Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?” contemporaries perceived it ambiguously. Some considered him an “abomination,” others considered him a “charm.” This is due to the complex composition, attempts to hide the main idea behind dreams main character and a love triangle and, finally, with the peculiarities of linguistic design. However, the novel had a serious influence on Russian society XIX century. Schoolchildren study it in 10th grade. We offer brief analysis the work “What to do?”, which will help you prepare qualitatively for lessons and for the Unified State Exam.
Brief Analysis
History of creation- N. Chernyshevsky created the novel while he was in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The writer was arrested for radical ideas. The work was conceived as a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons,” so there is a certain similarity between the images of Evgeny Bazarov and Rakhmetov.
Subject– In the work, two main themes can be distinguished - love and life in a new society built on the basis of the laws of labor and equality.
Composition- The structure of the work has its own peculiarities. The through lines of the novel are the life of Vera Pavlovna, the fates of Lopukhov and Kirsanov. Love twists and turns play a major role in these storylines. Vera Pavlovna’s dreams are closely intertwined with reality. With the help of them, the author encrypted socio-political motives.
Genre– A novel in which you can notice the features of several genre varieties- utopian novel, socio-political, love and philosophical novels.
Direction– Realism.
History of creation
The writer worked on the analyzed work for several months: from December 1862 to April 1863. At that time he was under arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress. He was imprisoned for his radical views. The novel was conceived as a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons,” so there is a certain similarity between the images of Yevgeny Bazarov and Rakhmetov.
While working on the novel, N. Chernyshevsky understood that censorship would not allow it to be published if it noticed an acute political subtext. To deceive the regulatory authorities, the writer resorted to artistic techniques: framed social motives love context, introduced dreams into the plot. He managed to publish his work in Sovremennik, but soon the authorities prohibited not only distributing the novel, but even imitating it. Permission was granted to publish Chernyshevsky’s work “What is to be done?” only in 1905
Subject
The novel displays motifs characteristic of Russian literature of the 19th century century. The writer implemented them in an extraordinary, intricate plot. He presented situations that should push the reader to independent conclusions.
N. Chernyshevsky revealed several topics, among which the following stand out: love, which is fueled by common interests and mutual respect; dreams of a new life. These topics are closely intertwined and determine problems“What to do?”: marriage without love, friendship, equality of men and women, the role of work in human life.
A significant part of the novel is devoted to the life of Vera Pavlovna. The heroine's mother wanted to marry her to a rich man. She considered the owner's son to be a profitable match. The mother did not even think that he was a womanizer with whom her daughter would not find happiness. Verochka was saved from an unsuccessful marriage by medical student Dmitry Lopukhov. A tender feeling arose between the young people and they got married. Vera became the owner of a sewing workshop. However, she did not use hired labor. The heroine made the girls who worked for her co-owners, and they shared the income equally. In the story about Vera Pavlovna’s workshop, the author embodied the idea of equal labor.
The marriage with Lopukhov soon broke up: Verochka fell in love with her husband’s friend, Kirsanov. To untie the love knot, Lopukhov decided to shoot himself. It turns out that he left the note discussed at the beginning of the novel. In the message, he stated that no one was to blame for his death, and Vera Pavlovna calmly married Kirsanov.
The married couple lived happily. Vera Pavlovna was passionate about her favorite activity - sewing workshops; she began to study medicine, and her husband helped her in every possible way. In the descriptions family life These people manifest the idea of equality between men and women. At the end of the novel we learn that Lopukhov is alive. Now he took the surname Beaumont and married Ekaterina Vasilievna Polozova. The Kirsanov and Beaumont families begin to become friends and spread the ideas of a “new” life.
Composition
In “What to do?” the analysis should be supplemented with a characterization of the composition. Features of the formal and semantic organization of the text allow the author to reveal several topics and veil forbidden motives. At first glance, main role love twists and turns play in the novel. In fact, they are a mask that hides socio-political problems. To reveal the latter, the author used the description of Vera Pavlovna’s dreams.
The components of the plot are placed inconsistently: the author presents the event from the development of actions before the exposition, and only then the plot elements are arranged in a logical chain. Both at the beginning and at the end of the novel the image of Lopukhov appears. This creates a kind of frame.
Main characters
Genre
The genre of the work is a novel, since it has several plot lines, and central problem remains open. The work is characterized by genre syncretism: it intertwines the features of love, philosophical, socio-political novels and utopia. The direction of the work is realism.
