Poetic creativity of Radishchev. Traditions and innovation in the ode to Liberty

The work is written in the form of travel notes of a man traveling through the cities and villages of the Russian St. Petersburg outback, who is the narrator leading the narration in the novel.

The writer does not describe the traveler’s appearance and does not give a detailed portrait of the hero of the novel, but in several places there are some facts sufficient to characterize the narrator, forming his image.

The traveler is presented by the author as a poor nobleman serving as an official. He is a widower with an adult son who is soon preparing to work in the government service. Recalling the years of his youth, the traveler believes that at that time he was heartless and careless, leading the lifestyle of ordinary young nobles, entering into relationships with women of easy virtue, cruelly treating his servants, and sometimes allowing himself physical violence against innocent people.

In the subsequent chapters of the work, the traveler repents of the base actions he once committed, showing by his example the need for an open look at the immutable truth and the inner world of man, from which all troubles come.

The writer characterizes the traveler as an ironic person, characterized by self-irony, good-natured humor, and distinguished by an analytical mind. Distinctive features of the hero are also his educational spirit and sentimental sensitivity in expressing his own emotions, which he shows in reflecting on the human problems encountered along the way of his journey, in the form of sympathy for human troubles that touch the soul of the narrator, sometimes shedding a stingy male tear.

Using the traveler's first-person account, the writer conveys his thoughts about the spirit of freedom and the need to change the existing society by overthrowing an autocratic state mired in the socio-political problems of serfdom. The traveler expresses Radishchev's ideas of enlightenment, which consist in the right to self-defense, in cultivating civic feelings in a person.

Describing the journey of his hero of the novel, who felt his own guilt before the people he meets on his way, the writer considers it necessary to show the reader the possibility of a person’s movement towards the truth, starting from human misconceptions.

Option 2

The main character of the book A.N. Radishchev "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" - traveler. He goes from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and along the way he stops in different settlements.

The hero listens to the stories of the people he meets, reads the documents or other papers that come to him, and sometimes he himself is a participant in the events. The traveler is also a storyteller. This is a person close to Radishchev in perception. The dedication that precedes the book, which is written on behalf of the author, tells us this. In it, Radishchev talks about human disasters that come from humans.

The hero has no name, it is unknown for what purpose he travels. The author does not talk about his life. But from some separate passages the reader learns that he is a poor nobleman and serves as an official. The traveler is a widower of mature years, he has children. His inner world is revealed in observations and thoughts. A traveler is an educated and well-read person, he is observant and sociable, and has an analytical mind. Throughout the journey, he reflects on the problems that he encounters and expresses sympathy for poor people.

In the book we see a description of the life of various strata of society. Particular attention is paid to the peasantry and its suffering. The poverty of the people is shown (chapter “Pawns”), hard peasant labor (chapter “Lyuban”). The conversation with the peasant shocks the traveler. The story is told about a landowner who took away the peasants’ plots of land and forced them to work for him all the days of the year (chapter “Vyshny Volochok”). The sale of peasants by bankrupt landowners is described (chapter “Copper”). You can learn about this from publications in the newspaper. And in the chapter “Spasskaya Polest” there is a traveler’s dream, which aptly depicts Empress Catherine, her court and military leader Potemkin. The dignitaries surrounding the throne and the courtiers are servile, the military leader is drowning in luxury, and the soldiers are in distress.

Reflecting on what he saw, the hero opens his eyes to many things. This person discovers the truth and changes his previous beliefs. Life tells him the need for social change.

Essay on the topic Traveler in the story Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow

Radishchev’s work is an excellent example of how a writer can convey this or that thought to his reader using simple techniques from the world of literature. In the work “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” he showed, although not many characters and images, he showed this “little” in a way that no one else would have shown. It is worth highlighting the image of the main character of the work - the Traveler.

The traveler is the nameless hero of the work, who lived his entire life in ignorance of his true destiny, which he reflects on throughout the entire work. He thinks about the meaning of life, forcing the reader to also be imbued with his thoughts and reflections, since the story is told from his perspective.

By character, the Traveler appears to the reader as a person of a very high moral organization, making him understand that for him material wealth is not at all as important as, for example, spiritual ones. By this he reinforces the opinion that he is a person who values ​​sensuality and morality, which allows him to live on. There is nothing more important for him than his own awareness that he is important in the world, and that there is a place and purpose for him with which he can walk through the world.

Also in his character and image one can see his overt altruism. A traveler simply cannot pass by people in need without paying due attention to them. He cannot pass by without helping them, which makes him very happy. He gives people what they need, which also speaks of him as a very pleasant person who is capable of doing good, and wants to do this very good to people who need it.

From all this, the reader can conclude that the Traveler is a very wise and experienced man, who in his life has seen many interesting and exciting things, after which he decided to move on to something more sublime and sensual than he had previously done. The traveler is a very kind person who is always ready to help someone in need, but will never help a person who is pretending. This is precisely where another character trait of the Traveler is visible - free-thinking. He is free from everyone around him, which allows him to make his own decisions and build on them.

I believe that through his image the author tried to convey to the reader the idea that it is necessary to think outside the framework established by society, to reflect on what is happening regardless of the opinions of others, and in the same way make decisions - regardless of the opinions of others. This is precisely what is clearly visible in the image of the character of the Traveler, which prompts the readers of the work to think.

Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev (1749-1802) grew up in a wealthy landowner family, in a village in the Saratov province. His father was an educated man and not lacking in humane sentiments; he did not oppress his peasants unduly. When R. was 8 years old, he was taken to Moscow. Here he lived with a relative, M.F. Argamakov Yu, and studied with his children. His teachers were professors Mosk. university.

From his earliest years, Russian progressive social thought was the soil on which Radishchev’s self-awareness and worldview grew.

In 1762, Radishchev was granted a page. The Corps of Pages was less a general educational institution than a school for future courtiers.

In the fall of 1766, R. was sent to Leipzig as part of a group of young nobles to study law at the university. In addition to legal sciences, R. studies philosophy and natural sciences. He spent 5 years in Leipzig, where his friendship began with Ushakov (died in Leipzig) and A.M. Kutuzov. Catherine sent students abroad under the supervision of Major Bokum, who put money in his pocket, starved the students, and mocked them. Leipzig Univ. gave R. a scientific school.

R. had to serve in Russia and was assigned to the Senate as a protocol officer. He left the service and entered another place; as a lawyer, he became a chief auditor, i.e. military prosecutor on the staff of General Bruce.

In 1775 he retired and married. Two years later he began serving again; he entered the Commerce College, which was in charge of trade and industry.

From 1780, R. became an assistant to the manager of the St. Petersburg customs, soon he began to actually perform the position of its manager, and finally in 1790 he was officially appointed to this position. He was a fairly prominent official, a well-connected man, a man well-known in the capital.

