Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a writer, a classic of Russian literature. He knew the life and folk art of his homeland very well. Imaginative sayings, songs full of playful Ukrainian humor, traditions and legends reflect the people’s view of life, express their aspirations and dreams of justice, freedom and liberty. It was Gogol who was able to organically combine Russian and Ukrainian culture in his work.
Around 1830, Nikolai Vasilyevich had the idea of creating a historical work “Taras Bulba”. Work on the text lasted more than 10 years, during which the author rewrote the story several times.
The story “Taras Bulba” was originally published in 1835 in the collection of stories “Mirgorod”. In 1842, the work was published with amendments, in volume 2 of the works of Nikolai Gogol. From 1833 to 1842 it was again subject to changes and amendments.
In the 60s of the 19th century, the original manuscript of the novel, written by Gogol himself, was discovered. Thus, the work increased by three chapters and began to have a pronounced texture. The images of the heroes are presented more complete, emotional, the life of the Cossacks of the Zaporozhye Sich is described with interesting details, the battle scenes are expressive and exciting. The appearance of new characters enriched the story, and the theme of the people's liberation movement was more fully revealed. This gave the work the character of a folk heroic epic.
Nevertheless, Gogol was dissatisfied with the final version of his work. It was inherent in him, having published a work, to endlessly edit and refine it. The writer never considered his work finished.
The author's approach to creating the story "Taras Bulba" was very serious and responsible. Gogol even turned to readers through newspapers to provide their memories or unpublished information about the Cossacks and the Zaporozhye Sich. The author carefully and deeply studied historical sources: “Description of Ukraine” by Boplan, “The History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks” by Myshetsky, manuscripts of Ukrainian chroniclers Velichko, Velichko, Grabyanka and others.
But special historical research and chronicles could not convey the spirit of the times and the characters of people. Only Ukrainian folk songs, thoughts and legends helped the author reveal to readers the soul of the people, their original character, details of life and everyday life. And the images of the heroes were also born under the influence of folk songs. Therefore, the help of folk art in creating the story is difficult to overestimate.
History of creation
When creating the work, Gogol relied not only on folk tales, but also on real historical events. The writer studied many historical books and documents. The plot of the story is based on the history of the Cossack uprising of 1637-1638, directed against the rule of the Poles.
The historical story of the heroic story “Taras Bulba” contains very interesting facts:
- The prototype of the main character is known. The image of Taras Bulba was inspired by the ataman of the Zaporozhian Army Okhrim Makukha, who was an ardent supporter of Bohdan Khmelnitsky and an opponent of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- The prototypes of Bulba’s sons were the sons of Okhrim, one of whom also went over to the side of the Poles out of love.
- The author worked on the manuscript for 10 years and rewrote the text 8 times.
- Gogol advertised in newspapers to collect bits and pieces of historical material for the story. He asked people to send him any mention of the 1637 riot.
- Even the final version of the story did not suit the writer. He intended to rewrite it, but did not have time.
A brief history of the creation of Gogol's story "Taras Bulba"
Taras Bulba was and remains one of the most popular and amazing works of Nikolai Vasilyevich. Many literary critics and writers were surprised by Gogol’s responsible approach to writing his masterpieces; the story of Taras Bulba is no exception. The author studied Ukrainian chronicles, various sources, Cossack histories, and used the “Description of Ukraine” authored by Boplan.
The author worked on his work for 10 years, rewriting it about eight times. The very idea of writing a story appeared to the writer in 1830. The writer, distinguished by his passionate perfectionism aimed at creating the best version of the work, rewrote it many times, remaining dissatisfied. He turned to readers to share their memories of Ukraine, studied folk art and chronicles, creating a work that was unique in its completeness.
Since Nikolai Vasilyevich highly valued the creativity of the people, the creation of the work was based on Ukrainian songs and folk thoughts. This technique allowed us to convey the characters’ characters in the most complete way and reveal their images. Information about Ukraine, unknown to the general reader, and notes from writers were used.
History of creation
Using the help of newspapers and magazines, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol asked citizens to provide him with their personal archives for study, preferably interesting information from Ukrainian history, which either had not been published or had not received sufficient publicity. Manuscripts and personal memories of the people were used.
The unique national flavor reflected in the work is precisely the result of Gogol’s work on studying Ukrainian folklore. The best example would be the main character Andriy, whose character was taken from the images of folk heroes Savva Chaly.
