Leskov is an enchanted wanderer depicting the Russian national character. Read an essay on the topic of Russian national character in the story The Enchanted Wanderer by Leskov for free. Depiction of the Russian national character in the works of N. Leskov (according to

Leskov’s works fascinate the reader, make him think, and become imbued with the most complex issues relating to human soul, features of Russian national character. Leskov's heroes can be different - strong or weak, smart or not very smart, educated or illiterate. But each of them has some amazing qualities that elevate these heroes above many of those around them.
At first glance, Leskov in his works talks about the most ordinary, one might say, ordinary people. But by the end of almost every story, every short story or novel, it turns out that the hero, who clearly enjoys the author’s sympathy, has all the qualities of an exceptional person in moral terms.
Leskov is a realist writer. He paints life as it is, without embellishing it. However, in his works life is full even without embellishment. amazing events, forcing a person to discover hidden sides of your nature. Leskov is an excellent psychologist. He skillfully shows the most intimate sides of the human soul. And that is why the heroes of his works seem “real” to us - they lived and worked once upon a time.
Leskov brilliantly reveals the peculiarities of the Russian national character. Re-reading the pages of many of his works, you involuntarily think about the wealth, originality and originality of the mysterious Russian soul. It is especially noteworthy that Russian character is revealed in the most difficult conditions. The contradiction between a person’s internal aspirations and his forced actions often pushes heroes to commit crimes.

If all the Russian classics of the last century, already during their lifetime or soon after their death, were recognized by literary and social thought in this capacity, then Leskov was “ranked” among the classics only in the second half of our century, although Leskov’s special mastery of language was undeniable, they did not talk about him only fans of his talent, but even his ill-wishers noted. Leskov was distinguished by his ability to always and in everything go “against the current,” as a biographer called a later book about him. If his contemporaries (Turgenev, Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky) were concerned primarily with the ideological and psychological side of their works, looking for answers to the social needs of the time, then Leskov was interested in this to a lesser extent, or he gave such answers that, having offended and outraged everyone, rained down critical thunder and lightning on his head, plunging the writer into disgrace for a long time among critics of all camps and among “advanced” readers.
The problem of our national character became one of the main ones for the literature of the 60-80s, closely connected with the activities of various revolutionaries, and later populists.

home cross-cutting theme Leskov's works - possibilities and mysteries of the Russian national character. Distinctive properties He looked for a Russian person in all estates and classes. Early stories Leskova (Life of a Woman, Warrior, Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district) are based on plots and images drawn from folk love songs and ballads.

Leskov introduced unexpected and, for many critics and readers, undesirable accents into solving the problem of the Russian national character. That's the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District.” Mtsensk merchant Katerina Izmailova is one of eternal types world literature - a bloody and ambitious villainess, whose lust for power led her into the abyss of madness. But she is naive and trusting in her feelings, like many Russian women who learned for the first time how to love. Katerina does not hear falsehoods in speeches and is not able to understand that her lover is deceiving her. But Katerina bright, strong, brave and desperate Russian woman. A young, strong, passionate woman is forced to eke out a miserable existence in a rich merchant's house. She yearns, languishes, dreaming of real passion and contentedly enough strained relations with husband.
Approaching the end of the work, you involuntarily ask the question: is it possible to condemn Katerina Lvovna for the atrocities she committed. Not only is it possible, but it is also necessary. But what about the Christian commandment: “Judge not, lest ye be judged”? Katerina Lvovna’s actions were partly dictated by the instinct of self-preservation, partly by the desire to receive at least a small fraction of simple female happiness, which she was deprived of and which she had dreamed of for so long.
The heroine is able to evoke admiration from the reader despite all her atrocities. The character of Katerina Lvovna is certainly extraordinary. If she had found herself in different conditions, perhaps a more worthy use of her physical and spiritual powers would have been found. However, the environment described by Leskov turns Katerina into a real monster. She mercilessly sends not only her father-in-law and then her husband to the next world, but also destroys an innocent child. The heroine’s fault lies primarily in the fact that she did not try to resist the circumstances. And at the same time, she appears worthy of regret. In the Russian national character, risk-taking and resourcefulness often go hand in hand with both villainy and nobility. The fate of the merchant's wife Katerina Lvovna testifies to how easy it is to give up all the riches of your soul for the sake of an evil cause. But this is not always the case.

Over the years, the writer has become increasingly attracted to people living according to the laws of conscience and heart. His favorite character is type of Russian righteous man . Leskov, according to Gorky, begins to create for Russia iconostasis of its saints and righteous people. This new variety little man - little great people , which represent the creative forces of the Russian people. In creating such heroes, the author relied on ancient Russian literature. As exponents of the author's ideas about an ideal personality, whose morality is determined by faith in Christ, Leskov's righteous people are close goodies Dostoevsky. But Leskov poeticizes the active personality and religiosity of his heroes This is practical Christianity.

In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" (1873) the writer is more interested in not piety, but heroism Russian person. Ivan feels the spell of providence on himself, and is therefore enchanted. According to Leskov, Russian people are not characterized by systematic rationality, which does not indicate his spiritual poverty.

In the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” (1873), Leskov, without idealizing the hero or simplifying him, creates whole, but contradictory, unbalanced character. Ivan Severyanovich can also be wildly cruel, unbridled in his seething passions. But his nature is truly revealed in kind and knightly unselfish deeds for the sake of others, in selfless deeds, in the ability to cope with any task. Innocence and humanity, practical intelligence and perseverance, courage and endurance, a sense of duty and love for the homeland - these are the remarkable features of Leskov’s wanderer. Positive types depicted by Leskov opposed the “mercantile age”, affirmed by capitalism, which brought devaluation of the individual common man. Leskov means fiction resisted the heartlessness and selfishness of the people of the "banking period", the invasion of the bourgeois-philistine plague, which kills everything poetic and bright in a person.

IN " Lefty"(1881) in the form of a legend-anecdote, Leskov captured the exceptional talent of Russian artisans. The talent and originality of the Russian person not just a gift, but a consequence of the noble habit of hard and varied work that fosters courage and perseverance of the creative spirit. Regarding Lefty, Leskov himself admitted that where Lefty stands, one must read the Russian people and that he had no intention of either flattering the people or belittling them. Leskov draws attention not only to talent, but also to tragic fate Russian man: his talent is wasted on trifles. Gorky saw distinctive feature thin Leskov's style is that he does not sculpt images plastically, but creates them skillful lace weaving colloquial speech . Leskov's narration is most often told in the first person. This narrative style is defined by the concept tale .

