One of the most outstanding figures of Russian thought. Having written a bold book "Journey from St. Petersburg", summary which is given in this article, he put an end to his career, but remained honest with himself.
short biography
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev was born on August 20 (old style) in 1749. His father was a large landowner, who raised his son on an estate near Moscow, in the village of Nemtsovo. Little Sasha received a good education at home, although he was enrolled in one of the Moscow gymnasiums.
At the age of thirteen he was enrolled in the Corps of Pages, where Radishchev studied until 1766. After that, he went to Leipzig, where, in addition to studying at the Faculty of Law, he managed to study literature, medicine and foreign languages. After returning to Russia, he worked in the Senate, then at the headquarters of the Finnish division. And since 1780, Radishchev worked in customs.
In addition to his activities as an official, he is engaged in literature: he writes “The Tale of Lomonosov”, the ode “Liberty” and much more. The talented writer was very negative towards the policies of Catherine the Great. Actually, you will encounter this criticism when reading the chapter-by-chapter summary of “Journey from St. Petersburg.” So let's get started.
The idea is "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow." Reaction to publication
At the end of the nineties of the XVIII century. Radishchev’s main work, “Journey from St. Petersburg,” was published, a summary of which is presented in our article. Due to strong criticism of the existing order in the country at that time, the work was almost immediately banned, and the author himself was convicted and sent into exile. The famous statement of Catherine the Great that Radishchev was a rebel worse than Pugachev went down in history. The brave author was initially sentenced to death penalty, but later it was replaced by a prison sentence of 10 years.
What is this book about?
This book is written in the first person and is travel notes. The author (who is also the narrator) leaves St. Petersburg, reflecting that the main weakness of man is his reluctance to look at many things straight. This, according to the author, is why all the troubles arise. The narrator expresses the hope that his book will be read and understood by at least a few.
In general, conveying a brief summary of “Journey from St. Petersburg”, one cannot help but note that each chapter of the work is negative trait person. Having read it to the end, you can see that the author criticized not so much the state and the system in it, but the person himself in this state.
Chapter "Departure"
So, a certain traveler (his name is not given, but we understand that the story is being told on behalf of Radishchev, and in addition, throughout the book there will be references to his biography) leaves St. Petersburg for Moscow. The method of transportation is a kibitka. The narrator is a middle-aged nobleman who has money and lives well (before leaving, he dined with friends, as the book says).
“Journey from St. Petersburg”: a summary of the chapters “Sofia” and “Tosno”
Otherwise, this chapter can be called “The Lazy Commissioner,” because the main quality described in it is laziness. In Sofia, the author woke up, having fallen asleep while leaving St. Petersburg. The coachman unharnessed the horses, and the writer entered the post house. From a conversation with the commissar, he finds out that there are no fresh horses and there is nothing to help yet - he will have to wait for the morning.
In fact, the commissar is simply too lazy to work at night and is lying (there are more than two dozen horses in the stable). Having failed to obtain help from the boss, the author turns to the coachmen and, in exchange for payment, they harness his wagon with fresh horses.
The narrator complains about the road, which was repaired only on the occasion of Catherine and her retinue passing along it. The rest of the time she is simply in terrible condition.
Stopping at the Tosno station, the writer meets a local official who is writing a book from which, supposedly, all nobles will be able to learn about the antiquity of their family. According to the narrator, such a book is a great stupidity, and its author is a stupid and arrogant person. Radishchev's position is this: it is a petty evil to boast about one's roots.
Chapters: "Lyubani" and "Miracle"
In conveying (“Journey from St. Petersburg”), we note that here the main idea - bad attitude power to subordinates.
The author, in order to take a break from the carriage, walks and sees a man plowing in the field. It's a holiday now, and working in the fields is a sin. In response to the narrator’s question why the peasant works on weekends, he says that out of seven days he works six for the master and only a day to feed his family.
The writer becomes ashamed, because he himself does not treat his servant very well. This meeting made the narrator rethink his attitude towards the common people.
And in the summary of “Miracle” (“Journey from St. Petersburg”), we note that the main idea here sounds like this: indifference is one of the worst qualities of a person.
In the town of Chudovo, the narrator meets with his friend Ch. He talks about the boat trip and the events that happened during it. The ship hit rocks and began to sink. Pavel, one of the sailors, swam to the shore for help, but he was refused, since the chief was sleeping and they did not want to wake him up. Finally, someone on shore responded and the people on the ship were saved. In the morning, Mr. Ch. decided to visit the boss and ask why he remained indifferent to people’s misfortune, which is why he calmly stated that it was not his responsibility to save people.