A few months after R. returned to his homeland from Leipzig, an anonymous excerpt from “Travel to ** I** T***” was published in Novikov’s magazine “Zhivopiets”. This was the first work in Russian literature of the 18th century, which gave a true picture of the horror of serfdom. (Gukovsky writes that “Soviet science recognizes that the “Excerpt” was written by Radishchev).

Other literary works by R. that have come down to us date back to the first half of the 1770s: the translation of a special military essay “Officer Exercises” and the writing of an artistic essay “The Diary of One Week.” In the 1780s, Radishchev worked on “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” and wrote other works in prose and poetry.

In 1789, the semi-mystical, semi-liberal “Society of Friends of Verbal Sciences” was formed in St. Petersburg, uniting young writers, officers (mainly sailors), and officials.

R. entered this society and carried out his propaganda in it. It became one of the centers of the society. In the magazine “Conversing Citizen” (the society’s printed organ), he published his article “A Conversation about Being a Son of the Fatherland.” The magazine entered into relations with the city duma, established three years earlier. In May 1790, the naval war with Sweden took a turn dangerous for St. Petersburg. And at this moment Radishchev turned out to be the initiator of organizing a militia of volunteers of various kinds of people, armed to take over the city. The city council implemented this initiative. At the same time, peasants running away from the landowners were also taken into the militia.

In 1789, R. again appeared in print after a break of more than ten years. This year his anonymous brochure “The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov” appeared. The brochure consisted of two parts: in the first, R. gave an artistically written essay describing a friend of his youth and talked about the life of Russian students in Leipzig; the second consisted of translations of Ushakov’s philosophical and legal sketches made by R. The first part is a very subtly and deeply conceived story about youth. “The Life of Ushakov” is a life in a new way. His hero is by no means a saint. He is not a famous nobleman or military leader. He is an inconspicuous young man, an official, and then a student. But he is a man of the future century, a young man devoted to science and the ideas of freedom, and he is more valuable to R. than all generals and dignitaries. In addition, he is R.’s friend (the theme of exalted friendship).

That propaganda effect, cat. R.'s book produced, in the presence of a tense social atmosphere in 1789, on the one hand, stimulated him to further activity, on the other hand, made the reaction wary.

Meanwhile, in 1789, R. completed his long-term work “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” He submitted the manuscript to the censor, and the St. Petersburg Chief of Police Ryleev let it through without reading it. However, attempts to publish it led nowhere. Then R. set up a small printing house at his home. First, for experience, he published his brochure “Letter to a Friend Living in Tobolsk” in it; it was an article written back in 1782, dedicated to a description of the opening of the monument to Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, and concluded an analysis of Peter’s reform activities. The article ended with a definite indication of the hopelessness of hopes for improving the situation from above, from the throne, and with a greeting to the French Revolution.

In May 1790 25 copies of the book “Journey...” appeared. The author's name was not on the book. At the end of the book there was a note that the police censorship had allowed it. R. kept the remaining copies of the book (600 in total) for now.

A search began immediately. The author was soon found. Having learned that he was in danger, R managed to burn all the remaining copies of the book, and on June 30 he was arrested. The investigation lasted less than a month. R. was sitting in the Peter and Paul Fortress. While in prison, R. began to write a story about Saint Philaret the Merciful. In appearance it was precisely the “life of the saint”; but its meaning was different. Under the guise of Filaret, he portrayed himself, and the life was supposed to appear as a half-encrypted autobiography. He portrayed himself as a righteous man.

All R. On July 1790, R.'s case came to trial at the St. Petersburg Criminal Chamber. On July 24, the chamber sentenced him to death. On September 4, Catherine signed a decree replacing his execution with exile to Siberia, in the Ilimsk prison, for ten years.

The journey itself lasted more than a year. Radishchev lived well in Ilimsk thanks to Vorontsov’s material support and connections. Radishchev spent six years in Siberia. Here he wrote a discussion on an economic topic, “Letter on Chinese Bargaining,” addressed to A.R. Vorontsov. Here he published an extensive philosophical treatise “On Man, His Mortality and Immortality.” The treatise is divided into 4 books:

1 – establishes general provisions and starting points of reasoning, determines the place occupied by man in nature, examines his mental abilities in terms of posing the problem of the theory of knowledge.

2 – provides evidence in favor of the mortality of the soul, in favor of materialism

3, 4 – evidence in favor of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, idealism.

Pavel 1 allowed Radishchev to return to European Russia, however, so that he would live in a village under police surveillance and without the right of movement. He wrote the poem “Bova” here, of which only the introduction and the first song have reached us; here he began to write “Description of My Domain,” an agronomic and economic treatise in which, as can be seen from the beginning that has come down to us, he wanted to scientifically prove the need for freedom for the peasants.

In 1801 the new Tsar Alexander 1 freed Radishchev completely, returned to him the nobility, rank and order, taken away by the verdict of 1790.

A.R. Vorontsov began to play a role in the government at this time. Vorontsov recruited R. to work in the Law Drafting Commission. In the Commission, R. courageously pursued his independent line.

Apparently, his two wonderful poems (both unfinished) “Ancient Songs” and “Historical Song” date back to this time. In the first, built partly on the basis of the study of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” the central episode of the poem is the depiction of the invasion of the Slavic land by the barbarian Celts; the enemies attacked Novgorod by surprise, in the absence of troops in it, and kill people, seize them into slavery, rob. But courageous Slavic warriors rush to save their homeland. They managed to capture enemies in Novgorod.

In the “Historical Song,” an extensive poetic story about world history, presented from the position of love of freedom and tyranny, R. wrote about the death of Tiberius, clearly recalling the death of Paul 1 and referring to his successor.

In the Commission, R.'s firmness and his free views led to friction with the authorities, for whom Radishchev was a rebel, a cat. and for the second time he may end up in Siberia. Life represented nothing for R. in the name of which one could fight. September 11, 1802 he committed suicide. Shortly before his death, he said: “Posterity will avenge me.”

“Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” (hereinafter – P)

The narrative opens with a letter to friend Alexei Mikhailovich Kutuzov, in which Radishchev explains his feelings that forced him to write this book. This is a kind of blessing for work.
Departure
Having said goodbye to his friends, the author-narrator leaves, suffering from separation. He dreams that he is alone, but, fortunately, there was a pothole, he woke up, and then they arrived at the station.
Sofia
Having taken the travel document, our traveler goes to the commissar for horses, but they don’t give them horses, they say that they don’t have them, although there are up to twenty nags in the stable. Twenty kopecks had an effect “on the coachmen.” They harnessed the troika behind the commissar's back, and the traveler set off further. The cab driver sings a mournful song, and the traveler reflects on the character of the Russian man. If a Russian wants to disperse his melancholy, he goes to a tavern; whatever doesn’t suit him, he gets into a fight. The traveler asks God why he turned away from people?
Tosna
A discussion about a disgusting road that is impossible to overcome even in summer rains. In the station hut, the traveler meets a failed writer - a nobleman who wants to sell him his literary work “about the loss of privileges by the nobles.” The traveler gives him copper pennies, and offers to give the “labor” by weight to the peddlers so that they can use the paper for “wrapping”, since it is not suitable for anything else.
Lyubani
A traveler sees a peasant plowing on a holiday and wonders if he is a schismatic? The peasant is Orthodox, but he is forced to work on Sunday, because... goes to corvée six days a week. The peasant says that he has three sons and three daughters, the eldest is only ten years old. To keep his family from starving, he has to work at night. He works diligently for himself, but only barely for his master. He is the only worker in the family, but the master has many. The peasant envies the quitrent and state peasants, their lives are easier, then he re-harnesses the horses so that they can rest, while he himself works without rest. The traveler mentally curses all the exploiting landowners and himself for offending his Petrushka when he was drunk.
Miracle
The traveler meets with a university friend, Chelishchev, who talks about his adventure in the raging Baltic, where he almost died because an official refused to send help, saying: “It’s not my position.” Now Chelishchev is leaving the city - “a host of lions”, so as not to see these villains.
Spasskaya field
The traveler got caught in the rain and asked to go into the hut to dry off. There he hears his husband's story about an official who loves “oysters” (oysters). For fulfilling his whim - delivering oysters - he gives ranks and awards from the state treasury. The rain has stopped. The traveler continued his journey with a companion who had asked for it. A fellow traveler tells his story of how he was a merchant, trusted dishonest people, was put on trial, his wife died during childbirth, which began due to worries a month earlier. A friend helped this unfortunate man escape. The traveler wants to help the fugitive, in a dream he imagines himself as an all-powerful ruler, whom everyone admires. This dream reveals to him the wanderer Straight-View, she removes the thorns from his eyes that prevent him from seeing the truth. The author states that the tsar was known among the people as “a deceiver, a hypocrite, a pernicious comedian.” Radishchev shows the discrepancy between Catherine's words and deeds; the ostentatious splendor, the lush, decorative façade of the empire hides behind it terrible scenes of oppression. Pryovzora turns to the king with words of contempt and anger: “Know that you are... the first robber, the first traitor of the general silence, the fiercest enemy, directing his anger at the inside of the weak.” Radishchev shows that there are no good kings; they pour out their favors only on the unworthy. Podberezye The traveler meets a young man going to St. Petersburg to study with his uncle. Here are the young man's thoughts about the detrimental lack of an education system for the country. He hopes that the descendants will be happier in this regard, because... will be able to study. Novgorod The traveler admires the city, remembering its heroic past and how Ivan the Terrible set out to destroy the Novgorod Republic. The author is outraged: what right did the tsar have to “appropriate Novgorod”? The traveler then goes to his friend, Karp Dementich, who married his son. Everyone sits at the table together (host, young people, guest). The traveler draws portraits of his hosts. And the merchant talks about his affairs. Just as he was “launched around the world,” now the son is trading. Armored Women The traveler goes to the sacred hill and hears the menacing voice of the Almighty: “Why did you want to know the secret?” “What are you looking for, foolish child?” Where the “great city” once was, the traveler sees only poor shacks. In Zaitsev, the Traveler meets his friend Krestyankin, who once served and then retired. Krestyankin, a very conscientious and warm-hearted man, was the chairman of the criminal chamber, but left his position, seeing the futility of his efforts. Krestyankin talks about a certain nobleman who began his career as a court stoker, and tells about the atrocities of this unscrupulous man. The peasants could not stand the bullying of the landowner's family and killed everyone. The peasant justified the “guilty” who had been driven to murder by the landowner. No matter how hard Krestyankin fought for a fair solution to this case, nothing happened. They were executed. And he resigned so as not to be an accomplice to this crime. The traveler receives a letter that tells about a strange wedding between “a 78-year-old young man and a 62-year-old young woman,” a certain widow who was engaged in pimping, and in her old age decided to marry the baron. He marries for money, and in her old age she wants to be called “Your Highness.” The author says that without the Buryndas the light would not have lasted even three days; he is outraged by the absurdity of what is happening.

Sacrum
Seeing the separation of the father from his sons going to work, the traveler recalls that out of one hundred serving nobles, ninety-eight “become rakes.” He grieves that he too will soon have to part with his eldest son. The author’s reasoning leads him to the conclusion: “Tell the truth, loving father, tell me, true citizen! Don't you want to strangle your son rather than let him go into service? Because in the service everyone cares about their own pockets, and not about the good of their homeland.” The landowner, calling on the traveler to witness how hard it is for him to part with his sons, tells them that they do not owe him anything, but must work for the good of the fatherland, for this he raised and cared for them, taught them sciences and forced them to think. He admonishes his sons not to stray from the true path, not to lose their pure and high souls.
Yazhelbitsy
Driving past the cemetery, the traveler sees a heartbreaking scene when a father, rushing at his son’s coffin, does not allow him to be buried, crying that they are not burying him with his son in order to stop his torment. For he is guilty that his son was born weak and sick and suffered so much as long as he lived. The traveler mentally reasons that he, too, probably passed on to his sons diseases with the vices of his youth.
Valdai
This ancient town is famous for the amorous affection of unmarried women. The traveler says that everyone knows “Valdai bagels and shameless girls.” Next, he tells the legend of a sinful monk who drowned in a lake during a storm while swimming to his beloved.
Edrovo
The traveler sees many elegant women and girls. He admires their healthy appearance, reproaching the noblewomen for disfiguring their figures by wearing corsets, and then dying from childbirth, because they have been spoiling their bodies for years for the sake of fashion. The traveler talks to Annushka, who at first behaves sternly, and then, getting into conversation, said that her father died, she lives with her mother and sister, and wants to get married. But they ask a hundred rubles for the groom. Vanyukha wants to go to St. Petersburg to earn money. But the traveler says: “Don’t let him go there, there he will learn to drink and get out of the habit of peasant labor.” He wants to give money, but the family won’t take it. He is amazed by their nobility.
Khotilov
Project in the future
Written on behalf of another traveler, even more progressive in his views than Radishchev. Our traveler finds papers left by his brother. Reading them, he finds arguments similar to his thoughts about the harmfulness of slavery, the evil nature of landowners, and the lack of enlightenment.
Vyshny Volochok
The traveler admires the locks and man-made canals. He talks about a landowner who treated peasants like slaves. They worked for him all day, and he gave them only meager food. The peasants did not have their own plots or livestock. And this “barbarian” flourished. The author calls on the peasants to destroy the estate and tools of this nonhuman, who treats them like oxen.
Vydropusk (again written from someone else’s notes)
Project of the future
The author says that the kings imagined themselves to be gods, surrounded themselves with a hundred servants and imagined that they were useful to the fatherland. But the author is sure that this order needs to be changed. The future is enlightenment. Only then will there be justice when people become equal.
Torzhok
The traveler meets a man who wants to open a free printing house. What follows is a discussion about the harmfulness of censorship. “What harm will it do if books are printed without a police stamp?” The author claims that the benefit of this is obvious: “Rulers are not free to separate the people from the truth.” The author in “A Brief Narrative of the Origin of Censorship” says that censorship and the Inquisition have the same roots. And tells the history of printing and censorship in the West. And in Russia... in Russia, what happened with censorship, he promises to tell “another time.”
Copper
The traveler sees a round dance of young women and girls. And then there is a description of the shameful public sale of peasants. A 75-year-old man is waiting to see who will give it to him. His 80-year-old wife was the nurse of the mother of a young master who mercilessly sold his peasants. There is also a 40-year-old woman, the master’s wet nurse, and the entire peasant family, including the baby, going under the hammer. It is scary for a traveler to see this barbarity.
Tver
The traveler listens to the arguments of the tavern interlocutor “at lunch” about the poetry of Lomonosov, Sumarokov and Trediakovsky. The interlocutor reads excerpts from Radishchev’s ode “Liberty,” allegedly written by him, which he is taking to St. Petersburg to publish. The traveler liked the poem, but he did not have time to tell the author about it, because... he left quickly.
Gorodnya
Here the traveler sees the recruiting process, hears the screams and cries of the peasants, and learns about the many violations and injustices happening at the same time. The traveler listens to the story of the servant Vanka, who was raised and taught together with a young master, called Vanyusha, and sent abroad not as a slave, but as a comrade. But the old master favored him, and the young master hated him and was jealous of his success. The old man died. The young master got married, and his wife hated Ivan, humiliated him in every possible way, and then decided to marry him to a dishonored courtyard girl. Ivan called the landowner an “inhuman woman,” and then he was sent to become a soldier. Ivan is happy about this fate. Then the traveler saw three peasants whom the landowner sold as recruits, because... he needed a new carriage. The author is amazed at the lawlessness happening around.

