"What to do?"- a novel by a Russian philosopher, journalist and literary critic Nikolai Chernyshevsky, written in December 1862 - April 1863, during his imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress of St. Petersburg. The novel was written partly in response to Ivan Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons.

History of creation and publication

Chernyshevsky wrote the novel while in solitary confinement in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863. Since January 1863, the manuscript has been transferred in parts to the investigative commission in the Chernyshevsky case (the last part was transferred on April 6). The commission, and after it the censors, saw only a love story in the novel and gave permission for publication. The censorship oversight was soon noticed, and the responsible censor, Beketov, was removed from office. However, the novel had already been published in the Sovremennik magazine (1863, No. 3-5). Despite the fact that the issues of Sovremennik, in which the novel “What is to be done?” were published, were banned, the text of the novel in handwritten copies was distributed throughout the country and caused a lot of imitations.

“They talked about Chernyshevsky’s novel not in a whisper, not in a low voice, but at the top of their lungs in the halls, on the porches, at Madame Milbret’s table and in the basement pub of the Stenbokov Passage. They shouted: “disgusting,” “charming,” “abomination,” etc. - all in different tones.”

P. A. Kropotkin:

“For Russian youth of that time, it [the book “What is to be done?”] was a kind of revelation and turned into a program, became a kind of banner.”

In 1867, the novel was published as a separate book in Geneva (in Russian) by Russian emigrants, then it was translated into Polish, Serbian, Hungarian, French, English, German, Italian, Swedish, and Dutch.

Ban on publication of the novel “What is to be done?” was only removed in 1905. In 1906, the novel was first published in Russia as a separate edition.

Plot

The central character of the novel is Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya. To avoid marriage imposed by a selfish mother, the girl enters into a fictitious marriage with medical student Dmitry Lopukhov (teacher of Fedya’s younger brother). Marriage allows her to leave parents' house and take charge of your own life. Vera studies, tries to find her place in life, and finally opens a sewing workshop of a “new type” - this is a commune where there are no hired workers and owners, and all the girls are equally interested in the well-being of the joint enterprise.

The family life of the Lopukhovs is also unusual for its time; its main principles are mutual respect, equality and personal freedom. Gradually, a real feeling based on trust and affection arises between Vera and Dmitry. However, it happens that Vera Pavlovna falls in love with her husband’s best friend, doctor Alexander Kirsanov, with whom she has much more in common than with her husband. This love is mutual. Vera and Kirsanov begin to avoid each other, hoping to hide their feelings, primarily from each other. However, Lopukhov guesses everything and forces them to confess.

To give his wife freedom, Lopukhov stages suicide (the novel begins with an episode of an imaginary suicide), and he himself leaves for America to study industrial production in practice. After some time, Lopukhov, under the name of Charles Beaumont, returns to Russia. He is an agent of an English company and arrived on its behalf to purchase a stearin plant from the industrialist Polozov. Delving into the affairs of the plant, Lopukhov visits Polozov’s house, where he meets his daughter Ekaterina. The young people fall in love with each other and soon get married, after which Lopukhov-Beaumont announces his return to the Kirsanovs. A close friendship develops between the families, they settle in the same house and a society of “new people” - those who want to arrange their own and social lives “in a new way” - expands around them.

One of the most significant heroes The novel is the revolutionary Rakhmetov, a friend of Kirsanov and Lopukhov, whom they once introduced to the teachings of the utopian socialists. A short digression is devoted to Rakhmetov in Chapter 29 (“A Special Person”). This is a supporting character, only incidentally connected with the main storyline of the novel (he brings Vera Pavlovna a letter from Dmitry Lopukhov explaining the circumstances of his imaginary suicide). However, in the ideological outline of the novel, Rakhmetov plays a special role. What it is, Chernyshevsky explains in detail in Part XXXI of Chapter 3 (“Conversation with an insightful reader and his expulsion”):

Artistic originality

The emphatically entertaining, adventurous, melodramatic beginning of the novel was supposed to not only confuse the censors, but also attract a wide mass of readers. The external plot of the novel is a love story, but it reflects new economic, philosophical and social ideas of the time. The novel is permeated with hints of the coming revolution.

L. Yu. Brik recalled Mayakovsky: “One of the books closest to him was “What is to be done?” by Chernyshevsky. He kept coming back to her. The life described in it echoed ours. Mayakovsky seemed to consult with Chernyshevsky about his personal affairs and found support in him. “What to do?” was the last book he read before his death.”