Chapters "Spasskaya Polest" and "Podberezie"
The next chapter of “Travels from St. Petersburg” is a brief summary of which we will tell you.
The author spends the night at the station, where the juror and his wife sleep in the same room with him. A dialogue takes place between the couple, in which the assessor tells his wife about an official who really loves oysters. For this delicacy, he can push his subordinates, give them titles and orders.
Then the narrator falls asleep and in a dream sees himself as a ruler with everything perfect in his country. But suddenly a woman comes to him, who calls herself Truth, and removes the veil of deception from the eyes of the author-ruler. He begins to see clearly, sees the misfortune of the people, the theft of officials, and wakes up in horror.
Otherwise, the chapter “Podberezie” can be called “Meeting with a seminarian.” Having read the summary of “Travel from St. Petersburg,” I think many will agree with this.
The narrator meets a young man who has just graduated from theological seminary. The former seminarian has far-reaching plans - he wants to go to St. Petersburg, because in the capital he can continue his studies at top level. The young man complains to the narrator about the seminary, because there, according to him, they only teach Latin and don’t teach anything else.
When parting, he loses the paper, which the author then picks up and learns that the young man is an adherent of Martinism. The writer himself condemns any mystical movements, be it Martinism or Freemasonry.
Chapter about Veliky Novgorod
This chapter gives the writer’s thoughts about one of the capitals Old Russian state- Novgorod. The author indulges in reflections on the significance of the city in ancient times, about democratic society in Novgorod and about its defeat by the guardsmen of Ivan the Terrible. By the way, from the point of view of historians, Radishchev was wrong when he talked about democracy in Novgorod. Democracy did not exist there, and power belonged to the rich.
The author visits his friend - the merchant Karp. He is a swindler and deceives people out of a lot of money. In fact, deception has never been a novelty for commercial Russia. All this forces the author to ask very interest Ask: is right necessary when there is power?
Chapter on Divine Reflections or "Bronnitsy", chapter "Zaitsevo"
While the wagon was at the station, the author goes to the mountain where the temple once stood. Reflecting on God and man, he comes to the following conclusion: God exists, he gave life to everything on earth, including man. But a person must take care of himself to be happy.
A friend of the author, whom he met in Zaitsevo, talks about a case that he once tried in court. It was dedicated to the cruelty of the landowner towards the peasants. One day, tired of tolerating the master, the peasants beat him to death and wanted to judge them for it. But the unheard of happened - the judge (a friend of the author) recognized the innocence of the peasants and tried to do everything to get them released. But the rest of the fellow judges considered this decision wrong and jointly condemned the peasants. The narrator's friend quit and left.
After parting with a friend, the narrator receives a letter from St. Petersburg, where his acquaintance writes about the wedding between a sixty-two-year-old lady and a seventy-eight-year-old baron. Marriage is solely based on money, everyone understands this and pretends that this is how it should be.
"Sacrimals": chapter in "Journey from St. Petersburg" by Radishchev
It describes a scene where a gray-haired father says goodbye to his children, who are leaving to begin their adult lives far from home. He gives instructions to the children, the sons saddle their horses and leave.
The chapter where the father buries his son
The narrator understands what we are talking about, because in his youth he himself was sick and took medicine that could affect his children in the future. main reason Diseases are debauchery, but diseases, naturally, are venereal in nature.
Chapters: "Edrovo", "Khotilov" and "Vyshny Volochok"
In the summary of the chapter “Edrovo” (“Journey from St. Petersburg”), it can be mentioned that in it the author travels past a village, where he meets the peasant woman Anna. She cannot get married because she and her fiancé do not have enough money for the wedding. The narrator wants to help, but the lovers refuse. In the chapter the author reflects on unequal marriages and that girls from the village are more beautiful than society ladies.
In the chapter "Vyshny Volochok" Radishchev reflects on the terrible working conditions of the peasants and the cruelty of the landowners.
Chapters: "Vydropusk", "Torzhok" and "Copper"
The chapter “Torzhok” conveys a conversation with a young man who is rushing to St. Petersburg to achieve the abolition of censorship in Torzhok. This young man would like to print newspapers and magazines dedicated to what is happening in the city, but they do not allow him to. The author reflects on the origin of censorship as a historical phenomenon.
