“Who Lives Well in Rus'”: plot and history of creation. Lesson-lecture “The history of the creation of N. Nekrasov’s epic poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” The poem Who Lives Well in Rus' was created

Nekrasov devoted many years of his life to working on the poem, which he called his “favorite brainchild.” “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to present in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started “Who can live well in Rus'.” This will be an epic of modern peasant life.”

The writer saved material for the poem, as he admitted, “word by word for twenty years.” Death interrupted this gigantic work. The poem remained unfinished. Shortly before his death, the poet said: “One thing I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”

Nekrasov began work on the poem in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century. The manuscript of the first part of the poem is marked by Nekrasov in 1865. This year the first part of the poem was already written, but it was obviously begun several years earlier. The mention in the first part of the exiled Poles (chapter “Landowner”) allows us to consider 1863 as a date before which this chapter could not have been written, since the suppression of the uprising in Poland dates back to 1863-1864.

However, the first sketches for the poem could have appeared earlier. An indication of this is contained, for example, in the memoirs of G. Potanin, who, describing his visit to Nekrasov’s apartment in the fall of 1860, conveys the following words of the poet: “I... wrote for a long time yesterday, but I didn’t finish it a little, now I’ll finish...” These were sketches of his beautiful poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”. It did not appear in print for a long time after that.”

Thus, it can be assumed that some images and episodes of the future poem, the material for which was collected over many years, arose in creative imagination poet and were partially embodied in poetry earlier than 1865, when the manuscript of the first part of the poem is dated.

Nekrasov began to continue his work only in the 70s, after a seven-year break. The second, third and fourth parts of the poem follow one after another at short intervals: “The Last One” was created in 1872, “The Peasant Woman” - in July-August 1873, “A Feast for the Whole World” - in the fall of 1876.

Nekrasov began publishing the poem soon after finishing work on the first part. Already in the January book of Sovremennik for 1866, a prologue to the poem appeared. The printing of the first part took four years. Fearing to shake the already precarious position of Sovremennik, Nekrasov refrained from publishing subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem.

Nekrasov was afraid of censorship persecution, which began immediately after the release of the first chapter of the poem (“Pop”), published in 1868 in the first issue of Nekrasov’s new magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski.” Censor A. Lebedev gave the following description of this chapter: “In the said poem, like his other works, Nekrasov remained true to his direction; in it he tries to present the gloomy and sad side of the Russian person with his grief and material shortcomings... there are... passages that are harsh in their indecency.” Although the censorship committee approved the book “Notes of the Fatherland” for publication, it still sent a disapproving opinion about the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” to the highest censorship authority.

Subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem were published in the February issues of Otechestvennye zapiski for 1869 (“Rural Fair” and “Drunken Night”) and 1870 (“Happy” and “Landowner”). The entire first part of the poem appeared in print only eight years after it was written.

The publication of “The Last One” (“Otechestvennye zapiski”, 1873, No. 2) caused new, even greater quibbles from the censors, who believed that this part of the poem “is distinguished by... extreme ugliness of content... has the character of a libel on the entire noble class.”

The next part of the poem, “The Peasant Woman,” created by Nekrasov in the summer of 1873, was published in the winter of 1874 in the January book of “Notes of the Fatherland.”

Nekrasov never saw a separate edition of the poem during his lifetime.

In the last year of his life, Nekrasov, having returned seriously ill from Crimea, where he had basically completed the fourth part of the poem - “A Feast for the Whole World,” with amazing energy and persistence entered into a single combat with censorship, hoping to publish “The Feast ...”. This part of the poem was subjected to particularly violent attacks by the censors. The censor wrote that he finds “the entire poem “A Feast for the Whole World” extremely harmful in its content, since it can arouse hostile feelings between the two classes, and that it is especially offensive to the nobility, who so recently enjoyed landowner rights...”.

However, Nekrasov did not stop fighting censorship. Bedridden by illness, he stubbornly continued to strive for the publication of “The Feast...”. He reworks the text, shortens it, crosses it out. “This is our craft as a writer,” Nekrasov complained. - When I began my literary activity and wrote my first piece, I immediately encountered scissors; 37 years have passed since then, and here I am, dying, writing my last work, and again I am faced with the same scissors!” Having “messed up” the text of the fourth part of the poem (as the poet called the alteration of the work for the sake of censorship), Nekrasov counted on permission. However, “A Feast for the Whole World” was again banned. “Unfortunately,” Saltykov-Shchedrin recalled, “it’s almost useless to bother: everything is so full of hatred and threat that it’s difficult even to approach from afar.” But even after this, Nekrasov still did not lay down his arms and decided to “approach”, as a last resort, the head of the Main Directorate for Censorship V. Grigoriev, who back in the spring of 1876 promised him “his personal intercession” and, according to rumors that reached through F. Dostoevsky, allegedly considered “A Feast for the Whole World” to be “completely possible for publication.”