Oct 20 2010
The novel “What to do?” has a very clear and rationally thought out compositional structure. According to the observation of A.V. Lunacharsky, the composition of Roma-(*148)na is organized by the dialectically developing author’s thought, moving “across four zones: vulgar people, new people, superior people and dreams.” With the help of such a composition, Chernyshevsky shows his reflections on it, his thinking about it in dynamics, in development, in forward movement from the past through the present to the future. Attention to the process of life itself - characteristic feature artistic thinking of the 60s, typical of the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Nekrasov.
Unlike the nobles, Rozalskaya is active and enterprising, although her work takes on perverted forms: everything in it is subordinated to the interests of personal gain, selfish calculation is seen in everything. Even to her daughter, who runs away to Lopukhov against her mother’s will, Marya Aleksevna shouts after her: “She stole!” And yet Chernyshevsky sympathizes with her and introduces her into the chapter “A word of praise to Marya Aleksevna.” Why?
The answer to this question is given in Vera Pavlovna’s second dream. She dreams of a field divided into two sections: on one there are fresh, healthy ears of corn, on the other - stunted seedlings. “Are you interested in knowing,” says Lopukhov, “why wheat so white, pure and tender will be born from one mud, but not from another mud?” It turns out that the first dirt is “real”, because on this piece of field there is movement of water, and any movement is labor. In the second section there is “fantastic” mud, because it is swampy and the water in it has stagnated. The miracle of the birth of new ears of corn is performed by the sun: by illuminating and warming “real” dirt with its rays, it brings to life strong shoots. But the sun is not omnipotent - nothing will be born from the soil of “fantastic” dirt even with it. “Until recently, they did not know how to restore health to such clearings, but now a remedy has been discovered; this is drainage: excess water runs down the ditches, there remains as much water as needed, and it moves, and the clearing receives reality.” Then Serge appears. “Don't confess, Serge! - says Alexey Petrovich, - we know your story; worries about the unnecessary, thoughts about the unnecessary - this is the soil on which you grew up; this soil is fantastic. Therefore, look at yourself: you are by nature not stupid, and very good, perhaps no worse and no more stupid than us, but what are you good for, what are you useful for?” Vera Pavlovna's dream resembles an extended parable.
Thinking in parables is a characteristic feature of spiritual literature. Let us recall, for example, the Gospel parable about the sower and the seeds, very beloved by Nekrasov. Its echoes are also felt in Chernyshevsky. Here “What to do?” focuses on culture, on the thoughts of democratic readers who have been familiar with spirituality since childhood. Let's decipher its meaning. It is clear that by “real” dirt we mean the bourgeois-philistine strata of society leading a working lifestyle close to the natural needs of human nature. That is why more and more new people are coming out of this class - Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna. The dirt is “fantastic” - the world of the nobility, where there is no labor, where the normal needs of human nature are perverted. Before this dirt, the sun is powerless, but “drainage” is omnipotent, that is, revolution is such a radical restructuring of society that will force the noble class to work.
Essay text:
Artistic Features novel What to do.
Chernyshevsky's novel is one of the most special works of Russian literature, both in style and in terms of the conditions of creation. This novel was published in 1863, and was written by Chernyshevsky in the Peter and Paul Fortress. It is clear what kind of censorship a novel written by a convicted revolutionary had to undergo. This is what determines such a complex style of the work. The author was forced to carefully veil his thoughts, leave many things unsaid, and talk about many things only in hints. And Chernyshevsky solved this problem. The novel was passed by the censors, who did not see its socialist orientation. But what was not understood by the censorship was understood by the advanced part of Russian society, and the novel became reference book youth. In its artistic features, the work differs from everything that was created before and after it. First of all, it should be noted that the novel is revolutionary both in form and content. The theme of struggle, the theme of liberation runs like a red thread throughout the entire novel, finding its conclusion in last chapter: the triumph of the revolution. In this work we find an amazing combination of critical realism and revolutionary romanticism. No one, either before Chernyshevsky or after him, developed this genre. How brilliant Chernyshevsky must have been to guess the great and bright future of his people, to predict the revolution, during the years of the terrible dominance of reaction. The revolutionary nature of the novel is primarily reflected in the images of the heroes. His heroes are creative people who have moved from words to deeds. They are building the first workshop, where the income goes to the benefit of the workers themselves, among them the professional revolutionary Rakhmetov grew up, who devoted his entire life to serving the people. Chernyshevsky's heroes are living people, but at the same time they show everyone best qualities advanced youth, which should have been developed and improved.
