Who can live well in Rus', how many peasants? Images of peasants in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is based on N.A. Nekrasov is an image of the Russian peasantry after the abolition of serfdom. Throughout the entire work, the characters are looking for the answer to the question: “Who lives cheerfully, at ease in Rus'?”, who is considered happy, who is unhappy.

Truth-seekers

On foreground The study follows the journey of seven men through Russian villages in search of an answer to the question posed. In the guise of the seven “freely obliged” we see only common features peasants, namely: poverty, inquisitiveness, unpretentiousness.

The men ask about the happiness of the peasants and soldiers they meet. They consider the priest, the landowner, the merchant, the nobleman and the tsar to be lucky. But the main place in the poem is given to the peasantry.

Yakim Nagoy

Yakim Nagoy works “to death”, but lives from hand to mouth, like most residents of Bosovo. In the description of the hero, we see how difficult Yakim’s life is: “...He himself looks like Mother Earth.” Yakim realizes that the peasants are the greatest power, he is proud that he belongs to this group of people. he is familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the peasant character. The main disadvantage is alcohol, which has destructive effect on men.

For Yakima, the idea that the poverty of the peasantry is caused by drinking wine is unacceptable. In his opinion, this is due to the obligation to work for “shareholders.” The fate of the hero is typical for the Russian people after the abolition of serfdom: while living in the capital, he enters into an argument with a merchant, ends up in prison, from where he returns to the village and begins to plow the land.

Ermila Girin

Ermila Girina N.A. Nekrasov endowed him with honesty and great intelligence. He lived for the sake of the people, was honest, fair, and did not leave anyone in trouble. The only dishonest act he committed was for the sake of his family - saving his nephew from being recruited. He sent the widow's son instead. From his own deceit and torment of conscience, Girin almost hanged himself. He corrected his mistake and subsequently took the side of the rebellious peasants, for which he was imprisoned.

The episode with the purchase of Ermil's mill is remarkable, when the peasants express absolute trust in Ermil Girin, and he, in return, is completely honest with them.

Savely - hero

Nekrasov expresses the idea that peasants for him are akin to heroes. Here comes the image of Savely, the Holy Russian hero. He sincerely sympathizes with Matryona and has a hard time rethinking the death of Demushka. This hero combines goodness, simplicity, sincerity, help to the oppressed and anger towards the oppressors.

Matrena Timofeevna

Peasant women are represented in the image of Matryona Timofeevna. This strong-hearted woman fights all her life for freedom and female happiness. Her life resembles the life of many peasant women of that time, although she is even happier than many. This is taking into account the fact that after marriage she ended up in a family that hated her, she was married only once, her first-born was eaten by pigs, and her whole life is based on hard work in the fields.

Peasant oppressors

The author shows how difficult it is to reflect serfdom on people's lives, how it cripples them, destroying them morally. There are also peasants who chose the side of their masters - Ipat, Klim, Yakov the Faithful, who oppress the common people along with the landowners.

In his poem, Nekrasov showed the life of the peasantry after the reform of 1861, depicted images of Russian peasants, saying that the people have untold power and will soon begin to realize their rights.

Introduction

Starting work on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov dreamed of creating a large-scale work that would reflect all the knowledge about peasants that he had accumulated throughout his life. WITH early childhood“the spectacle of national disasters” passed before the poet’s eyes, and his first childhood impressions prompted him to further study the way of life peasant life. Hard work, human grief, and at the same time the enormous spiritual strength of the people - all this was noticed by Nekrasov’s attentive gaze. And it is precisely because of this that in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” the images of the peasants look so reliable, as if the poet personally knew his heroes. It is logical that the poem, in which the main character is the people, has a large number of peasant images, but if we take a closer look at them, we will be amazed by the diversity and liveliness of these characters.

