What is the difference between the love of Aksinya and Gregory? Aksinya is the only passion in Melekhov’s life

Love in Sholokhov's novels appears strong and weak, creative and destructive at the same time. According to Sholokhov, both men and women are equal in love. In some situations, it is the woman who turns out to be stronger than the man. Tender and affectionate, a dove with Gregory, Aksinya becomes a kite when someone tries to separate her from her beloved. Cruel and unyielding, she does not leave Natalya a single drop of hope that Grigory will return home. She does not hear the reproaches of Gregory’s relatives, nor does she notice the sidelong glances of her neighbors. And yet we can say that Aksinya becomes a homewrecker not of her own free will. Describing her, Sholokhov especially emphasizes her bright Cossack manner, her reluctance to submit to fate. She had to get married very early. This is not uncommon for peasant life, rather the norm. Aksinya’s husband is not much different from most men - he is a strong master, he was strong on his hands - Aksinya often hid her bruises under her clothes. Silent and gloomy, he rarely found a kind word for his wife. But the proud Cossack woman bore her share with dignity. Perhaps she had thoughts that her husband was not like the one she dreamed of as a girl, but in life everything turned out to be simpler and more complicated.

It’s simpler, because as soon as a woman stepped onto the threshold of her husband’s house, the nightly festivities, cheerful girls’ round dances, songs, and laughter ended. Aksinya knew that she needed to love her husband, but how could she love someone who was gloomy and unkind? But she smiled at her, and during the general grief, she sent her great true love, but also demanded retribution from her in full.

Aksinya did not immediately respond to Gregory’s advances. No matter what kind of husband he is, an honest wife is always his pride. However, the husband did not believe his Aksinya.

Noticing Grigory's unambiguous glances, the husband beat Aksinya like a guilty girl. Resentment sank into her soul, and it was she who pushed the woman into the arms of someone else’s husband. The huge difference between a loving man and a master husband tied Aksinya even more tightly to Gregory. Having sent two people off to war, Aksinya was expecting only one thing.

She did not wish harm to her husband or Gregory’s wife - it is in the nature of a woman to give life and make it as good as possible. But, having felt that her life could be better, and that she could be taken care of, Aksinya could no longer refuse this herself. On the contrary, the woman’s practical mind began to look for a way to keep it for herself alone. And Aksinya decided to take her beloved and leave the village, from curious neighbors and persistent relatives. In someone else's house, the love of a mature woman and a young man blossoms. Here they are not touched by the envy of neighbors or the jealousy of rejected spouses. Here, without thinking about the past, without making plans for the future, they live with their love, their happiness.

But desired love is never simple. Grigory must be in service in wartime, and he leaves. Upon returning, Grigory learns that Aksinya has lost their little daughter and has gotten together with the owner of the house. He cannot forgive her and leaves for his wife. A woman who gave up her honor and dignity for the sake of love is left alone again. She is constantly forced to be strong. Having lost her child and having no information from Gregory, she falls into despair. She vitally needs the support of her loved one, but he is not nearby. And the woman, like a sick animal, clings to the caressing hand. Now she does not think about honor and dignity, but she does not seek happiness in this either. She needs to forget herself, survive grief, gain strength so that, like the legendary phoenix bird, she will be reborn again after the fire. Not understanding her in this, having rejected the one who only feels like a woman next to him, Grigory leaves.

Having insulted his beloved in the heat of the moment, Grigory still cannot live without her for long, and she forgives him. Aksinya's life was short, but difficult. The difficult life of a woman in wartime conditions became even harder. Her difficult, forbidden, bitter love made her lonely and condemned by everyone. And it was this love that brightened her life, raised her to extraordinary heights, and gave her strength. The restless Aksinya leaves again with her beloved. Only love can give so much strength, courage and confidence in the future in such troubled times. Aksinya dies, but this death puts an end to the love story precisely at the moment when love proves its truth and invincibility. Aksinya dies loved and happy.

Mikhail Sholokhov wrote a truly brilliant work about such a class in Russia as the Cossacks. This is the novel "Quiet Don". The heroes of the book are simple people with their own difficulties and problems. The female images in this work are revealed on the basis of traditional ideas about what the purpose of a Cossack woman is, who should be a good mother and keeper of the hearth. The female image in the novel “Quiet Don” helps to reveal the personality of the main character, Grigory Melekhov. Before moving on to the analysis of the female characters of this famous novel, let's say a few words about how it was created.

