Analysis of Matrena Timofeevna. The image and characteristics of Matryona in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”: description of appearance and character, portrait (Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina)

Work:

Who lives well in Rus'

Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina is a peasant woman. The third part of the poem is dedicated to this heroine.

M.T. - “A portly woman, Broad and dense, 38 years old. Beautiful; hair with gray hair, Big strict eyes, Eyelashes of the richest, Harsh and swarthy.

Among the people about M.T. the glory of the lucky woman is coming. She tells the strangers who come to her about her life. Her story is told in the form of folk laments and songs. This emphasizes the typical fate of M.T. for all Russian peasant women: "It's not a matter of looking for a happy woman among women."

In the parental home of M.T. life was good: she had a friendly non-drinking family. But, having married Philip Korchagin, she ended up "from a girl's will to hell." The youngest in her husband's family, she worked for everyone like a slave. The husband loved M.T., but often went to work and could not protect his wife. The heroine had one intercessor - grandfather Savely, her husband's grandfather. M.T. she has seen a lot of grief in her lifetime: she endured the harassment of the manager, survived the death of the first-born Demushka, who, due to Savely's oversight, was bitten by pigs. M.T. failed to retrieve the son's body and he was sent for an autopsy. Later, another son of the heroine, 8-year-old Fedot, was threatened with a terrible punishment for feeding someone else's sheep to a hungry she-wolf. Mother, without hesitation, lay down under the rod instead of her son. But in a lean year, M.T., pregnant and with children, is likened to a hungry she-wolf herself. In addition, the last breadwinner is taken away from her family - her husband is shaved into soldiers out of turn. In desperation, M.T. runs into the city and throws himself at the feet of the governor's wife. She helps the heroine and even becomes the godmother of the born son M.T. - Liodora. But the evil fate continued to haunt the heroine: one of the sons was taken to the soldiers, "they burned twice ... God anthrax ... visited three times." In the "Woman's Parable" M.T. sums up his sad story: “The keys to female happiness, From our free will Abandoned, lost by God himself!

The image of Matryona Timofeevna (based on the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'”)

The image of a simple Russian peasant woman Matrena Timofeevna is surprisingly bright and realistic. In this image, Nekrasov combined all the features and qualities characteristic of Russian peasant women. And the fate of Matrena Timofeevna is in many ways similar to the fate of other women.

Matrena Timofeevna was born into a large peasant family. The very first years of life were truly happy. All her life, Matryona Timofeevna remembers this carefree time, when she was surrounded by the love and care of her parents. But peasant children grow up very quickly. Therefore, as soon as the girl grew up, she began to help her parents in everything. Gradually, the games were forgotten, there was less and less time left for them, hard peasant work took the first place. But youth still takes its toll, and even after a hard labor day the girl found time to relax.

Matrena Timofeevna recalls her youth. She was pretty, hardworking, active. It's no wonder the boys were looking at her. And then the betrothed appeared, for whom the parents give Matrena Timofeevna in marriage. Marriage means that now the free and free life of the girl is over. Now she will live in a strange family, where she will be treated far from in the best way. When a mother gives her daughter in marriage, she grieves for her, worries about her fate:

The mother was crying

“... Like a fish in a blue sea

You yell! like a nightingale

Flutter from the nest!

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!”

In these lines, the sadness of a mother is clearly read, who perfectly understands all the hardships of life that will fall to her lot. married daughter. In a strange family, no one will show interest in her, and the husband himself will never stand up for his wife.

Matrena Timofeevna shares her sad thoughts. She did not want to change her free life in her parents' house for life in a strange, unfamiliar family.

From the very first days in her husband's house, Matryona Timofeevna realized how hard it would be for her now:

The family was big

Grumpy... I got it

From girlish holi to hell!

Relations with the father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were very difficult, in new family Matryona had to work hard, and at the same time no one said a kind word to her. However, even in such a difficult life that the peasant woman had, there were simple and simple joys:

Filippushka 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 the parental home.

We were one-year-olds

Don't touch us - we have fun

We are always fine.

The relationship between Matryona Timofeevna and her husband did not always develop smoothly. A husband has the right to beat his wife if something does not suit him in her behavior. And no one will stand up for the poor thing, on the contrary, all relatives in the husband's family will only be happy to look at her suffering.

Such was the life of Matrena Timofeevna after marriage. The days dragged on monotonous, gray, surprisingly similar to each other: hard work, quarrels and reproaches from relatives. But a peasant woman has truly angelic patience, therefore, without complaining, she endures all the hardships that have fallen to her lot. The birth of a child is the event that turns her whole life upside down. Now the woman is not so embittered at all White light, love for the baby warms and pleases her.

