The keys to women's happiness ... are abandoned, lost with God himself.
N. A. Nekrasov
I. Gallery of female images in domestic and foreign literature.
II. The happiness of a simple peasant woman in the understanding of Nekrasov.
1. An attempt to find a happy one among the common people.
2. The happiness of young Matryona Korchagina.
3. Hell among husband's relatives.
4. The tragic death of Demushki.
5. "Thunderstorm of the soul" of ordinary Russian women.
III. Nekrasov's admiration for a Russian woman.
Perhaps not a single writer or poet in his work has ignored a woman. Attractive images of a beloved, a mother, a mysterious stranger adorn the pages of domestic and foreign authors, being an object of admiration, a source of inspiration, consolation, happiness ... But, probably, not a single male creator, except Nekrasov, thought about what it is - female happiness, and especially the happiness of a simple peasant woman.
The great and truly national Russian poet N. A. Nekrasov in the poem “Who in Rus' should live well” depicted the fate of the simple Russian people during the period of the abolition of serfdom. The main characters of the work are looking for happy people throughout Rus'. Desperate to find a lucky man among the "men", they begin to ask the Russian villagers if they are happy. Matryona Korchagina told them about what it is - an woman's happiness.
What is female happiness and is it? Matrena recalls that she was happy in her childhood and youth:
I got lucky in girls...
For father, for mother,
Like Christ in the bosom,
The happiness of the young Matryona was not at all in sleeping longer and eating better: from an early age she was accustomed to work and loves it:
And a good worker
And sing and dance the huntress
I was young.
The heart becomes warm from the description of the simple happiness of a peasant woman: to work hard, to freshen up in the bathhouse and gain strength, to sing songs with her friends and ride on a sleigh ... Honest, direct, modest, Matryona does not make eyes at the guys, but on the contrary, shuns them. But all the same, "for trouble," a fiancé turned up for her from distant St. Petersburg and nevertheless achieved her love and hand. “Then it was happiness,” Matryona sighs.
And then - a strange family, "great, grumpy", where she is an eyesore to everyone, everyone wants to humiliate and insult her. Hard work and constant reproaches from her husband's relatives, frequent separation from her beloved turned her life into hell.
With the birth of Demushka's first child, Matrena's life was illuminated with divine light: now she easily endures any hardships and hardships, endures any attacks from her relatives ... But the short-lived happiness was cut short by the tragic death of Demushka. And although after Matryona she gave birth to five sons, she still cannot forget her first.
Such is it - woman's bitter happiness: work tirelessly, be patient and keep quiet, raise children - “Is it a joy? (…) They already took one!” And so, you look from the outside - it seems that there is nothing to complain about: healthy, strong, everything is with her, and economic, and not beaten by her husband. But Matryona says:
For me - quiet, invisible -
The storm has passed,
Will you show her?
The image of Matryona is a collective image of all ordinary Russian women. The author revealed in him all the maternal love and pain that a deep and tender female soul is capable of. Matryona Korchagin is the embodiment of simple straightforwardness, good nature, moral purity and marital fidelity. This image takes over the soul, despite the fact that the village woman talks about her life simply, artlessly, without showing off and without trying to exaggerate. And every reader finds something close in her story.
Nekrasov describes with reverence and admiration a Russian woman - a loving wife and mother who, God only knows where, takes spiritual strength to give her loved ones warmth, affection and happiness - even if the keys to her own happiness are lost.