Zavidovo
The traveler sees a warrior in a grenadier's hat, who, demanding horses, threatens the elder with a whip. By order of the headman, the traveler's fresh horses were taken away and given to the grenadier. The traveler is outraged by this order of things. What can you do?
Wedge
The traveler listens to the mournful song of the blind man, and then gives him a ruble. The old man is surprised by the generous alms. He's more excited about the birthday cake than the money. For the ruble can lead someone into temptation, and it will be stolen. Then the traveler gives the old man his scarf from his neck.
Pawns
The traveler treats the child with sugar, and his mother tells her son: “Take the master’s food.” The traveler is surprised why this is bar food. The peasant woman replies that she has nothing to buy sugar with, but they drink it at the bar because they don’t get the money themselves. The peasant woman is sure that these are the tears of slaves. The traveler saw that the owner's bread consisted of three parts of chaff and one part of unsown flour. He looked around for the first time and was horrified by the wretched surroundings. With anger he exclaims: “Cruel-hearted landowner! Look at the children of the peasants who are under your control!”, calls on the exploiters to come to their senses.
Black mud
The traveler meets the wedding train, but is very sad, because... They are going down the aisle under the compulsion of their master.
A word about Lomonosov
The author, passing by the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, entered it in order to honor the grave of the great Lomonosov with his presence. He recalls the life path of a great scientist striving for knowledge. Lomonosov eagerly studied everything that could be learned at that time and studied poetry. The author comes to the conclusion that Lomonosov was great in all matters that he touched.
And now it’s Moscow! Moscow!

The first, main task of P is the fight against serfdom, the fight against human oppression in general. R. proves that serfdom is unprofitable from the point of view of the national economy, that it reduces the amount of material wealth obtained by a given people, in particular in Russia. He puts forward the thesis that forced labor is free, that a person works for himself better than for the oppressor. R. fundamentally denies the right of one person to oppress another.

The idea of ​​the corruption of landowners precisely because they are landowners is carried out throughout P. When depicting landowners, R. does not give exceptional figures; These are not rare individuals, not random phenomena in the class of “slave owners,” but rather normal cases, typical phenomena. Moral corruption has poisoned this class. In the entire book, with the exception of the old gentleman in the chapter “Pride”, only mentioned briefly, and, of course, the ideal father in “Krestsy”, necessary for expounding Radishchev’s principles of education, there are only 2 noblemen who violate the general rule: this is the traveler himself and Mr. Mr. Krestyankin from the chapter “Zaitsevo”. The landowner class in R.'s depiction consists mainly of creatures who have lost the right to the title of man and citizen.

R. contrasts the decay of the landowner class with an enthusiastic assessment of the merits of the people's character. The peasants are strong in spirit, they are healthy both morally and physically.

R. shows serfdom as a terrible evil from a variety of points of view. He shows that it is unfair, paints cruel pictures of the wild tyranny of the landowners, abuse of the serfs, and their unlimited exploitation. He proves that serfdom is illegal.

The solution to the issue of serfdom determines Radishchev’s attitude to the problems of the poetic existence of Russia. The bureaucracy, the various links of the government machine and its various representatives pass through a whole string of images and sketches. R. emphasizes the inhumanity, stupidity, and cruelty of the entire system of power in Russia.

Born in 1769 in Moscow. Young Krylov studied little and unsystematically. He was ten years old when his father, Andrei Prokhorovich, who was at that moment a minor official in Tver, died. Andrei Krylov “didn’t study science,” but he loved to read and instilled his love in his son. He himself taught the boy to read and write and left him a chest of books as an inheritance. Krylov received further education thanks to the patronage of Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov, who read the poems of the young poet. In his youth, he lived a lot in Lvov’s house, studied with his children, and simply listened to the conversations of writers and artists who came to visit. At the age of fourteen he ended up in St. Petersburg, where his mother went to ask for a pension. Then he got a job in the St. Petersburg Treasury Chamber. However, he was not too interested in official matters. In the first place among Krylov’s hobbies were literary studies and visiting the theater. Librettoes of comic operas came from his pen Coffee pot And Rabid Family, tragedy Cleopatra (has not reached us) And Philomel, comedy Writer in the hallway. These works did not bring the young author either money or fame, but helped him get into the circle of St. Petersburg writers. He was patronized by the famous playwright Ya.B. Knyazhnin, but the proud young man, deciding that he was being mocked in the “master’s” house, broke up with his older friend.