The brilliant writer gleaned details of everyday life from the information he collected in the people's thoughts. The influence of folklore runs like a red thread through the entire work, stuffing it with various figurative expressions, rhetorical figures, metaphors and comparisons. This makes the text not only artistic and lyrical, but also congenial to the common people.
Another pillar on which the story “Taras Bulba” stands is folk history. Its importance for Nikolai Vasilyevich’s contemporaries cannot be denied, which is why there are so many examples of folk art in the work. Despite this, the story cannot be called historical; that would be a mistake.
Uniqueness of the work
A literary work proudly began to bear the title of classical literature precisely because of its uniqueness. Using interesting folk images and harmoniously intertwining them with history, from time to time exaggerating some of the features of his characters, Nikolai Vasilyevich created a most interesting story.
The greatest asset of literature is, of course, not only of purely aesthetic value, representing the greatest asset of Russian classical literature, written with the widespread use of artistic expressions, hyperboles, comparisons and descriptions. This is, first of all, a story about true friendship, about the terrible trials that befell them. The story of the Cossacks who fought their enemies shoulder to shoulder.
Friendship, love and betrayal - these themes seem to be a common thread in all human stories. The story of Nikolai Vasilyevich was no exception; it contains both true friendship and terrible betrayal, falling in love. That is why it is interesting to know by what means and based on what such masterpieces were created.
Direction and genre
"Taras Bulba" is a representative of realistic literature. The author strives for a naturalistic depiction of the environment. His characters are as close as possible to real people. The plot is full of ambiguity, and the characters cannot be divided into strictly positive and strictly negative.
The genre of the work is a historical story. The plot of “Taras Bulba” tells about large-scale and important events that have a real historical basis. At the same time, the main emphasis is not on the general historical picture, but on interpersonal relationships, which prevents this book from being called a novel.
What is the genre of the book “Taras Bulba”? Story or story? Of course, the second, because the volume, number of characters and plot indicate the genre of the story. The story cannot be so voluminous and multifaceted.
The gist: what is the story about?
Two young men, Ostap and Andriy, after many years of studying at the seminary, return to their father, the old Cossack Taras Bulba. The father of the family wants his children to follow in his footsteps, and intends to go with them to the Zaporozhye Sich, where they will become real warriors.
Upon arrival in the Cossack army, Bulba tries in every possible way to provoke a war in order to toughen his sons in real battles. In the end, he succeeds, and the Cossacks set out on a campaign.
The Cossack army reaches the city of Dubno, but turns out to be unable to take it. During the siege, Taras's youngest son, Andriy, learns that there is a Polish lady in the city, with whom he was in love since the seminary. A young Cossack betrays his faith and his people to fight for the one he loves.
Reinforcements are approaching the Poles. As a result of several fierce battles, old Bulba personally kills the traitor Andriy, but the Cossacks are defeated, and Taras’s second son, Ostap, is captured.
Having recovered from his wounds, Bulba reaches Warsaw and witnesses the martyrdom of his last son. In a rage, he gathers his own Cossack regiment and sweeps through the Polish lands like a whirlwind. During a fierce battle, the hero is captured. Taras Bulba is burned alive, but even before his death the old Cossack remained unbroken. He predicts the unification of Russian lands and the victory of the Orthodox over all enemies.
Gogol's work on the story
The writer began his work by studying historical sources. From them he learned the factual details of the historical events of the described era. However, there are certain contradictions in the time indicated in the plot. The author himself indicated that the main character was born at the beginning of the 15th century. At the same time, he smoked a pipe, which could have appeared on the Cossack lands no earlier than the 17th century.
The prose “Taras Bulba”, the history of whose creation is discussed, is presented by the author himself as a work of fiction. The image of his main character is collective. However, it has its prototypes.
One of them is considered to be Okhrim Makukha, the Kurennaya ataman of the Zaporozhye Army. He was an associate of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and lived in the 17th century. He had three sons. One of them, Nazar, defected from the Cossacks to the side of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, because he was in love with a Polish lady. The second son, Khoma, died trying to deliver his traitor brother to his father. The third son, Omelka, was the ancestor of the famous traveler Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay. Omelka's descendant studied with Nikolai Gogol. He conveyed the tradition of his family to the writer. In the sons, the images of the traitor Andriy and Ostap, loyal to the Cossack comradeship, are clearly visible.
