Genre and compositional features of the novel by I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons"
Creativity of I.S. Turgenev made a huge contribution to the development of Russian literature. Many of his works are well known to readers different ages. But the most popular was and remains Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons,” which became the answer to many of the writer’s contemporary questions. The history of the creation of the novel “Fathers and Sons” began in 1860, with the idea that visited Ivan Sergeevich.
First stage
Thoughts about creating a new work describing the surrounding reality arose in Turgenev when he was in England on the Isle of Wight. Then he conceives a major story, the hero of which should be a young doctor. The prototype of Bazarov was accidentally met by Turgenev while traveling around railway young doctor. In him he saw the beginnings of nihilism, which was just emerging at that time. This amazed Ivan Sergeevich. He was simply fascinated by the views of this young man.
Beginning of work
Turgenev began work directly in 1860. He leaves with his daughter for Paris, settles there and plans to finish work with a new work in a short time. During the first year of working on Fathers and Sons, the writer completes the first half of the novel. He feels great satisfaction from his work. He is madly attracted to the image of Yevgeny Bazarov. But over time, he feels that he can no longer work in Paris. The writer returns to his homeland.Completion of the novel
Returning to Russia gives Turgenev the opportunity to plunge into the atmosphere of modern social movements. This helps him complete the novel. Shortly before the end of work on “Fathers and Sons” in Russia, significant event- abolition of serfdom. Latest chapters the works were completed by Ivan Sergeevich in his native village of Spassky.First publications and disputes
For the first time, “Fathers and Sons” appeared to the world on the pages of the popular literary publication “Russian Messenger”. As Turgenev feared, the controversial image of Bazarov caused a strong reaction in literary circles. Its discussion gave rise to a lot of controversy in the press. Many excellent critics have devoted their articles to analyzing ideological content novel and the characteristics of the main character. The appearance of a new image, denying everything familiar and beautiful, became a kind of hymn to the young nihilistic movement.Latest edition of the novel
After the novel appeared in the Russian Messenger, Turgenev was engaged in a slight reworking of the text of the work. It smoothes out some particularly harsh character traits of the main character, and makes the image of Bazarov more attractive than in the original version. In the fall of 1862, an edited version of the novel was published. On the title page there is a dedication to Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky. Turgenev and Belinsky were very close friends, and thanks to the influence of Vissarion Grigorievich, some public views Ivan Sergeevich.Roman I.S. Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” became a unique work, reflecting the eternal confrontation between two generations not only within a single family, but also at the level of socio-political life of an entire country.
The genre of the novel “Fathers and Sons” can be defined as socio-philosophical.
Its action dates back to 1859, when a revolutionary situation arose in Russia. In Russian society, ideological disputes about the ways further development countries. And the genre of the novel itself is subject to their disclosure - the plot is based on disputes reflecting the social mood of the generation of the 1860s. During this era, common democrats advocated a revolutionary path of development for Russia; they considered the peasant revolution to be the main source of fundamental changes in the life of the country. The liberals proposed a path of gradual reforms that would limit autocratic power, freeing peasants from serfdom, but preserving landownership. Thus, Turgenev shows possible ways transformations of Russia. This main question formulated through the mouth of Arkady Kirsanov. He says: “... this poor region, it does not impress with either its contents or its diligence, it cannot, it cannot remain like this, transformations are necessary... but how to carry them out, how to begin?..”
Note that acute socio-political problems distinguish Turgenev's novels from his stories. In novels, a person appears in public life, and in stories, the problems of the hero’s personal life are brought to the fore. In novels, the action usually takes place dynamically, over several months and sometimes weeks. The reader's attention is occupied alone main character, which is surrounded by a small number of minor ones. The author shows him at critical moments in his life, which form the basis of the story. This is the “novella” nature of the novel.
