I. S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” reflects the era of the sixties of the nineteenth century. The book was a response to the most burning political and moral problems this time. The main conflict in the novel was the contradictions between representatives of various political parties. The conflict involves heroes whose ideological disputes divide them not only into liberals and democrats, but also into “fathers” and “sons,” since the opponents belong to different age groups.
I.S. Turgenev sought to reflect in the novel tragic character emerging problems in society. Confusion, misunderstanding or inaction in the current situation of an impending social crisis could lead to chaos and disaster. People who are not indifferent to the fate of the country and people expressed their own opinions on the pressing issues of our time. Similar disputes are depicted on the pages of the novel “Fathers and Sons.”
Representatives of the “fathers” are Pavel Petrovich and Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov (later it will become clear that Arkady will join them). Pavel Petrovich defends the liberal program, based on traditionally high and noble ideals, but cannot explain why good ideas do not lead to the desired results. And Bazarov, the representative of the “children,” accuses Russian liberal aristocrats of idle talk and unwillingness to fulfill their duties. The Kirsanov nobles recognize the need for reforms; Nikolai Petrovich even tries to make changes in the lives of the peasants, but does so ineptly, sluggishly, not understanding the meaning of the upcoming changes. His brother makes pathetic speeches about the role of aristocrats in history, but he himself does nothing to benefit the Fatherland. He talks about the agricultural community and the importance of lawmaking, about the fight against the ignorance of men, but he himself tries to stay away from the peasants, winces at the smells and carries cologne with him. This aristocrat generally loves comfort in everything and protects himself from the disorder of village life.
Bazarov points out to Pavel Petrovich his false concern for the situation of the peasantry and says that the people would rather recognize him as a compatriot than the nobleman Kirsanov, that you can scold the people, but “mess with them” if you really want good. And indeed, later the democrats, whose position is close to what Bazarov is talking about, will work with the people (“going to the people”).
Liberal nobles in the 50-60s of the 19th century discovered their inconsistency in matters of politics and economics, therefore in “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev they are weak side in the conflict of heroes, unable to withstand the onslaught of youth, in in this case nihilist Bazarov. The author himself wrote about this confrontation as follows: “My whole story is directed against the nobility, as an advanced class. Take a closer look at the faces of N.P., P.P. and Arcadia. Weakness and lethargy or limitation. Aesthetic sense forced me to take precisely the good representatives of the nobility, in order to prove my theme all the more accurately: if cream is bad, what about milk?” This statement explains the author’s irony in the depiction of the “fathers,” the Kirsanov brothers, as well as other nobles and Bazarov’s temporary travel companion, Arkady. He was not ready for the real work of reforming the socio-political system of Russia, although for some time he joined the fashionable nihilistic trend.
An important role in the novel is played by ideological disputes heroes, that is, the main conflict. In disputes, a winner emerges, and the nobility loses here, although the author’s sympathies in some issues are on the side of the nobles, whose culture and traditions the nihilist Bazarov would like to destroy. He calls poetry and music nonsense: “A decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet.” He rejects a lot in order to “clear the place” and then build something new, but “others will build.”
The leading man of the time in Turgenev's novel is a doctor by profession (although he has not yet completed his studies). It would seem that this symbolic device of the author contained the hopes of the advanced intelligentsia for the “healing” of society. If liberal heroes are not viable, then he could advanced man Bazarov served society and the country, although he expressed his revolutionary aspirations in a very categorical, extreme form. But the author at the end of the novel shows the physical death of the main character, who before his death suggests that he, apparently, “is not needed by Russia.”
Thus, Turgenev with his novel did not give an answer to controversial issues modernity, but many people, including critics, highly appreciated this work. DI. Pisarev saw in “Fathers and Sons” a real reflection of reality: “The meaning of the novel came out as follows: today’s young people get carried away and go to extremes, but in their very hobbies fresh strength and an incorruptible mind are reflected...” And the novel turned out to be significant not only for its time, it became “everlasting,” as the critic N.N. Strakhov put it. Readers of different times have found and are finding in the novel the answer to the main question: why do “fathers” and “children” conflict and in what case could they find compromises.
Reviews
Zoya, very well prepared and written material.
I like Pisarev’s article, sometimes I advise glamorous girls to read it, how much wise advice it contains, remember, Pisarev describes how Odintsova makes Bazarov fall in love with her: “Physical beauty catches the eye at first sight; intelligence is revealed in the first conversation; and when Thus, the whole figure of a woman and every word produces a slender and pleasant experience, then what do you need more? And the blood is agitated, and the brain is irritated, and all this is so charming - well, love is ready... but Anna Sergeevna is also cold, this excites Bazarov’s imagination even more.
Thank you, Zoya, you stirred up so many feelings in me!!!
The meaning of the title of the novel “Fathers and Sons.”
My whole story is directed against
nobility as an advanced class.
I deliberately took its best representatives,
to further prove my point.
I. S. Turgenev
The real conflict begins then
when both sides are right to a certain extent.
