to whom I was supposed to go. It would be easier for me to go after the bear than to make a request to him, this strange man, in whose character there were as many good as bad traits.

1. Brief biography of Alexandre Dumas.

2. Characteristics of the novel "The Fencing Teacher".

3. List of references.

1. Brief biography of Alexandre Dumas

In 1802, the son Alexander, the future famous novelist, was born to the family of General Thomas Dumas and the daughter of a simple innkeeper, Marie-Louise Labouret.

From birth, Alexander lived in the town of Villers-Cotterets, where he spent his childhood and youth. Here he went to study at a local college, which he graduated in 1823.

After graduating from college, the future writer went to Paris and entered the service in the office of the Duke of Orleans.

From a very young age, Alexandre Dumas was interested in theater and poetry. More than any other movement in art, he was attracted to romanticism, which at that time was still a fairly young movement in literature. It was in the spirit of romanticism that in 1827 Dumas wrote his first drama, “Christine,” and after it, in 1829, his other romantic work, “Henry III and His Court,” appeared.

However, he was prevented from continuing to write by one significant event related to the funeral of General Lamarck, which took place in Paris on June 5, 1832. The late Lamarck was an acquaintance of Dumas, and the general’s relatives asked him to lead the artillery column that was to follow the hearse. Dumas agreed. It so happened that a fairly large crowd of people gathered at the general’s funeral, and the police were forced to disperse the people. However, this caused a wave of indignation among the people, which led to the funeral procession gradually turning into a revolutionary uprising.

The uprising lasted several days, after which it was suppressed by the authorities. During these events, a false article appeared in one of the newspapers, which stated that the armed Alexandre Dumas was captured by the authorities, arrested and shot that same night. The threat of real arrest hung over Dumas, and he had no choice but to follow the advice of his family and friends and go to Switzerland.

Dumas lived in Switzerland for several months, during which he worked on his first historical and journalistic essay, “Gaul and France.”

But the writer’s wanderings did not end there. In 1834 he went on a trip to Spain and Italy. During Dumas's stay in Sicily, the famous composer Bellini advised him to visit the village of Bauzo. Dumas followed the advice, and, while exploring the local sights, heard a folk legend that existed in those parts. It was this legend that formed the basis of the writer’s next work - the short story “Pascal Bruno”.

But a certain direction of creativity, the spirit that romanticism set, did not satisfy the needs of the author, and in the 30s of the 19th century, Dumas began to develop his own literary genre. This genre was a special type of literary work (story, short story, novel). In it, the narrative, built on the basis of real historical events, was “diluted” with lively and dynamic dialogues. The main thing in this genre was the action, which began to develop rapidly from the very first pages of the work, and all descriptive moments in it were reduced to a minimum.

Dumas called this new genre "historical scenes." An example of a work written by the author in this genre is the story “The Right Hand of the Chevalier de Giac,” which, in terms of its action, coincided with another novel by the writer, “Isabella of Bavaria.”

But, probably, the most fruitful years of Alexandre Dumas’s work can be called the period 1840 - 1848. During these eight to nine years, those works were created that later brought the writer world fame.

However, it cannot be said that Dumas worked only in the genre of “historical scenes”; on the contrary, the abundance of forms in which the writer worked is simply amazing. From his pen came various short stories, both realistic and fantastic; among his creations were historical and moral novels, travel essays and newspaper articles. The author did not ignore dramaturgy, writing several dramas and comedies.

Take, for example, the novel The Count of Monte Cristo. In this novel, each individual chapter is devoted to revealing one or another tense moment in the life of a character. These chapters are connected to each other by a fascinating plot, which throughout the entire action reveals to the readers more and more new character traits of the heroes. This structure of the work was typical for the genre of the feuilleton novel.

In 1844, while working on the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas began publishing one of his most famous novels, The Three Musketeers. This and two other novels, “Twenty Years Later” and “The Vicomte de Bragelonne or Ten Years Later,” formed a world-famous trilogy.

On the eve of the revolution of 1848, Dumas turned to the era to which he paid exceptional attention in his work - to the 16th century, and wrote a second trilogy dedicated to the struggle of Henry of Navarre for the French throne: "Caraleva Margot", "Countess Monsoreau" and "Forty-five "(1845 - 1848).

Dumas had a negative attitude towards the monarchy of Louis Philippe and greeted the news of the collapse of the royal throne with sincere glee. He organizes a public festival on the square in Paris and already in March 1848 begins to publish a magazine, publishing articles in defense of the Republic. But the Republic lasted only a few years.

In December, Alexandre Dumas left for Brussels, where he began writing Memoirs, which in their artistic merits are not inferior to his best fictional works.

Returning to Paris in 1853, Alexandre Dumas founded his own magazine, The Musketeer, which tried to be independent of the new regime. But as before, the main work of his life was hard work on great novels.