• In the novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?” aluminum is mentioned. In the “naive utopia” of Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream, it is called the metal of the future. And this great future By now (mid XX - XXI centuries) aluminum has already reached.
• The “lady in mourning” who appears at the end of the work is Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevskaya, the writer’s wife. At the end of the novel we are talking about the liberation of Chernyshevsky from the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was while writing the novel. He never received his release: on February 7, 1864, he was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor followed by settlement in Siberia.
• The main characters with the surname Kirsanov are also found in Ivan Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”.

Film adaptations

• "What to do? "- three-part television play (directors: Nadezhda Marusalova, Pavel Reznikov), 1971.

History of creation

Chernyshevsky himself called these people a type that “has recently been born and is quickly multiplying,” and is a product and sign of the times.

These heroes are characterized by a special revolutionary morality, which is based on the Enlightenment theory of the 18th century, the so-called “theory of reasonable egoism.” This theory is that a person can be happy if his personal interests coincide with public ones.

Vera Pavlovna - main character novel. Her prototypes are Chernyshevsky’s wife Olga Sokratovna and Marya Aleksandrovna Bokova-Sechenova, who fictitiously married her teacher and then became the wife of the physiologist Sechenov.

Vera Pavlovna managed to escape from the circumstances that surrounded her since childhood. Her character was tempered in a family where her father was indifferent to her, and for her mother she was simply a profitable commodity.

Vera is as enterprising as her mother, thanks to which she manages to create sewing workshops that generate good profits. Vera Pavlovna is smart and educated, balanced and kind to both her husband and girls. She is not a prude, not hypocritical and smart. Chernyshevsky admires Vera Pavlovna’s desire to break outdated moral principles.

Chernyshevsky emphasizes the similarities between Lopukhov and Kirsanov. Both are doctors, engaged in science, both from poor families and achieved everything through hard work. For the sake of helping an unfamiliar girl, Lopukhov gives up his scientific career. He is more rational than Kirsanov. This is also evidenced by the idea of ​​imaginary suicide. But Kirsanov is capable of any sacrifice for the sake of friendship and love, avoids communication with his friend and lover in order to forget her. Kirsanov is more sensitive and charismatic. Rakhmetov believes him, embarking on the path of improvement.

But main character novel (not in plot, but in idea) - not just “ new person“, but a “special person” is the revolutionary Rakhmetov. He generally renounces egoism as such, and happiness for himself. A revolutionary must sacrifice himself, give his life for those he loves, live like the rest of the people.

He is an aristocrat by birth, but has broken with the past. Rakhmetov earned money as a simple carpenter, a barge hauler. He had the nickname “Nikitushka Lomov”, like a hero-barge hauler. Rakhmetov invested all his funds in the cause of the revolution. He led the most ascetic lifestyle. If new people are called Chernyshevsky the salt of the earth, then revolutionaries like Rakhmetov are the “color the best people, engine engines, salt of the earth.” The image of Rakhmetov is shrouded in an aura of mystery and understatement, since Chernyshevsky could not say everything directly.

Rakhmetov had several prototypes. One of them is the landowner Bakhmetev, who in London transferred almost his entire fortune to Herzen for the cause of Russian propaganda. The image of Rakhmetov is collective.

Rakhmetov's image is far from ideal. Chernyshevsky warns readers against admiring such heroes, because their service is unrequited.

Stylistic features

Chernyshevsky widely uses two means artistic expression- allegory and omission. Vera Pavlovna's dreams are full of allegories. The dark basement in the first dream is an allegory of women’s lack of freedom. Lopukhov's bride is a great love for people, real and fantastic dirt from the second dream - the circumstances in which the poor and the rich live. The huge glass house in the last dream is an allegory of a communist happy future, which, according to Chernyshevsky, will definitely come and give joy to everyone without exception. The silence is due to censorship restrictions. But some mystery of the images or storylines does not spoil the pleasure of reading at all: “I know more about Rakhmetov than I say.” The meaning of the ending of the novel, which is interpreted differently, remains vague, the image of a lady in mourning. All the songs and toasts of a cheerful picnic are allegorical.

In the last tiny chapter, “Change of Scenery,” the lady is no longer in mourning, but in elegant clothes. In a young man of about 30, one can discern the released Rakhmetov. This chapter depicts the future, albeit a short one.