Another prototype of Taras Bulba is Ivan Gonta. He was mistakenly credited with the murder of his two sons by his Polish wife. But there is no evidence of such an act.
Main themes
The themes in the story “Taras Bulba” reflect the historical realities that Gogol wrote about:
Motherland
– Duty to the Motherland, the struggle for its independence, is put in first place by Gogol. In his opinion, neither love nor family matters at the moment when it comes to protecting the fatherland. Country is the highest value for a person; it is the spiritual ties with brothers in faith and fatherland that distinguish the human personality from an animal.
Patriotism
– Cossack patriotism, shown by Gogol, goes beyond all conceivable and inconceivable limits. A Gogolian patriot is one who is ready to give everything he has for the sake of the cause of patriotic struggle. For example, the author describes how artisans before the war destroyed all the tools of their labor out of contempt for them. After the battle, the surviving people again rebuilt what they had so foolishly destroyed.
Faith
– Particular emphasis is placed on the heroes’ belonging to the Orthodox faith. It is the bearers of Orthodoxy who are presented by the author as defenders of the country and brave warriors. The faith of Catholics and “Jews,” on the contrary, is portrayed with all possible disgrace. This was typical for the Middle Ages, and the author emphasizes this historical detail.
Family
– Without denying the importance of family ties, Gogol without any doubt pushes them aside before the issue of fighting the enemies of the fatherland and faith. Moreover, it shows that our ancestors had a different understanding of family. It was not built on love, but on duty and tradition, so the couple spent most of their lives apart.
Love
– Love in the story is shown as a dangerous feeling. Driven by love, Andriy commits a terrible betrayal, turns away from his fighting brothers and his homeland. However, her absence is also condemned by the author, because it is the father’s cruelty towards the mother and her feelings that casts the first shadow of alienation on the relationship between Taras and Andriy.
Nature
– Gogol’s narrative unfolds against the backdrop of the Ukrainian steppes. The author describes the landscapes of his small homeland with great love. In Gogol, the steppe expresses the power of Orthodox Rus', its desire for freedom from infidel invaders. It also helps the Cossacks in difficult times: it was the river that allowed Taras’s comrades to escape from Polish pursuit.
Honor
– Gogol showed that in any situation it is important to preserve one’s honor. Andriy accepted death bravely and with dignity. Ostap did not give up until the very end, despite the terrible torture to which he was subjected. Taras also did not lose his pride, remaining himself to the last.
Life and customs
– The life of the Cossacks is presented by the writer as rough, cruel and often unfair. Gogol very picturesquely describes scenes in which Jewish pogroms and reprisals against criminals are depicted. However, despite this, the author still sympathizes with the Cossacks. Because in their society he saw what the inhabitants of big cities had long lost: honesty, contempt for wealth and a sense of unity.
The history of the story
The writer’s appeal to the topic of the Cossacks was not accidental. A native of the Poltava province, since childhood he had heard a lot about the heroic feat of the people during the fight against numerous external invaders. Later, when Gogol began to write, he was particularly interested in such brave and devoted people as Taras Bulba. There were many of them in the Sich. Often former serfs became Cossacks - they found a home and comrades here.
N.V. Gogol studied many sources on this issue, including manuscripts of Ukrainian chronicles, historical studies by Boplan and Myshetsky. Not satisfied with what he read (in his opinion, they contained meager information, which was not enough to understand the soul of the people), Gogol turned to folklore. Historical songs and thoughts dedicated to national heroes told about the peculiarities of the characters, morals and life of the Cossacks. They gave the writer excellent “living” material, which became an excellent addition to scientific sources, and some storylines were included in the story in a revised form.
Features of compositional construction
In this work, the great classic of Russian literature depicted the confrontation between the Ukrainian people and the Polish gentry, who wanted to seize the Ukrainian land and enslave its inhabitants, young and old. In the description of the life and way of life of the Zaporozhye Sich, which the author considered the place where “the will and Cossacks throughout Ukraine” develops, one can feel the author’s especially warm feelings, such as pride, admiration and ardent patriotism. Depicting the life and way of life of the Sich and its inhabitants, Gogol in his brainchild combines historical realities with high lyrical pathos, which is the main feature of the work, which is both realistic and poetic.