Nekrasov intended to bypass censorship altogether, having secured the permission of the Tsar himself. To do this, the poet wanted to use his acquaintance with the minister of the court, Count Adlerberg, and also resort to the mediation of S. Botkin, who was at that time the court doctor ("A Feast for the Whole World" was dedicated to Botkin, who treated Nekrasov). Obviously, it was precisely for this occasion that Nekrasov inserted into the text of the poem “with gnashing of teeth” the famous lines dedicated to the tsar, “Hail, who gave freedom to the people!” We do not know whether Nekrasov took real steps in this direction or abandoned his intention, realizing the futility of the efforts.

“A Feast for the Whole World” remained under a censorship ban until 1881, when it appeared in the second book of “Notes of the Fatherland”, however, with large abbreviations and distortions: the songs “Veselaya”, “Corvee”, “Soldier’s”, “ The deck is oak..." and others. Most of the censored excerpts from “A Feast for the Whole World” were first published only in 1908, and the entire poem, in an uncensored edition, was published in 1920 by K. I. Chukovsky.

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in its unfinished form consists of four separate parts, arranged in the following order according to the time of their writing: part one, consisting of a prologue and five chapters; "Last One"; “The Peasant Woman,” consisting of a prologue and eight chapters; "A feast for the whole world."

From Nekrasov’s papers it is clear that according to the plan for the further development of the poem, it was planned to create at least three more chapters or parts. One of them, tentatively called “Death” by Nekrasov, was supposed to be about the stay of seven peasants on the Sheksna River, where they find themselves in the midst of a widespread death of livestock from anthrax, about their meeting with an official. Citing several verses from the future chapter, Nekrasov writes: “This is a song from new chapter“Who lives well in Rus'.” The poet began collecting materials for this chapter in the summer of 1873. However, it remained unwritten. Only a few prose and poetic draft passages have survived.

It is also known that the poet intended to talk about the arrival of peasants in St. Petersburg, where they were supposed to seek access to the minister, and to describe their meeting with the tsar on a bear hunt.

In the last lifetime edition of “Poems” by N. A. Nekrasov (1873-1874), “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is printed in the following form: “Prologue; Part One" (1865); “The Last One” (From the second part “Who Lives Well in Rus'”) (1872); “Peasant Woman” (From the third part “Who Lives Well in Rus'”) (1873). Does the order of the parts of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in the 1873 edition correspond to the author’s will?

Plot and structure of the poem

Nekrasov assumed that the poem would have seven or eight parts, but managed to write only four, which, perhaps, did not follow one another.

Part one

The only one has no name. It was written shortly after the abolition of serfdom ().

Prologue

“In what year - count,
In what land - guess
On the sidewalk
Seven men came together..."

They got into an argument:

Who has fun?
Free in Rus'?

They offered six possible answers to this question:

• Novel: to the landowner
• Demyan: to the official
• Gubin brothers - Ivan and Mitrodor: to the merchant;
• Pakhom (old man): to the minister

The peasants decide not to return home until they find the correct answer. They find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed them and set off.

Peasant woman (from the third part)

The last one (from the second part)

Feast - for the whole world (from the second part)

see also

Links

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Dictionary of literary terms

This article or section needs revision. Please improve the article in accordance with the rules for writing articles. Poem... Wikipedia

POEM- (Greek póiēma, from poiéō I do, I create), a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. P. is also called an ancient and medieval epic (see also Epic), nameless and authored, which was composed either ... ... Literary encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Greek póiema) a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. P. is also called ancient and medieval epic (See Epic) (see also Epic), nameless and authored, which was composed either through ... ...

Poet; born on November 22, 1821 in a small Jewish town in the Vinnitsa district of the Podolsk province, where at that time the army regiment in which his father Alexey Sergeevich Nekrasov served was stationed. A.S. belonged to the impoverished nobility... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

I. INTRODUCTION II. RUSSIAN ORAL POETRY A. Periodization of the history of oral poetry B. Development of ancient oral poetry 1. The most ancient origins of oral poetry. Oral poetry creativity ancient Rus' from the 10th to the middle of the 16th century. 2.Oral poetry from the middle of the 16th century to the end... ... Literary encyclopedia

Nikolai Alekseevich (1821 1877) the most prominent Russian revolutionary democratic poet. Born on December 4, 1821 in the family of a wealthy landowner. He spent his childhood in the Greshnevo estate in Yaroslavl province. in an extremely difficult situation of the brutal reprisals of his father against... Literary encyclopedia

RSFSR. I. General information The RSFSR was founded on October 25 (November 7), 1917. It borders on the north-west with Norway and Finland, on the west with Poland, on the south-east with China, the MPR and the DPRK, as well as on the union republics that are part of the USSR: to W. from... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Lesson-lecture "The history of the creation of the epic poem by N. Nekrasov

"Who lives well in Rus'"

Goals :

1. Introduce the history of the creation of the poem;
2. Create the necessary emotional mood, help students feel the social tragedy of the peasantry.
3. Arouse interest in the poem.

Equipment : portrait of N.A. Nekrasov, paintings by artists, cards.

Plan:

1. Historical information about the peasant reform of 1861
2. The history of the creation of the poem.
3. Genre, composition of the poem.
4. Lesson summary.