Philip on the Annunciation

He left, but on Kazanskaya

I gave birth to a son.

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 fields...

I didn't worry

Whatever they say, I work

No matter how they scold - I am silent.

The joy of a peasant woman from the birth of her son did not last long. Work in the field requires a lot of effort and time, and then breastfed baby on hands. At first, Matrena Timofeevna took the child with her into the field. But then the mother-in-law began to reproach her, because it is impossible to work with a child with full dedication. And poor Matryona had to leave the baby with grandfather Savely. Once the old man overlooked - and the child died.

The death of a child is a terrible tragedy. But peasants have to put up with the fact that very often their children die. However, this is Matryona's first child, so his death turned out to be too difficult a test for her. And then there is an additional misfortune - the police come to the village, the doctor and the camp officer accuse Matryona of having killed the child in collusion with the former convict grandfather Saveliy. Matryona Timofeevna begs not to do an autopsy in order to bury the child without desecration of the body But no one listens to the peasant woman. She almost goes crazy from everything that happened.

All the hardships of a difficult peasant life, the death of a child still cannot break Matryona Timofeevna. Time passes, she has children every year. And she continues to live, raise her children, do hard work. Love for children is the most important thing that a peasant woman has, so Matrena Timofeevna is ready for anything to protect her beloved children. This is evidenced by an episode when they wanted to punish her son Fedot for an offense.

Matryona throws herself at the feet of a passing landowner to help save the boy from punishment. And the landowner said:

“Guardian of a minor

By youth, by stupidity

Forgive ... but a daring woman

Approximately punish!”

Why did Matrena Timofeevna suffer punishment? For his boundless love for his children, for his willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. Readiness for self-sacrifice is also manifested in the way Matryona rushes to seek salvation for her husband from recruitment. She manages to get to the place and ask for help from the governor, who really helps Philip free himself from recruitment.

Matrena Timofeevna is still young, but she has already had to endure a lot, a lot. She had to endure the death of a child, a time of hunger, reproaches and beatings. She herself says what the holy wanderer told her:

“The keys to female happiness,

From our free will

abandoned, lost

God himself!”

Indeed, a peasant woman can by no means be called happy. All the difficulties and difficult trials that fall on her lot can break and lead a person to death, not only spiritual, but also physical. Very often this is exactly what happens. The life of a simple peasant woman is rarely long, very often women die in the prime of life. It is not easy to read the lines that tell about the life of Matryona Timofeevna. However, one cannot help admiring mental strength this woman who endured so many trials and was not broken.

The image of Matrena Timofeevna is surprisingly harmonious. The woman appears at the same time strong, hardy, patient and gentle, loving, caring. She has to cope on her own with the difficulties and troubles that fall to the lot of her family, Matryona Timofeevna does not see help from anyone.

But, despite all the tragic that a woman has to endure, Matrena Timofeevna causes genuine admiration. After all, she finds the strength in herself to live, work, continues to enjoy those modest joys that from time to time fall to her lot. And let her honestly admit that she cannot be called happy in any way, she does not fall into the sin of despondency for a minute, she continues to live.

The life of Matrena Timofeevna is a constant struggle for survival, and she manages to emerge victorious from this struggle.

“Who should live well in Rus'” by Nekrasov is an epic poem, because in the center of its image is the whole of post-reform Russia. The poem covers the entire life of the people in an unusually broad way. Nekrasov wanted to depict in his work all social strata from the peasant to the tsar, however, the life of the people remains the main subject of the narrative. From the very beginning of the poem, its main character is also defined - a man from the people. And yet the picture of peasant life would not be so vivid if it did not tell us about the share of a simple Russian woman. Arguing on this topic, one cannot help but turn to the main female image of the poem.

A special and very large place in the poem is occupied by the image of the peasant woman Matryona Timofeevna. In exceptional female image Matryona Timofeevna Nekrasov showed the gravity of the “female share”. This theme can be traced throughout Nekrasov's work, but nowhere has the image of a Russian peasant woman been described with such tenderness and participation, so truthfully and subtly. And it is this heroine who will answer in the poem to eternal question about the female lot, which is why “the keys to female happiness ... are abandoned, lost with God himself” ...

Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina is a smart, selfless woman, the bearer of an "angry" heart, remembering "unpaid" grievances. The fate of Matryona Timofeevna is typical for a Russian peasant woman: after marriage, she ended up "from a girl's holy hell in hell", various sorrows fell upon her one after another. As a result, Matrena is forced to take on overwhelming male labor in order to feed her large family.

Being a "governor", Matryona still remains a man of the working peasant masses. She, smart and strong, the poet entrusted herself to tell about his fate. "Peasant Woman" is the only part in Nekrasov's poem, all written in the first person. However, this story is not only about Matryona's female share. Her voice is the voice of the people themselves. That is why Matrena Timofeevna sings more often, and “Peasant Woman” is a chapter permeated with folklore motifs, almost entirely built on folk poetic images. The fate of the Nekrasov heroine is constantly expanding to the limits of the all-Russian. Nekrasov managed to combine the personal fate of the heroine with mass life, without identifying them. Because, unlike most peasant women, whose marriage was determined by the will of their parents, Matryona Timofeevna marries her beloved.

Next, a picture of the traditional family life in a peasant environment, the whole common life. As soon as Matryona entered her husband's family, all household duties immediately fell on her shoulders. Like any other Russian peasant woman, Matrena Timofeevna was brought up in respect for the older generation, so in the new family she unquestioningly “obeyed” the will of her husband and his parents. The seemingly unbearable work in the harsh peasant life becomes her everyday business, and the women's business.

As you know, beatings in a peasant family were also quite common, however, the heroine of the play is by no means a downtrodden slave. For the rest of her life, the only case of a beating by her husband crashes into her memory. At the same time, a song was put into the heroine's mouth when telling about this, which, without distorting the heroine's individual biography, gives the phenomenon a broad typicality.

Let's also remember terrible tragedy the loss of a child experienced by Matrena Timofeevna. Matryona was very upset by the death of her child, despite the ignorant aristocratic convictions that the peasants do not care about their children, because there are at least a dozen of them in each family. However, to the simple Russian heart of Matrena, like any other woman, all her children are dear, she wishes each of them a better life, she cares about everyone equally.

Nekrasov constantly in his poem emphasizes the truly Christian humility of a simple Russian woman, who sometimes faces terrible, unbearable trials. However, Matryona Timofeevna relies on the will of God in everything, like thousands of other women with difficult fates. The heroine takes her life for granted, which is why she deeply worldly wisdom pronounces the answer to the question about the female share: "the keys to the happiness of the female ... are lost from God himself." Yes, in front of us collective image the majority of Russian women, who are wholeheartedly devoted to their family, courageously bearing on their shoulders a huge burden of caring for their relatives and friends, and they carry their burden with incredible humility to fate, relying only on God and on themselves. Such is the female share of the Russian peasant woman, embodied in the person of Matryona Korchagina.

Tasks and tests on the topic "Why does Matrena Timofeevna claim that "the keys to female happiness ... are abandoned, lost from God himself"? (Based on the poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Who should live well in Rus'.")

• Orthoepy

  Lessons: 1 Assignments: 7

• Spelling - Important topics for repeating the exam in the Russian language

Almost every writer has a secret theme that excites him especially strongly and passes through all his work as a leitmotif. For Nekrasov, the singer of the Russian people, the fate of the Russian woman became such a topic. Simple serfs, proud princesses and even fallen women who sank to the social bottom - for each, the writer had warm word. And all of them, so different at first glance, were united by complete lack of rights and unhappiness, which were considered the norm at that time. Against the backdrop of universal serfdom, the fate of a simple woman looks even worse, because she is forced to “submit to a slave to the grave” and “be the mother of a son-slave” (“Frost, red nose”), i.e. she is a slave in the square. “The keys to the happiness of women”, from their “free will” have long been lost - this is the problem the poet tried to draw attention to. This is how the incredibly bright and strong image of Matryona Timofeevna appears in Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”.
The story of the fate of Matryona is set out in the third part of the poem, which is called: "Peasant Woman". A rumor leads the wanderers to the woman, stating that if any of the women can be called lucky, then only the “governor” from the village of Klin. However, Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina, a "dignified", beautiful and strict woman, having heard the peasants' question about her happiness, "twirled, thought" and did not even want to talk about anything initially. It was already dark, and the month with the stars went up into the sky, when Matrena nevertheless decided to “open her whole soul.”

