In many of his works, Nekrasov reflects on the fate of the Russian peasant woman: in the poem "Frost, Red Nose", the poems "Troika", "The village suffering is in full swing ...", "Orina, the soldier's mother" and in many others. In the gallery of wonderful female images a special place is occupied by the image of Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina - the heroine of the poem "Who should live well in Rus'".

Popular rumor brings the truth-seekers to the village of Klin, where they hope to meet a happy peasant woman. How much severe suffering befell this "happy" woman! But such beauty and strength emanates from her whole appearance that it is impossible not to admire her. As she recalls the type of "stately Slav", about which Nekrasov wrote with enthusiasm in the poem "Frost, Red Nose".

In trouble - it will not fail, it will save:
Stop a galloping horse
Will enter the burning hut!

Matrena begins her unhurried story about her own fate, this is a story about why the people consider her happy. Matryona Timofeevna, according to her, was lucky as a girl:

I was lucky in the girls:
We had a good
Non-drinking family.

The family surrounded their beloved daughter with care and affection. In the seventh year, the peasant's daughter began to be taught to work: "she herself ... ran to the herd for a dumpling, brought breakfast to her father, grazed the ducklings." And this work was her joy. Matrena Timofeevna, having worked out in the field, will wash herself in the bathhouse and is ready to sing and dance:

And a good worker
And sing and dance the huntress
I was young.

But how few bright moments in her life! One of them is an engagement to his beloved Filippushka. Matryona did not sleep all night, thinking about the upcoming marriage: she was afraid of "bondage". And yet love turned out to be stronger than fears of falling into slavery.

Then it was happiness
And hardly ever again!

And then, after marriage, she went "from a girl's holi to hell." Exhausting work, "mortal insults", misfortunes with children, separation from her husband, who was illegally recruited, and many other hardships - such is the bitter life path of Matryona Timofeevna. With pain she says about what is in her:

No broken bone
There is no stretched vein.

I am amazed at the steadfastness, the courage with which this wonderful woman endured suffering without bowing her proud head. Your heart bleeds when you read the lines of a poem about the inconsolable grief of a mother who lost her first-born son Demushka:

I rolled around with a ball
I twisted like a worm
Called, woke Demushka
Yes, it was too late to call! ..

The mind is ready to be clouded by a terrible misfortune. But a huge spiritual strength helps Matryona Timofeevna to survive. She sends angry curses to her enemies, the camp and the doctor, who torment the “white body” of her son: “Villains! Executioners! Matrena Timofeevna wants to find "their justice," but Savely dissuades her: "God is high, the tsar is far ... We cannot find the truth." "But why, grandfather?" - asks the unfortunate. "You are a serf woman!" - and this sounds like a final verdict.

And yet, when a misfortune happens to her second son, she becomes “impudent”: she decisively knocks down the elder Silantius, saving Fedotushka from punishment, taking his rods on herself. Matryona Timofeevna is ready to endure any trials, inhuman torments in order to defend her children, her husband from everyday troubles. What great willpower a woman must have to go alone

One of the main characters of Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" - Savely - the reader will recognize when he is already an old man who has lived a long and difficult life. The poet draws a colorful portrait of this amazing old man: With a huge gray ...

In the poem “To whom it is good to live in Rus',” N. A. Nekrasov shows the life of the Russian peasantry in post-reform Russia, their difficult situation. The main problem of this work is the search for an answer to the question, "who lives happily, freely in Rus'",...

“The burning anxiety felt by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, thinking about the fate of a peasant woman, was also reflected in the poem “Who should live well in Rus'”. Everyone knows that the image of a Russian woman is sung by the poet in many works. On the fate of Matryona ...

The poem "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" is the result of the author's thoughts about the fate of the country and people. To whom in Rus' to live well? - the poem begins with this question. Its plot, like the plot folk tales, built as a journey of old peasants in search of ...

1. New!

"To whom in Rus' to live well" was written more than a century ago. The poem gives a vivid description of the troubles and trials that the Russian people had to go through, and draws what happiness looks like for ordinary men. The work is titled with the eternal question that has tormented each of us for centuries.

The narrative invites the reader to familiarize themselves with the original story. Its main characters were the peasants, who gathered to determine the class in which a happy person lives. Analyzing all the ranks, the men got acquainted with the stories of the characters, the happiest among whom was the seminarian. The meaning of the hero's surname in this case is important. Happiness for the student was not material well-being, but peace and quiet on the lands of the motherland and the well-being of the people.

History of creation

The poem was created in the period from 1863 to 1877, and in the course of work, the characters and the plot of the work repeatedly changed. The work was not completed, since the author died in 1877, but "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" is considered an integral literary opus.