The theme of the female share in Nekrasov's poem "Who should live well in Rus'"
The poem Who Lives Well in Rus' was written in 1863. Main character poems are people. Nekrasov describes the life, worries, fate of the peasants, their way of life and work, which was not easy. The author paid special attention to the life of ordinary Russian women, peasant women. Seven peasant peasants, who could not find happy men among the peasants, decided to look for happy women among them. "Not everything between men To look for a happy one, Let's touch the women!" Everywhere a woman needs to be in time: both in the field, and with the kids, and maintain the house. The theme of a difficult female fate runs through many of Nekrasov's works. The poet constantly emphasizes that a woman bears a double oppression: landlord and family. This oppression is revealed by a phrase from the poem: “And the women in Rus' three loops: white silk Second -- red silk And the third - silk black, choose any! Get into any!” Women's children die, sons are taken to the service, and daughters governesses. The most complete female share in the poem was shown on the example of Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina. The heroine had a happy, carefree early childhood, and from the age of five she began to get involved in feasible work: “she carried her father for breakfast, she grazed the ducklings”, “turned the hay”, etc. And such a life full of hard work is remembered by Matryona Timofeevna at her thirty-eight years as happiness. Because everything that awaited her after marriage was sheer suffering. No wonder the mother lamented when they came to woo her daughter. After the wedding, she "fell to hell with a girl's holi." Her husband was kind. Matryona did not have to, like many other peasant women, live with the “hateful”, endure beatings. Matryona lived with her husband in love and harmony. This helped her endure troubles and misfortunes. Philip was a stove-maker, constantly leaving to work in St. Petersburg. Matryona was very upset by constant separation. She had to adapt to life in a strange family. Bullying by her husband's relatives, beatings, hard labor, the terrible death of her beloved first-born - that was only the beginning of her terrible, but, alas, such a fate common to a Russian peasant woman. After the death of the first-born, other children were born every year: “there is no time to think or grieve, God forbid to cope with the work and cross the forehead,” Matryona's parents died. Timofeevna submitted to everything: “first from bed, last to bed”, humiliated herself in front of her father-in-law with her mother-in-law, and only in one thing became rebellious: she stood up for the children, did not allow them to be offended. When the village lynched Fedot, who, working as a shepherd, failed to take the sheep from the she-wolf, his mother lay down under the rod for him. A young beautiful woman, in the absence of her husband-protector, was pursued by the master's manager. None of the relatives, except for the hundred-year-old grandfather Savely, the heroine did not find support. The character of Matrena Timofeevna is tempered precisely in severe trials. This is a smart, selfless, strong-willed, resolute woman. This is the image of a peasant woman not only strong in spirit, but also gifted and talented. Matryona's story about her life is a story about the fate of any peasant woman. Matrena Timofeevna went through all the trials that can only fall on a woman's lot. This mother-worker, proud, not broken, close and kindred in spirit became for grandfather Saveliy. But the wanderers came to her in vain in search of a happy man: "It's not a matter of looking for a happy woman among women." A hungry year fell to Matryona's lot, and then an even more terrible test: they took her husband out of turn into recruits. And again Matrena Timofeevna did not submit. The pregnant woman went on foot to the city to seek the truth and intercession from the governor. She achieved the truth, having received the intercession of the governor, who also herself baptized the child born before the time. Since then, Matrena Timofeevna "has been denounced as a lucky woman, nicknamed the governor's wife." Speaking of the bitter fate of women, Nekrasov never ceases to admire the amazing spiritual qualities of his heroines, their great willpower, self-esteem and pride. Such a woman "endures both hunger and cold." She is strict towards the lazy, towards the poor, but this does not mean that she does not have love, compassion for people. Suffice it to recall how Matrena Timofeevna forgives Savely the hero for his oversight, which led to the death of her firstborn. She appreciates in him a free spirit, folk wisdom, and even tells wanderers about him, setting him as an example. The main advantage of the Russian Woman Nekrasov reads her ability to be a real, sensitive mother. Russian women live in constant work, the joys and sorrows of motherhood, in the struggle for a family, for a home. The theme of the female share in the poem merges with the theme of the homeland. The female characters of Nekrasov's heroines speak of the strength, purity and incorruptibility of the common people. Those inhuman conditions of life point to the urgent need for changes in the order, style and way of life in the villages and cities of Russia at that time.
- The theme of the poem.
- The image of a peasant woman.
- Matrena Timofeevna as a bright representative of a peasant woman.
- A feature of the female character of Nekrasov.
N. A. Nekrasov devotes his final work, the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, to a symbolic search for a happy person in Rus'. The author explores the life of various strata of Russian society: peasants, landlords, clergy. The fate of the Russian peasant woman becomes a special topic, for it turns out to be even harder than the fate of the other peasants. “It’s not a matter between women / to look for a happy one,” Matryona Timofeevna, the heroine of the chapter “Peasant Woman,” directly answers the wanderers who turned to her. But the image of a peasant woman, enslaved by both serfdom and the despotism of her husband's family, worries Nekrasov more.
This type was most fully revealed by Nekrasov in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in the image of Matryona Korchagina. The bitter lot of a peasant woman, eternally humiliated by poverty, overworking and not seeing happiness, causes deep sympathy in the soul of the poet, but at the same time, he notes in her character both human dignity, and pride, and unshakable moral purity. The image of Matrena Timofeevna is given in the poem in dynamics, in development.