Only at the very beginning, life was kind to her, Matrena recalls. Mother and father took care of their daughter, called "kasatushka", cherished and cherished. Let's pay attention to the huge number of words with diminutive suffixes: late, sun, crust, etc., characteristic of oral folk art. Here, the influence of Russian folklore on Nekrasov's poem is noticeable - in folk songs, as a rule, the time of carefree girlhood is sung, which contrasts sharply with the subsequent difficult life in the husband's family. The author uses this plot to build the image of Matryona and almost verbatim transfers the description of the girl's life with her parents from the songs. Some of the folklore is introduced directly into the text. This wedding songs, lamentation over the bride and the song of the bride herself, as well as detailed description marriage ceremony.

No matter how hard Matryona tries to prolong her free life, she is still married to a man who is also a stranger, not from her native village. Soon the girl, together with her husband Philip, leaves the house and goes to an unfamiliar land, to a large and unfriendly family. There she goes "from a girl's holi" to hell, which is also transmitted with the help of a folk song. "Drowsy, drowsy, messy!" - so they call Matryona in the family, and everyone tries to give her more work. There is no hope for the intercession of her husband: even though they are of the same age, Philip treats his wife well, but sometimes he beats (“the whip whistled, blood splattered”) and does not think to make her life easier. Moreover, he is almost all free time spends on earnings, and there is no one to love Matryona.

In this part of the poem, the extraordinary character and inner spiritual stamina of Matryona become clearly visible. Another would have despaired long ago, but she does everything as ordered and always finds a reason to rejoice at the most simple things. Her husband returned, “he brought a silk handkerchief / Yes, he took a ride on a sled” - and Matryona sang joyfully, as she used to sing in her parents' house.

The only happiness of a peasant woman is in her children. So the heroine of Nekrasov has her firstborn, whom she can’t get enough of: “How hand-written was Demushka!”. The author very convincingly shows: it is the children who do not allow the peasant woman to become embittered, they support truly angelic patience in her. The great vocation - to raise and protect her children - raises Matryona above the gray everyday life. The image of a woman turns into a heroic one.

But the peasant woman is not destined to enjoy her happiness for a long time: work must continue, and the child, left in the care of the old man, dies due to a tragic accident. The death of a child at that time was not a rare event, this misfortune often fell upon the family. But Matryona is harder than the others - not only is this her first-born, but also the authorities who came from the city decide that it was the mother herself, in collusion with the former convict grandfather Savely, who killed her son. No matter how much Matryona cries, she has to be present at the autopsy of Demushka - he was “splashed”, and this terrible picture was forever imprinted in her mother’s memory.

The characterization of Matryona Timofeevna would not be complete without one more important detail- her willingness to sacrifice herself for others. Her children are what remains the most sacred for a peasant woman: “Just don’t touch the little ones! I stood up for them…” Indicative in this regard is the episode when Matryona takes upon herself the punishment of her son. He, being a shepherd, lost a sheep, and he was to be flogged for this. But the mother threw herself at the feet of the landowner, and he "mercifully" forgave the teenager, ordering in return to flog the "impudent woman." For the sake of her children, Matrena is ready to go even against God. When a wanderer comes to the village with a strange demand not to breastfeed her children on Wednesdays and Fridays, the woman is the only one who did not listen to her. “To whom to endure, so mothers” - in these words of Matryona the whole depth of her maternal love is expressed.

Another key feature of a peasant woman is her determination. Submissive and compliant, she knows when to fight for her happiness. So, it is Matryona from the whole huge family who decides to stand up for her husband when he is taken into the soldiers and, falling at the feet of the governor, brings him home. For this act she receives the highest award- public respect. Hence her nickname "Governor". Now the family loves her, and in the village they consider her lucky. But the hardships and "storm of the soul" that have passed through Matryona's life do not give her the opportunity to speak of herself as happy.

Determined, selfless, simple and sincere woman and mother, one of the many Russian peasant women - this is what the reader of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by Matryona Korchagin appears before the reader.

The description of the image of Matryona Korchagina and her characterization in the poem will help 10th grade students before writing an essay on the topic “The Image of Matryona Timofeevna in “Who Lives Well in Rus'””.