Since the late 80s, the main activity has been in the field of journalism. In 1789, he published the magazine “Mail of Spirits” for eight months. He was 20 years old. PD, according to Gukovsky, is one of the most remarkable magazines of the 18th century. However, it doesn't look much like a magazine. This is a collection of essays in the form of correspondence between gnomes, sylphs, etc. and the wizard Malikulmulk. The entire magazine is anonymous. Most likely, it was written entirely by Krylov, or at least all the material was processed by him. There was an opinion that Radishchev collaborated in the PD. The names of Rachmaninov and Emin are also mentioned. The PD was an organ of radical ideology. Krylov attacks the entire system of power and culture in his journal. He exposes judges and officials, bigots and hypocrites, and is not afraid to attack the royal power itself. K also raises economic issues in the PD, and fights against the dominance of foreign goods, and in connection with this stands his fight against gallomania. However, Krylov also attacks Russian merchants. The democratic beliefs of the PD are manifested quite clearly. The magazine also attacks serfdom. In addition, he opposes the rationalism of the French enlighteners. PD did not look away from the topic of the day. Her satire attacks very specific facts of the social life of Russia at the end of the reign of Catherine2. A lot of space in the PD is devoted to literary polemics, primarily with Knyazhnin. The extraordinary courage of the magazine and its radicalism could not help but attract the attention of the government. Krylov had to take care of preserving the magazine through literary cover-ups. At the end of the publication, he either writes a jingoistic feuilleton about the Turkish war, or glorifies Catherine in prose and even in poetry. In PD there are bright and broad sketches of everyday life, the desire to build character, in places even elements of a realistic novel about a poor, impeccable person. Of course, Krylov’s fantasy is not given seriously, but only as a compositional and satirical motif. PD ceased with the August issue of 1789. The magazine had few subscribers, but the reason for its closure, apparently, was government pressure.

In 1790 he retired, deciding to devote himself entirely to literary activity. He became the owner of a printing house and in January 1792, together with his friend the writer Klushin, began publishing the magazine “Spectator,” which was already enjoying greater popularity. The greatest success of “The Spectator” was brought by the works of Krylov himself Kaib, an eastern story, fairy tale Nights, Eulogy for my grandfather. In the story "Kaib" we see Rousseauistic motifs characteristic of the young Krylov: happiness and virtue flourish away from the world, in a deep forest, in solitude. It is emphasized here that withdrawal from the world is not at all a noble idyll. Krylov exposes this same noble idyll in Kaib’s meeting with the shepherd. Instead of a happy Arcadian shepherd, he shows a real and, of course, Russian peasant, hungry, poor and not at all complacent. in this story, Krylov also exposes the odic lies of the nobility. The main theme of the story is the Russian autocracy of the times of Krylov. The oriental flavor and the transfer of the action to the east could no longer deceive anyone. In Kaiba, the issue of monarchy is brought to the fore. In "A Eulogy for My Grandfather"- in the foreground is the question of serfdom. The number of subscribers grew. In 1793 the magazine was renamed “St. Petersburg Mercury”. By this time, his publishers focused primarily on constant ironic attacks on Karamzin and his followers. The publisher of Mercury was alien to Karamzin’s reformist work, which seemed to him artificial and overly susceptible to Western influences. At the end of 1793, the publication of the St. Petersburg Mercury ceased, and Krylov left St. Petersburg for several years. Some fragmentary information suggests that he lived for some time in Moscow, where he played cards a lot and recklessly. Apparently, he wandered around the province, living on the estates of his friends. In 1797, Krylov went to the estate of Prince S.F. Golitsyn, where he apparently was his secretary and teacher of his children. It was for the Golitsyns’ home performance that the play was written in 1799-1800 Trumph or Podschipa . In the evil caricature of the stupid, arrogant and evil warrior Trump, one could easily discern Paul I, who did not like the author primarily for his admiration for the Prussian army and King Frederick II. The irony was so caustic that the play was first published in Russia only in 1871. Meaning Trumpha not only in its political overtones. What is more important is that the very form of “joke tragedy” parodied classical tragedy with its high style and in many ways meant the author’s rejection of those aesthetic ideas to which he had been faithful over the previous decades. After the death of Paul I, Prince Golitsyn was appointed governor-general of Riga, and Krylov served as his secretary for two years. In 1803 he retired again and, apparently, again spent the next two years in continuous travel around Russia and playing cards. It was during these years, about which little is known, that the playwright and journalist began to write fables. It is known that in 1805 Krylov in Moscow showed the famous poet and fabulist I.I. Dmitriev his translation of two fables by La Fontaine: Oak and cane And The picky bride. Dmitriev highly appreciated the translation and was the first to note that the author had found his true calling. The poet himself did not immediately understand this. In 1806 he published only three fables, after which he returned to dramaturgy. He stopped writing for the theater and every year he devoted more and more attention to working on fables. In 1808 he had already published 17 fables, including the famous Elephant and pug. In 1809, the first collection was published, which immediately made its author truly famous. In total, before the end of his life, he wrote more than 200 fables, which were combined into nine books. He worked until his last days - the writer's friends and acquaintances received the last lifetime edition of the fables in 1844, along with notice of the death of their author. At first, Krylov’s work was dominated by translations or adaptations of the famous French fables by La Fontaine, ( Dragonfly and ant, The Wolf and the Lamb), but gradually he began to find more and more independent plots, many of which were related to topical events in Russian life. Thus, fables became a reaction to various political events Quartet, Swan, Pike and Cancer, Wolf at the kennel. More abstract subjects formed the basis Curious, Hermit and bear and others. However, fables written “on the topic of the day” very soon also began to be perceived as more generalized works. The events that gave rise to their writing were quickly forgotten, and the fables themselves turned into favorite reading in all educated families. Working in a new genre dramatically changed Krylov's literary reputation. If the first half of his life passed practically in obscurity, full of material problems and deprivations, then in maturity he was surrounded by honors and universal respect. Editions of his books sold in huge circulations for that time. All critics paid attention to the national character of his language and his use of characters from Russian folklore. The writer remained hostile to Westernism throughout his life. It is no coincidence that he joined the literary society “Conversation of Lovers of Russian Literature,” which defended the ancient Russian style and did not recognize Karamzin’s language reform. In parallel with popular recognition, there was also official recognition. From 1810, Krylov was first an assistant librarian and then a librarian at the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. At the same time, he received a repeatedly increased pension “in honor of his excellent talents in Russian literature.” He was elected a member of the Russian Academy, awarded a gold medal for literary merits and received many other awards and honors. One of the characteristic features of Krylov’s popularity is the numerous semi-legendary stories about his laziness, sloppiness, gluttony, and wit. Already the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the fabulist’s creative activity in 1838 turned into a truly national celebration. Krylov died in 1844 in St. Petersburg.

The significance of Radishchev as a writer, revolutionary thought and political figure in the history of Russian culture is extremely great. In terms of his worldview, ideological position, and range of interests, he belonged to the galaxy of European enlighteners of the 18th century. The most important events of the century - the uprising under the leadership of Pugachev, the experience of the revolutionary movement in Europe and America - were reflected in the formation of his social and political beliefs.