History of creation: “Quiet Don”

The idea of writing a novel about the revolution and ordinary people came to Sholokhov in the mid-20s of the last century.

Sholokhov was puzzled by the need to write a novel in a way that explained the historical conditions that led to the revolution. The author writes about people's lives, their way of life, their difficulties, trying to show the growth of revolutionary sentiments. The change in concept led to the novel receiving a new name - “Quiet Don”.

The life of the characters in the work personifies, according to the author’s plan, the life of different segments of the population during the war and revolution.

In addition, Sholokhov sets himself the task of telling about the tragic fate of people who fell into the maelstrom of events from 1914 to 1921.

The idea for the novel Quiet Don, which, as is now clear, differed from the author’s original idea, matured in the last days of 1926. The collection of material for the work began.

For this purpose, the writer moved to Veshenskaya Stanitsa, traveling to nearby farms and talking with participants in the war and revolution. To study the folklore of the Cossacks well, the author visits the archives of Rostov and Moscow.

As he wrote, Sholokhov published parts of his novel. Reviews of this work did not leave the pages of the press. Work on the fourth book did not proceed very quickly, which prompted readers who were worried about the fate of the heroes to write numerous letters to Sholokhov.

It is known that a rumor spread among writers that the novel was not written by Sholokhov, but by a certain murdered officer, from whose bag the manuscript was taken. The author was forced to go to Rostov and assemble a commission to refute the slander.

However, the novel written by Sholokhov has stood the test of time. Many generations of people continue to read it, admiring the original characters of the main characters and experiencing the difficulties of life with them.

So, now we know the history of the creation of “Quiet Don”. Let's move on to consider the main female characters of the novel.

Love triangle

The main characters of the novel “Quiet Don” are also doomed to this. In this work, two women, Natalya and Aksinya, love one Cossack - Grigory Melekhov. Natalya is his legal wife, Aksinya is the wife of the Melekhovs’ neighbor, Stepan Astakhov. In the novel Quiet Don, Aksinya passionately loves Gregory with forbidden sensual love. It is not surprising that her sincere attitude deeply touched the Cossack’s heart.

Aksinya

The image of this woman is central to the novel. She is independent, strong, beautiful. Aksinya is capable of deep feelings. She personifies the Cossack woman’s ability to be independent and love passionately, sacrificing herself.

The character and fate of the heroine

Aksinya's life was not easy. The connection with Gregory, about which the whole village was chattering, became known to her husband, Stepan Astakhov. When he asked whether this was true, Aksinya confessed to him without hesitation. Her willingness to take responsibility for her actions reveals in her. What happened between her and Melekhov is not a simple affair for Aksinya, but a deep feeling.

She, like Grigory, did not lie, did not pretend. Both were firmly convinced that the connection between them was not a casual affair. The village residents perceived such behavior as immoral.

Living according to your heart

In the novel "Quiet Don" Aksinya personifies a sensual nature who wants to live according to her own will, obeying only the dictates of her heart. She is even braver than her lover, Grigory Melekhov. It is Aksinya who invites Gregory to leave his native farm, breaking with conventions.

This woman always followed her beloved, without asking where they were going, her feeling was so selfless.

Weaknesses and vices

The heroes of the novel "Quiet Don", like any people, have their own shortcomings. Aksinya is a woman who is capable of strong feelings; her life is ruled by passions, which brings a lot of grief to those around her and to herself. Her love for Melekhov largely became the reason for his discord with his wife Natalya. Aksinya does not back down even when Grigory and Natalya have children. The woman also became the reason for her betrayal of Melekhov and Listnitsky. Nevertheless, it is worth recognizing that Aksinya’s infidelity further shows her strong feelings for Gregory.

The hopelessness of love between Aksinya and Gregory

Aksinya loves Gregory fiercely, her feeling sweeps away everything in its path. She follows him everywhere. People who are capable of feeling so strongly are, as a rule, rarely happy; they want to be close to their loved ones everywhere, to occupy their lives completely. The author emphasizes the doom of this relationship by the fact that the children of Aksinya and Gregory could not survive. Their union is not harmonious, because such passion upsets the natural balance.