The city of Tver and the head of "Gorodnya"
The chapter "Gorodnya" describes the farewell to the army. The old mother, losing her son, will now die of hunger without a breadwinner. But the son is happy, because for him to join the army means leaving the landowner. There are also other peasants standing here, whom the owner sold into the service in order to buy himself a carriage.
Chapters "Zavidovo" and "Wedge"
The idea of the chapter “Zavidovo” is to show that people are accustomed to humiliating themselves before the authorities, and the latter is becoming more and more impudent, seeing such slavish obedience. A skirmish occurs between the narrator and some boss, in which the author gives a fitting rebuff to the insolent man.
At the Klin station the author meets a blind old man and gives him some food. The old man refuses, asking for something instead of money, for example, a scarf. Soon he dies, and the narrator learns that the old man did not take off his scarf until his death.
"Pawns" and "Black Dirt"
Reflections on Lomonosov and conclusion
The author was given an essay about Lomonosov back in Tver. Actually, such a gift was given by the poet who complained about poetry in Russia. This essay says that Lomonosov is a very important figure for Russian culture. The poet believes that Lomonosov is a pioneer in many areas, but the main thing he brought was in the development of language.
Conclusion from the above
We tried to convey a brief summary of Radishchev's "Travel from St. Petersburg". Let us remember that for this essay the author was sent into exile by personal decree of Catherine the Great.
The manuscript was almost unknown to anyone until the mid-nineteenth century. Before this time, “The Journey” was banned and only a few copies circulated. It is known that one of them was in the personal library of Alexander Pushkin.
It is not surprising that the essay caused such a reaction from the authorities. Having read now “Journey from St. Petersburg,” a summary of which was given in the article, we see that for that time and that era it was very bold. And Radishchev had to be for real strong man so as not to be afraid to write this work.
In the chapter “Sofia” the traveler reflects on the peculiarities of Russian national character: “A barge hauler who goes to a tavern with his head hanging and returns stained with blood from slaps in the face can solve a lot of things that have hitherto been a mystery in Russian history.”
“Lyubani”: the author describes his meeting with a peasant who is plowing a field on a holiday. Six days a week he works as a corvee. When asked by the author, when does he manage to get bread to feed big family, he replies: “Not only holidays, but the night is ours. If our brother is not lazy, he will not die of hunger. You see, one horse is resting, and when this one gets tired, I’ll take on the other; the matter is controversial.” The traveler is shocked by the peasant’s confessions. He ends his reflections with the words: “Fear, hard-hearted landowner, I see your condemnation on the forehead of each of your peasants.”
At the Chudovo station, the hero meets a friend who tells him a story that happened to him. Having set off on a journey by sea on a small ship, he and his companions found themselves in a storm. The ship got stuck one and a half kilometers from the shore between two rocks and did not move. Twelve or ten people barely had time to pump out the water. One brave man, risking his life, managed to get to the shore, ran to the nearest village and came to the chief, asking for help. The chief was sleeping, but the sergeant did not dare to wake him up and pushed the man out the door. He turned to ordinary fishermen, who saved the rest. Returning to the village, the narrator went to the chief. He thought that he would punish his sergeant by learning that he had not been awakened when twelve people were in danger. But the boss only replied: “It’s not my job.” Then the narrator turned to the higher authorities, and “someone” answered him: “But in his position he is not ordered to save you.” “Now I say goodbye to the city forever,” exclaims the narrator. “I will not enter this dwelling of tigers again.” Their only joy is to gnaw at each other; Their joy is to torment the weak to the point of exhaustion and to servile the authorities.”
In Spasskaya Polest, the hero gets caught in the rain and is forced to spend the night in a hut. There he hears whispers: a husband and wife are talking, who also spent the night on the way to Novgorod. The husband tells his wife a story worthy of the pen of Saltykov-Shchedrin. We see Radishchev from a new side: before us is a sharp satirist who tells how the governor spends government money on his own whims (he is very fond of “oysters,” that is, oysters), and couriers and officers receive money and ranks for fulfilling - these whims.
Reflecting on the former greatness of Novgorod (chapter “Novgorod”), the author writes with bitter irony about the law of nations: “When enmity arises between them, when hatred or self-interest directs them against each other, their judge is the sword. Whoever falls dead or is disarmed is guilty; obeys this decision unquestioningly, and there is no appeal against it. “That’s why Novgorod belonged to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. That’s why he ruined it and appropriated its smoking remains for himself.”