The images of literary characters are depicted by the writer through their portraits, described actions, through the prism of relationships with other characters. Even a description of nature, for example the steppe along which old Taras and his sons are traveling, helps to penetrate more deeply into their souls and reveal the character of the heroes. In landscape scenes, various artistic and expressive techniques are present in abundance; there are many epithets, metaphors, comparisons, it is they that give the described objects and phenomena that amazing uniqueness, rage and originality that strike the reader right in the heart and touch the soul.
The story “Taras Bulba” is a heroic work glorifying love for the Motherland, one’s people, the Orthodox faith, and the holiness of feats in their name. The image of the Zaporozhye Cossacks is similar to the image of the epic heroes of antiquity, who harrowed the Russian land from any misfortune. The work glorifies the courage, heroism, bravery and dedication of the heroes who did not betray the sacred bonds of comradeship and defended their native land until their last breath. Traitors to the Motherland are equated by the author to enemy offspring, subject to destruction without any twinge of conscience. After all, such people, having lost honor and conscience, also lose their soul; they should not live on the land of the Fatherland, which the brilliant Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol sang with such great fervor and love in his work.
Big and serious work
Gogol was a great and very demanding artist. From 1833 to 1842 he worked on the story “Taras Bulba”. During this time, he created two editions. They were significantly different from each other. The small masterpiece “Taras Bulba” was written by Gogol in 1835. But even after publishing it in Mirgorod, he returns to this work many times. He never considered it finished. Gogol constantly improved his poetic style. Therefore, judging by the number of editions and drafts that are available, it is impossible to even assume that the work “Taras Bulba” was written by Shevchenko.
Taras Bulba and Taras Shevchenko have only some approximate portrait similarity, nothing more. But they were both Ukrainians, and only their national clothes, hairstyle and common facial features made them related to each other, and that’s all.
Main problems
Moral choice
– Fate puts Andriy and Taras before a difficult choice: feelings or duty. Andriy chooses between his duty to the Cossack brotherhood and his love for Panna, and Bulba chooses between his love for his son and his duty to his homeland, which Andriy betrayed. Andriy chooses feelings, and Taras chooses duty. As in real life, it is difficult to assess which of them ultimately chose correctly.
Fathers and Sons
– Ostap becomes the pride of his father, his young copy. While Andriy is radically different from old Bulba, and even from other Cossacks. Gogol demonstrates the conflict of generations, in which the further history of the rebellion is guessed. It is the young Cossack military leader (the author focuses on his age) who accepts the peace agreement with Poland, but the old man Bulba continues his raids. Both generations look at the world in their own way, so the Cossacks were unable to complete their task victoriously.
Betrayal
– The most terrible thing a person can do, according to Gogol, is betrayal. And treason must be punished decisively and mercilessly. Of course, it cannot be said that the author justifies Taras in everything. But he makes it clear that the hero was a hostage to his bloody era and could not think or act differently.
War
– War is presented in the story as an endlessly cruel phenomenon. But when it comes to protecting the traditional way of life, faith and country, it is necessary and correct. Of course, we look at it differently from the height of progress, but when assessing those events, it is important to understand that they took place in a completely different reality, where there were different morals. Then bloody massacres and torture were the norm, and even gentle young ladies went to executions as if they were going to concerts or dances.
Cruelty
– Gogol’s characters very often do truly cruel things. Gogol was inclined to justify cruelty by the struggle for faith and fatherland, but still he more than once emphasized that the bloodthirstiness of his heroes was a natural phenomenon of that time, and not the norm. It was logical and commonplace then, but not now.
Duty
– According to the writer, a person faces, first of all, a duty to his homeland, faith and comrades. And there can be no mercy for those who violate it. However, the same debt can be a source of tragedy in a person's life. Taras himself brought about the war and was crushed by it, because he saw his duty not in the peaceful prosperity of the people and the country, but in battle and campaign, even if nothing threatened the faith and the fatherland.
From A. S. Bushmin’s notes to “Mirgorod”
(N.V. Gogol. Selected works. In 2 volumes. T. 1. - M.: Fiction, 1984.- 575 pp., ill. (B-ka classics. Russian lit.), p. 563- 564):
“T a r a s B u l b a. — The story was first published in the collection “Mirgorod” (1835). In the second volume of his Works (1842), Gogol gave the story in a different, significantly revised and expanded edition, which differs from the first not only in more careful stylistic finishing and editorial changes to the text, but also in the inclusion of a number of new episodes and provisions. As a result, instead of nine chapters, there were twelve, and the general ideological meaning of the story changed significantly.