For the first time, Chernyshevsky’s most famous work, the novel “What is to be done?”, was published as a separate book. - published in 1867 in Geneva. The initiators of the book's publication were Russian emigrants; in Russia the novel was banned by censorship by that time. In 1863, the work was still published in the Sovremennik magazine, but those issues where its individual chapters were published soon found themselves banned. Summary “What to do?” The youth of those years passed Chernyshevsky on to each other by word of mouth, and the novel itself in handwritten copies, so much so did the work make an indelible impression on them.

Is it possible to do something

The author wrote his sensational novel in the winter of 1862-1863, while in the dungeons of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The dates of writing are December 14-April 4. From January 1863, censors began working with individual chapters of the manuscript, but, seeing only a love line in the plot, they allowed the novel to be published. Soon the deep meaning of the work reaches the officials of Tsarist Russia, the censor is removed from office, but the job is done - a rare youth circle of those years did not discuss summary"What to do?". With his work, Chernyshevsky wanted not only to tell Russians about the “new people”, but also to arouse in them a desire to imitate them. And his bold call echoed in the hearts of many of the author’s contemporaries.

The youth late XIX centuries, Chernyshevsky's ideas were transformed into her own life. Stories about the numerous noble deeds of those years began to appear so often that for some time they became almost commonplace. Everyday life. Many suddenly realized that they were capable of Action.

Having a question and a clear answer to it

The main idea of ​​the work, and it is doubly revolutionary in its essence, is personal freedom, regardless of gender. That is why the main character of the novel is a woman, since at that time the dominance of women did not extend beyond the confines of their own living room. Looking back at the life of her mother and close friends, Vera Pavlovna early realizes the absolute mistake of inaction, and decides that the basis of her life will be work: honest, useful, giving the opportunity to live with dignity. Hence morality - personal freedom comes from the freedom to perform actions that correspond to both thoughts and capabilities. This is what Chernyshevsky tried to express through the life of Vera Pavlovna. "What to do?" chapter by chapter paints readers a colorful picture of the phased construction " real life" Here Vera Pavlovna leaves her mother and decides to open her own business, so she realizes that only equality between all members of her artel will correspond to her ideals of freedom, so her absolute happiness with Kirsanov depends on Lopukhov’s personal happiness. interconnected with high moral principles - this is all Chernyshevsky.

Characteristics of the author's personality through his characters

Both writers and readers, as well as omniscient critics, have the opinion that the main characters of the work are a kind of literary copies of their creators. Even if not exact copies, they are very close in spirit to the author. The narration of the novel “What to do?” is told in the first person, and the author is acting character. He enters into conversation with other characters, even argues with them and, like a “voice-over,” explains to both the characters and the readers many points that are incomprehensible to them.

At the same time, the author conveys to the reader doubts about his writing abilities, says that “he doesn’t even speak the language well,” and he certainly doesn’t have a drop of “artistic talent.” But for the reader his doubts are unconvincing; this is also refuted by the novel that Chernyshevsky himself created, “What is to be done?” Vera Pavlovna and the rest of the characters are so accurately and versatilely drawn, endowed with such unique individual qualities, which an author without true talent would be unable to create.

New, but so different

Chernyshevsky’s heroes, these positive “new people”, according to the author’s conviction, from the category of unreal, non-existent, should one day by themselves firmly enter our lives. To enter, to dissolve in the crowd of ordinary people, to push them aside, to regenerate someone, to convince someone, to completely push the rest - those who are intractable - out of the general mass, ridding society of them, like a field of weeds. The artistic utopia that Chernyshevsky himself was clearly aware of and tried to define through its name is “What to do?” A special person, in his deep conviction, is capable of radically changing the world around him, but how to do this, he must determine for himself.

Chernyshevsky created his novel as a counterweight to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons”; his “new people” are not at all like the cynical nihilist Bazarov, who irritates with his peremptory attitude. The cardinality of these images is in the implementation of their main task: Turgenev’s hero wanted to “clear a place” around him from everything old that had outlived his own, that is, to destroy, while Chernyshevsky’s characters tried more to build something, to create, before destroying.