I. S. Turgenev
In 1860, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev’s work “Fathers and Sons” was published in Russia. There are now two main interpretations of the novel and its title. On the one hand, “Fathers and Sons” is a novel about a political conflict, on the other hand, about the eternal conflict of a generation: fathers and sons. I believe that the points of view are right, but I am more inclined to the second. Let's look at the first one first.
The novel takes place during the crisis of the serfdom system, when contradictions between different camps intensified, in particular between aristocrats and democrats, between liberals and commoner revolutionaries. The main representative of the first is Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, his antagonist is Evgeny Bazarov. The ideological conflict of the novel rests on their collision. In the image of Kirsanov, Turgenev criticizes the principles and beliefs of the conservative noble liberal.
Firstly, Pavel Petrovich’s “principles” include his English-style aristocracy and blind worship of everything English. Bazarov firmly opposes this. Secondly, Pavel Petrovich speaks with contempt about the natural scientists and experimenters of his time: “And now some chemists and materialists have come…”, to which the nihilist Bazarov replies: “A decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet...”. Thirdly, Pavel Petrovich defends medieval privileges and noble concepts of honor. All these views are also sharply criticized by Bazarov. It would seem that the opponents agree on their views on the people. Bazarov agrees with Kirsanov that the people are patriarchal and sacredly honor traditions. But unlike the latter, who is convinced of the inviolability of these qualities, the hero is ready to devote his entire life to the fight against the people. Nihilists, to whom the main character of the novel considers himself, are people who deny everything: art, poetry, love. This is a new generation - a generation of children who are destroying the old order and not thinking about who will build and restore what was destroyed.
The second interpretation of the novel is that it is not built on a political conflict, but on a generational conflict that has haunted the entire world throughout the existence of life. This means that every child, being born and growing up, carries within himself new idea, new look, a new understanding of the world, significantly different from the understanding of their parents. At the beginning of his life, this child believes that he is right, that his worldview will remain with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. But as he grows up and encounters his children, he realizes that he is taking the position of his parents. This is the eternal problem of “fathers” and “children”.
Reading of Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” can be divided into two types: momentary and eternal. Upon immediate reading, the reader is more likely to believe that the novel is political and based on the clash of different views. Perhaps this is true, since the author himself says that his novel is directed against the nobility as a camp. But on the other hand, the novel opens up eternal problems, which means its purpose is not political, but eternal.
Tasks and tests on the topic “The meaning of the title of the novel “Fathers and Sons.”.”
- Paronyms and their use - Vocabulary. Phraseology. Lexicography 10th grade
Lessons: 1 Assignments: 7 Tests: 1
- About the offer. Punctuation marks at the end of a sentence (without division into types) - Offer 2nd grade
Lessons: 2 Assignments: 12 Tests: 1
- Spelling adjectives with a capital letter - Adjective 3rd grade
TO famous novel“Fathers and Sons” Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev walked through another “big story” - “On the Eve” (1859, published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1860). In the novel "On the Eve" there was already new hero- a brave revolutionary Dmitry Insarov, but a Bulgarian, not a Russian, and he left to fight for the freedom of his homeland, and the leading girl Elena followed him and participated in this armed struggle against the Turks. And the very eloquent titles of this Turgenev book and Dobrolyubov’s sensational article dedicated to it, “When will the real day come?” they talked about intense anticipation in society, about the imminent appearance of a Russian fighter and democrat with new ideas and methods, capable of leading the progressive forces of Russia, and, above all, its emerging democratic intelligentsia, progressive youth, and its leaders.
Turgenev the artist saw, or rather, felt this new phenomenon and new people in Russian society, predicted them difficult fate. Therefore, he was called a writer-prophet: “Not only did he write down, but he predicted... weather and bad weather, storms and buckets. It was not a reflecting mirror, but a barometer, an indicator that already there, but not yet visible or perceptible, but will be tomorrow or tonight... In 1860-61. "nihilist" was born, but haven't decided yet quite, when Turgenev had already... written to Bazarov. The germ of the storm is already there, but it is not there for you yet...” (E.A.Salias). The novel “Fathers and Sons” was written in 1861 and published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1862. It is dedicated to the memory of Belinsky, and the action of the novel itself takes place in May 1859. All these carefully chosen details, combined with the extremely apt, meaningful title of the book, have deep meaning.
The novel “Fathers and Sons” was written in 1861 and published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1862. It is dedicated to the memory of Belinsky, and the action of the novel itself takes place in May 1859. All these carefully chosen details, combined with the extremely apt, meaningful title of the book, have deep meaning.
The fathers are nobles, people of the 1840s, and Turgenev himself and his friend Herzen are among them. Children are new people of the younger generation, an active and united intelligentsia of various ranks, united around Nekrasov’s journal “Sovremennik,” led by revolutionary democrats Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov. Their spiritual father and teacher is Belinsky. It was in 1859 that both camps finally took shape and were determined in their plans and aspirations; their inevitable public clash occurred, which reflected critical articles Chernyshevsky about Turgenev’s story “Asya” and Dobrolyubov about Oblomovism. Turgenev, like others outstanding writers, breaks with Sovremennik and begins publishing in M.N. Katkov’s conservative magazine Russkiy Vestnik. The emigrant Herzen and his London newspaper "The Bell" oppose the revolutionary democrats.