Anticipating Tolstoy's thought, Radishchev says that during war “great violence is covered up by the law of war” (“Zaitsovo”); reflects on the greed of the authorities, on the lack of rights of the peasants, touches on economic problems, issues of education and the relationship between husband and wife - both in peasant and noble families.
In the chapter “Edrovo” the traveler meets a girl Anyuta and talks to her. He admires not only her beauty, but the nobility in her way of thinking. Anyuta is going to get married, and the hero from the bottom of his heart offers her mother one hundred rubles as a dowry for her daughter. The mother refuses, although this is a lot of money for a peasant family. Anyuta’s chastity and innocence delight the hero, and he thinks about her for a long time.
In the same chapter he tells an episode of the Pugachev uprising. The name of Pugachev was forbidden to even mention, but Radishchev boldly talks about the tyranny of the landowner and the reprisal against him of the peasants, who were later convicted, and sums up his thoughts: “But the peasant is legally dead...”
The chapters “Khotilov” and “Vydropusk” are subtitled “Project in the Future.” This the most important document social thought - the first Russian utopia. What kind of state can a state become when, “enjoying internal silence, having no external enemies,” society will be brought “to the highest bliss of civil coexistence”? The only guardian of society will be the law: “under its sovereign protection our heart is free,” Radishchev wants to believe in this.
What do you need for this? The author answers us in the chapter “Torzhok”. The beginning of civil society is freedom, and the first element of freedom is “free printing”, when censorship is not a factor. printing press“nurse of reason, wit, imagination, everything great and graceful.” But “the freedom of the government’s thoughts is terrible for you.”
A passer-by whom the traveler meets gives him a notebook with an essay to read, the title of which is “ Brief narrative on the origin of censorship." The notebook contains the history of the struggle between power and social thought from the time of Socrates to the latest European events.
In the chapter “Copper” there is a tragic scene of the sale of a family of serf peasants at an auction. Who has the power to establish freedom for peasants in Russia? “But the freedom of rural residents will offend, as they say, the right to property. And all those who could fight for freedom are all great lords, and freedom should not be expected from their advice, but from the very severity of enslavement.”
In Tver, the traveler meets a poet who reflects on the meaning of poetry in society and reads him the ode “Liberty.” How to understand liberty? “It should be called liberty if everyone obeys the laws equally.” The ode was written by Radishchev himself and had a huge influence on Pushkin. Pushkin admitted this in the draft version of “Monument”: “Following Radishchev, I glorified freedom...”.
Now we are amazed by phrases that sound like prophecies: “I wished that the farmer would not be a prisoner in his field...”; “The next 8 stanzas contain prophecies about the future lot of the fatherland, which will be divided into parts, and the sooner the more extensive it is. But the time has not yet come. When will it come, then
They will meet the rivets of a difficult night.
The elastic power, with its last gasp, will put a guard on the word and gather all its forces in order to crush the emerging freedom with its last blow... (...) But humanity will roar in chains and, guided by the hope of freedom and indestructible natural law, will move. ..”
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"is the most famous work of the Russian prose writer, poet, philosopher Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev (1749-1802).
The main idea of the work is the author's appeal to the fate of the Russian serf peasantry, condemnation of the autocracy and landowners as a class.
The book is written in the genre of sentimental travel, which was widespread in the literature of the late 18th century in Europe.
History of creation
In the spring of 1787, the journey of Empress Catherine II to Novorossiya and Crimea began. A large retinue followed her and the entire journey was accomplished with extraordinary splendor. The villages along the route of the imperial cortege were prepared by the empress's favorite, Prince Potemkin, and were supposed to demonstrate wonderful life Russian peasantry.
Radishchev's idea of creating a travel book arose, partly, in connection with this largely masquerade trip of the imperial court. The route he chose for the book, St. Petersburg - Moscow, was the road along which the Empress traveled and Radishchev set out to show the real Russia.
The book was created in the form of a kind of guide. In a series of different villages and towns, the writer gave his assessment of modernity, sharply criticized the autocracy and serfdom. At the same time, the titles of the chapters did not give any idea about this - they represented the names of settlements. Thanks to this, Radishchev’s book passed state censorship and in 1790 was published in the Radishchevs’ home printing house without attribution.