Formation of the “new man” in the middle of the 19th century

These two works of great Russian writers have become the second half of the 19th century century as a kind of beacon - a ray of light in dark kingdom. Both Chernyshevsky and Turgenev loudly declared the existence of a “new man” and his need to create a special mood in society capable of bringing about fundamental changes in the country.

If you re-read and translate the summary of “What to do?” Chernyshevsky in the plane of revolutionary ideas that deeply affected the minds of a certain part of the population of those years, then many of the allegorical features of the work will become easily explainable. The image of the “bride of her grooms”, seen by Vera Pavlovna in her second dream, is nothing more than “Revolution” - this is precisely the conclusion drawn by writers who lived in different years, who studied and analyzed the novel from all sides. The rest of the images that are narrated in the novel are also marked by allegory, regardless of whether they are animated or not.

A little about the theory of reasonable egoism

The desire for change not only for oneself, not only for one’s loved ones, but also for everyone else runs like a red thread through the entire novel. This is completely different from the theory of calculating one’s own benefit, which Turgenev reveals in Fathers and Sons. In many ways, Chernyshevsky agrees with his fellow writer, believing that any person not only can, but should also reasonably calculate and determine his individual path to my own happiness. But at the same time, he says that you can only enjoy it surrounded by equally happy people. This is the fundamental difference between the plots of the two novels: in Chernyshevsky, the heroes forge well-being for everyone, in Turgenev, Bazarov creates his own happiness without regard to those around him. Chernyshevsky is all the closer to us through his novel.

“What to do?”, the analysis of which we give in our review, is ultimately much closer to the reader of Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons.”

Briefly about the plot

As the reader who has never picked up Chernyshevsky’s novel has already been able to determine, the main character of the work is Vera Pavlovna. Through her life, the formation of her personality, her relationships with others, including men, the author reveals main idea of your novel. Summary “What to do?” Chernyshevsky's list of characteristics of the main characters and the details of their lives can be conveyed in a few sentences.

Vera Rozalskaya (aka Vera Pavlovna) lives in a fairly wealthy family, but everything in her home disgusts her: her mother with her dubious activities, and her acquaintances, who think one thing, but say and do something completely different. Having decided to leave her parents, our heroine tries to find a job, but only with Dmitry Lopukhov, who is close to her in spirit, gives the girl the freedom and lifestyle that she dreams of. Vera Pavlovna creates a sewing workshop with equal rights on her income for all the seamstresses - a rather progressive idea for that time. Even her suddenly flared up love for her husband’s close friend Alexander Kirsanov, which she became convinced of while caring for the sick Lopukhov with Kirsanov, does not deprive her of sanity and nobility: she does not leave her husband, she does not leave the workshop. Seeing mutual love his wife and close friend, Lopukhov, by staging suicide, frees Vera Pavlovna from all obligations to him. Vera Pavlovna and Kirsanov get married and are quite happy about it, and a few years later Lopukhov appears in their lives again. But only under a different name and with a new wife. Both families settle in the neighborhood, spend quite a lot of time together and are quite satisfied with the circumstances that have arisen in this way.

Does being determine consciousness?

The formation of Vera Pavlovna’s personality is far from the pattern of character traits of those of her peers who grew up and were brought up in conditions similar to her. Despite her youth, lack of experience and connections, the heroine clearly knows what she wants in life. Getting married successfully and becoming an ordinary mother of a family is not for her, especially since by the age of 14 the girl knew and understood a lot. She sewed beautifully and provided the whole family with clothes; at the age of 16 she began earning money by giving private piano lessons. Her mother's desire to get her married is met with a firm refusal and she creates her own business - a sewing workshop. About broken stereotypes, about courageous actions strong character work "What to do?" Chernyshevsky in his own way gives an explanation for the well-established statement that consciousness determines the existence in which a person finds himself. He defines, but only in the way he decides for himself - either following a path not chosen by him, or finding his own. Vera Pavlovna left the path prepared for her by her mother and the environment in which she lived and created her own path.

Between the realms of dreams and reality

Determining your path does not mean finding it and following it. There is a huge gap between dreams and their implementation in reality. Someone does not dare to jump over it, but someone gathers all their will into a fist and takes a decisive step. This is how Chernyshevsky responds to the problem raised in his novel “What is to be done?” The analysis of the stages of formation of Vera Pavlovna’s personality is carried out by the author himself instead of the reader. He guides him through the heroine’s embodiment of her dreams of her own freedom in reality through active work. It may be a difficult path, but it is a straight and completely passable path. And according to it, Chernyshevsky not only guides his heroine, but also allows her to achieve what she wants, letting the reader understand that only through activity can the cherished goal be achieved. Unfortunately, the author emphasizes that not everyone chooses this path. Not every.