Although Turgenev’s novel was published after the peasant reform of 1861, the author chooses exactly 1859 for its action, because after the reforms the revolutionary party realized that many of its radical demands were implemented “from above” and that thanks to this the former military-feudal empire of Russia without any revolutions and great shocks gradually turns into a moderate constitutional monarchical state with a bourgeois economy, jury trials, service (rather than opposition) intelligentsia, zemstvo self-government and capitalist agriculture without the notorious “community”. The era of the Great Reforms is the brainchild of the “fathers” of the nobility, it was not made by St. Petersburg officials Panshina “from above”, but by honest landowners Lezhnev and Lavretsky “from below”, sacrificing their own noble interests for the sake of this.
Chernyshevsky and his party did not want to support these reforms, because they needed something else - power, the destruction of the previous state. The “children” revolutionaries had to take the path of underground struggle, organizing fires and civil unrest, propaganda and terror, and even an alliance with Polish rebels, under the pretext of fighting reaction, fighting reforms according to the principle “The worse, the better,” and the Tsar-Liberator Alexander II was killed by them on the day the draft constitution of the new Russia was signed.
Turgenev could not and did not want to do positive hero his book of such a revolutionary figure, although he later dedicated it to the Narodnaya Volya members and their journey among his people last novel"New" (1876). He also did not intend to publish an anti-nihilistic caricature of “children” under the guise of a novel, for he was an artist and saw a healthy new force in the best representatives of youth. Therefore, a young doctor from the commoners, Bazarov, comes to the estate of the noble Kirsanovs on May 20, 1859. As a new figure and an original character, he has already developed, but all his activities, scientific and social, lie ahead.
It is extremely important that the action of “Fathers and Sons” does not take place in St. Petersburg or Moscow, it again, like in “The Noble Nest,” takes place in the depths of Russia, in estates and the provincial city. Here, at first glance, the same peace, quiet poetry of nature, and high former culture reign. However, the nest of the nobility was disturbed, the decline and ruin of the landowners intensified, the peasants were also restless and opposed to their former owners. It is not for nothing that at the beginning of the novel the heart of a university graduate young landowner Arkady Kirsanova involuntarily shrinks at the sight of the sad picture of Russian rural poverty, the obvious lack of people's contentment and hard work, which require decisive transformations.
In addition, all the formidable signs of the impending peasant reform are visible, which, as Nekrasov correctly wrote, hit the master with one end, and the peasant with the other. There is also a social, ideological split in Russian society, with some of the young nobles joining the revolutionary democrats, leaving their serving and at the same time ruling class and becoming the best, most educated part of the advanced intelligentsia, going against their class and their state (Sofia Perovskaya, one of killers of the Tsar-Liberator, was the daughter of the governor).
Turgenev's novel already by its title showed that the split passed through the basis of this society - the noble family, for which, through the efforts of many generations, a noble nest was created, a class-serf state was built, and a high culture was developed. At the center of “Fathers and Sons” is the noble family of the Kirsanovs.
“Fathers” - brothers Nikolai and Pavel Kirsanov, trying to create a new nest in a new place and on new principles - like a farm with hired workers. Homely, family Nikolai embodied quiet poetry a deeply civilian noble dreamer with a university education and no stranger to new ideas, but his brother Pavel Petrovich is a former brilliant guards officer, famous in secular society St. Petersburg dandy and “lion” of Lermontov’s circle (he has features of the famous A.A. Stolypin-Mongo, a relative and friend of Lermontov, a guardsman and a courageous handsome man, famous for his military exploits and “novels” and who died in Florence), a classic aristocrat in impeccable suit and a snow-white starched collar, whose good fortune and his court career was broken by his unhappy love for a mysterious beauty. But from these very different noblemen it is clear that their once militant and powerful class, which repelled the invasion of Napoleon, lost in the era of Nicholas's timelessness vitality, the very purpose of life, a bright and strong mind, determination and the ruthlessness necessary for the ruling class.
Although the Kirsanov brothers are less than fifty years old, they are more than once called old men and even “old romantics” in the novel (Bazarov’s words), it is clear that they are living out their lives, living in memories, trying to protect their past, a peaceful and cozy family nest, personal nobility, high principles and culture of the Russian nobility, they see and understand a lot correctly (here we need to pay more attention to the interesting thoughts of Nicholas, who strongly feels the beauty of poetry, music and nature, overshadowed by his brilliant brother), but do not have the proper strength, energetic mind and foresight, are helpless in the face of the impending great shock.
It is no coincidence that the Russian nobleman and Oryol landowner Turgenev wrote: “My whole story is directed against the nobility as an advanced class”. He said: “Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov is me.” This means that the author-nobleman criticizes his weakening class and himself, but at the same time he pities him, fears for him, for his high culture, which the strong-willed and gloomy rebel Bazarov wants to destroy.