The image of the main wanderer characters

The first peasants with whom the reader meets are truth-seeking peasants who argued about who lives well in Rus'. For the poem, it is not so much their individual images that are important, but the overall idea that they express - without them, the plot of the work would simply fall apart. And, nevertheless, Nekrasov gives each of them a name, native village(the names of the villages themselves are eloquent: Gorelovo, Zaplatovo...) and certain character traits and appearance: Luka is an inveterate debater, Pakhom is an old man. And the views of the peasants, despite the integrity of their image, are different; each does not deviate from his views even to the point of fighting. In general, the image of these men is a group image, which is why it highlights the most basic features characteristic of almost any peasant. This is extreme poverty, stubbornness and curiosity, the desire to find the truth. Let us note that while describing the peasants dear to his heart, Nekrasov still does not embellish their images. He also shows vices, mainly general drunkenness.

The peasant theme in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is not the only one - during their journey, the men will meet both the landowner and the priest, and will hear about the life of different classes - merchants, nobles, and clergy. But all other images in one way or another serve to more fully reveal the main theme of the poem: the life of peasants in Russia immediately after the reform.

The poem contains several crowd scenes- a fair, a feast, a road along which many people walk. Here Nekrasov portrays the peasantry as a single whole, which thinks alike, speaks unanimously and even sighs at the same time. But at the same time, the images of peasants depicted in the work can be divided into two large groups: honest working people, who values his freedom and peasant serfs. In the first group, Yakim Nagoy, Ermil Girin, Trofim and Agap stand out.

Positive images of peasants

Yakim Nagoy - typical representative the poorest peasantry, and he himself resembles “Mother Earth”, like “a layer cut off by a plow”.

All his life he works “to death”, but at the same time remains a beggar. His sad story: he once lived in St. Petersburg, but started a lawsuit with a merchant, ended up in prison because of it, and returned from there “torn like a sticker” - nothing surprises listeners. There were many such destinies in Rus' at that time... Despite the hard work, Yakim has enough strength to stand up for his compatriots: yes, there are many drunk men, but there are more sober ones, they are all great people “in work and in revelry.” Love for truth, for honest work, a dream of transforming life (“thunder should thunder”) – these are the main components of the image of Yakima.

Trofim and Agap complement Yakima in some ways; each of them has one main character trait. In the image of Trofim, Nekrasov shows the endless strength and patience of the Russian people - Trofim once carried away fourteen pounds, and then returned home barely alive. Agap is a lover of truth. He is the only one who refuses to participate in the performance for Prince Utyatin: “The possession of peasant souls is over!” When they force him, he dies in the morning: it is easier for a peasant to die than to bend back under the yoke of serfdom.

Yermil Girin is endowed by the author with intelligence and incorruptible honesty, and for this he was chosen as burgomaster. He “didn’t bend his soul,” and once he had strayed from the right path, he could not live without the truth, and he repented before the whole world. But honesty and love for their compatriots do not bring happiness to the peasants: the image of Yermil is tragic. At the time of the story, he is sitting in prison: this is how his help to the rebellious village turned out.

Images of Matryona and Savely

The life of peasants in Nekrasov's poem would not be completely depicted without the image of a Russian woman. To expand " female share”, which “grief is not life!” the author chose the image of Matryona Timofeevna. “Beautiful, strict and dark,” she tells in detail the story of her life, in which only then was she happy, as she lived with her parents in the “girls’ lounge.” Afterwards, hard work began, equal to men, the nagging of relatives, and the death of the first-born distorted the fate. For this story, Nekrasov allocated an entire part of the poem, nine chapters - much more than the stories of the other peasants occupy. This conveys it well special treatment, love for a Russian woman. Matryona amazes with her strength and resilience. She endures all the blows of fate without complaint, but at the same time she knows how to stand up for her loved ones: she lies down under the rod in place of her son and saves her husband from the soldiers. The image of Matryona in the poem merges with the image people's soul– long-suffering and long-suffering, which is why the woman’s speech is so rich in songs. These songs are often the only opportunity to pour out your melancholy...