... When creating this work, Gogol used various historical sources of his time (research, chronicles, memoirs), among which the following books were of greatest importance for the writer: “History of the Russians,” attributed to the Belarusian Archbishop G. Konissky (1718-1795); “History of Little Russia” by D. Bantysh-Kamensky (1st ed. in 1822); “Description of Ukraine” by the French traveler Boplan (Russian translation appeared in 1832) and “The History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks” book. Myshetsky.
Recreating the picture of a bygone era, Gogol freely handled historical facts, without timing the action of the story to certain actual events and persons. Taras Bulba is not a real person*, but is an artistic type, a collective image of a Cossack hero. The writer cared little about chronological accuracy. So, for example, the events of the story are first attributed to the 15th century, then to the 16th century, and a number of data from real history (Kiev Academy, the siege of Dubna, Hetman Nikolai Pototsky, Ostranitsa) date the action to the middle of the 17th century.
Using historical works as material, Gogol gave preference to folk legends, especially Ukrainian historical songs (“thoughts”). In the article “On Little Russian Songs” he wrote: “This is a folk source, a living, bright, colorful truth that reveals the whole life of the people.”
Ukrainian folk songs, used not only as individual borrowings, but primarily as an image of their past era imprinted in the minds of the people, determined the most important plot motifs, individual episodes and the entire poetic structure of “Taras Bulba” ... ". End of quote.
* There is another opinion, in particular set out on the website https://ru.wikipedia.org, I quote: “The prototype of Taras Bulba is the ancestor of the famous traveler from the Ukrainian-Russian Cossack family Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay, Kurennoy ataman of the Zaporozhian Army Okhrim Makukha, deputy Bohdan Khmelnitsky, born in Starodub at the beginning of the 17th century, who had three sons Nazar, Khoma (Foma) and Omelko (Emelyan), of whom Nazar betrayed his fellow Cossacks and went over to the side of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth troops because of his love for the Polish lady (the prototype of Gogol’s Andriy), Khoma died trying to deliver Nazar to his father (the prototype of Gogol’s Ostap), and Emelyan became the ancestor of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay and his uncle Grigory Ilyich Mikloukha, who studied with Nikolai Gogol and told him a family legend.” End of quote. (Added to the notes of A.S. Bushmin by me. - D.R.)
Application
Sergey Gupalo
Meaning
Gogol depicts before us the struggle of the Cossacks against Polish rule in all its contradictions. And although the writer’s sympathies are completely on the side of the Cossacks, he does not hesitate to show either the coarseness of their souls or the cruelty of their morals. The main idea of the story “Taras Bulba” is to show the beginnings of Ukrainian national identity at a turning point in history using a dramatic story from real life as an example.
The story once again affirms the unity of the Cossacks with the rest of Russia, affirms their patriotic mission, and also depicts Orthodoxy as the only correct religion that unites and protects the Russian land. The call for independence and unity of the Russian state is the main idea of the story “Taras Bulba”.
Image of Taras Bulba
Taras Bulba is the main character of the work. This is by no means a conventionally heroic image. This hero has specific historical features. Nikolai Vasilyevich truthfully portrays the image of a Cossack of those harsh years. Only in rare periods of calm can he return to peaceful life, to his family. The rest of the time, Taras Bulba is a warrior who devotes his life to serving his homeland.
This hero is not characterized by hesitation. Taras always sees a goal in front of him. He believes that his duty is impeccable service to his fatherland. This is where the origins of his courage and fearlessness come from. Taras Bulba is characterized by “rough straightforwardness of character,” which is contrasted in the work with the effeminacy of the Polish gentry, as well as the Cossacks who adopted their habits.
Conclusion
The writer paints an image of a patriot who is ready to sacrifice even his family and feelings if his country is on the other side of the scale. What does he teach? Of course, passionate love for the fatherland and respect for its history.
Gogol condemns betrayal, apostasy, greed and disunity of society. It teaches a person to always value the unity of the Russian people and preserve their human dignity. The moral in the story “Taras Bulba” is a moral lesson of loyalty to one’s ideal. All the characters in the book remained devoted to their principles, even Andriy, who accepted his father’s fair punishment, but retained his love for the Polish woman in his heart.