The heroine had a happy, carefree early childhood, and from the age of five she began to get involved in feasible work: “she carried her father for breakfast, she grazed the ducklings”, “turned the hay”, etc. Yes, even happiness - I got a good husband. Matryona did not have to, like many other peasant women, live with the “hateful”, endure beatings. Matryona lived with her husband in love and harmony. It was this harmony in the family that helped the heroine endure troubles and misfortunes. Philip was a stove-maker, constantly leaving to work in St. Petersburg. Matryona was very upset by constant separation. She had to adapt to life in a strange family. A young beautiful woman, in the absence of her husband-protector, was pursued by the master's manager. None of the relatives, except for the hundred-year-old grandfather Savely, the heroine did not find support.
The character of Matrena Timofeevna is tempered precisely in severe trials. This is a smart, selfless, strong-willed, resolute woman. This is the image of a peasant woman not only strong in spirit, but also gifted and talented. Matrena's story about her life is a story about the fate of any peasant woman, a long-suffering Russian woman. The chapter itself is not named after her, but "Peasant Woman". This emphasizes that the fate of Matryona is not at all an exception to the rule, but the typical fate of millions of Russian peasant women. Best spiritual qualities- willpower, the ability to love, fidelity - make Matryona related to the heroines of the poem "Russian Women". Matryona Timofeevna's long story about her (still quite prosperous and extremely lucky!) fate is both an ode to the beauty of the soul of a Russian peasant woman and an accusation to those who doomed her to terrible torment.
Like Yermil Girin, Matryona is known throughout the district. But in the poem she tells about her life herself, and only seven wanderers listen to her. The veracity of the story is emphasized by the request of the wanderers: “Ata lay out your soul to us!” And the heroine of the chapter herself promises: "I will not hide anything."
Matryona Timofeevna's extraordinary creative talent allows her not only to keep folklore in her memory, but also to update it. The story is replete with elements of folklore works dedicated to the bitter fate of a woman: songs, proverbs, sayings, lamentations, lamentations.
Songs play a special role in describing the life of a Russian woman (it is no coincidence that the second chapter of this part of the poem is called “Songs”). Nekrasov depicts the life of a peasant woman in its entirety, from childhood, until the moment when she meets with the seekers of a happy person. There are several moments in the life of Matrena Timofeevna when those feelings that could lead her to decisive action are about to burst out. The first time - when, despite her pleas, the doctors begin the autopsy of Demushka's body. But the guard then orders to bind the mother. The second - when the headman decides to punish her son Fedotushka, who regretted hungry wolf.
The master decides to forgive the child, but to punish the "impudent woman" herself. And Nekrasov shows a very important feature of the strong-willed character of the heroine: she proudly lies down. under the rod, without stooping to ask for forgiveness, endures the pain and shame of public punishment. And only the next day she cried out her grief over the river. The only time when Matrena Timofeevna decides to fight for her happiness is when her husband is taken to the soldiers. She turns with a frantic prayer to the Mother of God, and this prayer, apparently, gives her strength: Matryona Timofeevna finds the courage to turn to the governor, who not only helps the peasant woman, but also becomes the godmother of her child. After this incident, Matryona begins to be called happy. This, it turns out, is the happiness of a peasant woman: not to become a soldier, to find the strength to remain silent and endure and raise children.
The keys to women's happiness, - From our free will, Abandoned, lost ... - such is the gloomy result of Matrena Timofeevna's conversation with seven wanderers. External beauty, cordiality, quick wits, the glory of a lucky woman make it possible to speak of Matryona Timofeevna as a unique, exceptional personality.
By depicting the fate of Matrena Timofeevna, the author makes deep generalizations: Russian women live in constant work, the joys and sorrows of motherhood, in the struggle for a family, for a home. The theme of the female share in the poem merges with the theme of the homeland. The female characters of Nekrasov's heroines speak of the strength, purity and incorruptibility of the common people. Those inhuman conditions of life, against which these images emerge, point to the urgent need for changes in the order, style and way of life in the villages and cities of old-regime Russia.
One of the the best works N.A. Nekrasova - the poem "Who should live well in Rus'." The heroes of the poem travel across the Russian land. On their way they meet people of different classes: peasants, landowners, representatives of the clergy. A special place in the poem, in my opinion, is occupied by the meeting with the peasant woman Matrena Timofeevna. The author gives quite detailed description this character:
stubborn woman,
Wide and dense
Thirty eight years
Beautiful; gray hair,
The eyes are large, stern,
Eyelashes are the richest
Stern and swarthy.