Artwork test

He did not carry a heart in his chest,
Who did not shed tears over you!
ON THE. Nekrasov
In the work of N.A. Nekrasov, many works are devoted to a simple Russian woman. The fate of a Russian woman has always worried Nekrasov. In many of his poems and poems, he speaks of her plight. Starting with the early poem “On the Road” and ending with the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, Nekrasov spoke about the “female share”, about the dedication of the Russian peasant woman, about her spiritual beauty. In the poem “In full swing the village suffering”, written shortly after the reform, a true reflection of the inhuman hard work of a young peasant mother is given:
Share you! - Russian woman's share!
Hardly harder to find...
Talking about the hard lot of the Russian peasant woman, Nekrasov often in her image embodied high ideas about the spiritual power of the Russian people, about its physical beauty:
There are women in Russian villages
With calm gravity of faces,
With beautiful strength in movements,
With a gait, with the eyes of queens.
In the works of Nekrasov, the image of a “stately Slav” appears, pure in heart, bright mind, strong spirit. This is Daria from the poem "Frost, Red Nose", and ordinary girl from Troika. This is Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina from the poem "Who in Rus' should live well."
The image of Matrena Timofeevna, as it were, completes and unites the group of images of peasant women in Nekrasov's work. The poem recreates the type of “stately Slav”, a peasant woman of the Central Russian strip, endowed with restrained and strict beauty:
stubborn woman,
Wide and dense.
Thirty-eight years old.
Beautiful; gray hair,
The eyes are large, stern,
Eyelashes are the richest
Stern and swarthy.
She, smart and strong, the poet entrusted to tell about his fate. “Peasant Woman” is the only part of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, all written in the first person. Trying to answer the question of the men-truth-seekers, can she call herself happy, Matrena Timofeevna tells the story of her life. The voice of Matrena Timofeevna is the voice of the people themselves. That's why she sings more often than she talks, poeg folk songs. “The Peasant Woman” is the most folklore part of the poem, it is almost entirely built on folk poetic images and motifs. The whole life story of Matrena Timofeevna is a chain of continuous misfortunes and suffering. No wonder she says about herself: “I have a downcast head, I carry an angry heart!” She is convinced: "It's not a matter of looking for a happy woman between women." Why? After all, there was love in the life of this woman, the joy of motherhood, the respect of others. But with her story, the heroine makes the peasants think about the question of whether this is enough for happiness and whether all those hardships and hardships that befall the Russian peasant woman will outweigh this cup:
Silent, invisible to me
The storm has passed,
Will you show her?
For me insults are mortal
Gone unpaid
And the whip passed over me!
Slowly and unhurriedly Matrena Timofeevna leads her story. She lived well and freely in her parents' house. But, having married Philip Korchagin, she ended up with a "maiden's will to hell": a superstitious mother-in-law, a drunkard father-in-law, an older sister-in-law, for whom her daughter-in-law had to work like a slave. With her husband, she, however, was lucky. But Philip only returned from work in the winter, and the rest of the time there was no one to intercede for her, except for grandfather Savely. A consolation for a peasant woman is her first-born Demushka. But due to Savely's oversight, the child dies. Matrena Timofeevna becomes a witness to the abuse of the body of her child (in order to find out the cause of death, the authorities perform an autopsy of the child's corpse). For a long time she cannot forgive Savely's "sin" that he overlooked her Demushka. But the trials of Matrena Timofeevna did not end there. Her second son Fedot is growing up, and misfortune befalls him. Her eight-year-old son is facing punishment for feeding someone else's sheep to a hungry she-wolf. Fedot took pity on her, he saw how hungry and unhappy she was, and the wolf cubs in her den were not fed:
Looking up, head up
In my eyes ... and howled suddenly!
To spare little son from the punishment that threatened him, Matryona herself lay down under the rod instead of him.
But the most difficult trials fall on her lot in a lean year. Pregnant, with children, she herself is likened to a hungry she-wolf. A recruiting set deprives her of her last intercessor, her husband (he is taken out of turn):
...Hungry
Orphans are standing
In front of me... Unkindly
The family looks at them
They are noisy in the house
On the street pugnacious,
Gluttons at the table...
And they began to pinch them,
Bang on the head...
Shut up, soldier mother!
Matrena Timofeevna decides to ask the governor for intercession. She runs to the city, where she tries to get to the governor, and when the porter lets her into the house for a bribe, she throws herself at the feet of the governor Elena Alexandrovna:
How do I throw
At her feet: “Stand up!
Deception, not godly
Provider and parent
They take from children!
The governor took pity on Matryona Timofeyevna. The heroine returns home with her husband and newborn Liodorushka. This incident cemented her reputation as a lucky woman and the nickname "governor".
The further fate of Matryona Timofeevna is also full of troubles: one of the sons has already been taken to the soldiers, "they burned twice ... God anthrax ... visited three times." The "Baby Parable" sums up her tragic story:
Keys to female happiness
From our free will
abandoned, lost
God himself!
The life history of Matryona Timofeevna showed that the most difficult, unbearable conditions of life could not break a peasant woman. Harsh living conditions honed a special female character, proud and independent, accustomed to relying on his own strength everywhere and in everything. Nekrasov endows his heroine not only with beauty, but with great spiritual strength. Not resignation to fate, not stupid patience, but pain and anger are expressed in the words with which she ends the story of her life:
For me insults are mortal
Gone unpaid...
Anger accumulates in the soul of a peasant woman, but faith in intercession remains Mother of God by the power of prayer. After praying, she goes to the city to the governor to seek the truth. Saves her own mental strength and the will to live. Nekrasov showed in the image of Matryona Timofeevna both a readiness for self-sacrifice when she stood up for her son, and strength of character when she does not bow to formidable bosses. The image of Matrena Timofeevna is, as it were, woven from folk poetry. Lyrical and wedding folk songs, lamentations have long told about the life of a peasant woman, and Nekrasov drew from this source, creating the image of his beloved heroine.
Written about the people and for the people, the poem "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" is close to the works of oral folk art. The verse of the poem - Nekrasov's artistic discovery - perfectly conveyed the lively speech of the people, their songs, sayings, sayings, which absorbed centuries-old wisdom, sly humor, sadness and joy. The whole poem is a truly folk work, and this is its great significance.