Reflection of reality through dreams

In a rather unusual form he wrote his novel “What is to be done?” Chernyshevsky. Vera's dreams - there are four of them in the novel - reveal the depth and originality of the thoughts that evoke in her real events. In her first dream, she sees herself freed from the basement. This is a certain symbolism of leaving her own home, where she was destined for an unacceptable fate. Through the idea of ​​liberating girls like her, Vera Pavlovna creates her own workshop, in which each seamstress receives an equal share of her total income.

The second and third dreams explain to the reader through real and fantastic dirt, reading Verochka’s diary (which, by the way, she never kept) what thoughts about existence different people take possession of the heroine at different periods of her life, what she thinks about her second marriage and the very necessity of this marriage. Explanation through dreams is a convenient form of presentation of the work that Chernyshevsky chose. "What to do?" - content of the novel , reflected through dreams, characters of the main characters in dreams is a worthy example of Chernyshevsky’s use of this new form.

Ideals of a bright future, or Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream

If the heroine’s first three dreams reflected her attitude towards accomplished facts, then her fourth dream reflected dreams about the future. It is enough to remember it in more detail. So, Vera Pavlovna dreams of a completely different world, implausible and beautiful. She sees many happy people living in a wonderful house: luxurious, spacious, surrounded by amazing views, decorated with flowing fountains. In it no one feels disadvantaged, there is one common joy for everyone, one common well-being, everyone is equal in it.

These are the dreams of Vera Pavlovna, this is how Chernyshevsky would like to see reality (“What to do?”). Dreams, and they, as we remember, are about the relationship between reality and the world of dreams, reveal not so much the spiritual world of the heroine, but the author of the novel himself. And his full awareness of the impossibility of creating such a reality, a utopia that will not come true, but for which it is still necessary to live and work. And this is also what Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream is about.

Utopia and its predictable ending

As everyone knows, his main work is the novel “What is to be done?” - Nikolai Chernyshevsky wrote while in prison. Deprived of family, society, freedom, seeing reality in the dungeons in a completely new way, dreaming of a different reality, the writer put it on paper, without believing in its implementation. Chernyshevsky had no doubt that “new people” are capable of changing the world. But the fact is that not everyone will withstand the power of circumstances, and not everyone will be worthy better life- He understood this too.

How does the novel end? The idyllic coexistence of two families close in spirit: the Kirsanovs and the Lopukhovs-Beaumonts. A small world created by active people full of nobility of thoughts and actions. Are there many similar happy communities around? No! Isn't this the answer to Chernyshevsky's dreams about the future? Who wants to create their own prosperous and happy world, he will create it, whoever doesn’t want it will go with the flow.

To understand why, why and what N. G. Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” was written, you need to know about the situation that reigned in public life Russian Empire at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century. The noble revolution “from above” was defeated, and representatives of the so-called “raznochintsy” took the leading roles. These people already had completely different ideals and goals. Belinsky, Pisarev, Dobrolyubov and people of their circle become the rulers of thoughts. Chernyshevsky occupies a special place among them.

In many ways, Nikolai Gavrilovich’s utopian ideas were based on the idealization of communal land ownership in Russian villages under serfdom. It is from here that his thoughts originate about the possibility for Russia, where there is public ownership of land, bypassing the bourgeois path of development, to come to socialism. And this was considered by the advanced people of that time to be almost the ultimate goal of humanity. But for this we need people of a new type, whom Chernyshevsky brings into the famous novel. Characteristics of the heroes of the novel “What is to be done?”, its summary, history of creation and essence - all this is in the article.

People of the past and future

Although the Decembrists had already become mythological heroes by that time, the nobles in general for the author were nothing more than vulgar people. This is exactly how the composition of the work is built: from vulgar people to new ones, from them to higher ones, and in the end - dreams. Dynamics is the movement from the past through the present to the future. The past is characters like Serge and Solovtsov. They have no basis, since they are not busy with business, and one of the women in the novel, Julie, calls an idle life vileness. Another thing is the philistines, the bourgeoisie. They still work to earn a living. These are the Rozalskys, led by Marya Alekseevna. She has no time for entertainment, she is active, but everything is subordinated to the calculation of personal gain. She even reacts to her daughter’s departure by shouting: “They robbed me!” Nevertheless, Chernyshevsky devotes the novel “What is to be done?” to praise this image. a whole chapter. Why? The answer to this question is given in Vera Pavlovna’s second dream. But before that, a lot of events happen in the story. Read the summary of the novel “What to Do” below.