Early journalism reveals the depth of Radishchev's patriotism and love of freedom. In “A Letter to a Friend Living in Tobolsk,” the writer assesses the activities of Peter I: “... he gave the first aspiration to such a wide community,” that is, Russia, but “he could ... be more glorious, exalting himself and exalting his fatherland, asserting private liberty,” in other words, civil liberty. Even then, Radishchev believed that “there is no example, and perhaps there will be no example until the end of the world, of a tsar voluntarily giving up anything from his power” - without a revolutionary coup, limiting autocracy is impossible.

In the “Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland,” Radishchev reveals a civil understanding of the image of a fighter for justice: “Man, a man is needed to bear the name of the son of the Fatherland.” In Russia, serf “farmers” have been turned into “draft animals, and landowners are unworthy of knowledge people because they are robbers and bloodsuckers.

In “The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov,” Radishchev proposed his understanding of a new type of positive hero. He sought to write a work that would be based on autobiographical material, and tell in it about the years of his youth spent at the University of Leipzig. However, he chooses not the genre of confession, suggested by literary tradition, but the genre of “life,” although his hero is not a famous person. The hero of Radishchev’s book is the young man Fyodor Ushakov, and she talks about the formation of beliefs, putting forward the central theme of his era - the theme of education. Genre the nature of the work is distinguished by sufficient originality: the "Life" includes elements of the genres of a story, life, memoir, treatise, message. Ushakov's biography is organically intertwined with philosophical, moral and political reasoning.

"Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" by Radishchev

The main attention should be paid to the analysis of one of the most outstanding works of Russian literature of the 18th century - “Travels from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, in which the worldview of its author was embodied with great completeness and his social and philosophical position was reflected. Each of the chapters of the book, named after the stations on the road from one capital to another, contains a new topic, and sometimes two. They are the social lack of rights of the serf peasantry and the horror of their situation, the connection of serfdom and landowner privileges with the apparatus of state coercion, the inhumanity of the autocratic bureaucratic system, the corruption of the morals of the nobility and the high virtues among the peasants, the aesthetic and moral life of the people, recruitment, etc. But with In this case, “The Journey” does not break up into separate essays and short stories, since all themes are subordinated to the disclosure of the main idea of ​​the book, the feudal-landlord system must be destroyed, and the people liberated. The leading role in the process of liberation is given to the people, the revolution. In addition, the entire huge the material of the book is subordinated to a single plot, which in “Travel” is the story of a man who learned his political errors, discovered the truth of life, “the story of the ideological and moral renewal of a traveler” (G. Makogonenko).

The image of the traveler reveals Radishchev’s ideal of man; he is, first of all, a “social man” who lives by social interests (“My soul has become wounded by human suffering”). From the awareness of the imperfections of the existing state system to the formation of revolutionary convictions - this is the path of the hero’s moral evolution. The sequence of the spiritual tests of the traveler is strictly indicated

On the pages of “Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow” many characters appear, outlined by the author briefly but sharply, and acting as representatives of various social strata of Russian society at the end of the 18th century. They can be divided into three groups. The first consists of the oppressors of the people: landowners, officials, courtiers. In Radishchev’s depiction they are “greedy beasts, insatiable leeches.” In clarifying the place and role of images of landowners in the figurative system of the work, it is necessary to turn to the question of the documentary basis of their creation, consider the basic techniques of artistic typification and determine the features of the manifestation of the author’s position in relation to different types of local nobility. Radishchev’s images of the tsar and courtiers, officials, merchants and officers are included in the context of the problem of the relationship between power and law, ideal and reality.

The second group is represented by the peasantry, the people. Beginning with the chapter "Gorodnya", the traveler communicates mainly with peasants and affirms the idea that serfdom could not destroy the main sources of its spiritual and moral strength and capabilities in the Russian national character. The traveler acts as an ally of the author of the ode “Liberty,” that is, Radishchev himself, who is confident in the need for a revolutionary reorganization of reality. It is the people who will have to renew Russia. The nature of the depiction of people from the people, Radishchev’s very attitude towards them is a new phenomenon in Russian literature and a significant victory for the writer. For Radishchev, the people are not an abstract category: the writer is trying to give an image of the peasants in their individual uniqueness. To confirm this, it is appropriate to compare the images of peasants in the chapters “Lyuban”, “Copper”, “City”. Among the landowners, Radishchev denies the existence of moral and physical health, honor, and self-dignity, but he attributes all these qualities to the Russian peasantry. Such an image of a peasant serves as an expression of the writer’s idea that it is the people who are the bearer of the civil principles necessary for the establishment of a new, free society. Here Radishchev’s thought is polemically directed against noble ideologists who claim that the people are not able to bear the burden of freedom. The tendency to idealize folk images is opposed by Radishchev’s desire not to embellish reality. Slaves by status can become slaves by spirit, and from the writer’s point of view, the landowner class, which corrupts the peasants morally and physically, will be guilty of this. The powerful spiritual activity of the people is evidenced in Radishchev’s book by their ability to create, therefore the problem of the writer’s use of the experience of the people’s oral artistic creativity should be given special attention

The third group of characters in the work are intellectuals, people of high spiritual aspirations, souls committed to the people - “sympathizers” of the traveler. In relation to “friend Ch...”, “A.M.K.”, Novgorod seminarian, Mr. Krestyankin and others, it is necessary to decide the question of the relationship between the documentary and artistic principles in these images and to reveal the meaning of heroes of this type in the figurative system of the work, in the logic of the development of the author's idea.

While studying the features of the system of images of “Journeys from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” it is also necessary to answer the question of why Radishchev’s book ends with “The Tale of Lomonosov.”

In close connection with the analysis of the “Journey”, it is necessary to comprehend the political, historical and philosophical issues of the ode “Liberty.” In it, Radishchev appears as the founder of the revolutionary foot movement in Russia. In the traditional classicist form of the ode, written in high “calm”, iambics and decimal stanzas, Radishchev puts new content in. The laudatory ode glorified monarchs, and Radishchev glorifies the tyrant fighters Brutus and William Tell, glorifies the “priceless gift of liberty,” the revolution.

Particular attention should be paid to the study of the genre and compositional originality of “The Journey”. Radishchev’s book is characterized by an acute journalistic quality - “a special form of artistry”, “a fusion of scientific and artistic methods of studying life and explaining man” (G. Makogonenko). Publicism is determined by some features of the plot. building characters and autobiographical image of the author-hero. Radishchev abandoned private plots, so his heroes are revealed in public affairs. At the same time, Radishchev was alien to rationalism; he attached great importance to feelings that “the good in a person produces anxiety... a completely dispassionate person is a fool and an absurd idol.” Reason and feelings, from the writer’s point of view, must be harmoniously combined in a person. The intense emotionality of the narrative connects Radishchev with the stylistic traditions of pan-European sentimentalism. A number of researchers have noted the influence of sentimental literature on Radishchev in creating the image of the traveler and in the uniqueness of his compositional role in the book. Others believed that the problem of sensitivity applies to all characters in the story.

