Tolstoy Alexey: works. List and review of works by Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The surname Tolstoy in our view is closely associated with literary creativity, and this is no coincidence. In Russian prose and poetry, there were as many as three well-known authors who wore it: Lev Nikolaevich, Alexei Konstantinovich and Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy. The works written by them are not connected in any way, but the authors themselves are united by blood relationship, although distant. All of them are representatives of a large noble branch. Tatyana Tolstaya, a modern writer, by the way, also belongs to this genus. Although the most famous representative of this noble branch is, of course, Lev Nikolaevich, today we invite you to get acquainted with the work of Alexei Konstantinovich. The works of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy also deserve close attention. However, this is a topic for a completely different article. So, for example, the namesake of the poet and writer of interest to us, Alexei Tolstoy, created works for children that are still very popular and fascinating to this day.

Biography of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (years of life - 1817-1875) - poet, writer, playwright. He was born in St. Petersburg. He came from the Razumovsky family on the maternal side (his great-grandfather was the last hetman of Little Russia K. Razumovsky, and his grandfather, A. K. Razumovsky, was the Minister of Public Education under Tsar Alexander I). The father of the future writer is Count K. P. Tolstoy, with whom the mother broke up immediately after the birth of the boy. Alexey Konstantinovich was brought up under the guidance of his parent and her brother, A. A. Perovsky, a writer who encouraged the poetic experiments of young Tolstoy.

In 1834 he was accepted into the service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Moscow archive. After that he was in the diplomatic service. Tolstoy Alexei, whose works we will present to you below, received the title of chamber junker in 1843.

Fantastic stories and romantic prose

In the late 1830s and early 1840s, he created fantastic stories gravitating towards the Gothic novel, as well as romantic prose: "Meeting in Three Hundred Years", "Ghoul's Family". His first published work is the story "Ghoul", written in 1841, created under the pseudonym Krasnorogsky. Also in the 1840s, Alexei Konstantinovich began work on a historical novel called "Prince Silver" (finished in1861), at the same time a number of lyrical ballads and poems were created, which were published somewhat later (in the 1850s and 60s). Many works of Alexei Tolstoy gained great popularity. Their list is as follows: "Kurgan", "My Bells", "Prince Mikhailo Repnin", as well as "Vasily Shibanov" and others.

Cooperation in Sovremennik

In the early 1850s, Tolstoy became closer to N. A. Nekrasov, I. S. Turgenev and other writers. Since 1854, his literary parodies and poems have been published in Sovremennik. In collaboration with V. M. and A. M. Zhemchuzhnikovs (his cousins), satirical parody works were published under the pseudonym Kozma Prutkov in the Literary Jumble section of this journal. The work of this fictitious author became a mirror of obsolete phenomena in literature and at the same time created a satirical picture of a bureaucrat claiming to be a trendsetter in artistic taste.

Tolstoy Alexei, whose works by that time were already numerous, having moved away from participation in Sovremennik, from 1857 began to be published in Russkaya Conversation, and later, in the 1860s and 70s, mainly in "Bulletin of Europe", as well as "Russian Bulletin". At this time, he defended the principles of the so-called "pure art", that is, independent of any political ideas, including "progressive" ones.

In 1861 Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, whose works are discussed in thisarticle, finally quits the service, which was very burdensome for him, and completely focuses on literary work.

In 1862 his poem "Don Juan" was published, the next - "Prince Silver" (novel). In 1866, the first part of a great creation was released - the historical trilogy "The Death of Ivan the Terrible", two years later - the second - "Tsar Fedor Ioannovich", and in 1870 - the final - "Tsar Boris".

Lyrical legacy

Answering the question about what works Aleksey Tolstoy wrote, one cannot fail to note his lyrics. In 1867, the first collection of poetry by this author appears. In the last ten years of his life, he wrote ballads (1868 - "The Serpent Tugarin", 1869 - "The Song of Harald and Yaroslavna", 1870 - "Roman Galitsky", 1871 - "Ilya Muromets", etc.). There were also political satires in verse ("History of the Russian State …", published in 1883, "Popov's Dream" - in 1882, etc.), lyric poems and poems (1874 - "Portrait", 1875 - "Dragon").

General characteristics of creativity

The work of Alexei Konstantinovich is imbued with the unity of philosophical ideas, motives, lyrical emotions. One can note the interest in such problems as the philosophy of history, national antiquity, love of nature, rejection of royal tyranny - these are the features of Tolstoy's work.found reflection in many of his works belonging to various genres. Aleksey Konstantinovich considered ancient Novgorod and Kievan Rus to be the ideal structure of the country, corresponding to the Russian national character. The way of life in Russia at that time seemed to him as follows: a high level of development of various arts, the importance of such a cultural layer as the aristocracy, the prince's respect for the freedom and personal dignity of citizens, the simplicity of morals, the diversity and breadth of international relations, especially with Europe.