The Kirsanov brothers are the best of the nobles, but their insolvency, lethargy, and weakness are all the more clearly visible. Bad rural owners, they quickly become convinced that without vigilant strict control and even more merciless punishments with the Russian peasant, no “farm” can be built: cunning and lazy peasants always lie, get drunk and start fires, steal the landowner’s forest, fight with each other, spoil Expensive imported cars cripple breeding livestock and ruin the lord's fields. Any attempts to improve their lives, treat, educate, build new bright houses, hospitals and rural schools are met with severe kulak distrust and ill will. The men perceive even their long-awaited liberation from serfdom as a rare opportunity to rob naive landowners during the division and the freedom of general drunkenness, demagoguery and idleness.
In addition, the only heir of the family, Nikolai's son Arkady, in the city became interested in the advanced ideas of fashionable nihilism, and met at the university with revolutionary-minded commoners, who made up half of the Russian student body. They are represented by his friend Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov, who graduated from Moscow University in the Faculty of Medicine and came to stay at the Kirsanovs’ estate. Seeing and hearing him, the brothers exclaimed in amazement and sorrow: “Here they are – our heirs!” They realized: the destroyer had come noble nest, which they alone cannot stop.
It was this powerful and at the same time tragic figure, personifying a new social force, that became the center of the novel “Fathers and Sons” and Turgenev’s main discovery. “He, in my eyes, is truly a hero of our time,” said the author. It is for this hero that the novel was written in the first place. Everything here is addressed to Bazarov, helps him to speak out and define himself as a strong, intelligent and original person, capable of decisively and systematically acting and changing what has fallen into deep social and spiritual crisis Russia. Reflection and duality were visible in the people of the 1840s (Turgenev’s novel “Rudin” was written about this); Bazarov is distinguished by some kind of gloomy, rough integrity.
Bazarov is characterized by his disdainful words “Your brother, a nobleman” and the contemptuous response phrase of the aristocrat Pavel Kirsanov “I am not a seminary rat.” Their demarcation and inevitable clash (duel) occur according to social laws, this is a struggle of classes, a class struggle, if you like. It is clear that Bazarov is not alone, behind him are numerous commoners, people of a new generation and views, simply of a different culture, “left” intellectuals who despise and deny the entire legacy of the Russian nobility as the ruling class and upper class, built by them state system, empire, serfdom, moral ideals and principles, family, culture, Pushkin.
This intentionally sharp, loud, controversial denial of all the foundations of Russian life is the famous nihilism of the 1860s, the new ideology of the emerging intelligentsia. But Bazarov himself, showing and recognizing himself as a nihilist, demonstrates his own (and the democratic camp’s) positive program. It consists in denying and destroying everything old, organizing new social forces to fight the old and build a new one. democratic society, where the Bazarovs will rule. This is not reform, but revolution. “And if he is called a nihilist, then it should be read: revolutionary,” Turgenev wrote about him.
Bazarov has just appeared on the public scene and is just beginning his activities. “Bazarov is still a type, a herald, a large figure, gifted with a certain charm, not without a certain halo,” the author wrote about his “new figure.” He created strong character. It is immediately clear that Bazarov is smart, self-confident and proud, angry, truthful and honest, deep down he despises his weak contemporaries, but is always ready to use them to realize his plans: “We need to break others!” He is a tireless worker, a convinced materialist, a practical worker in the temple of nature, in which he sees his personal workshop.
According to university habit, Bazarov begins with science: “A decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet.” Feelings, beautiful and tragic love He contemptuously calls Pavel Kirsanov “romanticism, nonsense, rottenness, art.” For Bazarov, all people are simple, like the frogs he dissects, and similar to each other. This self-confident doctor has a great disrespect for man, an original personality; for him this is just human material. He wants to use this personality for his own purposes, to convince, force him to act, deny, break: “Correct society, and there will be no diseases.” The learned chemist does not seem to see that society has already been “corrected” in every way a thousand times, and the number of terrible diseases is only increasing.
The dedication of the novel to the memory of Belinsky is not accidental: this is the spiritual father of our intelligentsia and Bazarov’s teacher, who happily quotes his famous, forbidden letter to Gogol. After all, the critic was the grandson of a village priest and the son of a district doctor. Belinsky criticized Pushkin for “backwardness”; his student also did this, soon followed by the democratic critic D.I. Pisarev, by the way, a nobleman from a good family. From the great critic and convinced atheist come the key words for understanding Bazarov the figure and his materialistic worldview: “I look at the sky only when I want to sneeze.”
It is difficult to resist the powerful pressure of this strong, rude personality with sincere negative beliefs, his skeptical mind and will. Bazarov skillfully recruits supporters, a whole democratic circle appears around him, including such caricatured characters as the liberal talker Sitnikov, who came from Griboyedov’s Repetilov, and the next absurd and stupid “advanced woman”, Evdoksia Kukshina, who follows any revolutionary democratic fashion. “This is the triumph of democracy over aristocracy,” Turgenev said about his hero.