Natalia

Unlike Aksinya, Natalya has a completely different character. “Quiet Don” in the images of these two women shows different types of Cossack women. If Aksinya is freedom-loving, sensual, strong, then Natalya is completely different. She is a faithful wife, a good housewife, a mother. This woman is beautiful, kind, hardworking, but at the same time deeply unhappy. She is the dream of any Cossack, but something in her character is missing from her husband, who, in his own way, of course, loves her.

Natalia's love for Gregory

Before the wedding, Natalya was deeply in love with Gregory. Having learned that the Melekhovs should woo her, the girl declares that she does not want to marry anyone else.

After the wedding, for her, as for an exemplary wife, her only happiness is her husband and children. Her love for Gregory is submissive and highly moral.

This is the image of Natalia. “Quiet Don” personifies in this heroine the ideal of the highest female virtue.

Rivals

So, the epic novel “Quiet Don” tells us about the love of two women who competed with each other.

The difference in their personalities is very clear during their meetings with each other.

At the first meeting, Natalya begs Aksinya to leave Gregory. Gregory's beloved shows contempt for his legal wife. Natalya is defeated.

The second meeting between the women occurs five years later. Natalia becomes stronger, she protects her son and daughter. Both rivals have matured: they have more self-esteem, they do not stoop to abuse and swearing, giving Gregory the opportunity to choose.

Death of Natalia and Aksinya

The novel “Quiet Flows the Don,” whose characters formed a love triangle so typical for works of this type, describes the death of many heroes. Countless numbers of people actually died during the Civil War.

The fate of Grigory Melekhov turned out to be very difficult, as he lost his beloved women: Aksinya, whom he loved passionately, and Natalya. He also loved her in his own way, although he did not admit it.

As for Natalya, this female character in the novel Quiet Don helps our imagination imagine a beautiful, God-fearing, but nervous Cossack woman. Her husband's infidelity led her to attempt suicide, which left her with a permanent scar on her neck.

Long before her death, Natalya thought about leaving the Melekhovs for her parents' house to give her husband the opportunity to live with Aksinya, but Grigory's mother dissuaded her from this.

Later, Natalya killed the child Gregory, whom she was carrying. This caused the woman's death. After Natalya's death, Aksinya takes care of her children, they even call her mom.

Grigory is having a hard time with the death of his wife. When he sees the telegram informing him of this, he feels pain in his heart. It became even more painful for him when he learned that Natalya was pushed to take such a terrible step by a conversation with Aksinya, whose female character in the novel “Quiet Don” personifies selfless, ardent love. However, her feeling is subordinated to reason; Aksinya has enough strength to fight for Gregory. His wife, Natalya, loved him only with her heart, she was too pure, her ideas about human relationships were too exalted. Aksinya told Gregory’s wife about her relationship with him, after which Natalya decides to take a fatal step. It is not known whether Melekhova’s beloved imagined how this would turn out for her rival.

Having learned the truth, Gregory for some time experiences hostility towards Aksinya. He remembers Natalya, strokes and caresses the children for a long time, imagining how she kissed and baptized them before her death. It becomes even more painful for him when he learns from Ilyinichna that Natalya forgave him for everything, loving him until the last minute of her unhappy life.

Aksinya's death also causes deep suffering in Gregory's soul. The beloved dies right in Melekhov’s arms. Blood flows from her mouth, bubbling in her throat. This strong Cossack understands that the worst thing has happened in his life.

Loneliness of Grigory Melekhov

The death of Aksinya led to the fact that Gregory’s life practically lost its meaning. He buries her himself, thinking that their separation will be short-lived.

Death took away those closest and dearest to his heart. By the end of the work, he remains only with his son Mishatka.

The death of women dear to his heart, according to the author’s plan, deepens the loneliness of the main character.

The female image in the novel "Quiet Don", be it Natalya, Aksinya or other heroines of the novel, is something that gives strength. Deprived of such support, the main character ceases to understand the meaning of his existence.

Other female characters in the novel "Quiet Don"

The central female characters in the novel are, of course, Aksinya and Natalya. However, in this article we cannot ignore other female images.