The autobiographical element occupies a significant place in “The Journey” - the writer does not want to hide his personal beliefs. Autobiographicism is characteristic of both sentimentalism and realism. The subjectivism of the sentimentalists - Stern and Rousseau - is alien to Radishchev. From Makogonenko’s point of view, “he developed and deepened the principles of autobiography that triumphed in Derzhavin’s poetry,” and Derzhavin’s work is considered by the researcher in the context of the formation of Russian realism. Radishchev’s artistic task is also realistic - to present “all things” “in their natural form”, to comprehend and show reality as it is. The depth of penetration into the depicted characters, the faithfulness in conveying the social circumstances of the heroes’ lives, characteristic of Radishchev’s artistic style, allow researchers (Berkov, Piksanov, Makogonenko) to classify his work as critical or educational realism. Thus, the question Radishchev’s belonging to a certain literary movement is still debatable.

For his book, the writer chooses the genre of travel, which became widespread in sentimental literature in the 18th century, thanks to the English writer Stern, the author of “Sentimental Journey,” which presented the intimate life of the author. But there was another tradition - in the 1760s - 1780s, the reader became acquainted with a series of “travels” written by Russian scientists; he knew both “Journey to... I.T.”, published in Novikov’s magazine “Drone”, and “Journey of the Deaf and Mute” by Fonvizin. This was a genre of Russian educational “journey”, in which the hero escaped from the sphere of private life and entered the sphere of public life. Radishchev continues this Russian tradition. “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” combines a variety of literary genre material: in it one can find the features of a literary journey, an educational and moralizing novel, a literary story, a treatise, satirical sketches, and a confession. Some of these genres are “primary”, others are “unifying”. It is necessary to answer the question of what “primary” genres are included in the “Journey” and what are the principles of their interrelation and interaction in the work.

In the field of composition “Travels,” Radishchev also shows innovation. When studying the principles of book construction, it is necessary to highlight the micro- and macrostructures of the work, determine the basic structural unit of the cyclic composition “Travels,” and understand the role of mechanical connections in the composition.

The analysis of the language and style of Radishchev’s works causes certain difficulties. It is necessary to highlight the tendency to use easy colloquial language in some situations and the tradition of Slavic book language in cases where the author expresses his philosophical beliefs or conveys civic feelings. To express new democratic ideas, Radishchev also needed new means of language. The writer composed his literary style from various elements: from the language of contemporary literature, the language of ancient Russian writing, oral folk poetry, living folk speech (the author reproduces it in the best examples, without being carried away by dialectisms). He saw the national origins of the Russian literary language in Old Church Slavonic and Old Russian writing. Addressing them, Radishchev often Slavicized his language more than was required even by Lomonosov’s “high calm.”

The object of my work is the essay by A.N. Radishchev “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.”
The purpose of the work is to evaluate peasant images and paintings in the work of the Russian writer.
In accordance with the purpose of the work, it is necessary to solve several problems: first of all, to characterize the features and individual characteristics in the description of the images of the peasants in “Journey”; and also to assess the place of the work in the system of creations that characterize, in one way or another, the characteristics of the life of peasants and cause an upsurge of the peasant spirit, the fire of rebellion and revolutionary unrest.

Introduction
Main part
Conclusion
List of used literature

The work contains 1 file

Introduction

Main part

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

In literary works one can more than once see an image of people, their way of life, their feelings and deep souls; and most importantly, their problems and place in society. By the 17th and 18th centuries, two classes were formed in our country: peasants and nobles. Both classes were distinguished by a completely individual, dissimilar culture and spiritual life; understanding of life and even language! It is for this reason that in the works of many writers of that time one can observe images, in particular, of pictures of peasant life and life. One of these works is “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, given in memory of descendants by A.N. Radishchev. It is about the specifics of the image and attitude towards the peasantry, its problems that I will talk about in this work. 1

The object of my work is the essay by A.N. Radishchev “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.”

The purpose of the work is an assessment of peasant images and paintings in the work of a Russian writer.

In accordance with the purpose of the work, it is necessary solve several problems: first of all, characterize the features and individual characteristics in the description of the images of the peasants in “Journey”; and also to assess the place of the work in the system of creations that characterize, in one way or another, the characteristics of the life of peasants and cause an upsurge of the peasant spirit, the fire of rebellion and revolutionary unrest.

Main part

Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev is a legendary figure, mainly for the Russian revolutionary intelligentsia of the 19th century, who saw in his views radical humanism and the depth of disclosure of social problems. The name of Radishchev for most generations of domestic readers is surrounded, among other things, by an aura of martyrdom, which characterizes the history of the creation of the novel “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” on which the writer worked for more than ten years. This novel is today considered one of the significant and outstanding achievements of Russian literature of the 18th century. The novel was created in the then-famous “travel” genre, which, in turn, was revealed by L. Stern, the founder of sentimentalism. Radishchev, in principle, used the works of sentimentalist writers in his assessment of social life and creativity. 2

Speaking about the peculiarities of the ideological or value load, it is important to note that the novel is the first ideological work in which, for the most part, political objectives are affirmed. This characterizes the originality and significance of the presented novel for Russian literature and mentality in general. Being directed against tsarism and the landowner-serf system, this book managed to provoke an angry outburst and reaction from Catherine the Second, reigning at that time. After reading this novel, the empress became indignant, writing in the notes: “She places her hopes in the revolt of the men... He threatens the kings with the scaffold... He is a rebel worse than Pugachev.” Subsequently, after the publication of the book, Radishchev was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and then exiled to Siberia, to the Ilimsk prison. What caused such a reaction from the tsarist authorities, whose beliefs are based on the autonomy of political ideas and views from “writerly interventions”, I think it has already become clear: Radishchev managed to openly reveal the problems and complexities of peasant life, to become a kind of rebel against the tsarist authorities in the struggle for a fair and favorable attitude towards peasants.