The next chapter written by Nekrasov - "Peasant Woman"- also seems to be a clear deviation from the scheme outlined in the Prologue: the wanderers are again trying to find a happy one among the peasants. As in other chapters, important role plays the beginning. He, as in the "Last Child", becomes the antithesis of further narration, allows you to discover all the new contradictions of "mysterious Rus'". The chapter begins with a description of the ruined landowner's estate: after the reform, the owners abandoned the estate and the courtyards to the mercy of fate, and the courtyards ruin and break beautiful house, once manicured garden and park. The funny and tragic sides of the life of the abandoned household are closely intertwined in the description. Yards are a special peasant type. Torn out of their familiar environment, they lose the skills of peasant life, and the main among them is the “noble habit of work”. Forgotten by the landowner and unable to feed themselves by labor, they live by plundering and selling the owner's belongings, heating the house, breaking arbors and chiselled balcony columns. But there are also genuinely dramatic moments in this description: for example, the story of a singer with a rare beautiful voice. The landlords took him out of Little Russia, they were going to send him to Italy, but they forgot, busy with their troubles.

Against the background of the tragicomic crowd of ragged and hungry courtyards, “whining domestics”, even more “beautiful” seems to be the “healthy, singing crowd of reapers and reapers” returning from the field. But even among these stately and beautiful people stands out Matrena Timofeevna, "famed" by the "governor" and "lucky". The story of her life, told by herself, occupies a central place in the narrative. Dedicating this chapter to a peasant woman, Nekrasov, I think, not only wanted to open the soul and heart of a Russian woman to the reader. The world of a woman is a family, and telling about herself, Matrena Timofeevna tells about those sides folk life that so far only indirectly touched upon in the poem. But it is they who determine the happiness and unhappiness of a woman: love, family, life.

Matrena Timofeevna does not recognize herself as happy, just as she does not recognize any of the women as happy. But she knew short-lived happiness in her life. The happiness of Matrena Timofeevna is a girl's will, parental love and care. Her girlish life was not carefree and easy: from childhood, from the age of seven, she performed peasant work:

I was lucky in the girls:
We had a good
Non-drinking family.
For father, for mother,
Like Christ in the bosom,
I lived, well done.<...>
And on the seventh for a burushka
I myself ran into the herd,
I wore my father for breakfast,
Grazed the ducklings.
Then mushrooms and berries,
Then: "Take a rake
Yes, hay!
So I got used to it...
And a good worker
And sing and dance the huntress
I was young.

"Happiness" she calls last days girl's life, when her fate was being decided, when she "bargained" with her future husband - argued with him, "bargained" her will in married life:

- You become, good fellow,
Straight against me<...>
Think, dare:
To live with me - do not repent,
And I don't cry with you...<...>
While we were trading
Must be what I think
Then there was happiness.
And hardly ever again!

Her married life is indeed full of tragic events: the death of a child, a cruel flogging, a punishment she voluntarily accepted in order to save her son, a threat to remain a soldier. At the same time, Nekrasov shows that the source of Matrena Timofeevna’s misfortunes is not only “strengthen”, the disenfranchised position of a serf woman, but also the disenfranchised position of the younger daughter-in-law in a large peasant family. The injustice that triumphs in large peasant families, the perception of a person primarily as a worker, the non-recognition of his desires, his "will" - all these problems are opened by the story-confession of Matryona Timofeevna. loving wife and mother, she is doomed to an unhappy and powerless life: to please her husband's family and unfair reproaches of the elders in the family. That is why, even having freed herself from serfdom, having become free, she will grieve about the absence of a "volition", and hence happiness: "The keys to the happiness of a woman, / From our free will / Abandoned, lost / God Himself." And she speaks at the same time not only about herself, but about all women.