Gregory's mother, Ilyinichna, deserves special attention. This is an elderly Cossack woman who dedicated her life to the well-being of children and family. The author depicts her as a real keeper of the hearth. In her youth, Ilyinichna was distinguished by her beauty and stature, but she quickly grew old from hard work. She suffered a lot of grief from her husband, Pantelei Prokofievich, who was distinguished by a very tough temperament, reaching the point of unconsciousness in anger.

The whole life of this wise woman is filled with troubles and worries about her family; she tries to isolate them from adversity and troubles. This is her characteristic. “Quiet Don” portrays Ilyinichna as a good housewife, prudent and economical.

She has a negative attitude towards Gregory’s relationship with Aksinya. However, during the war, Ilyinichna becomes close to her amid worries about her son.

This elderly woman loves her daughter-in-law Natalya, worries about her, and tries to shift some of the work to Daria. She feels pain from the fact that Gregory is cheating on her. Natalya's death shocked Ilyinichna.

No less interesting is the wife of Grigory’s older brother, Daria. “Quiet Don” in her image presents to our attention a dissolute, lazy, cunning heroine. She is beautiful and lives for sensual pleasures. Daria loves to attract the attention of men and knows how to do it. She enjoys gatherings and holidays. After the death of her husband, Daria tried to make up for lost years and had affairs, which led to her illness and death.

The reader gets to know Dunyasha Melekhova back when she was a long-armed teenager with big eyes. Later she becomes a slender Cossack woman with an obstinate character. The matured Dunyasha is presented in the novel as an intelligent, self-sufficient girl who achieves her goal by marrying a man. She fell in love with him despite the fact that her chosen one committed many bloody crimes.

We looked at the main female characters in the novel "Quiet Don". They are the ones who help the author comprehend this new milestone in the life of the Don Cossacks. The woman in Sholokhov's work occupies a central place. The author connects with it questions about the meaning of life, the concepts of happiness and love.

The purpose of the lesson:

Lesson equipment:

Methodical techniques:

During the classes

I. Conversation

“Quiet Don” is a story about the grandiose Revolution, about the cataclysm experienced by Russia. But also a story about dramatic, tragic love. This love is tragic not only for Gregory and Aksinya, but also for their families.

— How do the village residents feel about the love of Gregory and Aksinya?

— Is their relationship love or “lawless passion?”

(This love surprises and frightens the residents of the village, who were ashamed to look Grigory and Aksinya in the eyes. Let us remember Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. “If Grigory went to the poor woman Aksinya, pretending to be hiding from people, if the poor woman Aksinya lived with Gregory, keeping this in relative secrecy, and at the same time would not refuse others, then there would be nothing unusual in this, lashing the eyes. The farm would have talked and stopped. But they lived, almost without hiding, something big knitted them, not like a short connection, and therefore in the village they decided that this was criminal, immoral, and the village sank into a lousy wait: Stepan would come and untie the knot.”)

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"Lesson 6. Grigory and Aksinya"

Lesson 6. Gregory and Aksinya

The purpose of the lesson: show how Sholokhov affirms the eternal values of life: home, work, love.

Lesson equipment: show fragments from the feature film "Quiet Don".

Methodical techniques: checking homework, analyzing episodes, identifying the author's position.

During the classes

I. Conversation

How do the village residents feel about the love of Gregory and Aksinya?

Is their relationship love or “lawless passion?”

How is the love of Aksinya and Gregory different?

(This is an out-of-the-ordinary feeling (compare with the love of Natalya, Daria, Dunyasha, Listnitsky). Moreover, the relationships of the characters are almost devoid of romance, in the usual sense: “Not with an azure scarlet color, but with a dog’s madness, a drunken roadside, late woman’s love blooms. From the meadow After mowing, Aksinya was reborn. It was as if someone had made a mark on her face, burned out the brand. The women, when they met her, grinned sarcastically, shook their heads after her, the girls were jealous, and she proudly and high held her happy, but shameful head.")

Is the revolution the background against which the heroes' love develops?

Is love a means to “humanize”, make more interesting and closer a novel about revolution and civil war?

V. Kozhinov believes that Love is the embodiment of the Revolution. Love changes and transforms both the characters themselves and the life around them (“in the village they decided that this was criminal”). The birth of this love was marked by a terrible thunderstorm that shook the Don.