The image of Matryona Timofeevna is accompanied by another curious image - the image of the Russian hero, Savely. Living out his life in Matryona’s family (“he lived for one hundred and seven years”), Savely thinks more than once: “Where have you gone, strength? What were you useful for? All the strength was lost under rods and sticks, wasted during back-breaking labor on the Germans and wasted away in hard labor. In the image of Savely it is shown tragic fate the Russian peasantry, heroes by nature, leading a life completely unsuitable for them. Despite all the hardships of life, Savely did not become embittered, he is wise and affectionate with those without rights (he is the only one in the family who protects Matryona). His image also shows the deep religiosity of the Russian people, who sought help in faith.

The image of peasant serfs

Another type of peasant depicted in the poem are serfs. Years of serfdom have crippled the souls of some people who are accustomed to groveling and can no longer imagine their lives without the power of the landowner over them. Nekrasov shows this using examples of the images of the slaves Ipat and Yakov, as well as the elder Klim. Jacob is the image of a faithful slave. He spent his whole life fulfilling the whims of his master: “Yakov had only joy: / To groom, protect, please the master.” However, you cannot live with the master “ladkom” - as a reward for Yakov’s exemplary service, the master gives his nephew as a recruit. It was then that Yakov’s eyes were opened, and he decided to take revenge on his offender. Klim becomes the boss thanks to the grace of Prince Utyatin. A bad owner and a lazy worker, he, singled out by the master, blossoms from a sense of self-importance: “The proud pig: itched / About the master’s porch!” Using the example of the headman Klim, Nekrasov shows how terrible yesterday's serf is when he becomes a boss - this is one of the most disgusting human types. But it is difficult to fool an honest peasant’s heart - and in the village Klim is sincerely despised, not afraid.

So, from different images peasants “Who can live well in Rus'” is developing whole picture people like enormous power, already beginning to gradually rebel and realize its power.

Work test

N. A. Nekrasov worked on his poem for a long time - from the 1860s until the end of his life. In life individual chapters the works were published, but it was fully published only in 1920, when K. I. Chukovsky decided to release full meeting works of the poet. In many ways, the work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is built on elements of Russian folk art, the language of the poem is close to that which was understandable to the peasants of that time.

Main characters

Despite the fact that Nekrasov planned to highlight the life of all classes in his poem, the main characters of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” are still peasants. The poet paints their life in gloomy tones, especially sympathizing with women. The most bright images works are Ermila Girin, Yakim Nagoy, Saveliy, Matryona Timofeevna, Klim Lavin. At the same time, not only the world of the peasantry appears before the reader’s eyes, although the main emphasis is placed on it.

Often schoolchildren receive as homework briefly describe the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” and their characteristics. To get a good grade, you must mention not only the peasants, but also the landowners. This is Prince Utyatin with his family, Obolt-Obolduev, the generous governor’s wife, and the German manager. The work as a whole is characterized by the epic unity of all acting heroes. However, at the same time, the poet presented many personalities and individualized images.

Ermila Girin

This hero “Who lives well in Rus'”, according to those who know him - happy man. The people around him appreciate him, and the landowner shows respect. Ermila is engaged in social activities useful thing- contains a mill. He works on it without deceiving ordinary peasants. Girin enjoys the trust of everyone. This manifests itself, for example, in the situation of collecting money for an orphan mill. Ermila finds herself in the city without money, and the mill is put up for sale. If he does not have time to return for the money, then it will go to Altynnikov - this will not hurt anyone. Then Girin decides to appeal to the people. And people come together to do a good thing. They believe that their money will be used for good.

This hero of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was a clerk and helped those who do not know it learn to read and write. However, the wanderers did not consider Ermila happy, because he did not pass the most difficult test - power. Instead of his sibling Girin ends up among the soldiers. Ermila repents of what she did. He can no longer be considered happy.

Yakim Nagoy

One of the main characters of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is Yakim Nagoy. He defines himself this way: “he works himself to death and drinks until he is half to death.” The story of Nagogo is simple and at the same time very tragic. He once lived in St. Petersburg, but went to prison and lost his estate. After that, he had to settle in the village and take up exhausting work. In the work, he is entrusted with protecting the people themselves.