Perhaps the main thing in the work of N. S. Leskov was his creation of bright national characters, remarkable for their moral purity and all-human charm. The writer knew how to find bright Russian characters hiding in different corners home country, people with a heightened sense of honor, consciousness of their duty, irreconcilable to injustice and inspired by philanthropy. He painted those who stubbornly, selflessly bear the “burden of life”, always strive to help people and are ready to stand up for the truth.
His heroes are far from the turbulent clashes of the century . They live and operate in their native wilderness, in the Russian province, most often on the periphery public life. But this did not mean at all that Leskov was moving away from modernity. How acutely the writer felt the urgent moral problems! And at the same time, he was convinced that a person who knows how to look forward without fear and not melt in indignation at either the past or the present deserves to be called the creator of life. “ These people, he wrote, standing apart from the main historical movement... make history stronger than others " Such people were portrayed by Leskov in “Musk Ox” and “Soboryans”, in “The Sealed Angel” and “A Seedy Family”, in “Lefty” and many other stories and tales. Surprisingly different from each other, they are united by one, for the time being hidden, but unchanging thought about the fate of their homeland.
The thought of Russia, of the people, at turning points of spiritual quest, awakens with aching force in their consciousness, elevating their humble deeds in life to epic greatness. All of them are “loyal to their Fatherland,” “committed to their homeland.” In the depths of Russia, at the edge of the world, the love for native land. The thoughts of the rebellious archpriest Tuberozov (“Soborians”) are addressed to her, passionately blaming the townsfolk for their great loss of concern for the good of their homeland. In the speeches of the hero, removed from the storms of the capital, words coming from immeasurable love are heard: “O soft-hearted Rus', how beautiful you are!” And it is not humble, servile meekness that delights the rebellious archpriest, no: he is completely under the charm of a modest, but great power good selflessness, ready for heroism and resistance to evil.
And the archpriest dreams of some new wonderful temple in Rus', where his grandchildren will breathe freely and sweetly. The “black earth philosopher” Chervev also thinks about the happiness of the people in his own way; “Don Quixote” Rogozhin (“A Seedy Family”) also wishes this happiness for his compatriots: in a feverish delirium he dreams of freeing hundreds of thousands of people in Russia... “I really want to die for the people,” says the enchanted wanderer Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin. And this “black earth Telemachus” deeply worries about his involvement in his native land. What a great feeling is contained in his simple story about loneliness in Tatar captivity: “... there is no bottom to the depths of melancholy... You look, you don’t know where, and suddenly in front of you, out of nowhere, a monastery or temple is indicated, and you remember the baptized land and you will cry.”
Probably, in “The Enchanted Wanderer,” more than in any other work by Leskov, the intricate worldview that is characteristic of the Russian person is highlighted. The whole appearance of the sincere hero is remarkable: irrepressible strength of spirit, heroic mischief, ineradicable vitality and excessiveness in hobbies, alien to the moderation of a virtuous bourgeois and submissive meekness, and the breadth of his soul, responsiveness to the grief of others.
Deep feeling moral beauty“the spirit overcomes” Leskov’s righteous people. “The righteous have not been transferred here, and the righteous will not be transferred,” - this is how the story “Cadet Monastery” begins, in which “tall people, people of such intelligence, heart and honesty that it seems there is no need to look for the best” appear in their arduous everyday life- educators and mentors of young cadets. Their unconventional, deeply wise attitude to education contributed to the formation in the pupils of that spirit of camaraderie, the spirit of mutual assistance and compassion, which gives any environment warmth and vitality, with the loss of which people cease to be people.
Among Leskova's heroes is the famous Lefty - the embodiment of natural Russian talent, hard work, patience and cheerful good nature. “Where “Lefty” stands,” notes Leskov, emphasizing the general idea of ​​his work, “one must read “Russian people.”

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831-1895) is an outstanding Russian writer, a keen expert on Russian life, and a wonderful master of words. The ideological and aesthetic significance and humanistic orientation of his works were especially clearly expressed in the images he created of ordinary Russian people, endowed with great moral fortitude, honesty, dedication, hard work, enchanted by the love of life and their homeland. Great place Leskov’s work is occupied by the theme of denunciation of Russian clergy. It immediately becomes a bright painting, or, rather, iconography - he begins to create for Russia an iconostasis of its saints and righteous people.

More recently, the name of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov in school course literature was represented by only one work, the tale “Lefty”. Of course, the ironic nature of the narrative, linguistic stylization, and brightness of the characters determined the writer’s special place among the classics of Russian literature and secured his talent for creating “national Russian characters.”

Creativity N.S. Leskova fed on several literary and cultural traditions. A scribe and library collector, he knew and loved Russian and foreign literature, collected books on history and religious studies. Much of what he studied organically became part of the artistic whole of his works. He had a deep interest in ancient Russian literature. Unfortunately, most of The writer's library was sold by the heirs and was not preserved. A small part of the remaining books that is in the Oryol Museum of I.S. Turgenev, contains rare publications that can be used to represent Leskov’s interests in relation to ancient literature. Among them are prayers and teachings by Kirill of Turov, “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum,” but these, of course, are only the pitiful remnants of a large collection.

It is known that Leskov studied not only verbal art Ancient Rus', but also painting and architecture. He was also interested ancient period history of the Church and state. His familiarity with ancient Russian chronicles is obvious, since his works contain multiple references to legendary chronicle tales. He could know them as presented by V.N. Tatishcheva, N.M., Karamzina, V.O. Klyuchevsky or S.M. Solovyov, but, keeping in mind the writer’s curiosity and love for the book, we can conclude that he probably turned to the sources directly. Leskov conducted scientific research in the field medieval painting, literature. He owns a number of articles on iconography. He wrote reviews of scientific works on study problems ancient Russian literature.