And it was this character in the novel that caused the most furious controversy and accusations against the author. “Fathers and Sons” was written together with the author by history, the very era of Russian life at that time, and only the subtle lyricist, landowner and nobleman Turgenev was able to understand and express it deep meaning V artistic images. Hence the unprecedented success of Turgenev's novel in all strata of Russian reading society. After all, this unique book found itself at the center of literary and social life of the 60-80s of the 19th century, and was read and discussed by everyone - from revolutionary circles to the government elite and extreme reactionaries. Moreover, the debate about Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” was waged not only in educated society and magazine criticism, but also in the main novels of that time - “What is to be done?” Chernyshevsky and “Demons” by Dostoevsky.
The point here is not in disputes, but in the very nature of the opposing opinions of critics and readers about Turgenev’s novel and its main character. Conservative circles considered Bazarov an apotheosis, a justification for nihilism and revolutionary democrats, and the author of Fathers and Sons flirting with progressive youth. The advanced commoners from the Sovremennik camp saw in the character of Turgenev’s novel a caricature of themselves and their leaders. Here is just one intentionally rude review of Turgenev’s novel, typical of the radical youth of Pisarev’s school: “We were all indignant at Turgenev, scolded him, whatever the world stands on... In his new novel, he completely poured out his senile anger on the younger generation.”
Amazed by such inconsistency of judgments and the depth of the reader’s misconceptions, the author tried to explain himself: “I know one thing: there was no preconceived thought, no tendency in me then... They are imposing a desire on me hurt youth is a caricature!” But no one wanted to listen to Turgenev; each camp spoke and thought its own.
And only then did progressive youth recognize the truth of the artistic portrait, the objectivity of the image: it is enough to cite a review from the 1862 letter of A.M. Skabichevsky, later a prominent liberal critic and literary historian: “Bazarov is not a caricature; Bazarov is one of the types modern life, very aptly captured, depicted very artistically and deeply felt.” It is worth recalling the early, even before the writers’ quarrel, before “Smoke,” written characterization of Bazarov in Dostoevsky’s “Winter Notes on Summer Impressions”: “With what calm complacency we whipped, for example, Turgenev because he dared not to calm down with us and not to be satisfied with our majestic personalities and refused to accept them as his ideal, but was looking for something better than us... Well, he got it for Bazarov, the restless and yearning Bazarov (a sign of a great heart), despite all his nihilism.”
Dostoevsky definitely chose keyword- "heart". After all, Turgenev's Bazarov is not only a stern, powerful fighter and a brave thinker, but also a living person with all his impulses and shortcomings. He stubbornly breaks out of any speculative schemes and theories, including his own. The heart began to argue with the thought. Turgenev also says about him: “a passionate, sinful, rebellious heart.” If we were talking about an already established person and figure, then he would be of little interest for the novel. Bazarov is young and full of strength and plans, he is just entering the path of activity and struggle, he, according to the author, is picked up by “a broad wave of life, continuously rolling around us and in ourselves.” The author of the novel himself said about his hero: “The image came out so defined that it immediately entered into life and went to act separately on its saltyk.”
However, Bazarov’s materialist philosophy of life is based on mechanical positivism, alien to dialectics, and therefore incomparably poorer than real life itself. This is not even a philosophy, but a practical ideology, a guide to action for the emerging intelligentsia. And the action is still negative - “breaking”.
Here the young Russian mind is liberated through the negation of established forms of life, but acquires new, “democratic” shackles and dogmas. In addition, nihilism is Westernism, which denies and condemns Russia for its backwardness and has since become a commonplace of intellectual ideology. It inevitably hurts national feeling, Russian pride.
And Bazarov, like his predecessor Chatsky, quickly becomes convinced that action gives rise to reaction. It’s not about the government and the gendarmes; Bazarov understands the powerlessness of the authorities and the nobility. His head theories, volitional methods and “convictions” read from other people’s smart books meet natural resistance from Russian reality itself and real people, who do not want to live according to the theories and clever books of Buckle and Buchner, and change; unexpected changes await the self-confident Bazarov. “Turgenev, as it were, extracts his hero from the template he imposed on himself and places him in a normal world where chance reigns,” said writer V.V. Nabokov.
For this purpose, Turgenev created the image of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova, a young beautiful widow and a rich aristocrat, an idle, cold woman, but smart and curious. She was momentarily captivated by Bazarov as a strong and original man, the like of whom she had never met. The observant Nabokov correctly noted about Odintsova: “Through her rough appearance, she manages to discern Bazarov’s charm.” She is interested in him, asks about his main goal: “Where are you going?” This is precisely female curiosity, not love.
Bazarov, a proud and self-confident commoner, who laughed at love as a romanticism unworthy of a man and a fighter, experiences inner excitement and embarrassment in front of the self-confident beauty, is embarrassed and, finally, passionately falls in love with the aristocrat Odintsova. Listen to the words of his forced confession: “I love you stupidly, madly.” A cultured nobleman who knew how to appreciate the beauty of a sublime love feeling would never have said this, and here the sad knight of unhappy love Pavel Kirsanov is higher and nobler than Bazarov, who is ashamed of his love. Romanticism has returned and once again proved its strength. The heart triumphs over the strong and courageous mind of a nihilist. Bazarov now admits that the man is a mystery, his self-confidence is shaken. The nihilist and cynic suddenly realized that he did not know himself and longed for great love. And the scene of his dying farewell to Odintsova, Bazarov’s confession, is one of the most powerful in Turgenev’s novel.
