Analysis of female images of fathers and children. Read an essay on the topic of Female images in Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” for free

The works of I. S. Turgenev are among the most lyrical and poetic works in Russian literature. Female images give them a special charm. “Turgenev's woman” is some kind of special dimension, a certain ideal that embodies beauty, both external and internal. “Turgenev’s women” are characterized by both poetry and integrity of nature, and incredible strength spirit. I.S. Turgenev, in relation to women, reveals everything good or bad that is in his heroes.

Often it is the heroines in his works who are forced to make decisions, do moral choice, determine your destiny.

The novel “Fathers and Sons” presents a whole gallery of female images - from the simple peasant woman Fenechka to the high society lady Anna Sergeevna Odintsova.

I would like to start my essay with a story about Fenechka. Fenechka’s first appearance leaves in the soul a feeling of something soft, warm and very natural: “She was a young woman of about twenty-three, all white and soft, with dark hair and eyes, with red, childishly plump lips and delicate hands. She was wearing a neat chintz dress, a new blue scarf lay lightly on her round shoulders.”

It should be noted that Fenechka did not appear in front of Arkady and Bazarov on the first day of their arrival. That day she said she was sick, although, of course, she was healthy. The reason is very simple: she was terribly shy.

The duality of her position is obvious: a peasant woman whom the master allowed to live in the house, but he himself was ashamed of this. Nikolai Petrovich committed a seemingly noble act. He settled with him a woman who gave birth to a child from him, that is, he seemed to recognize certain of her rights and did not hide the fact that Mitya was his son. But he behaved in such a way that Fenichka could not feel free and coped with her situation only thanks to her natural naturalness and dignity.

This is how Nikolai Petrovich tells Arkady about her: “Please don’t call her loudly... Well, yes... she lives with me now. I placed her in the house... there were two small rooms. However, all this can be changed.” About little son He didn’t say anything at all - he was so embarrassed.

But then Fenechka appeared in front of the guests: “She lowered her eyes and stopped at the table, leaning lightly on the very tips of her fingers. It seemed that she was ashamed that she had come, and at the same time she seemed to feel that she had the right to come.”

It seems to me that Turgenev sympathizes with Fenechka and admires her. It’s as if he wants to protect her and show that in her motherhood she is not only beautiful, but also above all rumors and prejudices: “And in fact, is there anything in the world more captivating than a young beautiful mother with healthy child on hands?"

Bazarov, living with the Kirsanovs, happily communicated only with Fenechka: “Even his face changed when he talked to her. It took on a clear, almost kind expression, and some kind of playful attentiveness was mixed in with its usual carelessness.” I think the point here is not only in Fenechka’s beauty, but precisely in her naturalness, the absence of any affectation or attempts to pretend to be a lady.

Bazarov liked Fenechka, he once kissed her firmly on her open lips, thereby violating all the rights of hospitality and all the rules of morality. Fenichka also liked Bazarov, but she would hardly have given herself to him.

Pavel Petrovich was even in love with Fenechka, came to her room several times “for nothing,” and was alone with her several times, but he was not so low as to kiss her. On the contrary, because of the kiss, he fought a duel with Bazarov and, in order not to be further tempted by Fenechka, he went abroad.

The image of Fenechka is similar delicate flower, which, however, has unusually strong roots. It seems to me that of all the heroines of the novel, she is closest to the “Turgenev women”.

The direct opposite of Fenechka is Eudoxia, or rather Avdotya Nikitichna Kukshina. The image is quite interesting and rather caricatured, but not accidental. Probably in mid-19th century, emancipated women appeared more and more often, and this phenomenon not only irritated Turgenev, but aroused burning hatred in him. This is confirmed by the description of Kukshina’s life: “Papers, letters, thick issues of Russian magazines, mostly uncut, were scattered on dusty tables. There were scattered cigarette butts everywhere,” as well as her appearance and manners: “There was nothing ugly in the small and inconspicuous figure of the emancipated woman, but the expression of her face had an unpleasant effect on the viewer,” she walks “somewhat disheveled, in a silk, not entirely neat dress , her velvet coat is lined with yellowed ermine fur.” At the same time, he reads something from physics and chemistry, reads articles about women, albeit with half a sin, but still talks about physiology, embryology, marriage and other things. All her thoughts are turned to objects more serious than ties, collars, potions and baths. She subscribes to magazines and communicates with students abroad. And to emphasize her complete opposite to Fenechka, I will quote the following quote: “...no matter what she did, it always seemed to you that this was exactly what she did not want to do. Everything with her came out, as children say, on purpose, that is, not simply, not naturally.”