Leskov’s works have two artistic dimensions: the real, in which there are characters actually possible in the second half of the 19th century, and the ideal, which endows what is happening and its participants with an eternal, transtemporal meaning.

The problematics of the works are dictated by the real contradictions of life. They reflect the acute social, socio-religious and political conflicts of the era.

At the same time, Leskov’s heroes are images that carry the memory of the ideal. They are often related to ideal images, gleaned from the literature of Ancient Rus'. The hagiographic genre was of particular importance. His canons can determine the plot motivations of Leskov’s works. This fact is explained by the fact that the image of a righteous man and ascetic created by the writer caused the similarity of his works and lives.

In his work, Leskov calls the Russian people to “spiritual progress” and moral self-improvement. In the 1870s, he goes “to look for the righteous,” without whom, according to popular expression, “not a single city, not a single village stands.”

“The people,” according to the writer, “are not inclined to live without faith, and nowhere will you consider the most sublime properties of their nature as in their attitude to faith.”

“Leskov is a wizard of words, but he did not write plastically, but told stories, and in this art he has no equal,” wrote M. Gorky. Indeed, Leskov’s style is characterized by the fact that the main attention is paid to the character’s speech, with the help of which a complete idea of ​​the era and a specific environment is created. About the character of people, about their actions. The secret of Leskov's verbal mastery lies in his excellent knowledge of people's life, everyday life, ideological and moral features of the appearance of all estates and classes of Russia.

2. Traditions of Old Russian literature in the story “The Enchanted Wanderer”

The story “The Enchanted Wanderer” was created by N.S. Leskov around 1872. It is known that the author had previously visited Valaam, and the impressions from this were reflected in the writer’s plan.

The main character of the story is the serf peasant Ivan Severyanych Flyagin. The writer uses his favorite form of “skaz” in it. The story is told from the perspective of the main character, and the reader sees with his own eyes not only the events and the situation, but through speech he sees the appearance and behavior of each, even insignificant, character.

All feelings in him are brought to extreme proportions: love, joy, kindness, and anger. His heart is full of comprehensive love for his homeland and the long-suffering Russian people. “I really want to die for the people,” says Flyagin. He is a man of unbending will, incorruptible honesty and nobility. These qualities of his, like his entire life, filled with great suffering, are typical of the Russian people as a whole. Gorky was right when he noted the typicality and nationality of Leskov’s heroes: “In every story by Leskov you feel that his main thought-thought not about the fate of a person, but about the fate of Russia.”

Flyagin feels some kind of predetermination of everything that happens to him: as if someone is watching him and directing his life path through all the accidents of fate: “All my life I died and could not die.” The hero’s loneliness is not unconditional: this is not a simple wanderer, but “enchanted.” There is a significant meaning hidden in Ivan’s “fascination”. From birth, a hero belongs not only to himself. This is the child promised to God. Ivan does not forget about his destiny even for a minute. The mother begged God for her son and, having given birth to him, died. Flyagin’s soul initially contained a certain “genetic” code, within which the hero’s freedom of action and deeds is exercised. Ivan’s life is built according to the well-known Christian canon, contained in the prayer “For those sailing and traveling, those suffering in illness and captives.” The hero talks about himself on the ship that sailed from Valaam to the Solovetsky Islands. In his way of life, he is a wanderer - fugitive, persecuted, not attached to anything earthly or material in this life. He went through cruel captivity, through terrible Russian ailments and, having gotten rid of “all sorrow, anger and need,” turned his life to serving God and the people. According to the artistic design of the story, behind the enchanted wanderer stands the whole of Russia, the national image of which is determined by its Orthodox Christian faith. Through the honest fate of Ivan Flyagin, Leskov brings the narrative of the chronicle to the All-Russian space. The life of a hero is a chain of misadventures, such that each could lead to a whole novel. Consider the register of Ivan’s professional transformations: he is a postilion, a robber, a runaway slave, a nanny, a prisoner, a coneser, a horse tamer, an intercessor for trade matters, a soldier, an official, an actor, a monk! The geographical scale of his wanderings is just as extensive - Oryol region, Moscow region, Karachov, Nikolaev, Penza, Caspian Sea, Astrakhan, Kursk, Caucasus, St. Petersburg, Korela, Solovki...

Flyagin is the Russian national character, presented by Leskov in the process of its incomplete and unstoppable movement and development, depicted not only in its relative results, but also in its undeveloped potential opportunities. Flyagin’s inability to embrace his “extensive vitality” testifies to the richness of these possibilities, not yet embraced by the character of the hero, not yet matured and not included in the outcome and result. Observing the development of Flyagin’s character in the story, you always feel how Leskov takes your attention to the side, leads the narrative from straight to roundabout paths. Thus, the writer makes us feel the fullness of the hero’s living life, which far exceeds in its capabilities what has taken shape in it today, ripened to flower and fruit.

The key to unraveling the mystery of the Russian national character is the artistic talent and artistry of Ivan Flyagin. He perceives the world like a poet, in a holistic and living image. Flyagin gives the answer to the question about the meaning of human existence not in the abstract, but in a figurative one. artistic manner, in a skillfully told story of his life.

Flyagin’s artistic talent is associated with the peculiarity of his Orthodox Christian worldview. He sincerely believes in the immortality of the soul and in a person’s earthly life he sees only a prologue to eternal life. An Orthodox person, more acutely than a Catholic or Protestant, feels the short duration of his stay on this earth and realizes that he is a wanderer in the world. The hero's view of life is broad and full-blooded. Flyagin feels beauty in unity with goodness and truth. In his loving acceptance of life there is absolutely no egoism that clouds the pure sources of love, therefore the picture of life he unfolds in the story is like God's gift, full-blooded, bright.

Thus, Ivan Flyagin, captivated by the beauty of the gypsy Grusha, sees the heroine in the dazzling brightness of colors: “You can’t even describe her as a woman, but as if she were a bright snake, and her black eyes burn with fire.”

Even money paper notes, Flyagin lights up with many colors: there is gold, and blue tits, and gray ducks, and red braids, and white swans. This colorful world According to the people, halftones and variegated combinations of red, blue, green, and yellow are alien.

Another feature is connected with Orthodoxy inner world Flyagina: in all his actions and deeds, the hero is guided not by his head, but by his heart, by emotional motivation. “The simple Russian God,” said Leskov, “has a simple abode – “behind the bosom.”