During the classes

Spectacle of national disasters
Unbearable, my friend...
ON THE. Nekrasov

1. Teacher's lecture

Historical reference.

On February 19, 1861, Alexander issued a Manifesto and Regulations abolishing serfdom. What did the men get from the gentlemen?

The peasants were promised personal freedom and the right to dispose of their property. The land was recognized as the property of landowners. Landowners were charged with the responsibility of allocating a plot of land and field plots to the peasants.

The peasants had to buy the land from the landowner. The transition to the purchase of land plots depended not on the wishes of the peasants, but on the will of the landowner. The peasants who, with his permission, switched to the redemption of land plots were called owners, and those who did not switch to the redemption were called temporarily obligated. For the right to use the plot of land received from the landowner before the transfer to redemption, they had to fulfill compulsory duties (pay quitrent or work corvée).

The establishment of temporary obligatory relations preserves the feudal system of exploitation for an indefinite period. The value of the allotment was determined not by the actual market value of the land, but by the income received by the landowner from the estate under serfdom.

When buying land, peasants paid for it twice and three times its actual value. For landowners, the redemption operation made it possible to retain in full the income that they received before the reform.

The beggarly allotment could not feed the peasant, and he had to go to the same landowner with a request to accept sharecropping: to cultivate the master's land with his own tools and receive half the harvest for his labor. This mass enslavement of the peasants ended with the massive destruction of the old village. In no other country in the world has the peasantry experienced such ruin, such poverty, even after “liberation”, as in Russia. That is why the first reaction to the Manifesto and the Regulations was the open resistance of the bulk of the peasantry, expressed in the refusal to accept these documents.

The literature of that time was turbulent. The works written at that time speak for themselves. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?”, Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons”, etc.

How did N. A. Nekrasov perceive the reform, which did not give the people the desired liberation? The poet experienced the events of those years tragically, as evidenced, in particular, by the memoirs of N.G. Chernyshevsky: “On the day the will was announced, I came to him and found him in bed. He was extremely depressed; all around on the bed lay different parts of the “Regulations” on peasants.” “Is this real will! - he said. “No, this is pure deception, a mockery of the peasants.”

2. The history of the creation of the poem.

Soon after the Peasant Reform, in 1862, the idea for the poem arose.

Nekrasov considered its goal to be the depiction of the dispossessed peasantry, among whom - as in all of Russia - there is no happy person. The poet worked on the poem from 1863 to 1877, i.e. about 14 years old. During this time, the plan changed, but the poem was never completed by the author, so there is no consensus in criticism about its composition. The question of the order of arrangement of its parts has not yet been resolved. The most substantiated order can be considered the order of the parts according to the chronology of their writing.

"Prologue" and part 1 - 1868

“Last One” - 1872

“Peasant Woman” -1873

“A feast for the whole world” Nekrasov wrote while already in a state of mortal illness, but he did not consider this part to be the last, intending to continue the poem with the image of wanderers in St. Petersburg.

Literary critic V.V. Gippius in the article “On the study of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” back in 1934 wrote: “The poem remained unfinished, the poet’s intention was not clarified; individual parts of the poem followed each other at different times and not always in sequential order. Two questions that are of primary importance in the study of the poem still remain controversial: 1) about the relative position of the parts that have come down to us and 2) about the reconstruction of the unwritten parts and, above all, the denouement. Both issues are obviously closely related, and they have to be solved together.”

It was V.V. Gippius who found in the poem itself objective indications of the sequence of parts: “Time is calculated in it “according to the calendar”: the action of the “Prologue” begins in the spring, when the birds make nests and the cuckoo crows. In the chapter “Pop” the wanderers say: “And the time is not early, the month of May is approaching.” In the chapter “Rural Fair” there is a mention: “Only at St. Nicholas of the spring did the weather stare”; Apparently, on St. Nicholas Day (May 9, old style) the fair itself is held. “The Last One” also begins with the exact date: “Petrovka. It's a hot time. Haymaking is in full swing." In “A Feast for the Whole World,” the haymaking is already over: the peasants are going to the market with hay. Finally, in “The Peasant Woman” there is the harvest. The events described in “A Feast for the Whole World” refer to early autumn (Gregory is picking mushrooms), and the “St. Petersburg part” conceived but not implemented by Nekrasov was supposed to take place in the winter, when wanderers would come to St. Petersburg to seek access “to the noble boyar , the sovereign's minister." It can be assumed that the poem could have ended with the St. Petersburg episodes. In modern publications, chapters are arranged according to the time they were written.

3. Genre, composition of the poem.

Nekrasov himself called “Who Lives Well in Rus'” a poem, but his work is not similar in genre to any of the poems known in Russian literature before Nekrasov. The content of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” required some new genre form for its implementation, and Nekrasov created it.

A poem (from the Greek “to create”, “creation”) is a large epic poetic work.

Epic (from the Greek “collection of songs, tales”) is the largest monumental form of epic literature, which gives a broad, multifaceted, comprehensive picture of the world, including deep thoughts about the fate of the world and intimate experiences of the individual. The originality of the poem lies in the fact that this work is realistic in its artistic method, folk in its meaning and themes, epic in the breadth of its depiction of reality and heroic pathos.