In the image of Kukshina we see the young female generation of that time, emancipated, with progressive aspirations. Although Turgenev ridicules her aspirations, which would deserve encouragement and approval from every right-thinking person.

Bazarov’s reaction to Kukshina was also completely different than to Fenechka; when he saw her, he winced. The nonsense that Kukshina spoke was quite consistent with her appearance and manners. Perhaps, Bazarov’s meeting with Kukshina is significant only because in their conversation for the first time the name of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova was heard - a woman who later plunged Bazarov into the abyss of passions and torment.

They met Bazarov at the governor’s ball, and Odintsova immediately made an indelible impression on him: “What kind of figure is this? - he said. “She’s not like other women.” It must be said that in the mouth of Bazarov (that is, this man as he was at the time of their meeting) this is the highest praise. Bazarov, in a conversation with the owner of the estate, is confused, embarrassed, pressed, trying to overcome the feeling of love that is beginning to arise in his heart. Anna did not dare to fall in love with Bazarov, an extraordinary man who would hardly make her life calm.

Every stroke in Odintsova’s portrait indicates that this is a lady from high society. Anna Sergeevna Odintsova amazed with the dignity of her posture, smooth movements, intelligent and calmly looking eyes. Her face exuded soft and gentle strength. It was not only her movements and gaze that were calm. Life on her estate was distinguished by luxury, tranquility, coldness, lack of interesting people. Regularity and constancy are the main features of the way of life on Odintsova’s estate.

When Bazarov and Arkady arrived at her estate, they saw how measured and monotonous her whole life was. Everything here turned out to be “put on rails.” Comfort and serenity formed the basis of Odintsova’s existence. She had suffered enough in life (“grated kalach”) and now it was as if she only wanted to take a break from her past. More than once in conversations with Bazarov she called herself old.

When I read the novel, at first I thought that she was being flirtatious in this way - after all, she is only 28 years old! But then I realized: this young woman has the soul of an old woman. How else can we explain her desire to do her best to drown out the love that has arisen within herself, just so that it does not interfere with her measured way of life.

The author writes about her: “Her mind was inquisitive and indifferent at the same time. Her doubts never subsided to the point of forgetfulness and never grew to the point of anxiety. If she weren’t independent, she might have rushed into battle, would have recognized passion...’’ Odintsova herself knows this quality of her nature well, she says to Bazarov: “I love what you call comfort.”

But at the same time, Anna Sergeevna is capable of noble deeds, sympathy, high sadness. She comes to say goodbye to the dying Eugene, although he only asked his father to inform him that he was ill and dying.

At the end of the novel, we learn that Anna Odintsova married “not out of love, but out of conviction, to one of the future Russian leaders...” Coldness of reason in her is, unfortunately, combined with some coldness of soul.

Odintsova has a strong character, and she even suppressed her own in some ways. younger sister Katya.

Katya is a nice girl, and although at first she is perceived as a pale shadow of Odintsova, she still has character. A dark brunette with large features and small, thoughtful eyes. As a child she was very ugly, but by the age of 16 she began to get better and became interesting. Meek, quiet, poetic and bashful. Milo blushes and sighs, is afraid to speak, and notices everything around him. Musician. Loves flowers and makes bouquets of them. Her room is amazingly tidy. Patient, undemanding, but at the same time stubborn. Her individuality is gradually revealed, and it becomes clear that in an alliance with Arkady she will be the main one.