Continuing to fill in the “blank spots” of the centuries-old epic, Dumas in 1857 turned to a novel under the somewhat veiled title “Accomplices of Jehu.”

This novel represents that episode in the history of France when it waged revolutionary wars against the coalition of England and Austria. Georges Cadoudal, a famous monarchist and conspirator, was hiding under the name Jehu. The novel begins in 1799, when Napoleon was the first consul of the Republic. A tense situation has created in the country. The uprising in the Vendée, provoked by the monarchists, was supported by Cadoudal's gangs, who robbed the state treasury and terrorized civilians.

In 1866, Alexandre Dumas headed to Prussia and Austria; then a war broke out between these countries. From the front, he sends reviews of military operations to Parisian newspapers and at the same time works on a new novel, “Prussian Terror,” in which he denounced the Prussian Chancellor Bismarck under the name of Count Bezewerk.

In the spring of 1870, Alexandre Dumas left for the south of France, where he was supposed to prepare a number of books for publication, but the Franco-Prussian War made a grave impression on the writer, and his health deteriorated sharply. On December 6, 1870, he died and was buried in Villers-Cotterets.

2. Characteristics of the novel "The Fencing Teacher"

The main characters of the novel “The Fencing Teacher” are Ivan Aleksandrovich Annenkov and the Frenchwoman Polina Gebl, who after her marriage became Praskovya Egorovna Annenkova, who captured her stay at hard labor in her book of memoirs.

(Memoirs of Polina Annenkova. M., 1929.)

Dumas forms the composition of this novel in accordance with those moments from the lives of the heroes that were recorded by Grisier. The writer's rich imagination gave the chronicle material the form of a work of art, in which historicism coexisted with a fair amount of fiction.

The key episodes of the plot were:

Grisier's arrival in St. Petersburg. His acquaintance with Louise Dupuis (Polina Gebl). Love between Louise and cavalry officer Alexei (Annenkov). Meetings of the Republican Alexei with the conspirators. Military uprising of the Decembrists. Alexei's arrest. Trial and exile. Louise's journey to Siberia. The wedding of Louise and Annenkov at the Petrovsky plant.

So, the plot of the novel in its main ramifications is constructed in accordance with the circumstances that could have developed in the life of Annenkov and his close friend. M. N. Volkonskaya in her “Notes” figuratively depicts the moment of arrival of the future wife of the Decembrist:

“Annenkova came to us, also bearing the name Mlle Paul. She was a young Frenchwoman, beautiful, about 30 years old; she was seething with life and fun and knew how to amazingly look for the funny sides in others. Immediately upon her arrival, the commandant announced to her that he had already received orders His Majesty regarding her wedding. Annenkov's shackles, as required by law, were removed when they were taken to church, but upon his return they were put on him again. The ladies escorted Mlle Paul to church; she did not understand Russian and that's all "she spent time laughing with her best men - Svistunov and Alexander Muravyov. Beneath this seeming carelessness hid a deep feeling of love for Annenkov, which forced him to abandon his homeland and an independent life." (Notes of Princess M. N. Volkonskaya. Chita, 1956, p. 86.)

Annenkov, as Dumas presented him, did not take a particularly significant role in the Decembrist movement, but he is exalted as a man and participant in the uprising, passionate about the dream of founding a republic in Russia, he gives all his means in the name of the triumph of this cause. Having seen how his companions fell in an unequal struggle, he does not flee from the battlefield, but voluntarily hands over his officer’s sword to the tsar’s dignitary Orlov.

However, the spiritual side of I. A. Annenkov’s life was to a certain extent impoverished by the author. Annenkov received an excellent education for his time; he studied at Moscow University and became a member of the Northern Society. He knew very well the lectures of Dubois, the Swiss educator, which he had listened to during his studies at the university, and during the investigation he pointed out their special importance. As Annenkov himself said: “The first free thoughts were instilled in me by my mentor, for he always presented his government as the only one that did not humiliate humanity, and spoke of everything else with contempt, but ours was especially the subject of his jokes.”

In her study of the growth of the political consciousness of the Decembrists, M. V. Nechkina writes: “The lieutenant of the cavalry regiment, Decembrist Annenkov, explaining to Nicholas I why he did not inform on the Society, also (like A. Raevsky - M. T.) motivated this with honor: " It’s hard, it’s not fair to inform on your comrades.” In response to this, Nikolai, having flared up, shouted: “You have no concept of honor!” Two concepts of honor collided - reactionary and revolutionary.” (Nechkina M.V. Griboyedov and the Decembrists. M., 1977, p. 332.)

Annenkov, according to the words of Matvey Muravyov-Apostol, together with Ryleev, Obolensky and Turgenev, agreed with the plan according to which the tsar should be killed and a republic established in the country.