In terms of genre, the poem is a folk epic, which, according to the poet’s plan, was supposed to include in its completed form the genre features of all three types of Nekrasov’s poems: “peasant”, satirical, heroic-revolutionary.

The form of travel, meetings, questions, stories, descriptions used in the work was very convenient in order to give a comprehensive image of life.

4. Lesson summary.

In the next lesson we will continue our acquaintance with N. Nekrasov’s poem. The knowledge gained in this lesson will be useful to you, as we will analyze the poem and consider the system of images.

Literature.

1. V.V. Gippius To the study of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”
2. N.A. Nekrasov Who Lives Well in Rus', Moscow, 1987.

Conclusions. In Nekrasov, all his life, it was as if two people lived: one with poetic talent, capable of singing the subtlest movements of the human soul, and the other, whose duty and conscience did not allow “the beauty of the valleys, heavens and seas and the sweet affection of the sea.” Therefore, his gloomy muse himself was doomed to become the muse of revenge and sadness, the muse that the poet forced with blows of the whip to depict pictures of the people’s grief and call for the fight for their liberation. Rejecting “art for art’s sake” with its glorification of aesthetic feelings and being a conscious defender of the satirical “Gogolian direction”, Nekrasov considered those who serve the people to be true poets, true citizens of those who do not strive to write poetry, but through their way of life contribute to the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed people. The poem “Excerpt” (“Night. We managed to enjoy everything...”, 1858) sounds like a prayer for the Russian people, who are in slave labor and long-suffering. For those people “whose rough hands work, leaving us to respectfully immerse ourselves in the arts, sciences, and indulge in dreams and passions.” Nekrasov spent his entire life reproaching himself for not serving the people actively enough, which is why he taught his muse to sing fiery songs of struggle. The purpose of the poet, according to Nekrasov, is to selflessly serve the people, even if the dark and downtrodden people themselves will never know or appreciate this.

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is known throughout the world for his folk and unusual works. His dedication to the common people, peasant life, the period of short childhood and constant hardships in adult life arouse not only literary, but also historical interest.

Works such as “Who Lives Well in Rus'” are a real excursion into the 60s of the 19th century. The poem literally immerses the reader in the events of post-serfdom. A journey in search of a happy person in the Russian Empire reveals numerous problems of society, paints an unvarnished picture of reality and makes one think about the future of a country that dares to live in a new way.

The history of the creation of Nekrasov's poem

The exact date when work on the poem began is unknown. But researchers of Nekrasov’s work drew attention to the fact that already in his first part he mentions the Poles who were exiled. This makes it possible to assume that the poet’s idea for the poem arose around 1860-1863, and Nikolai Alekseevich began writing it around 1863. Although the poet’s sketches could have been made earlier.

It is no secret that Nikolai Nekrasov spent a very long time collecting material for his new poetic work. The date on the manuscript after the first chapter is 1865. But this date means that work on the chapter “The Landowner” was completed this year.

It is known that starting in 1866, the first part of Nekrasov’s work tried to see the light of day. For four years, the author tried to publish his work and constantly fell under the discontent and harsh condemnation of censorship. Despite this, work on the poem continued.

The poet had to publish it gradually in the same Sovremennik magazine. So it was published for four years, and all these years the censor was dissatisfied. The poet himself was constantly subject to criticism and persecution. Therefore, he stopped his work for a while, and was able to start it again only in 1870. During this new period of the rise of his literary creativity, he creates three more parts to this poem, which were written at different times:

✪ “The Last One” - 1872.
✪ “Peasant Woman” -1873.
✪ “A Feast for the Whole World” - 1876.

The poet wanted to write a few more chapters, but he was working on his poem at a time when he began to fall ill, so his illness prevented him from realizing these poetic plans. But still, realizing that he would soon die, Nikolai Alekseevich tried in his last part to finish it so that the whole poem had a logical completeness.

The plot of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

In one of the volosts, on a wide road, there are seven men who live in neighboring villages. And they think about one question: who lives well in their native land. And their conversation got so bad that it soon turned into an argument. It was getting late in the evening, but they could not resolve this dispute. And suddenly the men noticed that they had already walked a long distance, carried away by the conversation. Therefore, they decided not to return home, but to spend the night in the clearing. But the argument continued and led to a fight.

Because of such noise, a chick of a warbler falls out, which Pakhom saves, and for this the exemplary mother is ready to fulfill any desire of the men. Having received the magic tablecloth, the men decide to travel to find the answer to the question that interests them so much. Soon they meet a priest who changes the men’s opinion that he has a good and happy life. The heroes also end up at a rural fair.

They try to find happy people among the drunk, and it soon becomes clear that a peasant doesn’t need much to be happy: he has enough to eat and protects himself from troubles. And to find out about happiness, I advise the heroes to find Ermila Girin, whom everyone knows. And then the men learn his story, and then the master appears. But he also complains about his life.