Odintsova’s image is interesting precisely because of its ambiguity. She cannot be called either a positive or negative heroine without sinning against the truth. Anna Sergeevna is alive and bright man, with its own advantages and disadvantages.

It’s difficult for me to unequivocally answer the question: how does Turgenev feel about Odintsova? Maybe my personal perception is interfering with me - Odintsova is not very attractive to me. But one thing is obvious: Turgenev nowhere allows irony in relation to this heroine. He considers her enough smart woman(“A woman with a brain,” according to Bazarov), but I don’t think he’s very fascinated by her.

“Turgenev women” are strong women. Perhaps they are much stronger in spirit the men around them. Perhaps Odintsova’s merit lies in the fact that she, without meaning to, helped Bazarov throw off the mask that was so disturbing to him, and contributed to the development of the personality of this extraordinary man. Which of these women turns out to be nicer and closer to my heart writer? Of course, Fenechka. It was her that Turgenev bestowed with the happiness of love and motherhood. And emancipated women, in their worst manifestations, are deeply unsympathetic to him. Odintsov is repulsive with his coldness and selfishness. Turgenev's ideal of a woman lies in the ability to love and sacrifice herself for the sake of her beloved. All these heroines, of course, are very different, each of them has their own life, their own experiences, but they are all united by love and the desire to be happy.

Composition.

Female images in I. S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”

Women play a big role in the works of writers. You could say huge. Because no work can do without love. And women are always associated with love. In all works, a woman dreams of Great love. And not only in stories, but also in life. And everyone achieves it in their own way. The desire to achieve is related to character. Writers write and show about this. But there are no women with the same character. One strives for love in every possible way, the other makes no effort. After all, character has great importance. Women with strong character always get their way. But this is not always the case in works. An example is the story “Oblomov”. In which the hero, who had lost the meaning in life, was unable to be raised by a woman with a strong character. But in life everything is not like that. We will not go into the details of this work, but consider the “problem” from the other side. For example, the work “Fathers and Sons”, which was written by I.S. Turgenev.

In this story there are representatives of women with strong character. Mainly Odintsova. The author described her as beautiful, interesting woman. She plays one of the main roles in the work. She loved Bazarov. It was she who awakened in him human feelings, although he didn't admit it.

Bazarov is the stupidest person (personal opinion). He denies all human feelings. He denied poetry. An example is the order to Arkady to take away a book with Pushkin’s poetry from his father. He doesn't recognize music. Example, laughter upon learning that Nikolai Petrovich plays Scots musical instrument. He perceives nature as a workshop. But Turgenev describes all the beauty of nature. The author doesn't like Bazarov, apparently. Bazarov recognizes only science. Love does not exist.

Odintsova and Bazarov - two different people. She has a different outlook on life. She could argue with him about anything. Bazarov was afraid of her. But in some ways they are similar. Apparently for this reason, when dying, Bazarov confesses his love for Odintsova. She belongs to the category of children.

Katerina, according to Bazarov, Strong woman. She showed courage. fought for Arkady. The heroine was able to overcome Bazarov and his theory. Arkady is human. He acknowledges feelings. But Bazarov instills his theory in him. He talks about agreeing with her, although deep down he denies her. Katerina was able to overcome everything for the sake of love.

Fenichka is a modest, quiet, naive woman. She doesn't play a special role. But because of her, Pavel Petrovich dies. He was in love with her. She reminded him of his late wife. Because of her, he dies in a duel. From here you can see her small role, which ended in tragedy.

Kukshina rarely appears in the story. Her character is reminiscent of Bazarov. Her views on life are copied from the views of Bazarov. She has weak character. She does not have her own views on life, and weak and weak-willed people can copy from someone.

Drawing conclusions, we clearly see that women play a large role in the stories. verses and poems. In the story “Fathers and Sons,” each heroine is overcome by love and each has her own end. Some are happy (Arkady and Katerina), others are unhappy (Bazarov and Odintsova). And it all depends on the character.