Human spiritual needs are ineradicable

During a fire, Yakim loses most of his possessions, as he begins to save the pictures that he acquired for his son. However, even in his new home, Nagoy returns to his old ways and buys other pictures. Why does he decide to save these things, which at first glance are simple trinkets? A person tries to preserve what is most dear to him. And these pictures turn out to be for Yakima more expensive than money, acquired by hellish labor.

The life of the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is an ongoing work, the results of which fall into the wrong hands. But the human soul cannot be content with an existence in which there is only room for endless hard labor. The spirit of the Naked requires something high, and these pictures, oddly enough, are a symbol of spirituality.

Endless adversity only strengthens him life position. In Chapter III, he pronounces a monologue in which he describes his life in detail - it is hard labor, the results of which end up in the hands of three shareholders, disasters and hopeless poverty. And with these disasters he justifies his drunkenness. It was the only joy for the peasants, whose only occupation was hard work.

The place of a woman in the poet's work

Women also occupy a significant place in Nekrasov’s work. The poet considered their lot to be the most difficult - after all, it was on the shoulders of Russian peasant women that the duty of raising children, preserving the hearth and love in the harsh Russian conditions fell. In the work “Who Lives Well in Rus',” the heroes (or rather, heroines) bear the heaviest cross. Their images are described in more detail in the chapter entitled “ drunken night" Here you can encounter the difficult fate of women working as servants in cities. The reader meets Daryushka, who is emaciated from back-breaking work, women whose situation in the house is worse than hell - where the son-in-law constantly takes up the knife, “look, he’ll kill him.”

Matryona Korchagina

The climax feminine theme in the poem there is a part called “Peasant Woman”. Her main character- this is Matrena Timofeevna, whose last name is Korchagina, whose life is a generalization of the life of a Russian peasant woman. On the one hand, the poet demonstrates the severity of her fate, but on the other, the unbending will of Matryona Korchagina. The people consider her “happy,” and wanderers set off to see this “miracle” with their own eyes.

Matryona gives in to their persuasion and talks about her life. She considers her childhood to be the most happy times. After all, her family was caring, no one drank. But soon the moment came when it was necessary to get married. Here she seemed to be lucky - her husband loved Matryona. However, she becomes the youngest daughter-in-law and has to please everyone. Count on kind word she couldn't even.

Only with grandfather Savely Matryona could open her soul and cry. But even her grandfather, although not of his own free will, caused her terrible pain - he did not look after the child. After this, the judges accused Matryona herself of murdering the baby.

Is the heroine happy?

The poet emphasizes the heroine’s helplessness and in the words of Savelya tells her to endure, because “we won’t find the truth.” And these words become a description of Matryona’s entire life, who had to endure losses, grief, and insults from the landowners. Only once does she manage to “find the truth” - to “beg” her husband from the unfair soldiery from the landowner Elena Alexandrovna. Perhaps this is why Matryona began to be called “happy.” Or perhaps because she, unlike some of the other heroes of “Who Lives Well in Rus',” did not break down, despite any adversity. According to the poet, a woman’s share is the hardest. After all, she has to suffer from lack of rights in the family, and worry about the lives of loved ones, and do backbreaking work.

Grisha Dobrosklonov

This is one of the main characters of “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” He was born into the family of a poor clerk, who was also lazy. His mother was the image of a woman that was described in detail in the chapter entitled “Peasant Woman.” Grisha managed to understand his place in life at a young age. This was facilitated by hard work, a hungry childhood, a generous character, resilience and perseverance. Grisha became a fighter for the rights of all the humiliated, he stood for the interests of the peasants. What came first for him was not personal needs, but public values. The main features of the hero are unpretentiousness, high efficiency, the ability to sympathize, education and a sharp mind.