At the end of the poem, the heroes try to look for happy people among women. They meet one peasant woman, Matryona. They help Korchagina in the field, and in return she tells them her story, where she says that a woman cannot have happiness. Women only suffer.

And now the peasants are already on the banks of the Volga. Then they heard a story about a prince who could not come to terms with the abolition of serfdom, and then a story about two sinners. The story of the sexton's son Grishka Dobrosklonov is also interesting.

You are also poor, You are also abundant, You are also powerful, You are also powerless, Mother Rus'! Saved in slavery, the heart is free - Gold, gold, the people's heart! People's power, mighty power - calm conscience, tenacious truth!

Genre and unusual composition of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

There is still debate between writers and critics about the composition of Nekrasov’s poem. Most researchers of the literary work of Nikolai Nekrasov have come to the conclusion that the material should be arranged as follows: a prologue and part one, then the chapter “Peasant Woman” should be placed, the content should be followed by the chapter “Last One” and in conclusion - “A Feast for the Whole World”.

Evidence of this arrangement of chapters in the plot of the poem is that, for example, in the first part and in the subsequent chapter, the world is depicted when the peasants were not yet free, that is, this is the world that was a little earlier: old and outdated. The next Nekrasov part already shows how this old world is completely destroyed and dies.

But already in Nekrasov’s last chapter, the poet shows all the signs that a new life is beginning. The tone of the story changes dramatically and is now lighter, clearer, and more joyful. The reader feels that the poet, like his heroes, believe in the future. This aspiration towards a clear and bright future is especially felt in those moments when the poem appears main character- Grishka Dobrosklonov.

In this part, the poet completes the poem, so it is here that the denouement of the entire plot action takes place. And here is the answer to the question that was posed at the very beginning of the work about who, after all, lives well and freely, carefree and cheerfully in Rus'. It turns out that the most carefree, happy and cheerful person is Grishka, who is the protector of his people. In his beautiful and lyrical songs, he predicted happiness for his people.

But if you carefully read how the poem ends in its last part, you can pay attention to the strangeness of the narrative. The reader does not see the peasants returning to their homes, they do not stop traveling, and, in general, they do not even get to know Grisha. Therefore, a continuation may have been planned here.

Poetic composition also has its own characteristics. First of all, it is worth paying attention to the construction, which is based on the classical epic. The poem consists of separate chapters in which there is an independent plot, but there is no main character in the poem, since it tells about the people, as if it were an epic of the life of the entire people. All parts are connected into one thanks to those motives that run through the entire plot. For example, the motif of a long road along which peasants walk to find a happy person.

The fabulousness of the composition is easily visible in the work. The text contains many elements that can easily be attributed to folklore. Throughout the journey, the author inserts his own lyrical digressions and elements that are completely unrelated to the plot.

Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

From the history of Russia it is known that in 1861 the most shameful phenomenon - serfdom - was abolished. But such a reform caused unrest in society, and new problems soon arose. First of all, the question arose that even a free peasant, poor and destitute, cannot be happy. This problem interested Nikolai Nekrasov, and he decided to write a poem in which the issue of peasant happiness would be considered.

Despite the fact that the work is written in simple language and refers to folklore, it usually seems complex to the reader, since it touches on the most serious philosophical problems and questions. The author himself sought answers to most of the questions all his life. This is probably why writing the poem was so difficult for him, and he created it over the course of fourteen years. But unfortunately, the work was never finished.

The poet intended to write his poem in eight chapters, but due to illness he was able to write only four and they do not follow at all, as expected, one after another. Now the poem is presented in the form and in the sequence proposed by K. Chukovsky, who carefully studied Nekrasov’s archives for a long time.

Nikolai Nekrasov chose ordinary people as the heroes of the poem, so he also used vernacular vocabulary. For a long time, there were debates about who could still be considered the main characters of the poem. So, there were assumptions that these are heroes - men who walk around the country, trying to find a happy person. But other researchers still believed that it was Grishka Dobrosklonov. This question remains open today. But you can consider this poem as if the main character in it is all the common people.

There are no accurate and detailed descriptions of these men in the plot, their characters are also incomprehensible, the author simply does not reveal or show them. But these men are united by one goal, for which they travel. It is also interesting that the episodic faces in Nekrasov’s poem are drawn by the author more clearly, accurately, in detail and vividly. The poet raises many problems that arose among the peasantry after the abolition of serfdom.

Nikolai Alekseevich shows that each hero in his poem has his own concept of happiness. For example, a rich person sees happiness in having financial well-being. And the man dreams that in his life there will be no grief and troubles, which usually await the peasant at every step. There are also heroes who are happy because they believe in the happiness of others. The language of Nekrasov’s poem is close to folk, so it contains a huge amount of vernacular.

Despite the fact that the work remained unfinished, it reflects the entire reality of what happened. This is a real literary gift to all lovers of poetry, history and literature.

Explanatory note
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is key in the work of N.A. Nekrasov. Its study is provided as part of the traditional literature program in the 10th grade. 5 hours are allotted for studying the work.
The proposed material contains a detailed, detailed lesson plan “The concept, history of creation, composition of the poem. Analysis of the prologue, chapters “Pop”, “Rural Fair”, “Feast for the Whole World”.
The development can be used by literature teachers in preparation for a lesson on the works of N.A. Nekrasov.