But main force Turgenev’s novel is represented by the “rendez-vous” situation, that is, the test of the hero by love. The novel "Fathers and Sons" is no exception. Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov's love for Princess R. emphasizes that this is a man of the era of the 40s, a romantic, living in a world of his own invention. The relationship between Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov and Fenechka has a completely different coloration. This love for a timid, defenseless creature reveals the depth of the hero’s soul. But the main love affair shifted to the second part of the novel, and the first is occupied by the ideological disputes of the heroes, reflecting the relationship of Kirsanov and Bazarov to the people.
Let's look at the main participants in the dispute and its main aspects.
Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is an aristocrat both by origin and by conviction. “His aristocratic nature was compensated by Bazarov’s perfect swagger,” writes Turgenev. Since childhood, he was not accustomed to work and led an idle lifestyle. He tried not to spend a single evening at home; he was pleased to be in a society in which he was “carried in their arms.”
Evgeny Vasilyevich Bazarov is the complete opposite of Pavel Kirsanov. He is proud that he, the son of a regimental doctor, made his own way in life and achieved some results. Bazarov is occupied with natural sciences, mainly medicine. According to Arkady, he “wants to stick to the doctor.”
Let us now turn to the main topics of debate. First, pay attention to the philosophical aspect. Here Kirsanov acts as a convinced idealist and defender of religion. He notes with horror that Bazarov denies God. He does not understand the materialistic beliefs of the enemy. The basis of Bazarov's philosophical beliefs are natural sciences; he is a supporter of vulgar materialism, which reduces spiritual life to material life. For him, all highly moral subjects appear to be the prejudices of romanticism, which he does not recognize. In his opinion, “a decent chemist is twenty times more useful than any poet.”
Such heroes look at socio-political issues differently. Kirsanov is a conservative liberal who advocates a reformist path of development for the country. His idea is English parliamentarism, that is, a classic constitutional monarchy. He has boundless admiration for the English lords. Kirsanov claims that “the aristocracy gave freedom to England and supports it.” Bazarov stands for a revolutionary path of development of the country. For censorship reasons, Turgenev could not put revolutionary slogans into the hero’s mouth, but from individual statements one can judge his belligerent mood, he “wants to fight.” But Bazarov does not have a positive transformation program social order because he is a nihilist. “You deny everything, or, to put it more precisely, you destroy everything... But you also need to build,” says Kirsanov. We see that in currently Bazarov's main goal is to destroy the old system of life in Russian society, and it does not matter what the new one will be.
And the relationships of the heroes to the people are close to each other. In Kirsanov’s position we notice features of Slavophilism. He says that the people “piously honor traditions, they are patriarchal, they cannot live without faith.” Bazarov considers the people dark, rude, ill-mannered, but this causes him pain.
Portraits and landscapes occupy a special place in the composition of the novel. Turgenev appears here as a master portrait characteristics character. He introduces all his heroes, showing them in full height. In the description of appearance important role details, manners, gestures, glances play.
For example, from the description of Fenechka’s appearance (“A young woman of about twenty-three, all white and soft, with dark hair and eyes, with red, childishly plump lips and tender hands”) we can judge her character. She is sweet, simple-minded and kind.
Pavel Petrovich, a pedant and a true aristocrat, is characterized by such clothing details as “a dark English suit, a fashionable low tie and patent leather ankle boots.”
Landscape plays an equally important role in the novel.
The description of nature in Chapter III has a social connotation. Turgenev shows the poverty, wretchedness and unattractiveness of nature, thereby emphasizing the state of Russia as a whole at the moment.
Giving a description of a summer evening in Chapter XI, Turgenev clearly entered into an argument with Bazarov’s statements that “nature is not a temple, but a workshop.” This landscape made many memories come back to life in Nikolai Petrovich’s mind. past life. He again imagined his first acquaintance with Arkady’s mother, and remembered the time spent with his son. Thus, the author showed enormous power the influence of nature on a person, awakening all the best that is in his soul.