Detective beginning

Although the content of the novel “What to Do” is brief, we will try to convey in as much detail as possible the entire atmosphere reigning in it. So, it all starts like in a detective novel. A tenant disappears from a St. Petersburg hotel. He leaves a note, from the contents of which they conclude that the young man took his own life. It's not true, but it's not a hoax either. He was truly done with the life he had led before. Then, gradually, new heroes of the novel “What is to be done?” appear on the pages. N. G. Chernyshevsky does not hesitate, breaking literary tradition, to interrupt the narrative with a conversation with readers. They are different, and he either argues with them, then agrees, discusses the heroes of the work, their actions. Then he returns to the plot again. It is, in fact, straightforward.

Love in the name of revolution

Vera, daughter of Marya Alekseevna, marries Alexei Lopukhov against her mother’s will. The marriage is fictitious, this is the girl’s only chance to gain freedom. Then she meets Kirsanov, who becomes her true love. And Alexei himself arranges her happiness with the one who, it seems, has become his rival. He does this in an unconventional way. He plays out his suicide. The love line in the novel occupies an important place. Thanks to this feeling, Vera gets rid of her bourgeois existence, and the subsequent love of Lopukhov and Katya Polozova brings them a feeling of fullness of life. But this is not the feeling that was described then in traditional novels. It is subordinated to the most important matter in human life, the revolution. That is why these people are “new” for Chernyshevsky. But they are only a transitional stage to “higher” people, which is Rakhmetov.

superior man

Chernyshevsky himself wrote that he knew only eight people like the main one he created, literary hero. But he arrives in the capital of the empire, not standing out in any way from the mass of equally well-educated young people from aristocratic families. Changes in Rakhmetov’s inner world occur at an incomprehensible speed. Already during the conversation with Kirsanov, his reaction to the “injustices of this world” is indicative. He is indignant, crying, talking about the need to immediately change the existing order of things. And he starts with himself. Rakhmetov does not just “go to the people”, he does not educate people, but lives with them, works as a barge hauler, earning the nickname of the mythical Nikitushka Lomov, as a carpenter, not at all shying away from the hardest physical labor. So the famous lying on nails is simply the most extreme manifestation of his desire to remake his nature, to prepare his psyche and body for the difficult trials that are inevitable when preparing a revolution.

Change the world to improve people

Rakhmetov in the novel “What is to be done?”, and after him the “new people” deny the old morality based on Christian values, that is, on sacrifice and self-sacrifice. It seems that their ideals are based on the same thing, but they have no concept of human imperfection. It is not people who are to blame, but the reality around them. It is necessary to rebuild it on the basis of brotherhood and common service to the good of all members of society, and people will manifest best qualities. A kind of heaven on earth will come. In the same vein, love problems and family relationships will be resolved. A woman’s dependence on a man is where these problems are rooted in the novel “What is to be done?” As soon as the two sexes become equal, women's excessive focus on love will disappear.

Two years alone

Rakhmetov himself in the novel “What is to be done?” refuses feelings in favor of his life's work. What it consists of is not very clear. Chernyshevsky speaks about this only in hints. This is understandable, given the history of the creation of Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”

After the publication of the proclamation addressed to the peasants, its alleged author was arrested and imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress. An investigation began that lasted two years. Hunger strikes, protests, solitary confinement in Alekseevsky Ravelin. It was under such conditions that the story of the creation of the novel “What is to be done?” began. Chernyshevsky wrote a novel full of allegories and false plot devices in four months. Readers whose taste was formed in works of a different type were simply unable to understand the theme of the novel “What is to be done?” And most importantly, why was all this created? The work caused them, first of all, irritation, which Turgenev, for example, experienced. The novel simply caused him “physical disgust.” The censors also experienced a similar feeling, especially since the novel was released into the world in four parts. The first thing that attracted attention was the love conflicts in the relationships of the heroes. When it was realized what the author was actually calling for, it was already too late; the magazine with its publications had already spread throughout the country.