The concept, history of creation, composition of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Analysis of the prologue, chapters “Pop”, “Rural Fair”, “Feast for the Whole World”

A poem is a large poetic work with a plot-narrative organization; a story or novel in verse; a multi-part work in which the epic and lyrical principles merge together.
Epic is a generic designation for large epic and similar works:
In terms of genre, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is in many ways closer to a prose narrative than to the lyric-epic poems characteristic of Russian literature of the first half of the 20th century.
1. An extensive narrative in poetry or prose about outstanding national historical events.
2. A complex, long history of something, including a number of major events.
2. Introduction to the history of the creation of the poem, its composition (student message)
The history of the creation of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
The idea of ​​the poem. “The people are liberated, but are the people happy?” - this line from “Elegy” explains N.A.’s position. Nekrasov in relation to the Peasant Reform of 1861, which only formally deprived the landowners of their former power,

But in fact, she deceived and robbed peasant Rus'. The poem was begun shortly after the Peasant Reform. Nekrasov considered its goal to be the depiction of the dispossessed peasantry, among whom - as in all of Russia - there is no happy person. The search for happiness among the upper echelons of society was for Nekrasov only a compositional device. The happiness of the “strong” and “well-fed” was beyond doubt for him. The very word “lucky”, according to Nekrasov, is a synonym for a representative of the privileged classes. (Cf. “... but the happy are deaf to good” - “Reflections at the main entrance.”) Depicting the ruling classes (priest, landowner), Nekrasov first of all focuses on the fact that the reform hit not so much “with one end at the master”, but "different people like men." 2. The history of the creation of the poem and its composition. The poet worked on the poem from 1863 to 1877, i.e. about 14 years. During this time, his plan changed, but the poem was never completed by the author, so there is no consensus in criticism about its composition. The poet calls the wanderers “time-bound,” which shows that the poem was begun no later than 1863, since later this term was very rarely applied to peasants.
2) Composition - the construction of a work.(On the screen)
The poem includes 4 parts. Scientists were faced with the question of the sequence of parts. The majority came to the conclusion that the first part was followed by “The Peasant Woman,” then “The Last One,” and finally “A Feast for the Whole World.” Arguments: in the first part and in “The Peasant Woman” an old, obsolete world is depicted. In "The Last One" - the death of this world. In “The Feast...” there are signs of new life. In some editions, the poem is printed in the following sequence: the first part, “The Last One,” “The Peasant Woman,” “A Feast for the Whole World.”
3. Analysis of the chapter “Prologue”
Let us turn to the beginning of the work, to the chapter called “Prologue,” that is, to the beginning. Let's give a fragment of it (read by one of the students). What are the features of the language? Did Nekrasov manage to convey the richness and expressiveness of the folk language? Determine the poetic size of the poem.
(Many diminutive suffixes, inversions - “I left the house before noon”, “they started an argument”; constant epithets - a gray bunny, black shadows, a red sun, hyperboles - “And their yellow eyes burn like fourteen candles of bright wax”
What other artistic and expressive means does the author use - comparisons - “Fourteen candles burn like burning wax!” , metaphors - “frequent stars lit up”; personifications - “Oh shadows, black shadows, who won’t you catch up with? Who won’t you overtake?”
“The echo woke up and went for a walk.”
- What other techniques bring the poem closer to folklore? (style of folklore storytelling, songs, riddles - Nobody saw him,
And everyone has heard,
Without a body - but it lives,
Without a tongue - screams;
proverbs, sayings, phraseological units - some kind of whim will stick in your head - you can’t knock it out of there with a stake; “I looked - I scattered my mind”, fairy-tale motifs - “self-assembled tablecloth”, talking animals). It is also no coincidence that the author talks about seven men; it was the number seven that was a sacred number in Rus'.
The poem is written in “free” language, as close as possible to common speech. Researchers call the verse of the poem Nekrasov’s “brilliant find.” Free and flexible poetic meter and independence from rhyme opened up the opportunity to generously convey the originality of the folk language, preserving all its accuracy.
Thus, we can conclude that in his work A.N. Nekrasov uses a fairy-tale beginning, the author seeks to embrace the country not only in its present, but also in the past - in all its historical significance and geographical immensity + the author’s irony over the unformed consciousness of the peasant .
- Let's turn to the plot of the prologue:
The narrative of the poem begins with a riddle, try to solve it
In what year - calculate
In which land - guess...(1st stanza)
(The land is all of Rus': poor, ruined, hungry. The year is the time of “temporarily obliged” peasants (disclosure of the term)? Liberation of peasants from any point in Russia (speaking toponymy)
Conclusion: sedentary Russia begins to move. Let's prove this with examples from the text:
Another unconscious step of the peasants is leaving home (but at the same time for many)
Chance meeting + association and path side by side.
What path lies before them? They do not know.
Motive “Go there, I don’t know where.
What problem does the author pose in the first chapters of the novel? (The problem of national happiness after the abolition of serfdom)
What feelings that N.A. Nekrasov felt for his people were reflected in the “Prologue” (Compassion, pity)
Why do the men there ask little of the tablecloth for self-assembly? (Because the thought of free wealth does not occur to them, they only ask for what they need)
- Compose a syncwine on the topic: “Heroes of the poem”
Example: guys
hungry, unhappy
argue, search, think
who is at ease in Rus'
people
4. Questions and tasks for discussing the chapter “Pop”, “Rural Fair”. Compiling a table
Did the men find happiness in this chapter? Why does the priest himself consider himself unhappy? So How does the chapter depict the situation of the peasants? What troubles befall them? (No, they didn’t, the peasants mostly come across “small people” - peasants, artisans, beggars, soldiers. The travelers don’t even ask them anything: what kind of happiness is there?
The priest considers himself unhappy, because happiness, in the priest’s opinion, lies in three things: “peace, wealth, honor,” and this, after the abolition of serfdom, no longer exists.
What words and expressions paint figurative pictures of the life of the priest and peasants? What is the author's attitude towards them? The peasant himself is in need and would be glad to give, but there is nothing..., the author treats the peasants with pity:
There is no heart to endure.
Without any trepidation
Death rattle
Funeral lament
Orphan's sadness!