Ballads

The ballads depicting images of Ancient Russia are permeated with lyricism, they reflect the passionate dream of their creator of spiritual independence, as well as admiration for the heroic whole natures that Alexei Tolstoy depicted in folk epic poetry. The works, the list of which is offered to you ("Matchmaking", "Ilya Muromets", "Kanut", "Alyosha Popovich" and other ballads) are marked by the fact that the images of legendary heroes in them, the plots of historical events illustrate the author's idea, embody his ideals (to For example, Prince Vladimir of Kyiv). In their artistic means, they are close to some other lyrical poems by Alexei Konstantinovich ("You are my land …", "If you love, so without reason", "Blagovest", etc.).

Tolstoy's ballads, depicting the era of the strengthening of statehood in Russia, are permeated through and through with a dramatic beginning. Their plots are the events of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, whom the poetconsidered the most striking spokesman for the principle of absorption by the state of the individual and unlimited autocracy.

The "dramatic" ballads are more traditional in form than the "lyrical" ballads, which date mainly to the late 1860s and early 1870s. However, these works of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy are marked by the fact that he acted as an original poet, capable of modifying the structure of the genre.

For example, in one of the ballads, "Vasily Shibanov", he revises the classical situation of a dispute with the king of a freedom-loving subject, which became widespread under the influence of the works of F. Schiller. Conveying how Kurbsky denounces Ivan the Terrible, Tolstoy in the participants in this dramatic conflict - the rebellious boyar and the tsar - emphasizes the common: ingratitude, inhumanity, pride. Aleksey Konstantinovich finds the readiness to suffer for the truth, the ability for self-sacrifice in a simple person, who is sacrificed to this dispute by the powers that be. Thus, the slave wins a moral victory over the king and restores by his feat the triumph of the true greatness of man over the imaginary. Like other "dramatic" ballads of this author, "Vasily Shibanov" in terms of its subject matter and the psychological complexity of the characters' images, as well as the creator's ethical approach to historical events, approaches the works of large genres written by Alexey Tolstoy. We will now consider these works.

Tolstoy's novels

Aleksey Konstantinovich in his novel "Prince Silver" depictsviolent clashes in an atmosphere of unbridled tyranny of strong people and shows that arbitrariness has a detrimental effect on the personality of the monarch, as well as on his environment. In this work, it is noted that, moving away from the already corrupted court circle, sometimes even forced to hide from social oppression and persecution, gifted people belonging to various strata of society nevertheless "make history", protect the country from the attack of external enemies, master and discover new lands (Ermak Timofeevich, Mitka, Ivan Koltso, Prince Serebryany, etc.). The style of this work is connected with the traditions of the story and the historical novel of the 1830s, including those coming from such stories by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol as "Taras Bulba" and "Terrible Revenge".

Dramaturgy

In the aforementioned dramatic trilogy, the author depicted Russian life at the end of the 16th century - the beginning of the 17th. And in these plays, the solution of various historical and philosophical problems is more important for him than the exact adherence to historical facts. Alexei Konstantinovich depicts the tragedy of three reigns, three autocrats: Ivan the Terrible, obsessed with the idea that his power is of divine origin, the soft-hearted ruler Fyodor and the wise Boris Godunov, a "genius ambitious man".

Tolstoy Alexey, whose works often depicted past eras, paid great attention to the creation of original, individual and vivid portraits of historical figures. His great achievement is the image of Tsar Fyodor, which indicates that inIn the 1860s, the writer learned the principles of psychological realism. In 1898, the Moscow Art Theater was opened with a production of the tragedy of this author - "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich". These are the main dramatic works of Alexei Tolstoy. The list of them can be continued, since we have listed only the main ones.

Political satire

Features of Alexei Konstantinovich's historical outlook are also reflected in his political satires. For example, behind such an anecdotal plot, which was in the work "Popov's Dream", the author's mockery of the liberals was hidden. In the poems "Against the current" or, for example, "Sometimes a merry May …" and others, the controversy with the nihilists was reflected. In the "History of the State …" Alexei Konstantinovich subjected historical phenomena to merciless ridicule, he believed that they interfered with Russia's life.

Intimate lyrics

Unlike ballads and dramaturgy, this author's intimate lyrics were alien to elation of tone. Sincere and simple lyrical works of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy. Many of them are, as it were, psychological poetic short stories ("That was in early spring", "In the midst of a noisy ball, by chance …").

Music based on the works of Alexei Konstantinovich

Aleksey Konstantinovich introduced elements of the folk poetic style into his work, often his poems are close to the song. Many creations created by Alexei Tolstoy have been set to music. Works (listincludes more than 70 poems) became the basis for romances that P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. I. Taneev, M. P. Mussorgsky and others wrote to his words.