Nekrasov is famous for his clear civic position and speeches against social injustice. He repeatedly raised in his work the problems that disturb the Russian peasantry. The writer condemned the treatment of landlords with serfs, the exploitation of women and the forced labor of children. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the long-awaited happiness for ordinary people did not come. The problem of unfreedom was replaced by other questions concerning the prospects for independent peasant life.

The images revealed in the poem help to penetrate into the depth of the question asked by the author. Nekrasov demonstrates the difference between happiness in the understanding of a landowner and a simple peasant. The rich are sure that the main thing in life is material well-being, and the poor consider the absence of unnecessary troubles as happiness. The spirituality of the people is described by means of Grisha Dobrosklonov, who dream of universal contentment.

Nekrasov in "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" defines the problems of estates, revealing the greed and cruelty of the rich, illiteracy and drunkenness among the peasants. He believes that, realizing what true happiness is, all the heroes of the work will make efforts to achieve it.

Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina - actor in the work. In her youth, she was truly happy, as this time of her life was truly carefree. Parents loved the girl, and she sought to help her family in everything. Like other peasant children, Matryona was early accustomed to work. Games have been phased out household chores and chores, but the rapidly maturing girl did not forget about leisure.

This peasant woman is hardworking and active. Her appearance pleasing to the eye with stateliness and real Russian beauty. Many guys had views of the girl, and one day the groom wooed her. On this young and happy life before marriage came to an end. The will was replaced by the way of life that reigns in a strange family, about which Matryona's parents grieve. The girl's mother, realizing that her husband will not always protect her daughter, mourns her future.

Life in the new house really did not work out right away. The sisters-in-law and the parents of the spouse forced Matryona to work hard and did not spoil her kind word. The only joys of the beauty were a silk scarf given by her husband and a sleigh ride.

Relations in marriage could not be called smooth, because at that time husbands often beat their wives, and girls had no one to turn to for help and protection. Matrona's everyday life was gray and monotonous, full of hard work and reproaches from relatives. Personifying the ideal of the majestic Slav, the girl meekly endured all the hardships of fate and showed mighty patience.

The born son revealed Matryona from a new side. A loving mother, she gives her child all the tenderness she is capable of. The girl's happiness was short-lived. She tried to spend as much time with the baby as possible, but the work took every minute, and the child was a burden. Grandfather Saveliy looked after the son of Matryona and once did not look after. The child died. His death was a tragedy for the young mother. In those days, such cases occurred often, but became an incredible test for women.

The police, the doctor and the camp officer who arrived at the house decided that Matryona, in collusion with her grandfather, a former convict, had deliberately killed the baby. It was decided to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of the boy's death. For a girl, this becomes a great grief, because now a child cannot be buried without scolding.

The image of Matrena is a portrait of a real Russian woman, persistent, strong-willed and patient. A woman who is not able to break life's vicissitudes. After a while, Matryona again has children. She loves and protects them, continuing to work for the good of her family.

The maternal instinct of Matrena Timofeevna is so strong that for the sake of children the heroine is ready for anything. This emphasizes the episode when the son of Fedotushka wanted to be punished by the landowner. A portly woman lay down under the rods, sacrificing herself instead of her own child. With the same zeal, she stands up for her husband, whom they want to recruit. The people's intercessor grants salvation to the Matryona family.

The life of a simple peasant woman is not easy and full of grief. She survived more than one hungry year, lost her son, constantly worried about people dear to her heart. The whole existence of Matryona Timofeevna is based on fighting the misfortunes that stand in her way. The difficulties that fell to her lot could break her spirit. Often, women like Matryona died early because of hardships and troubles. But those who remained alive aroused pride and respect. The image of a Russian woman in the face of Matryona is also sung by Nekrasov.

The writer sees how hardy and patient she is, how much strength and love her soul keeps, how caring and gentle a simple hard-working woman can be. He is not inclined to call the heroine happy, but he is proud that she does not lose heart, but emerges victorious in the struggle for life.

Quotes

In Tsarist Russia, the life of a woman was extremely difficult. By the age of 38, the strong and majestic Matrena Timofeevna was already calling herself an old woman. Many troubles fell to her lot, with which the woman coped on her own, so she condemns the men who started looking for lucky women among the women:

“And what you started

It's not a matter - between women

Happy looking!"

For stamina and fortitude, the heroine was called the "governor's wife", because not every woman dared to take such heroic actions that Matryona took. The woman rightfully deserved the new nickname, but this name did not bring happiness. The main joy for Korchagina is by no means in the glory of the people:

"They glorified the lucky one,

Nicknamed the governor

Matryona since then ...