However, a literal identification of Love and Revolution is unacceptable. The point is that a revolution is taking place both here and there; begins precisely in a love story. (Let us remember Anna Pogudko’s unconscious resemblance to Aksinya.)

Are Gregory and Aksinya victims of their love-passion?

(Yes, but they themselves make others victims (Natalya).)

What role does the contrast between the two heroines of the novel - Natalya and Aksinya - play?

(Natalya is the embodiment of the idea of home, family. Her integrity, purity, loyalty, devotion are described by Sholokhov with love and sympathy for his heroine. Natalya’s feeling is transferred to children, to relatives. Aksinya has neither children nor relatives: “At least you have children there is, but I have him,” Aksinya’s voice trembled and became muffled and lower, “one in the whole wide world! The first and the last...” Aksinya’s love in boundless self-sacrifice, in transferring the center of his life to another person, is deep, passionate feeling. Grigory loves both Natalya and Aksinya. Natalya amazed him with “some kind of pure inner beauty.” She is all in the element of home, family, she is a selfless and affectionate mother. Love for Aksinya is stronger than Grigory himself. Her “vicious “defiant” beauty inexorably attracts him. This beauty is free, denies the dullness of equality. Gregory’s love for Aksinya is often described in rough colors: “Gregory threw her into his arms with a jerk - like a wolf throws a slaughtered sheep onto his backbone.”)

Why does this love evoke sympathy? (Let us remember Mitya Karamazov: “Beauty is not only a terrible, but also a mysterious thing. Here the devil fights with God, and the battlefield is the hearts of people”).

Aksinya’s character combines the earthly and the ideal. By the end of the novel, Aksinya is no longer a rival, no longer a lover, feeling the power of her beauty. She lives in prayer for Gregory, she caresses his orphaned children.

The unhappy personal life of the heroes, the death of Aksinya, when Grigory, “dead with horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened,” are tragic. But life goes on. Last scene: Gregory stands “at the gates of his home,” holding his son in his arms. Here, in my father’s house, on my native land, all the beginnings and all the ends of life.

II. Homework

1. Preparation for the seminar.

2. Individual task: prepare a report on “Virgin Soil Upturned.”

Love is passion. Gregory and Aksinya

(based on the novel “Quiet Don” by Sholokhov)

What is striking about the tragic love of Gregory and Aksinya?

What trials do both heroes go through?

Observe how Gregory’s very character changes depending on whether he is close to Aksinya or separated from her, whether her love warms him or not.

Do you think this love could have had a happy ending?

Material for answering questions:

“Aksinya became attached to her husband after the birth of her child, but she had no feelings for him, there was a bitter woman’s pity and habit. The child died before reaching the age of one year. The old life unfolded. And when Grishka Melekhov, flirting, stood across Aksinya’s path, she saw with horror that she was drawn to the affectionate black guy.<...>She felt warm and pleasant when Grishka’s black eyes caressed her heavily and frantically. At dawn, waking up to milk the cows, she smiled and, not yet realizing why, remembered: “Today there is something joyful. What? Grigory... Grisha..." This new scarecrow filled her entire feeling, and in her thoughts she groped, carefully, as if across the Don on spongy March ice."

“It is not with the azure scarlet color, but with the helplessness of a dog, of a drunken roadside, that late woman’s love blooms. Aksinya was reborn from the meadow mowing. As if someone had made a mark on her face, burned the brand. The women, when they met her, grinned sarcastically, shook their heads after her, the girls were jealous, and she proudly and high held her happy, but shameful head.”

“Shameful according to the concepts and customs of the old Cossack life, according to which such open love, challenging everyone and everything, was always outlawed. But still happy no matter what. Neither before this did Aksinya have, nor will she ever have, any other love. Because, by all the inclinations of her nature, she is a one-woman lover, and it is not her fault, but her misfortune that Grigory met her so late. But since it’s too late, she will also stop loving him for all the bitter things that have previously befallen her. She will no longer have anything higher and dearer than this love. Only she, the first and only, until the hour of death.”