This amazing woman endured a lot on her life path. Matrena Timofeevna began her story with the most early years life. She says how she was loved in her father's house. But the betrothed Philip Korchagin appeared in life, who took the heroine away from her home.
Songs play a special role in the chapter "Peasant Woman", because they form an important part of the life of the people and characterize it. The chapter is replete with elements of folklore works. Here you can find songs, proverbs, sayings, cries, lamentations.
It was difficult for the heroine in a new family:
The family was big
Grumpy... I got it
From girlish holi to hell!
Husband went to work
Silence, endure advised:
Don't spit on hot
Iron - hiss.
But this was not the most difficult thing in the life of Matryona Timofeevna. She tells about the death of her youngest child. Here the author shows a touching image of a little bird, which mourns her chicks, who burned down during a thunderstorm. Nekrasov, in my opinion, painted such a picture of events in the life of a woman that allows the reader to feel and understand the tragedy of a peasant mother more deeply. In the life of Matrena Timofeevna, such situations arose more than once when this amazing woman from the people was ready for decisive action. So, for example, doctors begin the autopsy of Demushka, despite all the pleas and lamentations of the mother:
I thrashed and screamed:
- Villains! Executioners!
Drop my tears
Not on land, not on water,
Not to the Lord's temple!
Fall right on your heart
My villain!
But no one takes into account the pain of the mother. Stanovoy even orders to tie her up.
Another time, the headman decides to punish Fedotushka, who took pity on the hungry she-wolf and began to “feed the sheep”:
Is the she-wolf so plaintively
She looked, howled ... Mother!
I threw her a sheep!
The master decides to forgive the little boy, but to punish the mother - "an impudent woman." In this episode, an important trait of the character of the heroine is manifested: with self-respect, she lies under the rod, without stooping to a plea for forgiveness. She proudly endures the physical pain and shame of such punishment. Only Matryona Timofeevna cried out her grief to the river:
I went to the fast river
I chose a quiet place
At the willow bush.
I sat on a gray stone
She leaned her head on her hand,
Sobbed, orphan.
Despite all the difficulties of life, Matrena Timofeevna still does not give up, but fights to the end for her happiness. Suffice it to recall the episode when her husband was taken to the soldiers. She turns with a prayer to the Mother of God, which gives her spiritual strength. The heroine even turns to the governor's wife, who helps Matryona Timofeevna in her grief.
After that, all the people begin to call this woman happy. It is simply amazing what the peasants consider happiness: not to be a soldier, to be able to endure and endure everything. And the heroine herself, having told the story of her life, nevertheless comes to the conclusion that there are no happy women among the peasant women:
It's not a matter - between the women
Happy looking!
Peasant life is difficult, there are many troubles and difficulties on their way. But as people who are deeply religious, loving and strong, they can go through life with their heads held high. Here the spiritual wealth of the Russian people is manifested. Matrena Timofeevna, in my opinion, is a generalized image, since she has all the main character traits characteristic of peasant women. And her fate is typical for people from the people.
I think that Nekrasov is an amazing poet, who perfectly feels the pain and suffering of an entire class, which in those days no one sought to reckon with, did not want to understand and help.
Let's not give the theme of the "women's lot" either gloomy or happy colors, we will abandon the apologetics and deconstruction of patriarchal myths, and will impartially look into the past. And it will quickly become clear that the notorious dense patriarchy is nothing more than a pseudo-historical projection of modern illiteracy.
Chronology of sacred images
women's place in ancient culture hardly anything can be said better than an analysis of the pagan pantheons. official science identifies several male deities Eastern Slavs and only one female. True, there are some who believe that there were one or two more goddesses, as well as supporters of the complete patriarchy of the "Slavic Olympus", but their versions are too weakly supported by sources.
In any case, there is an idea of men as those who are endowed with strength and power, this is compatible with the then military-democratic system of society. However, almost all magic was “assigned” to a woman, and the attributes of purely female occupations were symbols of prosperity, wealth and fertility: a spindle, threads, wool, patterns, a sickle, a ponyova, a tablecloth, dishes, etc. Remember when Ilya Muromets falls to the ground, defeated by Sokolnik, and after praying, he gets a “second wind”? This is very reminiscent of the Indian idea of the female boundless energy of Shakti, without which any deity is powerless.
