Classical art is called that way because the value of each work included in its fund has been tested by time. Shakespeare's tragedies, da Vinci's paintings, Schnittke's music, Rodin's sculptures - the list could go on for a long time, because the list of human achievements created during its existence and development is truly long and rich. And representatives of Russian culture can be proud that their great compatriot, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, occupies one of the first places of honor among the recognized authors of world and Russian classical literature.
Creator of the Russian novel
Yes exactly. Of course, even before Turgenev there were many talented novelists in Russian literature. “The Encyclopedia of Russian Life” in verse, written by Pushkin, the psychological portrait of an entire generation created by Lermontov in his “Hero...”, and many other wonderful works gave food to the mind and heart of the Russian person, educated, developed, explained, contributed to the formation of spiritually mature personalities, patriots of their homeland. But it was Turgenev who brought the Russian novel to the expanses of world literature and introduced foreign readers to the uniqueness of our culture, way of life, and history. Brevity, extraordinary expressiveness of language, intensity of plot, reflection of the most important socio-political moments in the life of society, ideological struggle characteristic of Russian reality, deep psychologism and amazing skill of a true artist - these are the distinctive features of Turgenev the novelist and his best creations. Thanks to Ivan Sergeevich, foreign audiences and critics learned about this amazing phenomenon - “Russian literature”, “Russian novel”. The author’s most important and beloved creation was “Fathers and Sons.” The meaning of the work reflected not only the complexity of family, social, civil and generally human relations, but also Turgenev’s points of view on these issues.
Why fathers and sons
The author's position in the novel is not directly indicated.
But it is quite easy to determine if you look closely at the composition of the work, analyze the language of the characters, the system of images, and identify the role of individual elements, such as landscape, in the novel. This, by the way, is what makes “Fathers and Sons” very interesting. The meaning of the work is already contained in the title, and the main artistic device of opposition, or antithesis, can be traced throughout the entire novel. So why fathers and why children? Because the family is a small cross-section of the entire society, and in it, as in a mirror, those most complex, sometimes dramatic collisions that shake and feverish the public consciousness are reflected. By the time the idea was born and the novel itself was written, life, in the words of the critic Belinsky, “ran into depth and breadth” in a huge variety of its elements. This variety of forms allows us to see and understand “Fathers and Sons.” The meaning of the work is revealed in the conflict between generations, in views on politics, religion, science, art, social order and world order. No less glaring is the class conflict, which has intensified against the backdrop of harsh confrontation between social forces and problems. An attentive reader, moving from chapter to chapter, understands more and more clearly the metaphorical nature of the title “Fathers and Sons.” The meaning of the work is not only to show the continuity and divisions of generations (a universal human aspect), but also to reveal the confrontation between established views and opinions and new ones that replace the old ones.
About the work “Fathers and Sons”:
One of the fun facts: L.N. Tolstoy fell asleep while reading this novel. Why did it happen so?
In the book by P. Weil and A. Genis “Native Speech”, in the chapter dedicated to Turgenev’s novel, it is said in black and white that “Fathers and Sons” are perceived as something official.
The problem is simple: the last thing art wants to do is serve anything or anyone. On the contrary, art requires sacrifice.
Turgenev relied on objectivity - and the result was a situation where it was impossible to understand whose side the writer was on.
Source
| Title of the work | Fathers and Sons |
| Author | Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev |
| Genre | Novel |
| Year of writing | 1862 |
Family thought
Let's first analyze the “family thought” in the novel. It is worth noting that the theme of family is generally characteristic of Turgenev. The writer lived his entire independent life “on the edge of someone else’s nest,” and he had a rather complicated relationship with his mother. That is probably why Ivan Sergeevich valued so much the warmth of the hearth and the harmony of relationships between the older and younger generations. The work “Fathers and Sons” affirms those eternal values, without which, in fact, progress cannot move forward. This is shown by the example of the Kirsanov family. Arkady, a representative of the young and advanced generation, although under the influence of Bazarov, is still closely connected with his family. Even upon arriving in his father’s land, he exclaims that here the air is sweeter and more expensive and closer than in the capital. Making an excursion into the past of his heroes, Turgenev says that Kirsanov the father constantly tried to get closer to his son, share his interests, live what Arkady lives, met his friends, tried to understand the new generation coming to replace his peers. The work “Fathers and Sons,” as already mentioned, is an antithesis novel. But, although Bazarov is an ardent opponent of the entire past, including “fathers,” although he is outwardly rude to his father and mother and openly ridicules and despises the “old Kirsanovs,” the feeling of kinship is not alien to him. Thus, family traditions and ties are sacred to Turgenev. Welcoming the new time, the writer believes that one cannot completely erase the achievements of past eras, including the continuity of generations.
