2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
The iconic figure in Russian literature is Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky.
"What to do?" - a novel with which most people associate his name. However, the activities of the great philosopher, critic and publicist were not limited to a single work.
Life and work
As noted above, the link "Chernyshevsky / "What to do?"" is firmly planted in the minds of schoolchildren and students. Thanks to this work, the writer can rightfully be considered the first Russian utopian philosopher. By conviction, Chernyshevsky himself called himself a revolutionary democrat. He was born in Saratov, in the family of a poor priest. He received his primary education at home under the guidance of his father. Then he entered the seminary, but soon realized that he did not feel called to such an activity and transferred to St. Petersburg University, where he began to study history, philosophy and philology. In 1850, the young scientist received his Ph. D.
His further activities were aimed at promoting revolutionary ideas. "St. Petersburg Vedomosti", "Domestic Notes", "Contemporary" - with allyoung Chernyshevsky actively collaborated with these progressive publications. "What to do?" - the novel that would bring him fame - then existed only in the form of vague ideas and sketches.
Arrest
Today it is known for certain that since 1861, Nikolai Gavrilovich was under the vigilant supervision of the secret police. None of his contemporaries doubted that he actively participated in the drafting of anti-government appeals and was even involved in the famous fires of 1862 in St. Petersburg. On June 12, the writer was arrested and placed in solitary confinement in the Peter and Paul Fortress. As an official accusation, he was charged with writing proclamations to the “Bar Peasants”. The reason for the arrest was a letter from Herzen sent from abroad, in which Chernyshevsky was mentioned. "What to do?" - a novel that was written entirely in the fortress.
Civil execution, exile, death
February 7, 1864 the writer was sentenced to seven years hard labor, then a life-long settlement in Siberia. On May 19, a civil execution of Chernyshevsky was carried out on Horse Square. Family members and numerous followers at different times filed petitions for pardon, but the return of the revolutionary to Saratov took place only in June 1889. He passed away in the fall.
Chernyshevsky, "What to do": a summary of the work
The novel was written partly as a polemic with Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. According to Chernyshevsky himself, he set himself the goal of describing “ordinary decent people of the newgenerations." There are three central characters in the book: Vera Rozalskaya, Dmitry Lopukhov and Alexander Kirsanov. Verochka is the manager's daughter. The greedy and vulgar mother intends to profitably marry the girl, but the noble and proud beauty decides to take fate into her own hands and enters into a fictitious marriage with medical student Lopukhov. Their family life is built on the principles of mutual respect, equality and freedom. Vera even opens a sewing workshop-commune. However, their happiness does not last long - a young woman falls in love with her husband's best friend, Kirsanov. Noble Dmitry does not want to get in their way and fakes suicide (so that Vera can remarry), after which he leaves for America, where he studies industrial production. A few years later, he returns to Russia under a different name and marries Ekaterina Polozova, the daughter of a we althy industrialist. Naturally, both families are in close contact, intending to build a "new" social life. Thus ends the novel "What to do?". N. Chernyshevsky remained faithful to the ideals that he declared in his main work until the end of his life.
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