Let's create a table (in the future, students will supplement this table with other examples)
Chapter Hero Causes of misfortune
"Pop" Soldiers Soldiers shave with an awl,
Soldiers warm themselves with smoke -
What happiness is there?
"Pop" Pop No peace, wealth and honor

Questions and tasks for discussing the chapter “Rural Fair”, “Feast for the Whole World”
What, according to Nekrasov, prevented the peasants from being happy? What are the best and worst features of the Russian national character that Nekrasov depicts in the poem? Let's create a cluster (a cluster can be created in any form)
Peasants - fights, drunkenness, laziness, rudeness, lack of education, BUT - kindness, simplicity, mutual assistance, sincerity, hard work
4. Independent work of students.
Answer the following questions in writing:
Who is Pavlusha Veretennikov? What is his lifestyle? What author's characteristics of this image did you notice?
What meaning does the author give to the image of a bench “with paintings and books” at the fair? What is his attitude towards public education?
What mood does this chapter evoke? Why, despite adversity, did the Russian peasant not consider himself unhappy? What qualities of the Russian peasant do the author admire?
Conclusions.
Nekrasov, following Pushkin and Gogol, decided to depict a broad canvas of the life of the Russian people and their main mass - the Russian peasant of the post-reform era, to show the predatory nature of the peasant reform and the deterioration of the people's lot. At the same time, the author’s task also included a satirical depiction of the “tops,” where the poet follows Gogol’s traditions. But the main thing is to demonstrate the talent, will, perseverance and optimism of the Russian peasant. In its stylistic features and poetic intonations, the poem is close to works of folklore. The composition of the poem is complex, first of all, because its concept changed over time, the work remained unfinished, and a number of fragments were not published due to censorship restrictions.

Quiz
1. Who is bigger?
What are the names of the villages from which the men came? (Zaplatovo, Znobishino, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Gorelovo, Neelovo, Neurozhaika).
2. What are the names of the characters in the poem? (Roman, Demyan, Ivan, Mitrodor, old man Pakhom, Prov, Luka).
3. Who, according to the heroes of the poem, lives happily and freely in Rus'? (landowner, official, priest, merchant, noble boyar, sovereign minister, tsar).

The epic poem is dedicated to a peasant (Russian man) who finds himself at a crossroads (this image appears repeatedly in the text), searching for himself and his path in life.
The first chapters prepare the reader to perceive and understand the intent of the poem - to show Rus' at a turning point.
III. Reflection.
- Do you think Nekrasov himself knew the answer to the question posed in the title of the poem?
Gleb Uspensky recounts his conversation with Nekrasov: “Once I asked him: “What will be the end of ‘Who lives well in Rus'’?” And what do you think?
Nekrasov smiled and waited.
This smile made me understand that N.A. Nekrasov has some kind of unexpected answer to my question, and in order to evoke it, I randomly named one of the lucky ones named at the beginning of the poem. This? - I asked.
- Here you go! What happiness there!
And Nekrasov, with few but vivid features, outlined the countless dark moments and ghostly joys of the lucky man I named. So who? - I asked again.
And then Nekrasov, smiling again, said with emphasis: ....”
- What are your assumptions? (guys' answers)
End quote:
- Drink-no-mu!
Then he told how exactly he intended to finish the poem. Not finding a happy person in Rus', the wandering men return to their seven villages: Gorelov, Neelov, etc. These villages are “adjacent”, stand close to each other, and from each there is a path to the tavern. Here at this tavern they meet a drunken man, “belted with a sash,” and with him, over a glass, they find out who has a good life.
- Is this the answer the poem itself gives? We will talk about this in the next lessons and maybe change this opinion
Homework: Finish reading the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Finish filling out the table.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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Subtitles

History of creation

N. A. Nekrasov began work on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century. The mention of exiled Poles in the first part, in the chapter “Landowner,” suggests that work on the poem began no earlier than 1863. But sketches of the work could have appeared earlier, since Nekrasov had been collecting material for a long time. The manuscript of the first part of the poem is marked 1865, however, it is possible that this is the date of completion of work on this part.