New and old
The meaning of the novel “Fathers and Sons” is broader and deeper than the question outlined above. Yes, indeed, the younger generation, with its inherent maximalism, often considers itself smarter, more progressive, more talented, more capable of significant actions and useful for the country than those whose age is approaching decline. Alas, but by and large this is true. Both Nikolai Petrovich and Pyotr Petrovich Kirsanov, educated and modern-minded people, still in many ways lagged behind the age that was uncontrollably flying forward. New scientific thoughts, technical achievements, political ideas are difficult for them to understand and difficult to accept into their everyday life. But does this mean that the past should be completely destroyed, forgotten, abandoned, “cleared,” as Bazarov puts it? What then to build in a new place, on an empty one? The nihilist Eugene cannot paint a detailed picture - apparently, he himself does not know, does not imagine it. And the author himself rightly saw the meaning of the novel “Fathers and Sons” not only to criticize the ugliness of Russian reality, the rotten system of social and often human relations, but also to prove that one cannot completely abandon the past. Human civilizations replaced one another, and each was based on the achievements of the previous one.
Essay: What does the novel “Fathers and Sons” make you think about (I.S. Turgenev)
(354 words) Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in his novel “Fathers and Sons” makes the reader think about the eternal problems of humanity. This is not only a conflict between fathers and sons, but also a clash between people of old and new views. I really liked the book because the author does not give answers to the questions asked, but leaves us to make our own choices. It was interesting to feel the atmosphere of the noble era in the life of Russia, when the aristocrats opposed a new force - the revolutionary commoners. Seeing their lives, listening to their conversations, we can choose a favorite and our side of the barricades. This is cool.
Despite the fact that Turgenev himself was alien to the beliefs of nihilists, he fell in love with his hero, like many readers. My impression of Bazarov and his story is good: he is a businesslike and gifted person worthy of respect. He does not take authority on faith, but still has the merits of many of them. The hero is noble, kind, fair. And yet he artificially limits himself in his interests and feelings, so his passion for a woman turned out to be fatal for him. Unable to withstand the test of love, Bazarov could not stand the test of life: his unnatural views are doomed to death, because, as the hero himself said, the old patriarchal Russia does not need him. This is the main idea of the novel “Fathers and Sons”. Eugene’s innovations did not take root, but still paved the way for change. But this destiny was not enough for such a proud person. He died deeply disappointed in himself. But I believe that he played his role as a pioneer with dignity, and the fact that he was not understood is a natural result of the first step.
What does the novel “Fathers and Sons” teach? I think about how important eternal values are in people's lives. No matter how much we deny family and love, without them even the most progressive humanity will die out. But Turgenev would not have been Turgenev if he had not considered the psychologism of feeling. The author perfectly reveals the deep traits of the characters in love and tests their true essence. Eugene's views did not pass this test because they were imperfect and one-sided.
My attitude towards the novel “Fathers and Sons” can be compared to delight. I read it with rapture. This book made me think about important life issues and reconsider my views on family relationships. She taught me to look at the world and the older generation differently. I think now I will become a more tolerant and understanding interlocutor for my parents.
Ideological and aesthetic concept of the novel
What else is the novel “Fathers and Sons” about? Turgenev's work was written in 3 stages. The first dates back to 1860-1861, when the main text was created, the plot and figurative system were formed. The second dates back to the autumn of 1861 - early winter of 1862. At this time, the writer is actively reworking the text, making plot and compositional amendments, expanding the range of issues covered in accordance with political changes in the country. And finally, in the period from February to September 1862, the final edits and the first edition of the work “Fathers and Sons” in the “Russian Bulletin” were made. The novel's problematics are a vivid picture of the rise of the movement of commoners, revolutionary democrats; showing a new, just emerging type of nihilist public figure, questioning all the foundations of the Russian state. On 238 sheets of Turgenev’s neat handwriting there is space for the life story of the rebel Bazarov, criticism of the immorality of nihilism, the conflict between conservative liberals and revolutionary progressives, the disclosure of philosophical, spiritual, religious, ethical and aesthetic, moral conflicts.