There are a lot of pictures and images characterizing the life of peasants in the work: Alexander Nikolaevich offered a wide panorama of the life and way of life of these unfortunate people. The author is outraged not so much by the poverty and hard work that engulfed the peasants, sucked into the “abyss of disorder and human hatred,” but by the fact that they are simply, like serfs, deprived of freedom, will and are legally powerless. As Radishchev writes: “The peasant in law is dead.” Moreover, he is dead only when the protection of the law is necessary. The chapter of “Zaitsevo” speaks about this: for many years, the landowner and his family tortured the peasants, and none of them ever stood up to fight for the unfortunate. When the peasants, driven out of patience, killed the monster, the law remembered them, and they were sentenced to death. The fate of the peasant, as Radishchev writes, is terrible: “And the lot of the one riveted in bonds, and the lot of the prisoner in a stinking dungeon, and the lot of the ox in the yoke.” 3

However, Radishchev’s entire work is based on the idea of ​​​​the equality of all people; only the peasants, as he believes, are still better, precisely in human terms - better than the landowners. The latter in Radishchev's novel, for the most part, are negative characters, non-humans. But individual people, usually not found among landowners, cannot do anything, since the entire system, all classes are against the peasants. And the morals and customs of the peasants, in turn, are healthy and natural: they are not infected or spoiled by artificial civilization. This is especially confirmed by the description or comparison of urban and rural settlements: “Look how all the members of my beauties are round, tall, not bent, not spoiled. It’s funny to you that they have feet of five inches, and maybe even six. Well, my dear niece, with your three-vershok leg, stand next to them, and run at once, who will most quickly reach the tall birch tree standing at the end of the meadow? Village beauties are healthy and virtuous, while city girls have “rouge on their cheeks, rouge on their hearts, rouge on their conscience, soot on their sincerity.”

Confirming his unshakable faith in the peasantry, Radishchev arrogantly and impetuously challenges the nobles and the autocrat, declaring:

“Burlak; going to a tavern with his head hanging and returning stained with blood from slaps in the face can solve a lot of things that have hitherto been guesswork in Russian history.” 4 In Lyuban there is a meeting with a plowing peasant, and in the village of Edrovo with a peasant woman Anyuta, who is very proud and independent, despite her poverty and orphanhood. The basis of her life behavior, as for the peasant from Lyuban, is work. The image of Anyuta seems to reveal a new, previously unknown world of moral purity, purity and a blissful state of freedom. All peasants, no matter where they come from, personify the image of those serfs who managed, despite the oppression of slavery and hard work hanging on them, to retain all the “majestic advantages and dignity of man.” All these people, exactly people, according to Radishchev, not only have an incredible craving for education and the development of spiritual strengths, advantages and abilities, they also have an elusive ability and desire for self-knowledge: “There is a person equal to everyone else.” Such people are not afraid, they are firm in their thoughts and positions, they hate any timidity and tightness. They are active and courageous, which reveals the human dignity awakened in them. Like any Russian person, the peasant is patient, but to the limit; threateningly warning his tormentor, he says: “don’t bring your soul to despair,” “be afraid!” 5

The main merit of the Russian writer, the main difference of his work is that he does not complain about individual negative manifestations and shortcomings of social life; he condemns the very order of things, the rule of serfdom:

Slave's peace under the canopy

The fruits of gold will not increase;

Where everything in the mind is filled with striving,

Greatness does not vegetate there. 6

Despite the fact that it was not the poverty and misery of the peasants that motivated the emotions and feelings of the great writer, nevertheless, elements of the description of the poor and, truly, wretched existence of these people still found their place within the framework of the work. So, in the chapter “Pawns”, describing the hut, clothes, shoes of the peasants, Radishchev shows the poverty of the people, angrily exclaiming: “The greed of the nobility, robbery, torture - that’s what brought the peasants to this state...” About how the peasant works, what his work is, the writer tells in the chapter “Lyubani”. Six days a week the peasant works for the master. The peasant has only holidays and nights to cultivate his arable land. After a conversation with a peasant, the author exclaims: “Be afraid, hard-hearted landowner, I see your condemnation on the forehead of each of your peasants.”

Radishchev also paints a picture of the exploitation of peasants by landowners in the chapter “Vyshny Volochok”. It tells about a landowner who took away all their lands from the peasants and forced them to work for themselves all year round. “Barbarian! You are not worthy to bear the name of a citizen,” the writer exclaims, addressing the landowner. 7

The chapter "Copper" describes the sale of peasants at public auction. Here they are selling an old man, 75 years old, who carried the wounded father of Captain G. on his shoulders from the battlefield, who is now selling him; an old woman, an old man's wife, a nurse and a nanny. A woman - the master's wet nurse, her daughter with her baby and her husband. And this entire family is in danger of being sold into different hands. Radishchev ends the difficult description of the sale with the assertion that freedom should be expected not from the landowners, but “from the very severity of enslavement.” All this, according to the writer, can be corrected only by a revolution, a revolution, a reformation of all social life and way of life.

In general, characterizing the features of the analysis of peasant images and paintings presented in the novel, we can say that Radishchev managed to introduce a number of original and individual features in assessing the life of peasants: the innovation of the Russian writer was expressed in the creation of a collective image of the people; peasants, who are shown, in most cases, in action, at the decisive, highest moment of their lives, when they took retribution on their tormentors and enslavers. In particular, in the chapter “Zaitsovo”, the peasants, as I already said, driven to extremes, killed their landowner; and the chapter “Khotilov” directly describes the possibility of Pugachev’s uprising, which raised tens of thousands of peasants, turning them into courageous warriors driven by the desire to “free themselves from their rulers.” 8

Conclusion

Thus, the work of A.N. Radishchev is one of the first novels in which for the first time an analysis and assessment of the most important state institutions was carried out from the political, economic, legal and moral sides. In his novel, Alexander Nikolaevich exposes the essence of autocracy, the essence and vice of serfdom, to which many chapters of his “Travel” are devoted. In his work, Radishchev compares landowners and peasants, their actions, thoughts, dreams and specific actions. Such a comparison, such an analysis allows us not only to once again be convinced of the depravity and fragility of such a class as landowners, but also to believe in the strength of the ordinary people, who are driven only by the best that should be in every person: goodness, faith, love, fortitude , responsibility and desire to live. Among the landowners this somehow all fades away; it’s not that they resign themselves to the philistine way of life - no. They do not have that struggle, that fire in the soul that fed the “fireplace of the soul” of any Russian peasant who languished in captivity and rushed all his life in search of real, but at the same time such simple freedom... it is freedom that Radishchev tells us about. Moreover, not only the physical freedom of any individual person. But also the freedom of the state, thus sending readers into the mystery of the thoughts and actions of an ordinary Russian person. A fairy tale, you say. No - this is reality.

List of used literature

1. A.N. Radishchev: research and commentary: collection. - Tver: TvGU, 2001. – 121 p.
2. "Radishchev in Russian criticism" A manual for teachers. Ed. V. D. Kuzmina: State. educational and pedagogical publishing house, M., 1952.
3. Nikishov Yu.M. Wisdom of Radishchev (“Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”): monograph. - Tver: TvGU, 2009. - 168 p.
4. Pavlov N.P. A.N. Radishchev // Pavlov N.P. Russian writers in our region. - Kalinin, 1956. - pp. 6-12.
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