Rakhmetov’s biography helps us understand even better the author’s main idea that representatives of the nobility began to go over to the side of the people, which means the century of oppression is not long. The portrait plays a very small role. For example, the portrait of Lopukhov is not large, but it also emphasizes the courage and originality of the hero’s character. This was a man with beautiful features, with a proud and courageous appearance. But, along with these usual methods of depicting heroes, dialogues, disputes, theoretical reasoning, and letters from heroes achieve great importance. An example is Lopukhov’s conversations with Vera Pavlovna about religion and people’s actions. Numerous dialogues about the reasonable egoism of Lopukhov and Kirsanov. Many more examples can be given, since in most cases the deep thoughts of the author can be felt in all conversations. The letters of the heroes played the same role. The correspondence between Lopukhov and Vera Pavlovna helps to better understand the relationship between them. Katya Polozova’s letter gives a vivid idea of Vera Pavlovna’s workshop. But not only the images of the heroes make up the peculiarity of the play. The composition is also unique. The novel is divided into six large chapters, which in turn are divided into small sub-chapters. Each chapter has a title, which represents the theme of the chapter. A special chapter is the last page of the novel, called Change of Scenery. This was done because Chernyshevsky gave her very great value, since the triumph of revolutionary ideas, the victory of the revolution is shown. The digressions to which the author resorts are also very characteristic of the novel. The most important of these are conversations with an astute reader. In his appearance, Chernyshevsky ridicules the philistine and stupid public, for whom only poignant scenes are important, and not the essence of the book. He shows this boastful crowd, which smugly talks about literary or scientific things about which it has no understanding. At the same time, the author calls for studying literature, carefully and thoughtfully analyzing the novel. The composition corresponds to the language of the novel. Basically it is a complex language, with a large number all kinds of revolutions, subordinate clauses. An example is the following phrase about Lopukhov and Kirsanov: But they reason differently: you see, medicine is now in such an infancy state that it is not yet necessary to treat, but only to prepare materials for future doctors to be able to treat. The use of such words, as you see, emphasizes the author’s relationship to the speaker. And the use of such words, similar to Old Russian ones, as if in infancy, without being too stuffy, gives the language a heaviness and nationality. But the heroes of the novel are also characterized by apt short aphorisms: Give people bread, they will learn to read themselves, Zher-va - soft-boiled boots, We have no time to be bored: we have too much to do, I don’t hate my homeland because I love it. What to do differs from other novels in its political character and its journalistic orientation. The novel is the opposite of Turgenev’s fathers and children. This opposition is visible in everything. So, if Bazarov is a gloomy, angry person, then Chernyshevsky’s heroes are cheerful people, confident in their actions. If Turgenev’s novel shows the inconsistency of Bazarov’s views and his death, then in the work What to Do, revolutionary ideas triumphed, and the novel ends with a picture of revolution. Chernyshevsky's novel played a huge role in Russian literature and public life. The novel became a textbook of life for all progressive youth. It was perceived as a program of activity in public and personal life. No matter how hard the reactionaries tried to reduce the significance of the work, they were still forced to admit that the novel became the most popular work of Russian literature.
Rights to the essay “Artistic features of the novel What to do.
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The power of thought (in Belinsky’s terminology), characteristic of the entire structure of Chernyshevsky’s novel, determines both the features of the genre and new character plot, based on complete clarity and predictability of its development. The writer refuses unexpected plot twists, secrets, and external effects, with the exception of the initial chapters, the purpose of which is to interest the “simple-minded public.”
The confidence of the novel's heroes in the strength of their position, unprecedented optimism - this is a consequence of Chernyshevsky's innovative solution to the problem of the relationship between man and the environment, one of the most important for Russians. critical realism. The concept of “environment” in revolutionary-democratic literature becomes more complicated, since in addition to the circumstances traditionally opposing the hero, the idea of circumstances favorable to him is introduced, of an environment that helps the formation and development of the hero. positive traits character. Chernyshevsky's heroes are no longer alone: they have their own environment, their own society, their own circle of friends who are ready to immediately come to the rescue.
Chernyshevsky's skill is manifested in the innovative use of the categories of artistic time and space. The events of the novel are precisely timed to a specific historical period- the era of the first revolutionary situation in Russia. At the same time, artistic time is not closed within the framework of the plot; it leads the reader into the vast world of almost the entire human history. The past (contrary to existing literary tradition) has no power over the characters: it does not occupy a noticeable place either in their minds or in the author’s narrative. The movement of time in the novel is not unilinear: it flows not only from the present to the future, but also in the opposite direction. The future is open for heroes. Hence the special function of the epilogue, which is carried directly into the future. Artistic time the novel reflects the pathos of the work - the triumph of the human mind, to which everything is subject, which leads people out of gloomy basements, points the way to a dazzling future. “New people” outgrow their time and can leave it. This becomes characteristic of their artistic space. Suffice it to recall Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream, which shows how the heroine miraculously ascends upward and, thanks to a new and unexpected point of view, gets the opportunity to see the grandiose expanses of the earth inhabited by free and happy people.