Turgenev the artist is rightfully considered an expert on female nature, a poet of women. “What we especially like about Turgenev is, so to speak, the economy in colors: his female image, for the most part, is only sketched out, rarely finished off; but, despite this, in the image of the reader he always grows to true artistic completeness,” wrote De Poulet in 1915.

This completeness and airiness is characteristic of almost all of Turgenev’s heroines. In the novel “Fathers and Sons,” this quality of the writer is supplemented by his humor, an ironic look at women, sometimes reaching the point of caustic satire.

Here is Fenechka, a simple-minded and spontaneous young woman, “of ignoble origin,” whom Nikolai Petrovich brought closer to him. Fenechka is kind, naive, selfless. However, she is honest, open, religious, and has her own ideas about decency. She sincerely and deeply loves Nikolai Petrovich and dotes on little Mitya. That is why Bazarov’s persecution and Pavel Petrovich’s suspicions of infidelity deeply offend her. For Fenechka, the most important thing in life is her family - at the end of the novel she becomes the wife of Nikolai Petrovich.

Another female character in the novel is Evdoksia Kukshina. This is a young woman who considers herself a supporter of Bazarov, a “provincial nihilist.” She is extremely well read and keeps up to date with everyone. latest articles, ideas, theories, literary works. In a conversation with Bazarov and Arkady, she mentions the names of Liebig, George Sand, Emerson.

However, all the heroine’s beliefs are superficial. She simply maintains the image of a “progressive woman”, but in reality she is not one. And Turgenev hints at this in his description of the interior of Kukshina’s living room: “The room in which they found themselves looked more like a study than a living room. Papers, letters, thick numbers of Russian magazines, for the most part uncut, lying on dusty tables; there were scattered cigarette butts everywhere.”

Therefore, Kukshina’s description sounds like frank author’s satire; all her behavior seems unnatural, artificial, and makes an unpleasant impression. “There was nothing ugly in the small and inconspicuous figure of the emancipated woman; but the expression on her face had an unpleasant effect on the viewer. I couldn’t help but want to ask her: “Are you hungry?” Or are you bored? Or are you timid? Why are you jumping around?"... She spoke and moved very casually and at the same time awkwardly... everything with her came out, as children say, on purpose, that is, not simply, not naturally.”

The deliberate swagger and awkwardness of Kukshina’s manners testify to her uncertainty, tightness, complexes and constant desire to overcome her own complexes. I think this is exactly what Turgenev wants to say when describing her manners, the way she speaks and moves. “And she, like Sitnikov,” notes the writer, “was always scratching her soul.”

However, the author does not sympathize with this heroine at all. On the contrary, Turgenev in every possible way emphasizes some kind of absurdity appearance Kukshina, her sloppiness, untidiness, external unattractiveness. We see Kukshina “disheveled”, in a “not quite neat dress”, she has a “hoarse voice”, at the ball she appears “without any crinoline and in dirty gloves, but with a bird of paradise in her hair.”

The meaning of these portraits is very deep. Such obvious authorial hostility is probably connected with Turgenev’s ideas about the purpose of a woman, about her inner appearance. The writer’s favorite heroines - Asya, Liza Kalitina, Natalya Lasunskaya - are akin to Pushkin’s Tatyana. As G. B. Kurlyandskaya notes, they “are distinguished by romantic impulses, the ideality of dreams, which is associated with purity moral sense“,” the “social and moral quests” of Turgenev’s heroines themselves are inextricably linked with their feelings. Love here does not oppose spiritual needs, but acts at one with them.

We find nothing like this in Kukshina. This heroine is “prosaic”, she is not characterized by any romanticism, she has no dreams. Love, the unconscious desire for happiness - all this is not characteristic of her. Kuk-shina apparently broke up with her husband. The writer seems to deprive the heroine of this aspect of personality (the main one for a woman, according to Turgenev). And this “depersonalization” turns into a caricature of social and moral aspirations.