This disbelief in the possibility of a woman's happiness is shared by the author. It is no coincidence that Nekrasov excludes from the final text of the chapter the lines about how happily the difficult situation of Matryona Timofeevna in her husband's family changed after returning from the governor's wife: in the text there is no story either that she became a "big woman" in the house, or that she “conquered” the “grumpy, quarrelsome” family of her husband. Only lines remained that the husband's family, recognizing her participation in saving Philip from the soldiery, "bowed" to her and "obeyed" to her. But the chapter of the “Woman's Parable” ends, affirming the inevitability of bondage-misfortune for a woman even after the abolition of serfdom: “But to our female will / There are no and no keys!<...>/ Yes, they are unlikely to be found ... "

The researchers noted Nekrasov's idea: creating image of Matrena Timofeevna y, he aspired to the widest generalization: her fate becomes a symbol of the fate of every Russian woman. The author carefully, thoughtfully chooses the episodes of her life, “guiding” his heroine along the path that any Russian woman takes: a short carefree childhood, labor skills instilled from childhood, girlish will and a long disenfranchised position married woman, workers in the field and in the house. Matrena Timofeevna is going through all the possible dramatic and tragic situations that fall to the lot of a peasant woman: humiliation in her husband's family, beatings of her husband, death of a child, harassment by a manager, flogging and even - albeit not for long - the share of a soldier's wife. “The image of Matryona Timofeevna was created in this way,” writes N.N. Skatov, - that she seemed to have experienced everything and been in all the states that a Russian woman could be in. The folk songs included in the story of Matrena Timofeevna, laments, most often "replacing" her own words, her own story, - expand the narrative even more, allowing you to comprehend both the happiness and misfortune of one peasant woman as a story about the fate of a serf woman.

In general, the story of this woman depicts life according to God's laws, "divinely," as Nekrasov's heroes say:

<...>I endure and do not grumble!
All the power given by God
I believe in work
All in children love!

And the more terrible and unfair are the misfortunes and humiliations that have fallen to her lot. "<...>In me / There is no unbroken bone, / There is no unstretched vein, / There is no uncorrupted blood<...>"- this is not a complaint, but the true result of what Matryona Timofeevna experienced. deep meaning this life - love for children - Nekrasov affirms and with the help of parallels from natural world: the story of the death of Dyomushka is preceded by a cry about a nightingale, whose chicks burned down on a tree lit by a thunderstorm. The chapter that tells about the punishment accepted in order to save another son - Philip from whipping, is called "The She-Wolf". And here is a hungry wolf, ready for life to sacrifice for the cubs appears as a parallel to the fate of a peasant woman who lay down under the rods in order to free her son from punishment.

The central place in the chapter "Peasant Woman" is occupied by the story of Savely, Holy Russian bogatyr. Why is Matryona Timofeevna entrusted with the story of the fate of the Russian peasant, the “hero of Holy Russia”, his life and death? It seems that this is largely because it is important for Nekrasov to show the “hero” Savely Korchagin not only in his opposition to Shalashnikov and the manager Vogel, but also in the family, in everyday life. His big family“Grandfather” Saveliy is a pure and holy person, he was needed as long as he had money: “As long as there was money, / They loved grandfather, groomed, / Now they spit in the eyes!” Savely's inner loneliness in the family enhances the drama of his fate and at the same time, like the fate of Matrena Timofeevna, gives the reader an opportunity to learn about the everyday life of the people.

But it is no less important that the “story within a story”, connecting two destinies, shows the relationship of two outstanding people, for the author himself who was the embodiment of an ideal folk type. It is the story of Matryona Timofeevna about Savely that allows us to emphasize what brought together in general different people: not only a powerless position in the Korchagin family, but also a common character. Matrena Timofeevna, whose whole life is filled only with love, and Savely Korchagin, whom hard life has made “stone”, “fierce than the beast”, are similar in the main thing: their “angry heart”, their understanding of happiness as “will”, as spiritual independence.