In this scene, the hero undergoes the final test - the test of death. It is impossible to add anything to Turgenev's wonderful description. Strong man dies courageously. But to Bazarov himself, all the self-confident limitations of his rational, strong-willed nihilism become clear: “Yes, go ahead, try to deny death. She denies you, and that’s it!” Here it is best seen that the daring rebellion of the young nihilist intellectual against life (after all, the love, family, poetry, and faith he denies are forms of real life itself) ends in his defeat.
Bazarov also encounters surprises in his revolutionary love for the people. He wants to free the peasants, but at the same time he hates them, because he must go out of his way for them, fight, be exposed to danger, with the complete indifference of the peasants to these attempts by the intelligentsia to free them. He honestly wants to help the people: “I want to tinker with people, even scold them, and tinker with them.” However, the Russian peasant remains a “mysterious stranger” for Bazarov. The most important thing here is the attitude of a nihilist democrat to the peasant reform being prepared in Russia. After all, he says directly: “The very freedom that the government is fussing about will hardly be of any use to us, because our peasant is happy to rob himself just to get drunk on dope in a tavern.”
The revolutionary commoner is against the peaceful, gradual liberation of the peasants “from above”; he wants to push them into a “Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless” (Pushkin). This is a favorite idea of Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, well known to Turgenev as the author of Sovremennik and a friend of Nekrasov. The men do not understand Bazarov and secretly laugh at the democrat, calling him a master, like any educated person. The advanced intelligentsia is just emerging; the Bazarovs, in essence, are few. And subsequently, their romantically naive “going to the people” in order to propagandize the peasants and win them over to their side ends in complete failure, as Turgenev’s novel “Nov” was written about. Pavel Petrovich is right: “Let's see how you will exist in emptiness, in airless space... there are only four and a half of you.”
It is worth paying attention to the development of the character of the “nobleman” (as Bazarov ironically calls him) Arkady Kirsanov. After all, it also characterizes the main character of the novel. The young man is at first a student and follower of Bazarov, he is so self-satisfied in his scolding progressivism and feigned nihilism that he innocently advises his middle-aged father to gain some sense from a popular German brochure, condescendingly calling him and his uncle retarded, retired people. But, once in his native nest and with pain in his heart seeing its decline and ruin, this empty-headed nobleman changes, grows wiser, begins to live with childhood memories, the fundamental principles of family and his noble class, gradually understands and begins to love his father and uncle more deeply, with understandable resentment sees Bazarov’s despotism and hidden disrespect for it.
The gentle and kind nobleman and landowner Arkady returns to his class and culture, forever leaving the apostle of nihilism and former friend in his dark tossing and grave doubts. Nihilism, the circle blindness of the “left” intelligentsia, the radical ideas of revolutionary democrats are not his heartfelt, hard-won thoughts, these are young, temporary and superficial, just another fashion for the Kukshins and Sitnikovs. He understands this in time, and not on the scaffold or in hard labor, as was later the case with many revolutionaries from the nobility. Therefore, he chooses the traditional path: love, marriage, family, caring for the estate and father. In the future, Arkady Kirsanov, apparently, will join the ranks of practical Russian leaders, the new Lavretskys, on whom Turgenev so hoped.
And finally, Bazarov is shown through his attitude towards his mother and father, the closest people. In his own way he loves them, but his attitude towards simple and good old people, whose entire life is concentrated in her only son, is soulless and cruel (he, having not been home for several years, calmly stays on someone else’s estate, goes to the city and to Odintsova), and no progressive ideas can explain or justify this. Moreover, the inhumanity of these ideas themselves is involuntarily revealed. After all, Bazarov cannot answer anything to the old loving mother, in whose sad eyes there is a “humble reproach” for her revolutionary son.
The portrait of the new generation of Russian intelligentsia and its typical representative in “Fathers and Sons” turned out to be quite objective and moving. Turgenev’s conclusion is also clear: “Neither fathers nor sons.” This is precisely what the progressive youth did not like, who immediately sensed critical intonations and not very rosy predictions for their future. However, Turgenev also had the right to say about Bazarov: “This is the most attractive of all my figures.” His novel is much richer and smarter than any pamphlet or praise and therefore has become a truly artistic book for all times. The author of Fathers and Sons himself, having listened to the most varied and harsh opinions about the novel, spoke about his method of artistic assessment of the era and its figures and the responses to this assessment: “Our lovers of freedom do not allow a free attitude to plots and types. Objectivity is also an insult to them. Treat their heroes objectively - they will “scold” you. Turgenev also said about criticism and critics: “Our criticism, especially in lately, cannot make claims to infallibility - and the writer who obeys her one, is in danger of spoiling his talent.”