Since those times, a lot of holidays and rituals have been preserved in which men did not have the right to interfere, and if they caught their eye, they could even be killed with impunity. This special ritual space gives us an idea of the cases of the inviolability of the female will. The early princely orders that have come down to us also state that if a girl is married against her will, if she suffers physically, the mother and father will be severely punished.
What does this say? Rather, that it is more convenient to consider the then situation of men and women not from the point of view of the role, but from the point of view of space - internal (home, forbidden rites) and external (travel, work on the street, protecting the family). This distinction will be a key point in gender relations up to the present day.
"I treated you like a brother..."
Archeology has rewarded us with amazing finds. Most likely, in medieval Rus' they did not even think that birch bark letters could lie in the ground for almost a thousand years, preserving not only the text, but also feelings, details of the way of thinking.
No less famous is the “Order from the priest to the priest”, written at the end of the 14th century, which refers to a certain incident that received unwanted publicity, the message ends with the businesslike phrase “Take care of it”. And the message “From Peter to Marya” contains a request to send a copy of the document on the purchase of the harvest. This means that women were not deprived of legal literacy either.
But the letter “From the Guest to Vasil” contains a complaint that the husband of the Guest appropriated her dowry, kicked out the woman, and got himself a new passion. Apparently, Vasil was the brother of the author, who was in his right to protect his sister from such a demarche.
Studying these written sources about manners in ancient Rus', we can conclude that the woman was a faithful assistant to her husband, who was not inferior to him in education and the ability to manage the household, had the right to protection from relatives. But, unfortunately, scientists note that this rise in culture and morality was temporary.
Sylvester woman
The word "Domostroy" evokes not the best associations and is often used as a symbol of dense patriarchal mores in Rus'.
There is a version that this book, written by the teacher of Ivan the Terrible, was intended to normalize family relations in a troubled age. It is worth mentioning that in those days marriage was given out very early, and often, the husband became almost a father to his young wife. Accordingly, he was equally the head of everyone in his house and had the right to "teach" the whip, whom he considered necessary.
At the same time, the beating of household members with wooden and metal objects, in front of witnesses, was condemned, and most importantly, punishment without love and justice. The church was inclined to defend the rights of women when it came to open disrespect, and could even threaten negligent sons who do not show respect for their mother, referring to the fact that holy wives and the Mother of God, by the way, mean something.
Most likely, domestic violence has nothing to do with pagan survivals or Orthodoxy, but only with human aggression and irresponsibility.
Perhaps this also had its own catalyst - that same spatial separation, fear of an unknown force that women still owned, because husbands were strictly forbidden to be present during childbirth, it was undesirable to go into someone else's half of the hut, an unloved spouse could be poisoned or slandered, interfere this was extremely difficult. There were a lot of secrets in the family, which means that there was no complete trust.
In the ethnographic era
The old songs about the female fate, which today we can listen to in the public domain, are almost one hundred percent sad. They have a clear confrontation "husband" - "lover", where the husband is either an old man, or a tyrant, or killed, and the lover is right there. And, on the contrary, in one famous old song, a guy writes from prison to his parents and wife, who refuse him, and a secret girlfriend helps him out at a great cost. Girls' songs are mostly about unrequited love or observation from the side of the object of passion. In the Cossack environment, unloved wives were often drowned, begging to take their lives, at least not in front of children and neighbors, and this happened not only in songs, there are also official reports of informants about this.
Politeness and cunning were valued above beauty and wealth and were the key to success. If, for example, the bride was obliged to give the groom a whip, then why not weave this whip from silk or velvet? After all, if you figure out how not to violate the foundations of society, not to ruin each other's lives, and at the same time achieve your own goal, then you will become pleased with yourself and honored by people. It is precisely such cases that are described in the famous collections of cherished tales that make up a kind of Russian "Decameron".
All that has been said is about trying to move away from the template “The downtroddenness of a Russian woman - true or myth?” and turn to the present day. Limited, illiteracy, vulnerability in relation to the pre-revolutionary peasantry, after all, looks more natural than the same thing today. If now there is enough social advertising about domestic violence, and women's forums on the network, sometimes it's just scary to read from the grotesque reigning there, then it seems that in the past it was even worse, however, this is a logical trap. We have only replaced the superstition about powerful female magic with the assertion that "every woman has a mystery" and this barrier, it seems, will never be completely overcome.