Analysis of the novel “Fathers and Sons” (I. S. Turgenev)
Author: Most Green · Published 02/23/2019 · Updated 05/02/2021
Turgenev's mastery - time compression, laconicism, concentration of meaning, clear psychological portraits, not deliberate preaching, but precise formulation of questions - all this was best expressed in the novel "Fathers and Sons", written on the eve of the abolition of serfdom, at the time of the split of the intelligentsia into two parts: revolutionaries-commoners and aristocrats-conservatives. The much-wise Litrekon, in his analysis of the book, expressed the most important thing about the ideological and thematic diversity of the work.
What did the author want to say and what affected him?
It is impossible to understand the meaning of the novel “Fathers and Sons” without revealing the image of the main character - the nihilist Evgeny Bazarov. The author himself noted that he saw a strong, evil, wild and indomitable figure, honest, coming from the people, but doomed to death, because the time of the bazaars had not yet come. He admitted that he did not know whether he loved or hated the image he created. After all, the writer sought first of all to criticize the nobility as a once advanced, but now moribund, conservative class, hindering the economic and political development of the country. But Bazarov came to the fore, and it was about this hero that the controversy unfolded in domestic criticism. Some considered the main character an evil caricature, a pamphlet on the younger generation. Others, picking up Turgenev’s word “nihilist”, began to call it all sorts of outrages, political unrest, produced by the students. And the name Bazarov became synonymous with one of the names of the devil - Asmodeus. Still others, having picked up revolutionary ideas, elevated Evgeny Vasilyevich to the rank of their spiritual leader. Turgenev did not share the ideas of either one, or the second, or the third. This was one of the reasons for the ideological split between the writer and the Sovremennik staff.
The creative history of the novel “Fathers and Sons”, the author’s plan and its embodiment in the novel
The novel Fathers and Sons was started by I.S. Turgenev
in
1860
on
the island.
White in England, and
completed in Russia in 1862
.
The entire creative process of creating this work took only two years and took place in Paris.
The prototype of the main character was a certain provincial doctor, whose name the writer does not name.
The novel was published in 1861
in the magazine
“Russian Bulletin”.
The action of the novel itself covers the period from 1855
to 1861
, when Russia shamefully
lost the war with Turkey,
a change of power occurs:
Alexander II ascended the throne,
during whose reign various reforms were carried out, including the abolition of serfdom and reform in the field of education.
The novel shows the growth of the authority of educated common revolutionaries
in society, and, conversely,
the loss of aristocrats of their social positions.
The writer artistically depicted in this novel the turning point in the social consciousness of Russia, in which noble liberalism was supplanted by revolutionary democratic thought.
Bazarov
, being an exponent of the ideas of revolutionary democracy, is contrasted in the work with the
Kirsanov
, the best representatives of the liberal nobility.
The plot is based on an acute social conflict,
ideological struggle between Bazarov’s worldview and the views of the Kirsanovs.
The generation of
the
60s 19th
century contrasts itself with the older generation - the people
the 40s
. the same century. The development of capitalist relations and the urgent need for an urgent resolution of the peasant question created a pre-revolutionary situation in the country.
The new hero of the era at this turning point for Russia was the democrat commoner
, presented by the writer in the novel as a strong personality, an energetic, integral person, confident in his views and beliefs, a man of action. Turgenev did not write out the image of the main character as positive or negative, without sharing his views, he simply objectively reproduced the “new man” of his era.
In addition to social conflict, the title of the work also reflects the eternal conflict of generations, “fathers and sons,”
when the younger generation strives for independence, defends its views and seeks to separate itself from the people of the older generation. The conflict between “fathers” and “children” in an ideological sense is reflected through the images of the Kirsanovs and Bazarov, and the psychological conflict is shown through the relationship of the younger Kirsanov - Arkady to representatives of the older generation - the father and uncle of the Kirsanovs, Nikolai Petrovich and Pavel Petrovich.
The novel “Fathers and Sons” is the author’s reflections on contemporary events, a statement of the historical realities of that time, thoughts about the fate of the older generation passing into the past, and anxiety for the future generation of enlightened Russian people who will live in a new era, in a new Russian society.
The victory of life over ideology
Yes, Ivan Sergeevich, with all his sincere sympathy for the nobility and compassion for Bazarov, condemned both one and the other. In the novel, he proved that life is more complex and diverse than all ideologies and political disputes, and it cannot be put into any Procrustean bed. Nature, love, sincere affection, the reviving and ennobling power of art, patriotism will triumph over any “passionate, sinful, rebellious heart.” And to this day, the fates of the heroes of the work interest and excite us, give rise to disputes, encourage us to try to understand as deeply as possible and teach everyone to be Human. And this is the main feature of great classical works.