Soon after finishing work on the first part, the prologue of the poem was published in the January issue of Sovremennik magazine for 1866. Printing lasted for four years and was accompanied, like all of Nekrasov’s publishing activities, by censorship persecution.

The writer began to continue working on the poem only in the 1870s, writing three more parts of the work: “The Last One” (1872), “The Peasant Woman” (1873), and “A Feast for the Whole World” (1876). The poet did not intend to limit himself to the written chapters; three or four more parts were planned. However, a developing illness interfered with the author's plans. Nekrasov, feeling the approach of death, tried to give some “completeness” to the last part, “A feast for the whole world.”

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was published in the following sequence: “Prologue. Part one", "Last One", "Peasant Woman".

Plot and structure of the poem

It was assumed that the poem would have 7 or 8 parts, but the author managed to write only 4, which, perhaps, did not follow one another.

The poem is written in iambic trimeter.

Part one

The only part that does not have a title. It was written shortly after the abolition of serfdom (). Judging by the first quatrain of the poem, we can say that Nekrasov initially tried to anonymously characterize all the problems of Rus' at that time.

Prologue

In what year - calculate
In what land - guess
On the sidewalk
Seven men came together.

They got into an argument:

Who has fun?
Free in Rus'?

They offered 6 possible answers to this question:

• Novel: to the landowner;
• Demyan: official;
• Gubin brothers - Ivan and Mitrodor: to the merchant;
• Pakhom (old man): minister, boyar;

The peasants decide not to return home until they find the correct answer. In the prologue, they also find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed them, and they set off.

Chapter I. Pop

Chapter II. Rural fair.

Chapter III. Drunken night.

Chapter IV. Happy.

Chapter V. Landowner.

The last one (from the second part)

At the height of haymaking, wanderers come to the Volga. Here they witness a strange scene: a noble family sails to the shore in three boats. The mowers, who had just sat down to rest, immediately jumped up to show the old master their zeal. It turns out that the peasants of the village of Vakhlachina help the heirs hide the abolition of serfdom from the crazy landowner Utyatin. For this, the relatives of the last one, Utyatin, promise the men floodplain meadows. But after the long-awaited death of the Last One, the heirs forget their promises, and the whole peasant performance turns out to be in vain.

Peasant woman (from the third part)

In this part, the wanderers decide to continue their search for someone who can “live cheerfully and at ease in Rus'” among women. In the village of Nagotino, the women told the men that there was a “governor” in Klin, Matryona Timofeevna: “there is no more kind-hearted and smoother woman.” There, seven men find this woman and convince her to tell her story, at the end of which she reassures the men of her happiness and of women’s happiness in Rus' in general:

The keys to women's happiness,
From our free will
Abandoned, lost
From God himself!..

• Prologue
• Chapter I. Before marriage
• Chapter II. Songs
• Chapter III. Savely, hero, Holy Russian
• Chapter IV. Dyomushka
• Chapter V. She-Wolf
• Chapter VI. Difficult year
• Chapter VII. Governor's wife
• Chapter VIII. The Old Woman's Parable

A feast for the whole world (from the fourth part)

This part is a logical continuation of the second part (“The Last One”). It describes the feast that the men threw after the death of the old man Last. The adventures of the wanderers do not end in this part, but at the end one of the feasters - Grisha Dobrosklonov, the son of a priest, the next morning after the feast, walking along the river bank, finds the secret of Russian happiness, and expresses it in a short song “Rus”, by the way, used by V.I. Lenin in the article “The main task of our days.” The work ends with the words:

If only our wanderers could
Under my own roof,
If only they could know,
What happened to Grisha.
He heard in his chest
Immense forces
Delighted his ears
Blessed sounds
Radiant sounds
Noble hymn -
He sang the incarnation
People's happiness!..

Such an unexpected ending arose because the author was aware of his imminent death, and, wanting to finish the work, logically completed the poem in the fourth part, although at the beginning N. A. Nekrasov conceived 8 parts.

List of heroes

Temporarily obliged peasants who went to look for those who live happily and freely in Rus':

Ivan and Metropolitan Gubin,

Old man Pakhom,

Peasants and serfs:

• Artyom Demin,
• Yakim Nagoy,
• Sidor,
• Egorka Shutov,
• Klim Lavin,
• Vlas,
• Agap Petrov,
• Ipat is a sensitive serf,
• Yakov is a faithful servant,
• Gleb,
• Proshka,
• Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina,
• Savely Korchagin,
• Ermil Girin.

Landowners:

• Obolt-Obolduev,
• Prince Utyatin (the last one),
• Vogel (Little information on this landowner)
• Shalashnikov.

Other heroes

• Elena Alexandrovna - the governor's wife who delivered Matryona,
• Altynnikov - merchant, possible buyer of Ermila Girin's mill,
• Grisha Dobrosklonov.