What's next? I rule the house

Grove of children ... Is it for joy?

You need to know too!

The chapter in which the heroine opens the eyes of the peasants to a mistake is called "The Woman's Parable". Matrena Timofeevna admits that she is not able to recognize herself and other peasant women as happy. Too much oppression, trials, the wrath of the landowners, anger from their husbands and relatives, and the vicissitudes of fate fall to their lot. Matrena believes that there are no lucky women among women:

"The keys to female happiness,

From our free will

abandoned, lost

The grandiose idea of ​​Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was to show a large-scale cross-section of the entire Russian rural life of that time through the eyes of ignorant peasants, freedmen. From the bottom to the very heights, the heroes go in search of the “happiest person”, ask everyone they meet, listen to stories that are very often filled with worries, sorrows and troubles.

One of the most touching, soul-stirring stories: a story in which Matryona Timofeevna is described as a peasant woman, wife, mother. Matrena tells about herself fully, without fantasies, without concealment, she pours out her whole self, lyrically retelling such an ordinary story of a woman of her class for that time. In it alone, Nekrasov reflected the terrible and bitter, but not devoid of bright moments of happiness, truth about the most bonded, the most dependent. Not only from the will of the tyrant-master, but from the all-powerful master of the husband, from the mother-in-law and father-in-law, from her own parents, to whom the young woman was obliged to obey unquestioningly.

Matryona Timofeevna remembers her youth with gratitude and sadness. She lived with her father and mother like Christ in her bosom, but, despite their kindness, she did not mess around, she grew up as a hardworking and modest girl. They begin to welcome grooms, send matchmakers, but from the wrong side. Matrena's mother does not rejoice at the imminent separation from her beloved, she understands what her own child is waiting for:

» Someone else's side

Not sprinkled with sugar

Not watered with honey!

It's cold there, it's hungry there

There is a well-groomed daughter

Violent winds will blow,

Shaggy dogs bark,

And people will laugh!

This quote shows well how Nekrasov's poetic lines are filled with the lyricism of folk wedding songs, traditional lamentation for the outgoing girlhood. Maternal fears are not in vain - in a strange house, Matrena Timofeevna does not find love from new relatives, who always reproach her: “Drowsy, drowsy, messy!” The work that is thrown on the shoulders of a young woman seems exorbitant. There is no need to wait for intercession from Philip, the legal spouse, he spends all the time away from his young wife, looking for work to live on. Yes, and he himself does not hesitate to “teach” Matryona with a whip, although he treats her with affection, and if luck happens in business, he pampers the chosen one with gifts:

“Filipushka came in winter,

Bring a silk handkerchief

Yes, I took a ride on a sled

On Catherine's day

And there was no grief!

Sang like I sang

In my parents' house."

But now, among all the troubles of life, an event happens that turns the whole existence of Matryona - the birth of her first child! She gives him all her tenderness, unable to part, look at the wonderful gift of fate, with these words she describes the appearance of the boy:

“How written was Demushka

Beauty taken from the sun

The snow is white

Poppies have scarlet lips

The eyebrow is black in sable,

The Siberian sable

The falcon has eyes!

All the anger from my soul is my handsome

Driven away with an angelic smile,

Like the spring sun

Drives snow from the fields ... "

However, the happiness of a peasant woman is short-lived. It is necessary to harvest, Matryona Timofeevna, with a heavy heart, leaving the baby in the care of the old man Savely, and he, having dozed off, does not have time to save the boy who has got out of the cradle. The tragedy reaches its peak at the moment when Matryona is forced to look at the autopsy of Demushka's body - the city authorities decide that the mother herself planned to kill the child and conspired with the old convict.

Not broken by this grief, Matryona Timofeevna continues to live, embodying the whole strength of a Russian woman, able to endure many blows of fate and continue to love. The feat of her maternal heart does not stop, each of the subsequent children is dear to Matryona no less than the firstborn, for them she is ready to endure any punishment. Devotion to her husband, against all odds, is no less great. Saving Philip from being taken to the soldiers, she convinces the governor's wife to let the father of the family go home, and returns with a victory, for which the villagers give the woman the nickname "governor".

Self-denial, fidelity and a great ability to love - all these are the features of the image of Matrena Timofeevna, a Russian peasant woman who embodied all the difficult female lot.

There are a lot of heroes in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Rus'". Some of them pass by. They are mentioned in passing. For others, the author spared no space and time. They are presented in detail and comprehensively.

The image and characterization of Matrena Korchagina in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is one of such characters. Women's happiness - that's what the wanderers wanted to find in Matryona.