Who can find happiness in Rus'

Throughout the entire work, the poet tries to answer the question about the happiness of the heroes “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Perhaps it is Grisha Dobrosklonov who is the most happy character. After all, when a person does a good deed, he has a pleasant feeling of his own worth. Here the hero saves an entire people. Since childhood, Grisha has seen unhappy and oppressed people. Nekrasov considered the ability to compassion to be the source of patriotism. For the poet, a person who sympathizes with the people starts a revolution is Grisha Dobrosklonov. His words reflect the hope that Rus' will not perish.

Landowners

Among the heroes of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” as was indicated, there are many landowners. One of them is Obolt-Obolduev. When the peasants ask him if he is happy, he only laughs in response. Then, with some regret, he recalls the past years, which were full of prosperity. However, the reform of 1861 abolished serfdom, although it was not completed. But even the changes that have occurred in public life, cannot force the landowner to work and honor the results of the work of other people.

Matching him is another hero of Nekrasov’s “Who Lives Well in Rus'” - Utyatin. All his life he “been weird and foolish,” and when social reform came, he was struck down. His children, in order to receive an inheritance, put on a real performance together with the peasants. They convince him that he will not be left with anything, and serfdom still reigns in Rus'.

Grandfather Savely

The characterization of the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” would be incomplete without a description of the image of grandfather Savely. The reader gets to know him already when he has lived a long and hard life. In his old age, Savely lives with his son’s family; he is Matryona’s father-in-law. It is worth noting that the old man does not like his family. After all, household members do not have the best characteristics.

Even in his own circle, Savely is called “branded, a convict.” But he is not offended by this and gives a worthy answer: “Branded, but not a slave.” Such is the character of this hero “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Short description Savely's character can be supplemented by the fact that he is not averse to sometimes making fun of members of his family. The main thing that is noted when meeting this character is his difference from the others, both from his son and from the other inhabitants of the house.

TYPES OF PEASANTS IN THE POEM. The poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was created in last period life of the poet (1863-1876). Ideological plan The poem is indicated already in its title, and then repeated in the text: who can live well in Rus'?

The main place in the poem is occupied by the position of the Russian peasant under serfdom and after “liberation”. The poet speaks about the essence of the Tsar’s manifesto in the words of the people: “You are kind, Tsar’s charter, but you were not written about us.” The poet touched upon the pressing problems of his time, condemned slavery and oppression, sang the freedom-loving, talented, strong-willed Russian people. Paintings folk life written with epic breadth, and this gives the right to call the poem an encyclopedia of Russian life of that time. Drawing numerous images peasants, different characters, he divides the heroes into two camps: slaves and fighters. Already in the prologue we meet the truth-seeking peasants. They live in the villages: Zaplatovo, Dyryavino, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neelovo, Neurozhaika. They are united by poverty, unpretentiousness, and the desire to find happiness in Rus'.

While traveling, the peasants meet different people, give them an assessment, determine their attitude towards the priest, towards the landowner, towards the peasant reform, towards the peasants. Having listened to the priest’s story about his “happiness”, having received advice to find out about the landowner’s happiness, the peasants snapped:

You're past them, the landowners!

We know them!

Truth-seekers are not satisfied with the noble word, they need the “Christian word.”

Give me your Christian word!

Noblesse with abuse,

With a push and a punch,

This is of no use to us!

They have self-esteem. In the chapter “Happy” they angrily see off the sexton, a servant who boasted of his servile position: “Get lost!” They sympathize with the soldier’s terrible story and tell him:

Here, have a drink, servant!

There's no point in arguing with you:

You are happy - there is no word.

Truth-seekers are hardworking and always strive to help others. Having heard from a peasant woman that there are not enough workers to harvest the grain on time, the men suggest:

What are we doing, godfather?

Bring on the sickles! All seven

How will we be tomorrow - by evening

We will burn all your rye!

They also willingly help the peasants of the Illiterate Province mow the grass:

Like teeth from hunger,

Works for everyone

Nimble hand.