Of particular importance in artistic structure the novel is acquired by the author-narrator, who is one of characters works. In the system of images, the author occupies the highest place. He comments and in some cases clarifies the statements and actions of the characters. So, for example, the famous scene when Rakhmetov, testing his will, sleeps on nails, is indicative of the character of this hero, but it does not mean at all that the author completely accepts this particular method of preparing for future tests. The same applies to Rakhmetov’s statements about the impossibility of personal happiness for a revolutionary.
Reactionary criticism, trying to weaken the powerful impact of the novel on its contemporaries, tried to discredit it, arguing that it was extremely weak in artistically. This opinion turned out to be very tenacious. At the beginning of the 20th century. V.I. Lenin strongly objected to such views. He said: “I declare: it is unacceptable to call “What to do?” primitive and mediocre. Under his influence, hundreds of people became revolutionaries. Could this have happened if Chernyshevsky had written incompetently and primitively? For example, he captivated my brother, and he captivated me too. He plowed me deeply, This is a thing that gives a charge for life. Untalented works do not have such Influence.”
The stumbling block for many readers of the novel “What is to be done?” are the dreams of Vera Pavlovna. They can be difficult to understand, especially in cases where, for censorship reasons, Chernyshevsky expressed his ideas in too allegorical a form. But one of the images...
The great Russian thinker and fighter for the freedom of the people, Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky, is near and dear to us. Its fiery, versatile theoretical and political struggle with the forces of reaction, Chernyshevsky showed an example of fearlessness, perseverance, patriotism...
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was born into the family of a priest, but in his youth he freed himself from religious ideas, becoming a leading thinker of his time. Chernyshevsky was a utopian socialist. He developed a coherent system of social liberation...
Unconventional and unusual for Russian prose XIX century, the plot of the plot, more typical of French adventure novels - the mysterious suicide described in the first chapter "What to do?" - was, in the generally accepted opinion of all researchers, its...
NOVEL “WHAT TO DO?” ISSUES,
GENRE, COMPOSITION. "OLD WORLD"
IN THE IMAGE OF CHERNYSHEVSKY
Objectives: to introduce students to creative history the novel “What is to be done?”, talk about the prototypes of the novel’s heroes; give an idea of the subject matter, genre and composition of the work; find out what the attractive power of Chernyshevsky’s book was for his contemporaries, how the novel “What is to be done?” on Russian literature; name the heroes of the novel, convey the content of the most important episodes, dwell on the writer’s depiction of the “old world”.
If the truth is holy
The world does not know how to find a road -
Honor the madman who inspires
A golden dream for humanity!
V. Kurochkin (translation from Beranger) 1862
There is nothing higher than a man, there is nothing higher than a woman (N.G. Chernyshevsky)
Lesson progress
Situation for girls: you have been married for more than 3 years, “how quietly and actively these years passed, how full they were of peace, and joy, and all the best.” (Ch. 3, V) You are happy, it seems that nothing can darken your relationship with your husband. One day your husband brings his old friend, a fellow university student, to the house. And from that moment on, he often visits you. After about six months, you realize that the feelings you had for your husband are anything but love. But love has awakened only now, and besides, it is mutual. How will you try to get out of this situation?
Girls offer different things: leave with your loved one (isn’t it cruel to your husband?), end all relationships with your husband’s friend (betray love?). There was also this option: hiding from her husband, having an affair with his friend, like Varvara Kabanova from “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky (well, very modern!).
The young men, after listening to the “confessions of their wives,” answer the question: what will you do if you find yourself in this situation? The children's answers are interesting, but in my lessons there has never been anything close to what the hero of the novel did. This is what we talk about next.
This is exactly the problem that the heroes of N.G. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?” faced. How did you do it? loving husband? He guesses everything, does not wait for explanations and tells his wife that he is going to Moscow for a while. He himself, without leaving the city, rents a hotel room, and at night “at half past two o’clock... in the middle Liteyny Bridge The fire flashed and a shot was heard. The guards rushed to the shot, a few passers-by came running - there was no one and nothing at the place where the shot was heard. This means he didn’t shoot, but shot himself. There were hunters to dive, after a while they brought in hooks, they even brought some kind of fishing net, they dived, groped, caught, caught fifty large chips, but the bodies were not found or caught. And how to find it? - the night is dark." (I, “Fool”) On the morning of the same day, his wife receives a letter with the following content: “I embarrassed your calm. I'm leaving the stage. Don’t be sorry, I love you both so much that I am very happy with my determination. Farewell." (II, “The First Consequence of a Stupid Case”)
How do you evaluate this action?