The dispute about Bazarov showed that all the intensity of passions was caused precisely by objective artistic characteristic of this extraordinary person, who combined a strong-willed, heroic beginning with undoubted tragedy. It was, of course, not only about Bazarov. It was about an entire era of Russian life, the paths and destinies of the nobility and intelligentsia, the advanced generation, its figures outlined in “Fathers and Sons.”
Turgenev himself expressed the essence of his method this way: “... Artistic reproduction - if it succeeded- more evil than the most evil satire.” That is why his ingenious “artistic reproductions,” equally far from caricature and apotheosis, appearing at turning points in historical development and invariably giving an accurate picture of these moments, were not understood and accepted by the warring factions of the Russian social movement, because each group wanted to see this writer as an ally and could not accept his insightful critical statements about its character, capabilities and fate. They all did not need Turgenev’s real truth, which readers still admire today.
Nevertheless, the type of socio-psychological novel created by Turgenev had a significant influence on the development of social and literary life Russia. His “artistic reproductions” were so accurate, convex and real that people immediately believed them and began to imitate them. These novels were at the same time lyrical, musical, captured strong, genuine feelings, and captivated the reader. The characters created by Turgenev began to live their own lives in the world of social and literary ideas and moved into everyday reality, easily replacing portraits of real people. This is the first chapter of the artistic and therefore true history of the Russian intelligentsia. That is why Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” are opposed in our classical literature ideological novel by the publicist Chernyshevsky “What is to be done?”
© Vsevolod Sakharov. All rights reserved.
My whole story is directed against the nobility as an advanced class. I deliberately took its best representatives in order to prove my point all the more accurately.
I. S. Turgenev
Real conflict begins when both sides are right to a certain extent.
I. S. Turgenev
In 1860, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev’s work “Fathers and Sons” was published in Russia. There are now two main interpretations of the novel and its title. On the one hand, “Fathers and Sons” is a novel about a political conflict, on the other hand, about the eternal conflict of a generation: fathers and sons. I believe that the points of view are right, but I am more inclined to the second. Let's look at the first one first.
The novel takes place during the crisis of the serfdom system, when contradictions between different camps intensified, in particular between aristocrats and democrats, between liberals and commoner revolutionaries. The main representative of the first is Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, his antagonist is Evgeny Bazarov. The ideological conflict of the novel rests on their collision. In the image of Kirsanov, Turgenev criticizes the principles and beliefs of the conservative noble liberal.
Firstly, Pavel Petrovich’s “principles” include his English-style aristocracy and blind worship of everything English. Bazarov firmly opposes this. Secondly, Pavel Petrovich speaks with contempt about the natural scientists and experimenters of his time: “And now some chemists and materialists have come…”, to which the nihilist Bazarov replies: “A decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet...”. Thirdly, Pavel Petrovich defends medieval privileges and noble concepts of honor. All these views are also sharply criticized by Bazarov. It would seem that the opponents agree on their views on the people. Bazarov agrees with Kirsanov that the people are patriarchal and sacredly honor traditions. But unlike the latter, who is convinced of the inviolability of these qualities, the hero is ready to devote his entire life to the fight against the people. Nihilists, to whom the main character of the novel considers himself, are people who deny everything: art, poetry, love. This is a new generation - a generation of children who are destroying the old order and not thinking about who will build and restore what was destroyed.
The second interpretation of the novel is that it is not built on a political conflict, but on a generational conflict that has haunted the entire world throughout the existence of life. This means that every child, being born and growing up, carries within himself a new idea, a new view, a new understanding of the world, significantly different from the understanding of his parents. At the beginning of his life, this child believes that he is right, that his worldview will remain with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. But as he grows up and encounters his children, he realizes that he is taking the position of his parents. This is the eternal problem of “fathers” and “children”.
Reading of Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” can be divided into two types: momentary and eternal. Upon immediate reading, the reader is more likely to believe that the novel is political and based on the clash of different views. Perhaps this is true, since the author himself says that his novel is directed against the nobility as a camp. But on the other hand, the novel opens up eternal problems, which means its purpose is not political, but eternal.
- What was the idea behind the novel Fathers and Sons? How was the socio-political struggle of the 60s of the 19th century reflected in it? In this case, did the writer’s intentions and the objective meaning of his work coincide?
- What is the main conflict in Fathers and Sons? Does the novel show the struggle of two generations or two ideologies?
- Which of the characters in the novel immediately attracts attention and evokes sympathy? Who can be called a hero of his time? Why do you think so?
- What does the generation of “fathers” (Kirsanov brothers, Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov) look like in Turgenev’s image? What do you think about their attitude towards the younger generation? Does the author sympathize with them or despise them?
- What is the essence of ideological disputes between “fathers” and “children”? Whose side is Turgenev on?
- Why do you think Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov became Bazarov’s main opponent? What does the duel scene characterize each of them?
- What are Bazarov's views? What attracts (or repulses) him? Why does Turgenev show him alone not only in the camp of the “fathers”, but also among the “children”?
- Prove that Bazarov is a fighter and thinker. What is the essence of Bazarov's nihilism? Does he have the moral right to call himself self-destructive?
- How does Bazarov feel about his parents? Why can’t there be spiritual intimacy between them?