Biography of the main female character

Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina grew up in a family of simple peasants. When she meets the wanderers, she is only 38 years old, but for some reason she calls herself an "old woman". So quickly flies the life of a peasant woman. God gave the woman children - she has 5 sons. One (first-born) died. Why are only sons born? Probably, this is a belief in the appearance in Rus' of a new generation of heroes, honest and strong as a mother.

According to Matryona, she was happy only in the father's family. They took care of her, guarded her sleep, did not force her to work. The girl appreciated the care of her relatives, answered them with kindness and labor. Songs at the wedding, lamentations over the bride and the crying of the girl herself are folklore that conveys the reality of life.

Things have changed in my husband's family. There were so many sufferings that not every woman could endure them. At night, Matrena shed tears, during the day she spread like grass, her head was lowered, anger hid in her heart, but accumulated. A woman understands that everyone lives like that. Philip treats Matryona well. But distinguish good life from cruelty it is difficult: he flogs his wife with a whip until she bleeds, goes to work, leaves her alone with her children in a hated family. The girl does not require much attention to herself: a silk scarf and sleigh rides return her to cheerful singing.

The vocation of a Russian peasant woman is to raise children. She becomes a real heroine, courageous and strong. Grief is on the heels. The first son - Demushka dies. Grandfather Savely could not save him. The authorities mock the mother. They torment the body of a child in front of her eyes, the pictures of horror remain in her memory for life. Another son gave a sheep to a hungry she-wolf. Matryona protected the boy, standing in his place for punishment. Mother's love is strong:

"To whom to endure, so mothers!".

Korchagina came to the defense of her husband. The pregnant woman went to the governor with a request not to take him into the soldiers.

The appearance of a woman

Nekrasov describes Matryona with love. He recognizes her beauty and amazing attractiveness. Some features for the modern reader are not characteristic of beauty, but this only confirms how attitudes towards appearance have changed over the centuries:

• "impressive" figure;
• "wide" back;
• "dense" body;
• Holmogory cow.

Most of the characteristics are a manifestation of the tenderness of the author. Beautiful dark hair with gray hair, large expressive eyes with the "richest" lush eyelashes, swarthy skin. Ruddy cheeks and clear eyes. What bright epithets are chosen by those around for Matryona:

• "written kralechka";
• "filling berry";
• "good ... comely";
• "white face".
• The woman is neat in her clothes: a white cotton shirt, a short embroidered sundress.

Matryona's character

The main character trait is diligence. Since childhood, Matrena loves work and does not hide from it. She knows how to put haystacks, ruffle flax, thresh on the barn. The woman's household is large, but she does not complain. She gives all the strength that she received from God to work.

Other features of the Russian beauty:

Frankness: telling the wanderers her fate, she does not embellish or hide anything.

Sincerity: a woman does not prevaricate, she opens her whole destiny from her youth, shares her experiences and "sinful" deeds.

Love of freedom: the desire to be free and free remains in the soul, but the rules of life change the character, make one be secretive.

Courage: often a woman has to become a "brash woman." She is punished, but "arrogance and obstinacy" remain.

Loyalty: the wife is devoted to her husband, in all situations strives to be honest and faithful.

Honesty: Matryona herself leads an honest life and teaches her sons to be like that. She asks them neither to steal nor to cheat.

Woman sincerely believes in God. She prays and comforts herself. It becomes easier for her in conversations with the Mother of God.

Happiness Matryona

Wanderers are sent to Korchagina because of the nickname - the governor's wife. Rarely could anyone from a simple peasant woman become famous in the district with such a title. But did the nickname bring true happiness? No. The people slandered her as a lucky woman, but this is only one case in the life of Matryona. Courage and perseverance returned her husband to the family, life became easier. The children no longer had to go to beg in the villages, but it is impossible to say that Korchagina is happy. Matrena understands this and tries to explain to the peasants: among ordinary Russian women there are no happy women, and cannot be. God Himself denied them this - he lost the keys to joy and will. Her wealth is lakes of tears. The tests were supposed to break the peasant woman, the soul was supposed to become callous. The poem is different. Matryona does not die either spiritually or physically. She continues to believe that there are keys to female happiness. She rejoices every day and admires men. She cannot be considered happy, but no one dares to call her unhappy either. She is a real Russian peasant woman, independent, beautiful and strong.

Basically, in the poem, the life stories of peasants appear in a short story of fellow villagers, wanderers. But one fate unfolds before the reader in detail. This is the story of Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, told in the first person.