The most significant female character in the novel is that of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova. Odintsova is a young woman of about twenty-eight, a wealthy landowner who lives constantly on her estate. She is smart, reasonable, self-confident. Odintsova’s majestic calmness, her self-esteem, subtlety and aristocracy are emphasized in the description of her appearance.

“Arkady looked around and saw a woman tall, in a black dress, stopped at the door of the hall. She struck him with the dignity of her bearing. Her naked arms lay beautifully along her slender figure; light fuchsia branches fell beautifully from shiny hair onto sloping shoulders; calmly and intelligently, precisely calmly, and not thoughtfully, the bright eyes looked from under a slightly overhanging white forehead, and the lips smiled a barely noticeable smile. Some kind of gentle and soft power wafted from her face.”

The fate of this woman was not easy. Her father was Sergei Nikolaevich Loktev, a card sharper, a well-known swindler in the world. Having received a brilliant upbringing in St. Petersburg, after the death of her father she was forced to move to the village. In Anna's arms she was left with her sister, twelve-year-old Katya. However, the young girl was not at a loss: having sent her aunt, Princess Avdotya Stepanovna, to live with her, she began raising her sister. Soon Anna Sergeevna accidentally met Odintsov, a rich man who was reputed to be an eccentric, but not evil or stupid. Odintsov proposed to her, and she agreed. But six years later he died, and Anna Sergeevna became a widow.

In the province, Odintsova was not very favored: there were constantly rumors and rumors about her marriage, about her father’s affairs. However, this gossip did not affect Anna Sergeevna. Her life went on just as calmly and measuredly, in the same routine.

The same orderly order was established in her house. Everything during the day - breakfast, lunch and dinner, music lessons, rest - was done in certain time. Anna Sergeevna did not like any changes or innovations. “It’s like you’re rolling on rails,” remarked Bazarov, Odintsova’s guest.

The same order and regularity reign in the heroine’s thoughts and in her mental life. More than anything else, she values ​​her own peace of mind. Her mind, deep and inquisitive, requires new food, and she enjoys communicating with Bazarov. Odintsova is interested in talking with a person who “has the courage to deny everything.” She feels a strong, bright, extraordinary personality in him, and this attracts her. In addition, like any woman, Anna Sergeevna is pleased to realize the impression she makes. But this is all she feels for Bazarov. That is why she rejects his love.

Odintsova's main character traits are strength, confidence and love for peace, stability and comfort. Phlegmatism is manifested in Anna Sergeevna’s manners, in the smoothness and naturalness of her movements, in the polite participation of her conversation. And Turgenev portrays these features somewhat ironically. Lyubov Bazarova could not “shock” this “calmness”, could not bring her out of the usual balance of feelings and thoughts. In this regard, Anna Sergeevna is a spiritually limited woman, limited by the framework within which she keeps her life, her feelings and emotions. She is quite conservative. Bazarov cannot be limited by any boundaries. His ardent confession, strong and heavy passion, “similar to anger” - all this frightens Odintsova. “...God knows where this would lead, this is not something to joke about, calm is still better,” she thinks. It seems that Anna Sergeevna does not need love at all. Bazarov’s feeling for her is “emptiness or... ugliness.” Subsequently, she successfully marries “not out of love, but out of conviction.”

If Anna Sergeevna is, of course, an extraordinary person, in some way worthy of love Bazarova, then her sister Katya, on the contrary, is an ordinary, mediocre young lady, who does not stand out in any way among the young ladies of the noble circle. Katya was raised by her sister, who was probably too strict with her, so the girl is distrustful and a little wild. However, there is some special purity and unspoiledness in it. It is these traits that Bazarov notices in her. For all that, Katya is far from naive; she has independence, practical intelligence, and authority. As Bazarov noted, she will “stand up for herself” and “take her husband into her hands.”

So, the heroines of the novel are types that are somewhat different from the previous “Turgenev young ladies”. However, the author does not betray himself in one thing: all the female characters in “Fathers and Sons” are drawn masterfully and with love. Each of them is unique, vitally true and attractive in its own way.