- It is known that the test of love is a difficult exam for Turgenev’s heroes. How does Bazarov reveal himself in love? How does Turgenev show the sincerity and strength of his hero’s feelings? Is Anna Sergeevna Odintsova worthy of his love?
- “To die the way Bazarov died is the same as having accomplished a great feat.” Do you agree with this opinion of D.I. Pisarev? Why do you think the novel ends with the picture of Bazarov’s death? How does D.I. Pisarev answer this question? Why did Turgenev call Bazarov a “tragic face”?
- What is the role of landscape in Fathers and Sons?
- Why does Arkady belong to the camp of the “fathers”?
- How are the ideological views of the characters revealed in the novel “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev?
- Describe the portrait of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov.
- Which principles of Bazarov cannot stand up to a dispute with life?
- How do you understand the meaning of the word “nihilist”?
- What is the weakness of Bazarov’s position?Material from the site
The weakness of Bazarov's position lies in the total denial of everything that goes beyond the scope of empirical knowledge: art, the beauty of nature, love, religion. Life itself shatters his rejection of love. His materialism is superficial and crude, identifying physiology and morality (“each of us has a brain, spleen, heart, and lungs that are constructed in the same way,” which means that we all have the same “moral qualities”). Bazarov has no loyal supporters, he is alone, and therefore doomed.
- Why does I. S. Turgenev end Bazarov’s line with the death of the hero?
- What is the meaning of the title of the novel “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Tour-geneva?
- What details of the portrait emphasize Bazarov’s democracy?
“My whole story is directed against the nobility as an advanced class,” argued I. S. Turgenev. In Bazarovo he pictured an extraordinary, titanic figure, growing from the soil of the people, but lonely and therefore doomed to death. The author conceived the main conflict of the novel as a conflict of ideologies: the moderate liberal position of the “fathers” and the extreme left views of nihilists (read revolutionaries, the author notes). The writer wanted to show the triumph of democracy over the aristocracy, but was sure of the defeat of the revolutionaries. Therefore, he categorically objected to the revolutionary conclusions made by Dobrolyubov after reading Fathers and Sons, and because of this he broke with his dear Sovremennik. The writer, who served “the revolution with the heartfelt meaning of his works” (from the proclamation of the People’s Volunteers), turned out to be wrong: the objective meaning of his novel outgrew the concept and turned out to be broader and more convincing than Turgenev had imagined.
Bazarov has the character of a fighter. He never backs down in disputes with ideological opponents, does not change his beliefs, most often developed through experience. His aphorisms, often controversial, are the result of a lot of mental work. Bazarov’s nihilism is not denial for the sake of denial, but a firm conviction that “science “in general” does not exist at all,” that one must look at everything critically, check the results of one’s research in the laboratory, etc. Bazarov is confident that “everyone a person must educate himself,” and cites himself as an example. He has the right to call himself “self-deluded” because he never gives in to his weaknesses and fearlessly defends what he considers true.
Arkady in the epilogue “has become a zealous owner,” his “farm brings in significant income.” This suggests that the influence
Bazarov quickly disappeared - after all, Arkady, despite the search for a social ideal outside the ideology of the nobility, remained a “liberal gentleman.” He is the keeper of the traditions of the “fathers” not only in relation to culture. The ideological views of the heroes of I.S. Turgenev's ideas are most fully revealed in the disputes between the Kirsanovs and Bazarovs.
Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is an aristocrat, which is emphasized by his beautiful white hands “with long pink nails”, “English suit, fashionable low ties”, “amazing collars”. He speaks with emphasized refined politeness, slightly tilting his head.
Bazarov's nihilistic attitude towards love is shattered by his own feelings for Odintsova. For the first time, he realizes that he is powerless to give up love for the sake of reason, that he becomes dependent on a woman whose words, glance, and manners arouse in him a storm of irresistible passions. After defeat in a love match, Bazarov loses optimism and comes to gloomy discussions about the insignificance of man in the face of eternity.
The concept of “nihilism” by I.S. Turgenev introduced into the Russian language as a designation for the system of views of the “new people” who entered the Russian social life from the late 50s of the 19th century. Nihilism is a simplified, crudely materialistic understanding of life, in which rational, experimental knowledge through the natural sciences is brought to the fore, religion, art, beauty, and morality are denied as useless in society. “We act because of what we recognize as useful. At the present time, the most useful thing is denial - we deny.”
I. S. Turgenev believed that the “Russian Insarovs” had come, but their time had not come. Bazarov is a premature person who does not have a close social perspective, which is why he had to die.
The name has a double meaning: the confrontation between two social forces - liberal nobles (“fathers”) and commoner democrats (“children”); the eternal contradiction of generations.
I.S. Turgenev emphasized Bazarov’s democracy in his appearance. His face is "long and thin, with wide forehead, with a flat upward, pointed nose downward, large greenish eyes and drooping sand-colored sideburns, enlivened by a calm smile and expressing self-confidence and intelligence.” He dresses simply and pointedly casually - in a “long robe with tassels”, and his hands are “red and naked”, never wearing gloves.
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