However, the authorship was established and Catherine II, offended by the contents of the book, issued a decree that sentenced the writer to death. It was replaced by exile for a term of 10 years, which Radishchev spent in the Ilimsky prison near Irkutsk.
A significant part of the first edition of the novel was destroyed; only a few surviving copies have survived to this day. The book was subject to a ban that lasted until 1905. But thanks to the surviving copies, the book was distributed in handwritten copies and was widely known among the advanced intelligentsia.
Analysis of the work
There is no plot as such in “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” This is the journey of a wanderer through villages, hamlets and small towns, in which he meets various people and makes his observations. Everything seen becomes a source for reasoning. Here you can find descriptions of age-old Russian problems: bad roads with potholes, which make it impossible to sleep in a carriage; the need to bribe in order to benefit from something that should be provided simply on demand; narrow-minded people.
The traveler observes Russian peasants and their hard, forced life. One peasant is forced to work on Sunday, although this is considered a sin. But otherwise he cannot feed his large family. Observes the scene of the sale of peasants to a ruined landowner. At the end of the novel, he encounters a sad wedding train, in which young peasants are following. They do not love each other and marry at the behest of their master.
Also in the novel there are representatives of other classes: a small businessman who finds it difficult to develop his business due to bribery; a seminarian student with a complaint about education; young people who cannot get married because they do not have 100 rubles for it; a person who decided to open a printing house without censorship;
It is interesting that the traveler finds the state guilty even in situations that are far from this. So, he sees a man burying his eldest son and reproaches himself for not giving him good health. The hero worries whether he has endowed his own children with some kind of illness, because in his youth he was quite dissolute. In the latter he finds the authorities to blame.
The book contains several independent essays. The first of them is presented in the form of notes from another traveler found by the hero. They describe a future in which peasants are freed from serfdom, and all ranks are destroyed. The future, according to this idea, lies in enlightenment.
The novel includes the ode “Liberty” and “The Tale of Lomonosov.”
Characteristics of the main character
(Painting by Vladimir Gavrilov “A. N. Radishchev")
The main character of the novel is the traveler, on whose behalf the entire narrative is told. The hero is quite sensitive: he is upset by his departure from St. Petersburg and parting with friends, he sincerely sympathizes with the people he meets on his way and tries to help them.
Radishchev doesn’t give full characteristics your main character. From some phrases we can conclude that he is a middle-income nobleman and serves as an official. Most likely, he is a widower, but he has adult children. In his youth, the traveler was quarrelsome and careless, could be rude to servants, and became close to public women.
The hero Radishchev can be described as the first intellectual hero in Russian literature who is sufficiently educated, observant, and inclined to analyze current events. At the same time, he is ironic, sociable and has compassion for the common people.
Through his hero, Radishchev expresses his own thoughts and aspirations. This is largely expressed in the language of the essay - quite complex and intricate.
Analysis
“Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” is Radishchev’s revolutionary manifesto, veiled under the genre of a travel novel. In the form of heroes meeting in various localities on the way to Moscow, Radishchev indicates the main problems Russian Empire, evaluates the autocracy, outlines the path of development of the state in liberation from serfdom, bureaucracy and total enlightenment. The way out to a better future, according to Radishchev, will happen through revolution. This is evidenced by the ode “To Liberty,” which was recognized by Catherine II as “rebellious.”
The novel is built in the form of separate notes, held together by a single storyline trips.
“Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” A.N. Radishchev is innovative in Russian literature. The writer opened new pages not only in the sphere of Russian literature, but also in social thought. Radishchev's thoughts, presented on the pages of the novel, found a response among the advanced intelligentsia of his time and a later period.