WITH youth Ivan is in love with the life of animals, with the beauty of nature. He perceives everything around him with joyful amazement. But Leskov does not hide the fact that the powerful force of vitality, not controlled by consciousness, sometimes leads the hero to mistakes that have dire consequences. What was the motivating reason for the murder of the innocent monk? Sharp feeling the beauty of nature, the space that refreshes the soul: “And the monks’ path to the desert is clean, marked and cleared, and the edges are overgrown with planted birches, and from those birches there is such greenery and spirit, and in the distance there is a vast view of the field... In a word, it’s so good, that I would have screamed like that with all this, and screaming, of course, is impossible without a path, so I’m holding on, galloping...” It was then that the monk turned up and gave rise to the release of the cheerful feelings that filled the hero’s soul, spilling out entirely into the ill-calculated postilion’s mischief , into risky recklessness.

Leskov values ​​a living sense of faith among the people, but, remaining only on an intuitive level, it is fragile and not immune from dangerous breakdowns into the abyss of dark destructive passions. Such are Flyagin’s drinking binges, his periodic “outings” and crazy dives into a drunken stupor. These are weaknesses that, according to Leskov, have become a Russian national disaster. Let us remember by what signs Flyagin, who escaped from Tatar captivity, recognizes his people: “I lay down in the grass for fear and looked out: what kind of people are they?.. I look, they are crossing themselves and drinking vodka - well, that means they are Russians!”

Leskov’s hero has a healthy “grain”, a fruitful fundamental basis for living development. This is the grain of Orthodoxy sown in Ivan’s soul at the very beginning of his life path mother, who began to grow with the awakening of conscience in the person of a monk who periodically appeared to him and suffered from his mischief. But the grain in him is still just sprouting, and Ivan’s character on this basis is only just taking shape during difficult growth, temptations and trials. This growth is determined by the artistic nature of Ivan, who calls himself an “admired man.” It is not reason, but the instinct of beauty that moves and guides him through life.

First, this aesthetic talent manifests itself in his passion for horses, in his disinterested admiration of their beauty and perfection. Moreover, Ivan is not only a poet at heart, but also a gifted storyteller, talentedly conveying his admiration for the figurative, poetic word. Here is his story about the mare Dido: “She was a marvelous beauty: a pretty head, pretty eyes, delicate and open nostrils, she breathed as she wanted; the mane is light; her chest sits deftly between her shoulders, like a boat, and is flexible at the waist, and her legs are in light white stockings, and she tosses them about as she plays.”

In Tatar captivity, this feeling of beauty is strengthened in longing for the native land. Ivan does not hold any grudge against the Tatars, he understands and justifies them even when they “bristled” him. But to enter someone else’s life, to merge with it, to forget about Orthodox Rus', about one’s own Christian faith Ivan can't. His soul does not grow close to Tatar wives or children and does not consider them his own.

The trials of captivity spiritualize Ivan’s thoughts and feelings new form selfless love for Russia, which cannot be shaken by any insults from his fellow countrymen: neither the indifference to his fate of Orthodox missionaries who once visited the steppe, nor cruel decision Father Ilya will exclude him from holy communion, nor the count's order to lash him in the stable.

After escaping from captivity and returning to his homeland, a turning point in the hero’s life will be a meeting with higher type human beauty, revealed to him in the gypsy Grusha: “Here it is,” I think, “where the real beauty is, what nature calls perfection... this is not at all the same as in a horse, in a corrupt beast.”

Ivan Severyanich Flyagin loves Pear selfless love- brotherly, pure and selfless. Realizing this, Grusha reaches out to him, like a sister, for support and support in Hard time own life.

The tragic fate of Grusha “crossed out” all of him. Mischief and thoughtless self-will disappeared, responsibility for one’s fate and actions appeared: “I think only one thing, that Grusha’s soul is now lost and it is my duty to suffer for her.” Love for Pear spiritually raised and awakened Ivan, revealing to him the beauty of selflessness and compassion. Having experienced deep sympathy for the grief of the old men who were forced to serve as recruits only son, Ivan takes on his name and goes into military service for him.

From now on, the meaning of Ivan Flyagin’s life becomes the desire to help a suffering person who is in trouble. His conscience begins to torment him for the years he has thoughtlessly lived. Even after committing heroic deed, Ivan Flyagin, responding to the commander’s praise, says: “I, your honor, am not a fine fellow, but a big sinner, and neither earth nor water wants to accept me. I have destroyed many innocent souls in my time.”

All the real events in the life of Ivan Flyagin really led the hero to death, but not in the sense that he risked himself. It's about about the highest meaning of life's purpose. Based on this, it becomes clear why couldn't die. Ivan Flyagin is “the son promised to God,” which means his main purpose lies elsewhere. If we analyze the events of the hero’s life from this position, an obvious pattern emerges. You pay attention to the hero’s assessment of his actions.

3. “The Tale of Lefty”

As already mentioned, in Leskov’s work of the 70s and subsequent years, the motives of the national identity of the Russian people, faith in their own strength, and in the bright future of Russia are extremely strong. These motives formed the basis of the satirical story “The Tale of the Tula Sideways Lefty and the Steel Flea” (1881).

Leskov created in “The Tale of Lefty” a whole gallery of satirical types: Tsar Nicholas I, the sycophants and cowards “Russian” court counts Kiselvrode, Kleinmicheli, etc. All of them are a force alien to the people, robbing them and mocking them. They are opposed by a man who is the only one who thinks about the fate of Russia, about its glory. This is a talented, self-taught craftsman, Lefty. Leskov himself noted that Lefty is a generalized image: “In Lefty I had the idea of ​​bringing out more than one person, and where “Lefty” is written, one should read “Russian people.” “Personified by the popular fantasy of the world,” endowed with the spiritual wealth of the simple Russian people, Lefty managed to “put to shame” the British, become superior to them, and disdain their wealthy, wingless practicality and self-satisfaction. The fate of Lefty is tragic, as was the fate of the entire oppressed people of Russia. The language of “The Tale of Lefty” is original. The narrator appears in it as a representative of the people, and therefore his speech, and often his appearance, merges with the speech and appearance of Lefty himself. The speech of other characters is also conveyed through the perception of the narrator. He rethinks comically and satirically the language of an environment alien to him (both Russian and English), interprets many concepts and words in his own way, from the point of view of his idea of ​​reality, uses purely folk speech, and creates new phrases.