♦ Why did the fate of a Russian woman, a peasant woman, turn out to be in the center of attention of the author, who studies the movement of people's life?

The reason is Nekrasov's worldview. For the poet, a woman - mother, sister, friend - is the center of national life. Her fate is the embodiment of the fate of her native land. Already in the portrait of the heroine, the natural majesty, beauty that does not disappear over the years, is emphasized: “a portly woman”, “big, strict eyes, richest eyelashes” and the severity, severity, and strength of the whole appearance of a peasant woman.

Matryona Timofeevna is called the lucky one. She herself, having heard about this, “Not that she was surprised ... / But somehow she began to spin.” Has the people justly given her such a nickname? Let's figure it out.

1. The youth of the heroine. Marriage.

The marriage of the heroine is successful by all standards: the family is prosperous; loving, not angry, not sick and not an old husband. But you can't call this life happy. Not an external enemy, but a harsh life, a cruel family way of life, deprive the peasant woman of joy. Gradually, Nekrasov reveals the connection of this way of life with the general structure of the country. Among slaves, a young woman has nowhere to seek protection. Even in her family, she cannot hide from the harassment of the lord's steward. Of all the slaves, she is the last, the most disenfranchised.

2. The death of the firstborn.

Not grandfather Savely, not an evil mother-in-law doom Dyomushka to death, but all the same slave labor, forcing a female worker to leave a baby under the care of a hundred-year-old man. Intuitively understanding this, the mother forgives Savely the death of her son, shares his grief with him. The strength of her faith, the depth of feelings contrast with the callousness and greed of officials.

3. Fedotushka's fault.

Nekrasov does not idealize the peasant community. Hardened by need and hard work, people cannot appreciate the spiritual impulse of a child who is imbued with pity for a starving she-wolf. Mother, saving Fedotushka from punishment, saves not only his health, but also the sensitive, kind soul of the boy. Maternal sacrifice preserves in the son a man, not a slave. Not pain, but a cruel insult many years later, Matryona Timofeevna remembers. And again, the unrequited insult is sung, cried out by her in a song.

4. Hard year. Governor.

Behind the endless patience, humble obedience of Matryona Timofeevna, strength of character, determination and strong will are hidden. For the sake of the children, so that they do not become the downtrodden and defenseless sons of a soldier, she goes to save her husband from recruitment. The intervention of the governor's wife seems like a wonderful gift of fate. But the main merit belongs to Matryona Timofeevna. The reward is the return of the husband, the respect of the family, the status of the mistress of the house. But these awards cannot erase the experienced torments from memory and heart. And new sorrows await the peasant woman: “... A grove of children... Is it for joy? .. / Five sons! Peasant / Orders are endless - / Already they took one!

The story about the fate of a peasant woman is full of bitterness. The fate of the "lucky" turns out to be a story of endless misfortunes. But still, let's think again why they single out, consider Matryona Korchagina happy.

Let us ask ourselves the question: did fate manage to break the peasant woman? Did Matryona Timofeevna become a slave in the midst of universal slavery?

The author convincingly shows that the peasant woman is not broken by worldly storms. They tempered the harsh beauty of her mighty soul. Matryona Timofeevna is not a slave, but the mistress of her own destiny. Its strength is manifested not in violent prowess, not in revelry, not in a brief heroic impulse, but in the daily struggle with the hardships of life, in patient and persistent life-building.

Near Matryona Timofeevna even the "hero of the Holy Russian" grandfather Savely seems weak. The author's attitude to this hero is ambivalent, it combines admiration and a sad smile. Savely's heroism is not that useless, but unpromising. It is not given to him to influence the future, just as it is not given to save Dyomushka. The rebellious impulse of the Kora peasants, who buried the German Vogel alive, does not solve the problems of Russian life, but is redeemed at a too high price. “Unbearable - the abyss! / To endure is an abyss ... ”- this is exactly what grandfather knows, but how to determine the limit of patience, he does not know. With his awkward heroism, Savely is thrown out of worldly life, deprived of his place in it. Therefore, his strength turns into weakness. That's why the old man reproaches himself:

Where are you, power, gone?

What were you good for?

Under rods, under sticks

Gone little by little!

And yet, against the background of many peasant images, grandfather Savely stands out for his clarity and strength of mind, integrity of nature, and freedom of spirit. He, like Matrena Timofeevna, does not become a slave to the end, he builds his own destiny.

So, using the example of these two characters, the author convinces us of the inexhaustibility of the moral strength and vitality of the people, which serves as a guarantee of their future happiness.

Used book materials: Yu.V. Lebedev, A.N. Romanova. Literature. Grade 10. Lesson developments. - M.: 2014