Analysis of the "pawn" chapter from Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow
Answers:
In Radishchev’s “Journey” we see pictures of the life of the serf peasantry. In the chapter “Pawns”, describing the hut, clothes, shoes of the peasants, Radishchev shows the poverty of the people and angrily exclaims: “The greed of the nobility, robbery, torture - that’s what brought the peasants to such a state...” About how the peasant works, what his work, the writer tells in the chapter “Lyuban”. Six days a week the peasant works for the master. The peasant has only holidays and nights to cultivate his arable land. After a conversation with a peasant, the author exclaims: “Be afraid, hard-hearted landowner, I see your condemnation on the forehead of each of your peasants.” Radishchev paints a picture of the exploitation of peasants by landowners in the chapter “Vyshny Volochok”. It tells about a landowner who took all their lands from the peasants and forced them to work for themselves. all year round. "Barbarian! “You are not worthy to bear the name of a citizen,” the writer exclaims, addressing the landowner. The chapter “Copper” describes the sale of peasants at public auction. Here they are selling an old man, 75 years old, who carried the wounded father of Captain G. on his shoulders from the battlefield, who is now selling him; an old woman, an old man's wife, a nurse and a nanny. The woman is the master's wet nurse, her daughter with her baby and her husband. And this whole family is in danger of being sold out in different hands. Radishchev ends the difficult description of the sale with the assertion that freedom should be expected not from the landowners, but “from the very severity of enslavement.” The author talks about the corrupting influence of serfdom on landowners. Individual decent people, rarely found among landowners, can do nothing, he believes. since the whole system is against them. Only a revolution can correct the situation in the country. The call for revolution sounds like the main motive in Radishchev’s book. permeates its entire content. In the chapter “Gorodnya” the author speaks not only of his firm conviction that a people’s revolution will happen, but also that the victorious people will have their own folk culture For Radishchev, the source of evil is autocracy; for the writer there cannot be a good king, since unlimited royal power inevitably corrupts its bearers. The writer speaks with indignation and indignation about the tsarist power in the chapter “Spasskaya Polest” and in the ode “Liberty”, which Radishchev places in the book) along with “The Tale of Lomonosov”, which caused bewilderment among professional writers. Dostoevsky, regarding Radishchev’s style, said that “scraps and ends of thoughts” in his work coexist with free translations of French enlighteners. This is a real verdict on the artistic merit of the work.
Sofia – Tosna – Chudovo – Spasskaya Polest – Podberezye – Novgorod – Zaitsevo – Kresttsy – Yazhelbitsy – Valdai – Edrovo – Khotilovo – Torzhok – Mednoe – Gorodnya – Peshki
Main themes:
The theme of the fate of the Russian peasantry
Theme of serfdom
The theme of autocracy (it is the enemy of the people, the “destroyer” of their happiness; when revealing it, accusatory pathos is used)
Theme of revolution, uprising against the existing system
Upbringing younger generation
For the first time in Russian literature, the theme of the book was the theme of the people and the recognition of their main driving force stories.
The travel genre was especially popular among sentimentalists. Sentimentalist writers sought to depict their impressions and feelings caused by changing pictures of the outside world.
The form of travel allowed the writer to tell in a concentrated manner about all possible aspects of Russian reality, to show the life of different strata of society, without binding himself to the conventions of a strict genre form. The travel genre helped to combine in the book material created in different years, different in style.
“Travel” is a generalization and typification of the author’s numerous trips around Russia, as well as his indirect experience in this area.
The book also contains historical excursions, and demographic observations, and political theories, and folklore records of the author. Some of the material is “presented” on behalf of people encountered along the way (for example, reflections on censorship and an excursion into the history of censorship, thoughts about the peculiarities of Russian versification, about the significance of Lomonosov’s activities for Russia).
“The Journey” consists of 26 chapters (12 of which cover the situation of the peasantry), very different in volume. Except for “Departure” and “The Tale of Lomonosov,” all chapters bear the names of postal stations.
Most chapters consist of 2 parts: one is a vivid outline of what was seen/heard, a figurative sketch of the travel impression; the other is the author’s reflections on what he saw, written in a pathetic, sublime tone. However, there are also chapters that are only sketches or, conversely, that represent only a sociological treatise.
« Novgorod": portraits of merchants. “Karp Dementyich - gray beard, eight inches of lower lip... bows in the hand... calls everyone: my benefactor... Aksinya Parfentyevna, his dear wife. At 60 years old, she is white as snow and red as a poppy, her lips are always pressed into a ring... Alexey Karpovich, my table neighbor... when I was fifteen, he slapped my mother in the face.” Radishchev is far from harshly denouncing the tricks of the merchants - he only makes fun of the cunning ones. He realizes that he is to blame for the existing social injustice social order. And the character is a victim of this system.