There is usually someone in the classroom who shouts, “Fool!”
Apparently you were in the crowd on the bridge that night. We open the first chapter of the novel and read its title. Yes, "Fool". Guys, what do you think the novel will be about?
Students offer options: about love, about love triangle, or maybe this detective story?
Most famous novel Chernyshevsky “What to do?” was written in the solitary confinement of the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress for as soon as possible: started December 14, 1862 and completed April 4, 1863. The novel's manuscript was double censored. First of all, members of the investigative commission, and then the censor of Sovremennik, became acquainted with Chernyshevsky’s work. To say that the censors completely “overlooked” the novel is not entirely true. Censor O. A. Przhetslavsky directly pointed out that “this work... turned out to be an apology for the way of thinking and actions of that category of modern younger generation, which is understood under the name “nihilists and materialists” and who call themselves “new people”. Another censor, V.N. Beketov, seeing the commission’s seal on the manuscript, was “imbued with awe” and passed it through without reading it, for which he was fired.
The novel “What to do? From stories about new people” (this is the full title of Chernyshevsky’s work) caused a mixed reaction from readers. Progressive youth spoke with admiration about “What is to be done?” Fierce opponents of Chernyshevsky were forced to admit the “extraordinary power” of the novel’s impact on young people: “Young people followed Lopukhov and Kirsanov in a crowd, young girls became infected with the example of Vera Pavlovna... The minority found their ideal... in Rakhmetov.” Chernyshevsky's enemies, seeing the unprecedented success of the novel, demanded brutal reprisals against the author.
D. I. Pisarev, V. S. Kurochkin and their magazines spoke in defense of the novel (“ Russian word", "Iskra"), etc.
About prototypes. Literary scholars believe that the basis storyline based on the life story of the Chernyshevsky family doctor Pyotr Ivanovich Bokov. Bokov was the teacher of Maria Obrucheva, then, in order to free her from the oppression of her parents, he married her, but a few years later M. Obrucheva fell in love with another person - the scientist-physiologist I.M. Sechenov. Thus, the prototypes of Lopukhov were Bokov, Vera Pavlovna - Obruchev, Kirsanov - Sechenov.
In the image of Rakhmetov, features of Bakhmetyev, a Saratov landowner, who transferred part of his fortune to Herzen for the publication of a magazine and revolutionary work, are seen. (There is an episode in the novel when Rakhmetov, while abroad, transfers money to Feuerbach for the publication of his works). In the image of Rakhmetov one can also see those character traits that were inherent in Chernyshevsky himself, as well as Dobrolyubov and Nekrasov.
The novel “What to do?” Chernyshevsky dedicated to his wife Olga Sokratovna. In her memoirs, she wrote: “Verochka (Vera Pavlovna) - I, Lopukhov was taken from Bokov.”
The image of Vera Pavlovna captures the character traits of Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevskaya and Maria Obrucheva.
III. Teacher lecture(summary).
PROBLEMS OF THE NOVEL
In "What to do?" the author proposed the theme of a new theme discovered by Turgenev in “Fathers and Sons” public figure(mainly from commoners), who changed the type " extra person" E. Bazarov’s “nihilism” is opposed by the views of “new people”, his loneliness and tragic death– their cohesion and resilience. “New people” are the main characters of the novel.
Problems of the novel: the emergence of “new people”; people of the “old world” and their social and moral vices; love and emancipation, love and family, love and revolution (D.N. Murin).
About the composition of the novel. Chernyshevsky's novel is structured in such a way that life, reality, appears in it in three time dimensions: in the past, present and future. Past - old world, existing, but already becoming obsolete; the present is the emerging positive principles of life, the activities of “new people”, the existence of new human relationships. The future is an approaching dream (“Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream”). The composition of the novel conveys movement from past to present and future. The author not only dreams of a revolution in Russia, he sincerely believes in its implementation.
About the genre. There is no unanimous opinion on this issue. Yu. M. Prozorov considers “What to do?” Chernyshevsky - socio-ideological novel, Yu. V. Lebedev – philosophical-utopian a novel created according to the laws typical of this genre. The compilers of the bio-bibliographic dictionary “Russian Writers” consider “What to do?” artistic and journalistic novel.
(There is an opinion that Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” is family, detective, journalistic, intellectual, etc.)