4. Preface to the story

Of course, the preface was obvious literary device, designed to justify the introduction of a narrator, a bearer of a special speech structure, that is, to motivate the tale narrative form of the story.

This is evidenced by the corresponding place in the book by A.N. Leskov, which tells about the life of N. Leskov in 1878 in Sestroretsk as the time when the idea for the work arose, when the writer spent the summer “in the house of some gunsmith... During the entire summer, Leskov became acquainted with only one assistant to the head of the local arms factory, Colonel NOT. Bolonin... More than once, Leskov, and in general from whomever he could, sought the roots of the current proverb about how the British steel flea They did it, and the Tula people shod it and sent it back to them. Everyone smiled, confirming that they had heard something, but that it was all empty.

Thus, artistic value This preface is completely obvious: the author of the work needs it solely to convey the very act of storytelling to another person, and a person with clearly identified professional speech characteristics.

Such close attention by Leskov to oral folk art corresponded to the general cultural situation that developed in the country after the reform of 1861. It was at this time that, through the works of such collectors and researchers of Russian folklore as Afanasyev, Hilferding, Miller, Rybnikov, Yakushkin, collections of fairy tales and epics were recorded and published, undoubtedly known to Leskov and taken into account by him when working on his works. For the writer, as for many of his contemporaries, the study of folklore was a kind of key to understanding “ people's soul"; study of fairy tales, epics and other genres of oral folk art did not acquire an academic meaning, but became an answer to the burning questions of modern Russia.

For Leskov, as for many of his contemporaries, the appearance of a Russian person, his ideal are determined not so much by social as by ethical aspects, which occupy an important place in the worldview of the writer himself and largely determine his approach to the depicted reality.

Leskov portrays a man, a bearer of consciousness, crippled by centuries of slavery. But the peculiarity of his image also lies in the fact that the “courageous old man” General Platov also turns out to be the bearer of exactly the same slave consciousness, cowardly hiding the box and essentially betraying and dooming the left-hander to death. Leskov's sentence was harsh: in a country where slavery exists, everyone is a slave.

But the artistic problem that the writer was solving was more complex. In essence, it was an exploration of the same phenomenon that attracted Tolstoy in War and Peace and which he himself formulated in one of the rough drafts of the preface to the novel: “Who has not experienced that hidden but unpleasant feeling of shyness and mistrust when reading patriotic essays about the 12th year. If the reason for our triumph was not accidental, but lay in the essence of the character of the Russian people and troops, that character should have been expressed even more clearly in the era of failures and defeats.” So, “the essence of the character of the Russian people” is the true subject artistic research Leskov, and this essence is manifested in “Lefty” not directly, but in its “epic” reaction to the events of distant and near history.

Used Books:

1. Scientific and methodological journal “Literature at school; 2003

3. Newspaper “Literature”; 2004

Content:

1. 
   Creativity N.S. Leskova;……………………………1
2. 
   The story “The Enchanted Wanderer”;………………..3
3. 
   “The Tale of Lefty”;…………………………………….9
4. 
   Preface to the story;……………………………9
5. 
   Conclusion; …………………………………………..eleven
6. 
   Used literature……………………………12

Municipal educational institution "Secondary" comprehensive school No. 13 with in-depth study of individual subjects"

ABSTRACT

in the works of N.S. Leskova

Prepared

student of class 11A

Gorshkov Evgeniy

Teacher Mamontova N.L.

Elektrostal 2005

G. Elektrostal,

If all the Russian classics of the last century, already during their lifetime or soon after death, were recognized by literary and social thought in this capacity, then Leskov was “ranked” among the classics only in the second half of our century, although Leskov’s special mastery of language was undeniable, about him not only admirers of his talent spoke, but even his ill-wishers noted. Leskov was distinguished by his ability to always go “against the current” in everything, as a biographer called a later book about him. If his contemporaries (Turgenev, Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky) were concerned primarily with the ideological and psychological side of their works, looking for answers to the social needs of the time, then Leskov was less interested in this, or he gave answers that, having offended and outraged everyone, they rained down critical thunder and lightning on his head, plunging the writer into disgrace for a long time among critics of all camps and among “advanced” readers.

The problem of our national character became one of the main ones for the literature of the 60-80s, closely connected with the activities of various revolutionaries, and later populists. Leskov also paid attention to her (and quite widely). We find the essence of the character of a Russian person revealed in many of his works: in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer", in the novel "Soboryans", in the stories "Lefty", "Iron Will", "The Sealed Angel", \"Robbery\", \"Warrior\" and others. Leskov introduced unexpected and, for many critics and readers, undesirable accents into solving the problem. This is the story "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", clearly demonstrating the writer's ability to be ideologically and creatively independent of the demands and expectations of the most advanced forces of the time.

Written in 1864, the story has the subtitle "Essay". But he should not be trusted literally. Of course, Leskov's story is based on certain life facts, but this designation of the genre rather expressed the aesthetic position of the writer: Leskov opposed poetic fiction modern writers, a fiction that often tendentiously distorted the edit of life, the essay, newspaper and journalistic accuracy of his life observations. The title of the story, by the way, is very capacious in meaning, leads directly to the problem of the Russian national character, the Mtsensk merchant Katerina Izmailova is one of the eternal types of world literature - a bloody and ambitious villainess, whom the lust for power led along the steps from corpses to the radiance of the crown, and then mercilessly threw off into the abyss of madness.