« Lyuban" It begins like this: “Whether I traveled in winter or in summer, for you, I think, it’s the same. Maybe both in winter and in summer” (then the author still writes that it was in the summer). That is, for the situation described by the writer, the time of year and the weather are not important. The presentation of specific events is translated into a conditional and generalized plan. To take a break from the bumps of the road, the traveler stops the wagon and starts a conversation with a peasant plowing on Sunday. Previously, he draws conclusions (“The plowing peasant belongs, of course, to the landowner, who does not take rent from him. The peasant plows with great care. The field, of course, is not the master’s”), testifying to his deep knowledge of life and observation. It further turns out that the peasant actually cultivates his land and only on Sunday, since on other days he must work as a corvee. In response to the plowman’s laconic story about the burden of serfdom, the traveler objects: “My friend, you are mistaken! The laws prohibit torturing people.” “To torture,” the peasant replies, “is true. But I suppose, master, you won’t want to get into my skin.” The completely independent tone of the plowman and his ironic and contemptuous words reveal the antagonism between the sympathetic landowner-nobleman and the serf. The correct bookish speech of a traveler contrasts with the expressive and dialectical speech of a peasant. The boundaries between parts of the chapter are very noticeable. From household expressive language we are moving into the sphere of a high style, saturated with Slavicisms: “The conversation of this farmer aroused many thoughts in me... Deep in these thoughts, I accidentally turned my gaze to my servant... Suddenly I felt the rapid filth flowing through my blood...”. The traveler's thoughts are transferred to Petrushka, his servant, who, however, lives well in comparison with the servants of other landowners. But then the traveler remembers that he does not always treat him fairly: “Remember that day when Petrushka was drunk and did not have time to dress you. Remember the slap. Oh, if only he had come to his senses then, even if he was drunk, and would have answered you in proportion to your question!” In this internal monologue of the hero, a feeling of class guilt is noticeable. The author’s desire to make very broad generalizations from a particular fact is also evident here.
In some chapters, essay descriptions are minimal. " Torzhok" “Here, at the post office, I was met by a man going to St. Petersburg to send a petition. This consisted in obtaining permission to establish free printing in this city. I told him that permission was not needed for this, because freedom for this was given to everyone. But he wanted freedom in censorship; and here are his thoughts about it...” - essay part. This is followed by discussions about censorship and its purpose, expressing Radishchev’s point of view and put into the mouth of a person met by the traveler.
« Edrovo" It begins with a short but colorful description of a crowd of young peasant women. The author draws attention to their physical health. He is aware of the connection between health and beauty. This gives him a reason to move on in a few lines to comparing the ideas of beauty and physical health characteristic of urban noble residents with the corresponding ideas of the rural working population (the comparison is not in favor of the townspeople). The essay part begins after this journalistic introduction. The traveler talks about Anyuta and her life. From contemplation and reasoning we move to live dialogue. The chapter concludes with a long generalizing discussion about the character of Anyuta as a typical peasant character and about the morality of the peasants and a short dialogue between the coachman - local resident- and a traveler about Anyuta.
« Vyshny Volochok" The city makes the traveler think about the unfair distribution of benefits, about social inequality and about the cruelty of class exploitation. After this, the author talks about a heartless landowner who mocks his peasants, and ends his story with a pathetic appeal to the tyrant landowner and the nobles. They call on the nobles to destroy the power of this bloodsucker over people and take away his estate.
« Spasskaya field" The king is portrayed as a cruel despot, “whose clothes seemed stained with blood and worn with tears.” Having met a victim of lawlessness, the traveler indignantly reflects how “under such a soft-hearted government, such as we have now, so much cruelty was committed?” The answer is the traveler’s “dream”. He dreams of a monarch, around whom “state officials” stand and praise his “wise rule.” In a dream, the traveler sees what he would like to see in a wise monarch. Truth in the image of the “unknown wanderer” removes the “thick veil” from the monarch’s eyes and he sees everything in its true light, indignant at the nobles. But the monarch’s insight is a utopia, and the author understands this. The Traveler's "Dream" is a pamphlet on Catherine and her entourage. The writer aims at the most vulnerable point of the regime - the discrepancy between words and deeds. The halo of greatness and glory hides monstrous images of oppression. He blasphemed the royal title: “Tell me, in whose head could there be more inconsistencies, if not in the royal one?”