Painting a picture rural cemetery, Turgenev affirms the idea that nature, like life itself, is eternal. He writes: “No matter what passionate, sinful, rebellious heart hides in the grave, the flowers growing on it serenely look at us with their innocent eyes: they tell us not only about eternal peace, about that great peace of “indifferent” nature; they also talk about eternal reconciliation and endless life..."
And the last thing I would like to note, speaking about the originality of the novel, is the “secret psychologism” of Turgenev, who believed that “a writer should be a psychologist, but a secret one.” In "Fathers and Sons" we will not find branched internal monologues characters, the author shows their condition through details and gestures. For example, after Odintsova’s conversation with Bazarov, her internal tension and excitement are felt. The author writes: “She brought her stuck fingers to her lips, blew on them and, suddenly, impulsively rising from her chair, walked with quick steps towards the door, as if wanting to bring Bazarov back.”
Thus, in the novel we see a masterfully drawn portrait and landscape. Turgenev appears before us in the role of a “secret psychologist.” This determines the genre and, as a consequence, compositional features novel.
The novel “Fathers and Sons,” a landmark for its time, which was written by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in the second half of the 19th century, has not lost its relevance to this day. At one time, the image of Yevgeny Bazarov, who is the main character of the novel “Fathers and Sons,” was perceived as a model worth imitating, especially for young people. Now, considering the question of what the novel “Fathers and Sons” is about, we will only briefly mention Bazarov’s personal characteristics, focusing primarily on the plot.
The plot of the novel "Fathers and Sons"
Evgeny Bazarov embodied a whole bunch of ideals that can be clearly seen in his worldview. He was uncompromising, did not bow to authoritative people and their principles, did not follow previously established truths, giving priority to concepts that were useful in his opinion, and not beautiful.
So, in order to clearly show what the novel “Fathers and Sons” is about, we will now look directly at the events and main characters. It is important to remember that the peasant reform of 1861 played a significant role in Russian history, and the events described by Turgenev unfold just on the eve of this reform - in the summer of 1859. Let's begin to analyze the plot of the novel "Fathers and Sons".
Evgeny Bazarov and Arkady Kirsanov visit Maryino to stay briefly with the elder Kirsanovs - this is Arkady's father (Nikolai Petrovich) and uncle (father's brother Pavel Petrovich). However, Bazarov does not get along with them, and soon decides to leave. He goes, accompanied by Arkady, to a provincial town. The friends are happy to spend time in the company of Kukshina and Sitnikova, who belong to the ranks of progressive youth. And a little later they are invited to the governor’s ball, where they meet Odintsova.
Having left for the estate of Odintsova, with whom Bazarov and Arkady are already carried away, they have fun in Nikolskoye, but Bazarov makes an unsuccessful attempt to explain his feelings to Odintsova, and he has to retreat. Bazarov has parents - Vasily and Arina, and it is to them that Bazarov goes again with Arkady. After a while, Bazarov gets bored of sitting in parental home, so they, having stopped in Nikolskoye (where they are greeted coldly), go to Maryino.
Nikolai Petrovich, father of Arkady Kirsanov, has illegitimate son, born from Fenechka, a girl who is kept in the Kirsanovs’ house. One day, out of boredom and incomprehensible passion, Bazarov kissed a young woman, Fenechka, but this scene was seen by his father’s brother Pavel Petrovich, which is why he and Bazarov had a duel. Arkady decides to return to Nikolskoye, where he falls in love with Odintsova’s sister Katya. Bazarov also comes there a little later, apologizing for his confession to Odintsova, but does not stay long, again deciding to live with his parents.
There, Bazarov, helping his father treat the sick, becomes infected with typhus and dies, having met Odintsova before his death. Arkady and Katya get married, Arkady's uncle Pavel Petrovich leaves his homeland, going abroad, and his father, after all, marries Fenechka.
In this article we only looked at what the novel “Fathers and Sons” is about and briefly saw the characteristics of Bazarov. You can read more about the main characters of the novel and its analysis in other articles on our blog. We hope that you also found the plot of the novel “Fathers and Sons” useful.