There is also a polemical aspect to the story. The image of Katerina Izmailova argues with the image of Katerina Kabanova from "The Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky. At the beginning of the story, an inconspicuous but significant detail is reported: if Katerina Ostrovsky before her marriage was the same rich merchant’s daughter as her husband, then Leskov’s “lady” was taken into the Izmailovsky family from poverty, perhaps not from the merchant class, but from philistinism or peasantry. That is, Leskov’s heroine is an even greater commoner and democrat than Ostrovsky’s. And then there is the same thing as in Ostrovsky: a marriage not for love, boredom and idleness, reproaches of the father-in-law and husband, that he is “not a relative” (there are no children), and, finally, the first and fatal love. Leskov’s Katerina was much less lucky with her heart-loving chosen one than Katerina Kabanova with Boris: her husband’s clerk Sergei is a vulgar and selfish man, a boor and a scoundrel. And then a bloody drama unfolds. For the sake of uniting with a loved one and elevating him to merchant dignity, the chilling details of murders (father-in-law, husband, young nephew - the legal heir of Izmailovo's wealth), a trial, a journey along a convoy to Siberia, Sergei's betrayal, the murder of a rival and suicide in the Volga waves.

Why was a social situation similar to Ostrovsky’s drama resolved in Leskov’s case so much? in a wild way? In the nature of Katerina Izmailova, first of all, the poetry of Kalinov’s Katerina is absent, and vulgarity hits the eyes. However, her nature is also very integral and decisive, but there is no love in her, and, most importantly, the Mtsensk “lady” does not believe in God. The most characteristic detail: before suicide, she “wants to remember the prayer and moves her lips, and her lips whisper” a vulgar and terrible song. The poetry of religious faith and the firmness of Christian morality elevated Katerina Ostrovsky to the heights of national tragedy, and therefore her lack of education, intellectual underdevelopment (one might say darkness), perhaps even illiteracy is not felt by us as a disadvantage. Katerina Kabanova turns out to be a bearer of a patriarchal, but also a culture. In his story, Leskov constantly emphasizes the God-forsakenness of the world he depicts. He quotes the words of the wife of the biblical Job: “Curse the day of your birth and die,” and then proclaims a hopeless verdict or diagnosis for the Russian man: “Who does not want to listen to these words, who thinks about death and in this sad the situation does not flatter, but frightens, one must try to drown out these howling voices with something even uglier.This is well understood by a simple person: he sometimes unleashes his faithful simplicity, begins to act stupidly, mocks himself, people, and feelings. Not particularly gentle anyway, he becomes extremely angry." Moreover, this passage is the only one in the story where the author openly interferes with the text, which is otherwise distinguished by its objective manner of narration.

Revolutionary-democratic criticism contemporary to the writer, looking with hope and tenderness at this simple man, calling Rus' to the ax, these ordinary people, did not want to notice Leskov’s story, published in the magazine “Epoch” by the brothers F. and M. Dostoevsky. The story gained unprecedented widespread popularity among Soviet readers, becoming, along with “Left-Handed,” Leskov’s most frequently republished work. Pushkin has the lines: “The darkness of low truths is dearer to me / The deception that elevates us,” i.e. poetic fiction. So are the two Katerinas of two Russian classics. The power of Ostrovsky’s poetic fiction acts on the soul, let us remember Dobrolyubov, refreshingly and encouragingly; it is elevated by Leskov’s “low truth” about the darkness (in a different sense) of the soul of the Russian commoner. In both cases, the reason was love. Just love. How little was needed to pile up a mountain of corpses in order to reveal “animal simplicity”, “not a particularly gentle Russian person! And what kind of love is this that murder becomes its accessory”. Leskov’s story is instructive; it makes us think, first of all, about ourselves: who are we, as one Ostrovsky character said, “what kind of nation are you?”, what we are and why we are like that.

Leskov's works fascinate the reader, make him think, and become imbued with the most complex questions concerning the human soul and the peculiarities of the Russian national character. Leskov's heroes can be different - strong or weak, smart or not very smart, educated or illiterate. But each of them has some amazing qualities that elevate these heroes above many of those around them.
At first glance, Leskov in his works talks about the most ordinary, one might say, ordinary people. But by the end of almost every story, every short story or novel, it turns out that the hero, who clearly enjoys the author’s sympathy, has all the qualities of an exceptional person in moral terms.
Leskov is a realist writer. He paints life as it is, without embellishing it. However, in his works, life, even without embellishment, is full of amazing events that force a person to discover the hidden sides of his nature. Leskov is an excellent psychologist. He skillfully shows the most intimate sides of the human soul. And that is why the heroes of his works seem “real” to us - they lived and worked once upon a time.
Leskov brilliantly reveals the peculiarities of the Russian national character. Re-reading the pages of many of his works, you involuntarily think about the wealth, originality and originality of the mysterious Russian soul. It is especially noteworthy that Russian character is revealed in the most difficult conditions. The contradiction between a person’s internal aspirations and his forced actions often pushes heroes to commit crimes.

If all the Russian classics of the last century, already during their lifetime or soon after death, were recognized by literary and social thought in this capacity, then Leskov was “ranked” among the classics only in the second half of our century, although Leskov’s special mastery of language was undeniable, they did not talk about him only fans of his talent, but even his ill-wishers noted. Leskov was distinguished by his ability to always and in everything go “against the current,” as a biographer called a later book about him. If his contemporaries (Turgenev, Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky) were concerned primarily with the ideological and psychological side of their works, looking for answers to the social needs of the time, then Leskov was less interested in this, or he gave answers that, having offended and outraged everyone, they rained down critical thunder and lightning on his head, plunging the writer into disgrace for a long time among critics of all camps and among “advanced” readers.
The problem of our national character became one of the main ones for the literature of the 60-80s, closely connected with the activities of various revolutionaries, and later populists.

The main cross-cutting theme of Leskov’s works is possibilities and mysteries of the Russian national character. He looked for the distinctive properties of the Russian person in all estates and classes. Leskov's early stories (The Life of a Woman, The Warrior, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) are based on plots and images drawn from folk love songs and ballads.