« Zaitsevo" Mr. Krestyankin’s story about the cruel tormentor of peasants, Mr. Assessor, who “matured himself as the ruler of several hundred of his own kind.” “He was self-interested...cruel by nature, quick-tempered.” This landowner took away “all the land from the peasants, bought all the cattle from them at a price that he himself determined, forced them to work all week for himself, and so that they did not die of hunger, he fed them in the master’s yard, and then only once a day , and to others he gave a month out of mercy. If anyone seemed lazy to him, he flogged him with rods, whips... or cats, depending on the extent of laziness.” The peasants, outraged by the violence (the peasants showed solidarity and stood up for the peasant groom) killed the assessor and his rapist sons. Krestyankin, a “philanthropic nobleman,” being the chairman of the criminal chamber, justifies the reprisals of peasants against their oppressors. However, the desire to help the unfortunate leads nowhere.
« Copper" A terrible picture of peasants being sold at auction. The landowner, a “fierce beast,” sells his serfs “at retail, separating relatives.” Among those being sold are the nurse of a young master, a seventy-year-old old man, an eighty-year-old old woman, and the granddaughter of an old man. The picture is typical for that time, and Radishchev also cites reports from reports confirming the documentation of the examples given.
The idea of revolution as the only means of liberating the peasants is not immediately revealed in The Journey. It is important for Radishchev to convince the reader of the inevitability of such a decision. Therefore, at the beginning, in the chapter “ Khotilov“, in a manuscript written by an “unknown” author, a peaceful way of liberating the peasants “from above”, through the actions of the autocratic government, is proposed. A number of gradual measures are outlined leading to this goal: liberation from “slavery” of domestic servants, permission to marry without the master’s consent, and the provision of the right to redeem for freedom. The last step should be the “complete abolition of slavery.” This immediately shows the complete inconsistency of the solution just proposed, since the actions of the monarch are determined not by his will, but by the selfish considerations of the nobility. “We know from the deeds of our fathers...,” writes the author of the “project,” “that the wise rulers of our people... tried to put a limit to this hundred-headed evil. But their exploits of sovereignty were diminished by their rank, which was then known and proud of their advantages in our state, but is now dilapidated and has fallen into contempt by the hereditary nobility.” Convinced of the failure of his hopes for the monarch, the author of the project turns to the nobles themselves, to their humanity, to their common sense. But this path also turns out to be illusory. The author understands perfectly well that, being large landowners, landowners are interested in free peasant labor and will never agree to voluntarily lose it
But Radishchev’s revolutionary thought is fully embodied in the next chapter “ Tver”, where the ode “Liberty” was placed, with some abbreviations. “The ode,” wrote Catherine II, “is completely and clearly rebellious, where the kings are threatened with the scaffold... Cromwell’s example is given with praise. These pages are the essence of criminal intent, completely rebellious.”
Russian peasantry in “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” by A.N. Radishcheva.
Part of a previous ticket
Unlike nobles and merchants, peasants were bred as main support Russian society as “a source of state surplus, strength, power” (“Pawns”). Radishchev admires the civic and family virtues of the peasants. Of course, Radishchev also notices the debauchery (“Valdai”) and servility (“Mednoe”) of some peasants, but these vices do not apply to the entire class as a whole and are thought of as corruption introduced to the people by serfdom. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of the peasantry is shown in “The Journey” as the best, healthy part of society.
The image of a peasant plowman, breadwinner and creator, appears already at the beginning of the book, in the chapter “Lyubani”. He exudes calm confidence in his abilities. This topic will be continued in the chapter “Vyshny Volochok”, and in “Pawns”, and in a number of other chapters. The peasant also appears in “Journey” as a defender of the homeland, its main military force (“Gorodnya”). Labor and closeness to nature preserve the health and beauty of rural residents. In the chapter “Edrovo” the traveler enthusiastically describes the “crowd” of “women and girls” washing their “dress”. “...Necks are bare, legs are bare, elbows are out... cheerful looks, health written on the cheeks. Pleasures, although hardened by heat and cold, are charming without the veil of cunning; the beauty of youth in full splendor, a smile on the lips, or a hearty laugh... teeth that would drive dandies crazy.”
The author admires the high moral virtues of the peasants, in which he again sees their superiority over the nobles. The peasant girl Anyuta resolutely refuses the money offered by the traveler, believing that this could cast a shadow on her reputation. Anyuta’s mother fully approves of her daughter’s decision.
To the common people, according to the author, is characterized by a correct understanding of art, in which he values simplicity and sincerity. This is evidenced by the blind singer’s performance of a spiritual verse about Alexei the man of God (“Wedge”). His singing makes a deep impression on listeners.