However, Nekrasov more fully reveals the images of peasant fighters who do not grovel before their masters and do not resign themselves to their slave position. Yakim Nagoy from the village of Bosovo lives in terrible poverty. He works himself to death, saving himself under the harrow from the heat and rain.

The chest is sunken; as if pressed in

Stomach; at the eyes, at the mouth

Bends like cracks

On dry ground...

Reading the description of the peasant’s face, we understand that Yakim, having toiled all his life on a gray, barren piece, had himself become like the earth. Yakim admits that most of his labor is appropriated by “shareholders” who do not work, but live on the labors of peasants like him.

You work alone

And the work is almost over,

Look, there are three shareholders standing:

God, king and lord!

All my long life Yakim worked, experienced many hardships, went hungry, went to prison and, “like a piece of velcro, he returned to his homeland.” But still he finds the strength to create at least some kind of life, some kind of beauty. Yakim decorates his hut with pictures, loves and uses apt words, his speech is full of proverbs and sayings. Yakim is the image of a new type of peasant, a rural proletarian who has been in the latrine industry. And his voice is the voice of the most determined peasants.

Every peasant

The soul is like a black cloud -

Angry, thunderstorm - and it should be

Thunder will roar from there,

It's raining bloody...

The writer treats his hero Ermil Girin, the village elder, fair, honest, intelligent, with great sympathy, who, according to the peasants,

In seven years the world's penny

I didn’t squeeze it under my nail,

At the age of seven I didn’t touch the right one,

He did not allow the guilty

I didn’t bend my heart...

Only once did Yermil act dishonestly, giving the old woman Vlasyevna’s son to the army instead of his brother. Repenting, he tried to hang himself. According to the peasants, Yermil had everything for happiness: peace, money, honor, but his honor was special, not bought “neither money nor fear: strict truth, intelligence and kindness.”

The people, defending the worldly cause, in difficult times help Ermil to preserve the mill, showing exceptional trust in him. This act confirms the ability of the people to act together, in peace. And Yermil, not afraid of prison, took the side of the peasants when

...The fiefdom rebelled

Landowner Obrubkov...

Ermil Girin is a defender of peasant interests.

If the protest of Yakim Nagogo is spontaneous, then Yermil Girin rises to a conscious protest.

Savely, the Holy Russian hero, is a fighter for the people's cause. Savely's life was hard. In his youth, like all peasants, he endured cruel bullying for a long time from the landowner Shalashnikov, his manager. But Savely cannot accept such an order, and he rebels along with other peasants; he buried the living German Vogel in the ground. Savely received “twenty years of strict hard labor, twenty years of imprisonment” for this. Returning as an old man to his native village, Savely retained good spirits and hatred of his oppressors. “Branded, but not a slave!” - he said about himself. Until old age Savely retained a clear mind, warmth, and responsiveness. In the poem he is shown as the people's avenger:

...Our axes

They lay there for the time being!

He speaks contemptuously about passive peasants, calling them “dead... lost.”

Nekrasov calls Saveliy a Holy Russian hero, raising him very high, emphasizing his heroic character, and also compares it with folk hero Ivan Susanin. The image of Savely personifies the people's desire for freedom. The image of Savely is given in the same chapter with the image of Matryona Timofeevna not by chance. The poet shows together two heroic Russian characters.

Most of the poem is dedicated to the Russian woman. Matryona Timofeevna goes through all the trials that a Russian woman could go through. IN parental home She lived a free and cheerful life, and after marriage she had to work like a slave, endure reproaches from her husband’s relatives, and beatings from her husband. She found joy only in work and children. She had a hard time with the death of her son Demushka, the persecution of the master's manager, the year of hunger, and beggary. But in difficult moments she showed firmness and persistence: she worked for the release of her husband, who was illegally taken into the army, and even went to the governor himself. She tore out Fedotushka when they decided to punish him with rods. Rebellious, determined, she is always ready to defend her rights, and this brings her closer to Savely. Matryona Timofeevna says about herself:

I have my head down

I carry an angry heart!..

For me, grievances are mortal

Gone unpaid...