Leskov introduced unexpected and, for many critics and readers, undesirable accents into solving the problem of the Russian national character. That's the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District.” Mtsensk merchant Katerina Izmailova is one of the eternal types of world literature - a bloody and ambitious villainess, whose lust for power led into the abyss of madness. But she is naive and trusting in her feelings, like many Russian women who learned for the first time how to love. Katerina does not hear falsehoods in speeches and is not able to understand that her lover is deceiving her. But Katerina bright, strong, brave and desperate Russian woman. A young, strong, passionate woman is forced to eke out a miserable existence in a rich merchant's house. She yearns, languishes, dreaming of real passion and content with a rather strained relationship with her husband.
Approaching the end of the work, you involuntarily ask the question: is it possible to condemn Katerina Lvovna for the atrocities she committed. Not only is it possible, but it is also necessary. But what about the Christian commandment: “Judge not, lest ye be judged”? Katerina Lvovna’s actions were partly dictated by the instinct of self-preservation, partly by the desire to receive at least a small fraction of simple female happiness, which she was deprived of and which she had dreamed of for so long.
The heroine is able to evoke admiration from the reader despite all her atrocities. The character of Katerina Lvovna is certainly extraordinary. If she had found herself in different conditions, perhaps a more worthy use of her physical and spiritual powers would have been found. However, the environment described by Leskov turns Katerina into a real monster. She mercilessly sends not only her father-in-law and then her husband to the next world, but also destroys an innocent child. The heroine’s fault lies primarily in the fact that she did not try to resist the circumstances. And at the same time, she appears worthy of regret. In the Russian national character, risk-taking and resourcefulness often go hand in hand with both villainy and nobility. The fate of the merchant's wife Katerina Lvovna testifies to how easy it is to give up all the riches of your soul for the sake of an evil cause. But this is not always the case.

Over the years, the writer has become increasingly attracted to people living according to the laws of conscience and heart. His favorite character is type of Russian righteous man . Leskov, according to Gorky, begins to create for Russia iconostasis of its saints and righteous people. This is a new breed of little man - little great people , which represent the creative forces of the Russian people. In creating such heroes, the author relied on ancient Russian literature. As exponents of the author's ideas about an ideal personality, whose morality is determined by faith in Christ, Leskov's righteous people are close to the positive heroes of Dostoevsky. But Leskov poeticizes the active personality and religiosity of his heroes This is practical Christianity.

In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" (1873) the writer is more interested in not piety, but heroism Russian person. Ivan feels the spell of providence on himself, and is therefore enchanted. According to Leskov, Russian people are not characterized by systematic rationality, which does not indicate his spiritual poverty.

In the story “The Enchanted Wanderer” (1873), Leskov, without idealizing the hero or simplifying him, creates whole, but contradictory, unbalanced character. Ivan Severyanovich can also be wildly cruel, unbridled in his seething passions. But his nature is truly revealed in kind and knightly unselfish deeds for the sake of others, in selfless deeds, in the ability to cope with any task. Innocence and humanity, practical intelligence and perseverance, courage and endurance, a sense of duty and love for the homeland - these are the remarkable features of Leskov’s wanderer. Positive types depicted by Leskov opposed the “mercantile age”, affirmed by capitalism, which brought devaluation of the personality of the common man. Leskov through fiction resisted the heartlessness and selfishness of the people of the “banking period”, the invasion of the bourgeois-philistine plague, which kills everything poetic and bright in a person.

IN " Lefty"(1881) in the form of a legend-anecdote, Leskov captured the exceptional talent of Russian artisans. The talent and originality of the Russian person not just a gift, but a consequence of the noble habit of hard and varied work that fosters courage and perseverance of the creative spirit. Regarding Lefty, Leskov himself admitted that where Lefty stands, one must read the Russian people and that he had no intention of either flattering the people or belittling them. Leskov draws attention not only to talent, but also to the tragic fate of the Russian man: his talent is wasted on trifles. Gorky saw a distinctive feature of thin. Leskov's style is that he does not sculpt images plastically, but creates them skillful weaving of colloquial lace. Leskov's narration is most often told in the first person. This narrative style is defined by the concept tale .

Perhaps the main thing in N. S. Leskov’s work was his creation of bright national characters, remarkable for their moral purity and universal charm. The writer knew how to find bright Russian characters hidden in different parts of his native country, people with a heightened sense of honor, consciousness of their duty, irreconcilable to injustice and inspired by philanthropy. He painted those who stubbornly, selflessly bear the “burden of life”, always strive to help people and are ready to stand up for the truth.
His heroes are far from the turbulent clashes of the century . They live and act in their native wilderness, in the Russian province, most often on the periphery of public life. But this did not mean at all that Leskov was moving away from modernity. How acutely the writer worried about pressing moral problems! And at the same time, he was convinced that a person who knows how to look forward without fear and not melt in indignation at either the past or the present deserves to be called the creator of life. “ These people, he wrote, standing apart from the main historical movement... make history stronger than others " Such people were portrayed by Leskov in “Musk Ox” and “Soboryans”, in “The Sealed Angel” and “A Seedy Family”, in “Lefty” and many other stories and tales. Surprisingly different from each other, they are united by one, for the time being hidden, but unchanging thought about the fate of their homeland.
The thought of Russia, of the people, at turning points of spiritual quest, awakens with aching force in their consciousness, elevating their humble deeds in life to epic greatness. All of them are “loyal to their Fatherland,” “committed to their homeland.” In the depths of Russia, at the edge of the world, love for their native land lives in the hearts of unsung heroes. The thoughts of the rebellious archpriest Tuberozov (“Soborians”) are addressed to her, passionately blaming the townsfolk for their great loss of concern for the good of their homeland. In the speeches of the hero, removed from the storms of the capital, words coming from immeasurable love are heard: “O soft-hearted Rus', how beautiful you are!” And it is not humble, servile meekness that delights the rebellious archpriest, no: he is completely under the spell of the modest, but great power of good self-sacrifice, ready for feat and resistance to evil.
And the archpriest dreams of some new wonderful temple in Rus', where his grandchildren will breathe freely and sweetly. The “black earth philosopher” Chervev also thinks about the happiness of the people in his own way; “Don Quixote” Rogozhin (“A Seedy Family”) also wishes this happiness for his compatriots: in a feverish delirium he dreams of liberating hundreds of thousands of people in Russia... “I really want to die for the people,” says the enchanted wanderer Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin. And this “black earth Telemachus” deeply worries about his involvement in his native land. What a great feeling is contained in his simple story about loneliness in Tatar captivity: “... there is no bottom to the depths of melancholy... You look, you don’t know where, and suddenly in front of you, out of nowhere, a monastery or temple is indicated, and you remember the baptized land and cry.”
Probably, in “The Enchanted Wanderer,” more than in any other work by Leskov, the intricate worldview that is characteristic of the Russian person is highlighted. The whole appearance of the sincere hero is remarkable: irrepressible strength of spirit, heroic mischief, ineradicable vitality and excessiveness in hobbies, alien to the moderation of a virtuous bourgeois and submissive meekness, and the breadth of his soul, responsiveness to the grief of others.
A deep sense of moral beauty “overwhelms the spirit” of Leskov’s righteous people. “The righteous have not been transferred here, and the righteous will not be transferred,” - this is how the story “Cadet Monastery” begins, in which “tall people, people of such intelligence, heart and honesty that, it seems, there is no need to look for better ones” appear in their difficult everyday life - educators and mentors of young cadets. Their unconventional, deeply wise attitude to education contributed to the formation in the pupils of that spirit of camaraderie, the spirit of mutual assistance and compassion, which gives any environment warmth and vitality, with the loss of which people cease to be people.
Among Leskova's heroes is the famous Lefty - the embodiment of natural Russian talent, hard work, patience and cheerful good nature. “Where “Lefty” stands,” notes Leskov, emphasizing the general idea of ​​his work, “one must read “Russian people.”