Anatoly Kalinin. Time of the Quiet Don, 1978

“Sholokhov’s attitude towards a woman, towards love is filled with some kind of masculine spiritual strength, severity, even cruelty, and behind all this is an inescapable youthful spontaneity, a kind feeling, purity, poetry. It was necessary to have a fresh heart in order to write the love scenes of the novel so unforgettably: the love-passion of Gregory and Aksinya; Natalya’s love is the unhappy, bitter love of a faithful wife, endlessly devoted to her husband, the father of their children; the love of a mother - Ilyinichna - who suffered a lot, was wise, lived in eternal troubles, guarding her chicks like a mother hen.
The last episodes of the novel are destroyed and elevated by tragedy.<...>When Grigory Melekhov felt that Aksinya was dying, he, “dead with horror, realized that everything was over, that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened.” It was after “he buried his Aksinya at "in the bright morning light," he raised his head and "saw the black disk of the Sun."

At first everything goes smoothly for Gregory, even his scandalous love story for a married woman does not mean anything yet, nothing foreshadows such difficult trials for their love in the future.

At first, everything is fine and somehow thoughtless. A seductively beautiful married woman lives next door, on the other side of the fence. One morning I stumbled into their kuren, the door was not locked, I saw her shirt fluffed up above the knees in the darkness, moved my eyes furtively, and suddenly called out in a hoarse voice. And it began...

The origins of his love are probably

More simple, ordinary, frankly masculine courage, or something, than something deep, sincere, extraordinary. Roughly flirting with Aksinya, he almost trampled her with his horse. After a thunderstorm, they fished together, and then, while mowing, what was supposed to happen happened. Now the time has come for Stepan to return, and it seems that love is over. Grigory offers to end everything at once, everything is simple with women, but for Aksinya this story turned out to be much more complicated than one could expect from such a mischievous Cossack girl. For her, this meeting is her destiny, her hope. She realized that the happiness that Aksinya had been deprived of from her youth had finally arrived. She was raped as a girl. Tormented by an unloved, unkind husband. The black, monotonous work pressed and oppressed me. What could she expect from life? And suddenly the dashing, handsome Gregory appeared in her destiny...

Aksinya was most excited by the very scandalousness of their love, which instantly outraged farm morality. Aksinya walked without covering her face with a scarf; the deep pits under her eyes were black, her swollen, slightly turned out greedy lips were laughing restlessly and defiantly. She was frantically waiting for something like this in her life, which is why she begged him to drop everything and leave. And he answered: “You are a fool, Aksinya, a fool! You play guitar and there’s nothing to listen to.” Grigory has not yet realized what befell him, what great love he is now brushing aside.

In Yagodnoye, where Grigory goes with Aksinya, they are truly together: husband and wife, no matter what the village says about them. And their daughter is born. Grigory and Aksinya turned out to be fugitives, violators of their grandfather’s customs, and opposed themselves to everything Tatar. They have a common misfortune, but love exalts them, lifts them above everyday life. She has now become more mature, more reliable. Grigory loves Aksinya, he needs her like a saving shore in the ocean. Throughout the entire novel, it turns out that the darker Gregory’s path in life is, the more difficult it is for him, the more his love for Aksinya flares up. Gregory’s love with Aksinya is inescapable, fearless, in other words, walking barefoot through the fire, knowing no prohibitions.

But there is another love in the novel, Natalina, and its contrast in comparison with Aksinya’s feelings is especially sharp. “Have you ever loved him as much as I do?” - Natalya bitterly asks her homewrecker shortly before her death. She, Natalya, loved Grigory more than life itself, and because of him she died. And Gregory eventually begins to understand the power of this feeling, although it seems that Aksinya has overshadowed everyone else in the world. Grigory begins to understand the seriousness and depth of his past relationship with his wife, now dead. After Natalya’s death, it seems that no grief can shake him with such force...

He didn't mind living with both of them, loving each of them differently. And it was as if we saw him from different sides, when he was either with Aksinya or with Natalya. Gregory suffered himself and tortured these two women. Natalya resigned herself, raised his two children, understood everything and still sometimes reproached him. But Aksinya knew that Grigory loved her, and did not blame him for the fact that he did so little to make this love happy, in order to somehow repay his beloved for the torment she endured for him.

And he himself destroys Aksinya, when nothing stands between them, nothing interferes. Because of him, because of his throwing, she died. Late, Gregory realized that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened. He lost the most precious thing in life - his great love, his Aksinya.