Having told the wanderers about her difficult life, she says that “it’s not a matter of looking for a happy one among women!”

IN last chapter, called “The Woman’s Parable,” a peasant woman speaks about the common female lot:

The keys to women's happiness,

From our free will

Abandoned, lost to God himself.

But Nekrasov is sure that the “keys” must be found. The peasant woman will wait and achieve happiness. The poet speaks about this in one of Grisha Dobrosklonov’s songs:

You are still a slave in the family,

But the mother of a free son!

WITH great love Nekrasov painted images of truth-seekers, fighters, in which the strength of the people and the will to fight the oppressors were expressed. However, the writer did not close his eyes to dark sides life of the peasantry. The poem depicts peasants who are corrupted by their masters and have become accustomed to their slave position. In the chapter “Happy,” the truth-seeking peasants meet with a “broken yard man,” who considers himself happy because he was the beloved slave of Prince Peremetyev. The courtyard is proud that his “daughter, together with the young lady, studied French and all sorts of languages, she was allowed to sit down in the presence of the princess.” And the servant himself stood behind the chair of His Serene Highness for thirty years, licking the plates after him and finishing off the remnants of overseas wines. He is proud of his “closeness” to the masters and his “honorable” disease - gout. Simple freedom-loving peasants laugh at the slave who looks down on his fellow men, not understanding the baseness of his lackey position. Prince Utyatin’s servant Ipat did not even believe that “freedom” had been declared to the peasants:

And I am the Utyatin princes

Serf - and that's the whole story!

From childhood until old age, the master mocked his slave Ipat as best he could. The footman took all this for granted.

...ransomed

Me, the latter's slave,

In winter in the ice hole!

How wonderful! Two ice holes:

He will lower you into one in a net,

In another moment he will pull out -

And he’ll bring you some vodka.

Ipat could not forget the master’s “favors”: the fact that after swimming in the ice hole the prince would “bring some vodka” and then seat him “next to the unworthy person with his princely person.” The obedient slave is also shown in the image of an “exemplary slave - Jacob the faithful.” Yakov served under the cruel Mr. Polivanov, who “in the teeth of an exemplary slave... casually blew his heel.” Despite such treatment, the faithful slave took care of and pleased the master until his old age. The landowner cruelly offended his faithful servant by recruiting his beloved nephew Grisha. Yakov “made a fool”: first he “drank the dead man”, and then he drove the master into a remote forest ravine and hanged himself on a pine tree above his head. The poet condemns such manifestations of protest as well as servile submission. Nekrasov speaks with deep indignation about such traitors people's affairs, as headman Gleb. He, bribed by the heir, destroyed the “freedom” given to the peasants before his death by the old master-admiral, thereby “for tens of years, until recently, the villain secured eight thousand souls.” For the images of courtyard peasants who became slaves of their masters and abandoned genuine peasant interests, the poet finds words of angry contempt: slave, serf, dog, Judas. Nekrasov concludes the characteristics with a typical generalization:

People serf rank -

Real dogs sometimes:

The heavier the punishment,

That's why gentlemen are dearer to them.

Creating Various types peasants, Nekrasov argues that there are no happy ones among them, that even after the abolition of serfdom, the peasants are still destitute and bloodless, only the forms of oppression of the peasants have changed. But among the peasants there are people who are capable of conscious, active protest, and the poet believes that with the help of such people in the future in Rus' everyone will live well, and first of all there will come a good life for the Russian people.

More to the Russian people

No limits set:

There is a wide path before him.

Introduction

Starting work on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov dreamed of creating a large-scale work that would reflect all the knowledge about peasants that he had accumulated throughout his life. From early childhood, the “spectacle of national disasters” passed before the poet’s eyes, and his first childhood impressions prompted him to continue studying the way of peasant life. Hard work, human grief, and at the same time the enormous spiritual strength of the people - all this was noticed by Nekrasov’s attentive gaze. And it is precisely because of this that in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” the images of the peasants look so reliable, as if the poet personally knew his heroes. It is logical that the poem, in which the main character is the people, contains a large number of peasant images, but if we look at them more closely, we will be amazed by the diversity and liveliness of these characters.