1. N. S. Leskov is an unrecognized genius of his time.
2. Disclosure of national character in Russian literature.
3. “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” by Leskov and “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky.
4. The significance of the image of Katerina Izmailova for understanding the national character.

O soft-hearted Rus'! How beautiful you are!
N. S. Leskov

Almost all Russian writers of the century before last, the 19th century, became recognized classics either during their lifetime or some time after their death. Awareness of literary and social thought began for them in their contemporary era. However, there are exceptions to almost all rules, one of which is the work of N. S. Leskov. To the classics Russian prose this writer was ranked only at the end of the 20th century, when language features and the original style of the text have become undeniable for most researchers and critics.

Until this time, Leskov was “out of work”: an adequate perception of his works by both readers and critics was hampered by a separate, often overly harsh author's position. His contemporaries - Turgenev, Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky - were primarily concerned with the psychological and ideological side of his works, when, like Leskov, he did not look for answers to fundamental questions in outside world, but gave laconic answers to them, based on own experience and individual understanding of problems. Many of his thoughts, too bold for his time, offended readers and critics, causing “thunder and lightning” on the writer and plunging him into long-term disgrace.

Literature of the 60-80s of the 19th century is characterized by a focus on revealing national character. The problem of the peculiarities of the worldview and worldview of the Russian people interested almost all writers of this era, especially since in such works questions related to the activities of the commoners, and then the followers of the populist movement, arose acutely.

Similar questions were raised in Leskov’s work. But in his works the main theme is precisely the revelation of the essence of the character of the Russian person. This image - the image of a real Russian, close to the people, but standing out from them, runs like a red line through many of his works. The story “The Enchanted Wanderer” and the novel “Soborians”, the stories “Lefty”, “Iron Will”, “Sealed Angel”, “Non-Lethal Golovan”, “Robbery”, “Warrior” gradually reveal to us author's intention, adding some seemingly insignificant at first glance, but significant features to the image of a Russian person. Often, in solving the problem posed to him, the author introduced original, but undesirable accents for both readers and critics. An example is the story “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” which is valid proof that Leskov’s opinion does not depend on the opinions or expectations of the reader and that he can remain creatively liberated.

This story was written back in 1864 and had the subtitle “essay.” However, the author deliberately uses an ambiguous term: Leskov’s story has a life basis, but is not biographical or documentary. This affected the writer’s ideas about truth and fiction in the work. On the one hand, he was disgusted by the position of modern writers that the main thing in the text is the expression of ideas, and not vitality. In this vein, Leskov was attracted to the essay genre, which belongs to reliable and truthful journalism. But at the same time, it is natural that some of the facts of the story were added by the artist himself.

It is worth noting that the title of the work has largely become a household name due to its symbolism and depth. Really, main problem The work becomes a problem of a national character: the merchant of Mtsensk district Katerina Izmailova is one of the brightest types of world literature, embodying ambition and lust for power, first debunked and then plunged into the abyss of madness. However the name main character it is no coincidence: the image created by Leskov argues with the image created by Ostrovsky. But, if Katerina Kabanova before the wedding was from a good, wealthy family, then Katerina Izmailova was taken “out of mercy” from among the peasant class, and therefore is more of a commoner than Ostrovsky’s heroine. In the love aspect of life, Izmailova is even less lucky: her husband’s clerk, Sergei, is a selfish and vulgar man. But love is often blind - because of it, a detailed bloody action unfolds - the murders of a father-in-law, a husband, a young nephew, a trial, a journey through a convoy to Siberia, Sergei's betrayal, the murder of a rival and suicide in the Volga waves.

Such a striking gap between the heroines is explained simply: Katerina Leskova is deprived of that poeticism and inner light, which highlight Katerina Ostrovsky.

Izmailova also does not believe in God: before committing suicide, “she wants to remember a prayer and moves her lips, and her lips whisper a vulgar and terrible song.” Katerina Kabanova’s religiosity and purity made her tragedy national, therefore her lack of education and even some everyday “darkness” are forgiven. In his heroine, Leskov emphasizes the abandonment of God, which, in his opinion, is inherent in everything modern world: “Curse your birthday and die.” After these lines, a terrible diagnosis is heard for the Russian person: “Whoever does not want to listen to these words, who is not flattered by the thought of death in this sad situation, but frightened, must try to drown out these howling voices with something even more ugly. A simple person understands this very well: he sometimes unleashes his bestial simplicity, begins to act stupidly, mocks himself, people, and feelings. Not particularly gentle anyway, he becomes extremely angry.” These words are the only case of the author’s intervention in the fabric of the work.

A. S. Pushkin has the following lines:

The darkness of low truths is dearer to me
A deception that exalts us...

So there are two Katerinas - the first, more fictional than the second, dearer, closer and brighter than Leskov’s heroine. Leskov exalts the “low truth” about the darkness of the common people, but Russian soul. Despite the fact that in both cases the motivation for certain actions was love, the difference in its consequences is enormous.

However, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” is just as important for understanding the soul of a Russian person. This work makes you think about a number of important questions: who are we - Russians, what are we like and why are we like this.