Reasonable egoism as the goal of life

What is the essence of the novel “What is to be done?” What is he calling for? Towards building a happy society of the future. It is shown in Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream. The society of the future in the novel "What is to be done?" - this is a society where the interests of everyone are organically and voluntarily combined with the interests of everyone. There is no division between mental and physical labor, and a person’s personality has acquired harmony and completeness. Here the concept introduced by Chernyshevsky as “reasonable egoism” plays an important role. This is not the spirit of satisfying one’s own, often exaggerated, needs, which, according to Rakhmetov, permeates the life of “vulgar” people, but something else, reminiscent of the pleasure of doing a good deed in the name of those who need more than you. If you look at it superficially, it is an ideal that differs little from the Christian commandments. No wonder Karl Max called “What is to be done?” the gospel of Russian social democracy. This is perhaps why Chernyshevsky’s novel attracted Russian youth of the 19th century. Brought up, be that as it may, in Orthodox traditions, they did not see here a contradiction to the country’s way of life. But many have lost sight of the need to improve themselves. And here again it is necessary to return to Rakhmetov.

Benefit for the people and denial of happiness

Chernyshevsky shares it life path into three stages. Firstly, this is theoretical preparation. He reads a lot, but categorically denies the benefit of books that “chew” the truth given in works like the works of the German materialist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. Only such books can be useful, the rest is wasted time. The second thing that is necessary is familiarization with people's life. Rakhmetov became his own for people like the maid Masha. For others, even people like Lopukhov and Kirsanov, he is still incomprehensible and even a little scary. The third stage is professional revolutionary activity. Rakhmetov disappears somewhere from time to time, and strange people gather with him. Among them, many are devoted to their leader in soul and body. The author, of course, could not write more about this side of his life. Well, one more thing: Rakhmetov considered it impossible for himself to have an alliance with a woman. Including because at any moment he can be arrested and torn out of ordinary life. There is not even a hint of sacrifice in such a refusal of love. This is the same “reasonable egoism”. If this is necessary to achieve a good goal, then it is good for him too. There have been very few such people at all times, and Chernyshevsky considers it possible for all members of society to possess similar qualities. This is one of the manifestations of the utopianism of the famous Social Democrat.

A new society is a matter of the future, but not so distant, if you start taking the first steps towards building it now. The author tries to prove this by talking about the fate of women working in Vera Pavlovna’s workshops. Everything in them is based on cooperation, that is, “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” In this later thesis one can also see the influence of Chernyshevsky’s novel. His “Stories about New People,” which is the second title of the novel, is largely visionary. It was people like Rakhmetov, ascetics who were ready to sacrifice themselves and others in order to achieve a great goal, who became the heroes of the subsequent era. But Chernyshevsky did not see much in the near future of Russia. He does not consider the proletariat, on which the Bolsheviks relied, as a significant force. A peasant revolution, that’s what, in his opinion, should shake up the country.

Dreams about the future

Vera Pavlovna's dreams are the main connecting links between the parts of the novel. In the second one already mentioned, she sees two parts of the field. On one half there was a rich crop of wheat, on the other there was only dirt. Again, one can see the analogy with Jesus' parable of the tares. But the conclusions are different. Sacrifice by order, according to “commandments”, is unacceptable for “new” people. Dirt is an allegory of the life of people like Serge, who appeared in a dream. It is good for nothing and is not useful for anything. There will be no place for him in his new life. If we remember the very first dream, it is an allegory of newfound freedom and the desire to make others free. Dreams in the novel are not only foresight and showing the future. They are used to analyze the psychological state of a character. In the third episode, Vera Pavlovna realizes that she does not love Lopukhov. On this score, it is interesting to read the opinion of the “political investigation agencies” about the novel. One of the harmful ideas of the novel is precisely the idea of ​​freedom of marriage. “A woman can freely live in harmony with her husband and lover at the same time.” This seems unacceptable to the censors, and it is difficult to argue with them.