Alexandre Dumas ends the story of the events of the novel “The Fencing Teacher” in 1826. This is due to the fact that, according to the verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court, Annenkov, arrested on December 19, was sent to hard labor for a period of 20 years, followed by exile to a settlement. Therefore, Alexandre Dumas knew nothing about the further fate of his hero and was unable to tell the reader about it.

It has now become known that Praskovya Egorovna and Ivan Alexandrovich lived in Siberia for thirty years. During this time, F. M. Dostoevsky, who was in exile, managed to see them. This happened in 1854, and some time later, in a letter to P.U. Annenkova, Dostoevsky wrote: “I will always remember that from my very stay in Siberia, you and your entire excellent family took in both me and my comrades "Unfortunately, complete and sincere participation. I cannot remember this without a special, comforting feeling, and it seems that I will never forget." (Letter from F. M. Dostoevsky to P. E. Annenkova, October 18, 1855).

The further fate of I. A Annenkov was connected with Nizhny Novgorod, where in 1856 he moved with his wife. In Novgorod, Annenkov enters the service of the provincial government. However, the service does not end with service, and he becomes a member of the committee to improve the life of peasants. Subsequently, he was elected an honorary justice of the peace. Among other things, Annenkov takes an active part in carrying out peasant reform, and at the same time makes acquaintances with writers.

Later, in his diary dated October 16, 1857, the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko made the following entry about this man: “At Yakoba’s apartment, I met and reverently became acquainted with Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov.”

It is worth noting, of course, that Dumas made a number of very serious mistakes when writing The Fencing Teacher. But in fact, it would be difficult to avoid them when addressing such a complex and controversial topic as the activities of the Decembrists. Therefore, we will not focus on most of them, noting only the most obvious ones.

At the time of writing “The Fencing Teacher,” which was one of the early creations of Alexandre Dumas, the author did not yet have such widely known works as “The Three Musketeers” or “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Therefore, Dumas did not yet have sufficient experience that could allow him to successfully write such a large-scale work, which is based on an epoch-making event in Russian history.

It should also be noted that the writer did not have reliable information about the Decembrist movement. The only document that could fall into his hands is the “Report of the Investigative Commission.” Besides this report, Dumas only had at his disposal a story “about several villains and madmen who dreamed of the possibility of a revolution,” which was probably nothing more than another legend. Naturally, this circumstance greatly influenced the work of art.

Nevertheless, the significance of the novel “The Fencing Teacher” was very well, accurately and objectively indicated by the famous literary critic S. Durylin: “Dumas’ novel was a story about the Decembrist, based not on fiction, but on historical truth, and this story came from the pen the most popular writer of our time, the success and attention of a wide European reader was ensured. For Nicholas I, this could not but be a very unpleasant surprise. Dumas's novel attracted the attention - and sympathetic attention - of a wide European audience to people whose very name was hated by Nicholas I. Awarding "Decembrists to the convict silence of the Siberian deserts, Nikolai wanted to execute them with a cruel execution of complete oblivion. Dumas, with his novel, canceled this sentence for one of the Decembrists and thereby drew attention to the fate of all the rest. These others pass through as heroic shadows in the novel." (Durylin S. Alexander Dumas - father and Russia. In the book: Literary inheritance, No. 31-32, M., 1937, p. 513.) In fact, this is so, because if you carefully read the text of the novel describing uprising on December 14 on Senate Square, you can see that the author himself supports the soldiers and officers who took part in this event and is entirely on their side.

What is the future fate of the writer? Alexandre Dumas managed to make his dream come true, and in 1858 he came to Russia, to St. Petersburg, where he stayed in the mansion of G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko. This man was known as a philanthropist and writer of fiction, and it is not surprising that various writers, critics and other literary figures periodically gathered in his house. It was here that Dumas met D.V. Grigorovich, A.K. Tolstoy, L.A. Mey, N.A. Nekrasov and the Panaev spouses. Throughout his stay in St. Petersburg, the writer was greeted everywhere warmly, with the most sincere cordiality. And it is not surprising, because if you believe I. I. Panaev, Dumas’s books were no less popular in Russia than in his homeland in France.

A month and a half later, Dumas left St. Petersburg to continue his journey through Russia. On his way were Moscow, and then a trip along the Volga from Nizhny Novgorod to Astrakhan. Following him, the writer went to Kizlyar, from there to Baku and the Caucasus.

Dumas returned to France only a year later, in March 1859.

The trip to Russia did not pass without a trace for the writer; it helped Alexandre Dumas in the creation of a number of essays, which made up a very extensive cycle. For a long time, these essays were published weekly in the writer's magazine "Monte Cristo".

Bibliography:

Alexandr Duma. "Fencing teacher" "Black Tulip". Novels. - Moscow, "Pravda", - 1981