The image of the main wanderer characters

The first peasants with whom the reader meets are truth-seeking peasants who argued about who lives well in Rus'. For the poem, it is not so much their individual images that are important, but the overall idea that they express - without them, the plot of the work would simply fall apart. And, nevertheless, Nekrasov gives each of them a name, a native village (the names of the villages themselves are eloquent: Gorelovo, Zaplatovo...) and certain character traits and appearance: Luka is an inveterate debater, Pakhom is an old man. And the views of the peasants, despite the integrity of their image, are different; each does not deviate from his views even to the point of fighting. In general, the image of these men is a group image, which is why it highlights the most basic features characteristic of almost any peasant. This is extreme poverty, stubbornness and curiosity, the desire to find the truth. Let us note that while describing the peasants dear to his heart, Nekrasov still does not embellish their images. He also shows vices, mainly general drunkenness.

The poem includes several crowd scenes - a fair, a feast, a road along which many people are walking. Here Nekrasov portrays the peasantry as a single whole, which thinks alike, speaks unanimously and even sighs at the same time. But at the same time, the images of peasants depicted in the work can be divided into two large groups: honest working people who value their freedom and serf peasants. In the first group, Yakim Nagoy, Ermil Girin, Trofim and Agap stand out.

Positive images of peasants

Yakim Nagoy is a typical representative of the poor peasantry, and he himself resembles “Mother Earth”, like “a layer cut off by a plow”.

All his life he works “to death”, but at the same time remains a beggar. His sad story: he once lived in St. Petersburg, but started a lawsuit with a merchant, ended up in prison because of it, and returned from there “like a piece of velcro” – does not surprise listeners in any way. There were many such destinies in Rus' at that time... Despite the hard work, Yakim has enough strength to stand up for his compatriots: yes, there are many drunk men, but there are more sober ones, they are all great people “in work and in revelry.” Love for truth, for honest work, a dream of transforming life (“thunder should thunder”) – these are the main components of the image of Yakima.

Images of Matryona and Savely

The life of peasants in Nekrasov's poem would not be completely depicted without the image of a Russian woman. To reveal the “female share”, which is “grief is not life!” the author chose the image of Matryona Timofeevna. “Beautiful, strict and dark,” she tells in detail the story of her life, in which only then was she happy, as she lived with her parents in the “girls’ lounge.” Afterwards, hard work began, equal to men, the nagging of relatives, and the death of the first-born distorted the fate. For this story, Nekrasov allocated an entire part of the poem, nine chapters - much more than the stories of the other peasants occupy. This well conveys his special attitude, his love for a Russian woman. Matryona amazes with her strength and resilience. She endures all the blows of fate without complaint, but at the same time she knows how to stand up for her loved ones: she lies down under the rod in place of her son and saves her husband from the soldiers. The image of Matryona in the poem merges with the image of the people's soul - long-suffering and long-suffering, which is why the woman's speech is so rich in songs. These songs are often the only opportunity to pour out your melancholy...

The image of Matryona Timofeevna is accompanied by another curious image - the image of the Russian hero, Savely. Living out his life in Matryona’s family (“he lived for one hundred and seven years”), Savely thinks more than once: “Where have you gone, strength? What were you useful for? All the strength was lost under rods and sticks, wasted during back-breaking labor on the Germans and wasted away in hard labor. The image of Savely shows the tragic fate of the Russian peasantry, heroes by nature, leading a life completely unsuitable for them. Despite all the hardships of life, Savely did not become embittered, he is wise and affectionate with those without rights (he is the only one in the family who protects Matryona). His image also shows the deep religiosity of the Russian people, who sought help in faith.

The image of peasant serfs

So, from the various images of the peasants “Who Lives Well in Rus'” a complete picture of the people is formed as a huge force, which is already beginning to gradually rise up and realize its power.

Work test