Why remember Chernyshevsky

Chernyshevsky’s work has not been studied in schools for a long time, and in general, few people even know the brief content of the novel “What is to be done?” It can be classified as “forgotten” literature. In terms of its artistic merits, it is truly incomparable with books authored by most of Nikolai Gavrilovich’s contemporaries. There was a time when Rakhmetov was compared to Prince Myshkin. Indeed, it makes sense. Two “ideal” heroes appeared in readers’ everyday life almost simultaneously. One personified humility and forgiveness, the other - an irreconcilable struggle for a better future, which should ennoble every person. The revolutionary prevailed over the Christian, but the time has come to realize the impossibility of changing consciousness by living conditions. Nevertheless, Chernyshevsky managed to achieve his goal, and it is important to know how.

He showed in the novel people who are independent of the rules and even patterns of life. They, first of all Rakhmetov, change themselves of their own free will, but for the benefit of others. It was precisely the need for this that the author sought to convey to readers. Therefore, there is a lot of talk about the fact that the main thing in his work is journalism, not artistry. It is unlikely that Chernyshevsky himself would deny this. The purpose of art is to ennoble man. This is what his statement sounded like in more early works. He achieved the effect by mixing a variety of stylistic and compositional elements in the novel. No matter how the genre of his main work was determined, not a single one was recognized as definitively correct. Originality was largely predetermined by the need to circumvent censorship. Allegories, conversations with the reader, Aesopian language. It is especially used in the last chapter. After all, the novel ends optimistically. “A change of scenery” means the victory of the revolution. Everyone is happy, including Rakhmetov himself, who did not consider himself entitled to even dream about a future for himself. His dance at the wedding means that the time has come when even the “iron” man can think about his own life.

With this we will finish retelling the summary of the novel “What is to be done?” The only thing that can be said with certainty is that the work should not be forgotten. You need to read it and think about what the author wanted to say.

Features of the genre of the novel by N.G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?”

I. Introduction

The novel as a leading genre in Russian literature mid-19th V. (Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy). Features of the Russian novel: attention to the problem of personality, focus on moral and ethical problems, a broad social background, developed psychologism.

II. main part

1. All of the listed features are inherent in the novel “What is to be done?” At the center of the novel are images of “new people,” primarily the image of Vera Pavlovna. The author traces the formation and development of Vera Pavlovna's personality, the formation of her self-awareness, the search and acquisition of personal happiness. The main problems of the novel are ideological and moral, related to the establishment of the philosophy and ethics of the “new people”. The novel quite fully presents the social and everyday way of life (especially in the chapters “The Life of Vera Pavlovna in her Parental Family” and “First Love and Legal Marriage”). The characters of the main characters, especially Vera Pavlovna, are revealed by the author through the depiction of them inner world, that is, psychologically.

2. Genre originality of the novel “What is to be done?”:

What is there to do?" - first of all, a social novel; for it the problem of the relationship between the individual and society is extremely important. Outwardly, it is structured as a love novel, but, firstly, in the love story of Vera Pavlovna, it is the connection between personality and living conditions that is emphasized, and secondly, the problem of love itself is for Chernyshevsky part of a broader problem - the position of women in society: what it was like what it is now and what it should and can be;

b) in the novel “What to do?” There are also features of a family-everyday novel: it traces in detail the everyday structure of the family life of the Lopukhovs, Kirsanovs, Beaumonts, right down to the arrangement of rooms, the nature of daily activities, food, etc. This side of life was important to Chernyshevsky because in the problem of women’s emancipation, family life plays a very significant role: only with its change can a woman feel equal and free;

c) Chernyshevsky introduces elements of a utopian novel into his work. Utopia is an image of a happy and devoid of internal contradictions life of people, usually in a more or less distant future. Such a utopian picture is represented by most of Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream, in which Chernyshevsky paints in detail, down to the smallest details (palaces made of glass and aluminum, furniture, dishes, winter gardens, the nature of work and rest), a picture of the future happy life of humanity. Utopian paintings of this kind are important for Chernyshevsky from two points of view: firstly, they give him the opportunity to express his social and moral ideal in in a visual form, A Secondly, are intended to convince the reader that new social relations are truly possible and achievable;

d) Chernyshevsky’s novel can also be described as journalistic, since, firstly, it is devoted to pressing problems of our time (“the women’s question”, the formation and development of the heterogeneous intelligentsia, the problem of reorganizing the social system in Russia), and secondly, in it the author does not once directly speaks out about these topical problems, addresses the reader with appeals, etc.

III. Conclusion

So, genre originality Chernyshevsky's novel is defined as common features Russian novel (psychologism, ideological and moral issues, etc.), and an original combination in one work genre features inherent different types novel.

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