Matrena Timofeevna does not accidentally consider Savely lucky. Her words about “grandfather”: “He was also lucky ...” is not a bitter irony, because in Savely’s life, full of suffering and trials, there was something that Matryona Timofeevna herself values ​​\u200b\u200bhighest of all - moral dignity, spiritual freedom. Being a "slave" of the landowner according to the law, Savely did not know spiritual slavery.

Savely, according to Matryona Timofeevna, called his youth "prosperity", although he experienced many insults, humiliations, and punishments. Why does he consider the past "good times"? Yes, because, fenced off by “swampy swamps” and “dense forests” from their landowner Shalashnikov, the inhabitants of Korezhina felt free:

We were only concerned
Bears ... yes with bears
We got along easily.
With a knife and with a horn
I myself am scarier than the elk,
Along the reserved paths
I go: "My forest!" - I scream.

"Prosperity" was not overshadowed by the annual flogging, which Shalashnikov arranged for his peasants, knocking out quitrents with rods. But the peasants - "proud people", having endured the flogging and pretending to be beggars, they knew how to save their money and, in turn, "amused" over the master, who was unable to take the money:

Weak people gave up
And the strong for the patrimony
They stood well.
I also endured
He hesitated, thinking:
"Whatever you do, son of a dog,
And you won't knock out your whole soul,
leave something"<...>
But we lived as merchants ...

The “happiness” that Savely speaks of is, of course, illusory, it is a year of free life without a landowner and the ability to “endure”, endure during the spanking and keep the money earned. But other "happiness" to the peasant could not be released. And yet, Koryozhina soon lost even such “happiness”: “penal servitude” began for the peasants when Vogel was appointed manager: “I ruined it to the bone! / And he fought ... like Shalashnikov himself! /<...>/ The German has a dead grip: / Until he lets him go around the world, / Without leaving, he sucks!

Savely glorifies non-patience as such. Not everything can and should be endured by the peasant. Saveliy clearly distinguishes the ability to "underbear" and "endure". To not endure means to succumb to pain, not to bear the pain, and to submit morally to the landowner. To endure means to lose dignity and to accept humiliation and injustice. Both that and another - does the person "slave".

But Savely Korchagin, like no one else, understands the whole tragedy of eternal patience. With him, an extremely important thought enters the narrative: about the wasted strength of the peasant hero. Savely not only glorifies the Russian heroism, but also mourns for this hero, humiliated and mutilated:

And so we endured
That we are rich.
In that Russian heroism.
Do you think, Matryonushka,
The man is not a hero?
And his life is not military,
And death is not written for him
In battle - a hero!

The peasantry in his reflections appears as a fabulous hero, chained and humiliated. This hero is more than heaven and earth. A truly cosmic image appears in his words:

Hands twisted with chains
Legs forged with iron
Back ... dense forests
Passed on it - broke.
And the chest? Elijah the prophet
On it rattles-rides
On a chariot of fire...
The hero suffers everything!

The hero holds the sky, but this work costs him great torment: “For the time being, a terrible thrust / He lifted something, / Yes, he himself went into the ground up to his chest / With an effort! On his face / Not tears - blood flows! But is there any point in this great patience? It is no coincidence that Savely is disturbed by the thought of a life gone in vain, a gift of wasted strength: “I was lying on the stove; / Lie down, thinking: / Where are you, strength, gone? / What were you good for? / - Under rods, under sticks / She left for trifles! And these bitter words are not only the result of one's own life: they are sorrow for the ruined people's strength.

But the author's task is not only to show the tragedy of the Russian hero, whose strength and pride "went away over trifles." It is no coincidence that at the end of the story about Savely, the name of Susanin appears - a hero-peasant: the monument to Susanin in the center of Kostroma reminded Matryona Timofeevna of "grandfather". Saveliy's ability to maintain freedom of spirit, spiritual independence even in slavery, not to submit to the soul - this is also heroism. It is important to emphasize this feature of the comparison. As N.N. Skatov, the monument to Susanin in the story of Matryona Timofeevna does not look like a real one. “A real monument created by the sculptor V.M. Demut-Malinovsky, the researcher writes, turned out to be more of a monument to the tsar than to Ivan Susanin, who was depicted kneeling near a column with a bust of the tsar. Nekrasov not only kept silent about the fact that the peasant was on his knees. In comparison with the rebel Savely, the image of the Kostroma peasant Susanin received for the first time in Russian art a peculiar, essentially anti-monarchist interpretation. At the same time, the comparison with Ivan Susanin, the hero of Russian history, put the final touch on the monumental figure of the Korezh bogatyr, Holy Russian peasant Savely.