Characteristics of the literary hero Acts in the work not only as a narrator, but also as actor... He not only describes his heroes, but also enters into an argument with possible opponents. In this regard, he often mentions the discerning reader. On the thought of Vera Pavlovna about why he and Lopukhov became very close on the very first evening, A. remarks: “No, this is not at all strange, Vera. These people, like Lopukhov, have magic words that attract every grieved, offended creature to them. It is their bride who tells them such words. ” A. clearly has sympathy for new people. He gives them detailed description, talks about their views on life. The author says the following about his talent: “I have not a shadow of artistic talent. I even speak the language poorly ”,“ I am not one of those artists who have some kind of spring in every word, I retell what people thought and did, and nothing more; if any action, conversation, monologue in thoughts is needed to characterize a person or position, I tell it, even if it did not respond in any way in the further course of my novel. " Also from A.'s hints, we understand that he is directly related to the revolutionary organization. Therefore, the revolutionary characters of the “new people” are especially close to him.

Essay on literature on the topic: Author (What to do? Chernyshevsky)

Other compositions:

1. The true hero of the era, before whom the author of the novel “What is to be done?” “Bows down,” is Rakhmetov, a revolutionary with his “ardent love for goodness and freedom”. The image of Rakhmetov and all that pure, sublime atmosphere of respect and recognition that surrounds him, undoubtedly testify that Read More ......
2. An essay on the topic: - "The greatest truths are the simplest." L. N. Tolstoy. (According to one of them, they say that the scale of genius has two risks marking this genius - at the very beginning and at the very end of the line. Indeed, the rock paintings of our distant ancestors Read More ......
3. Rakhmetov Characteristics of a literary hero Very important character of the novel, the chapter "A Special Person" is dedicated to him. He himself comes from a noble wealthy family, but leads an ascetic lifestyle. By the time of the action indicated in the novel, R. is 22 years old. He became a student at the age of 16, Read More ......
4. The novel of the century How did it happen that perhaps the worst known Russian book became the most influential Russian book? These are the characteristics that are applicable to Chernyshevsky's novel What Is To Be Done? It seems that everyone agrees with the literary weakness of the novel - the most different and even polar critics. Read More ......
5. Vera Pavlovna Characteristics of the literary hero Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya - main character novel. it beautiful girl with a southern type of person. She grew up in St. Petersburg in a multi-storey building on Gorokhovaya Street. From the age of twelve she has been attending the boarding house. She has great talent Read More ......
6. What to do? On July 11, 1856, a note left by a strange guest is found in a room in one of the large St. Petersburg hotels. The note says that they will soon hear about its author on Liteiny Bridge and that there should be no suspicion of anyone. Circumstances Read More ......
7. LETTER TO THE PUBLISHER OF "NORTHERN BEES" The devil is not as bad as he is portrayed! The novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky "What is to be done?" ended in the May book of Sovremennik. Russian criticism is now busy: she is thinking what to do with this "What to do?" Who read the novel itself Read More ......
8. The scale of genius is said to have two marks that mark this genius - at the very beginning and at the very end of the line. Indeed, the rock paintings of our distant ancestors are expressive in their own way, just as the statues of Easter Island are expressive. “Girl on a Ball” by Picasso is written with the utmost simplicity, Read More ......

Author (What to do? Chernyshevsky)

The main characters of the Russian classical literature preceding Chernyshevsky - "superfluous people." With all the differences between themselves, Onegin, - from moral exhaustion. These are not the heroes of Chernyshevsky. His "new people" know what they need to do, and are able to implement their plans, their thought is inseparable from the deed, they do not know the discord between consciousness and will. Chernyshevsky's heroes are creators of new relationships between people, carriers of a new morality. These new people are in the center of the author's attention, they are the main characters of the novel; therefore, by the end of the second chapter of the novel, such representatives of the old world as Marya Alekseevna, Storeshnikov, Julie, Serge and others are “released from the scene”.

The novel is divided into six chapters, each of which, with the exception of the last, is in turn divided into chapters. In an effort to emphasize the exceptional importance of the final events, Chernyshevsky talks about them in a specially highlighted one-page chapter "Change of scenery".

The importance of the fourth dream of Vera Pavlovna is especially great. It depicts the past, present and future of humanity in an allegorical form, in a change of pictures. In the fourth dream of Vera Pavlovna, revolution appears again, "the sister of her sisters, the bride of her suitors." She talks about equality, brotherhood, freedom, that "there is nothing higher than a man, there is nothing higher than a woman," talks about how people's life will be arranged and what a person will become under socialism.

Characteristic feature of the novel are the author's frequent digressions, appeals to heroes, conversations with a discerning reader. The significance of this imaginary character is very great in the novel. In his face, the philistine part of the public is ridiculed and exposed, inert and stupid, looking for sharp scenes and piquant situations in novels, constantly talking about “artistry and not understanding anything in true art. A discerning reader is one who “smugly talks about literary or scientific things, in which he doesn’t understand anything, and does not interpret because he is really interested in them, but in order to flaunt his mind (which he did not happen to receive from nature ), his lofty aspirations (which in him are as many as in the chair on which he sits) and his education (which in him is as much as in a parrot). "

Mocking and mocking this character, Chernyshevsky was thereby addressing the reader-friend, for whom he had great respect, and demanded from him a thoughtful, intent, truly insightful attitude to the story of the "new people."

The introduction of the image of the discerning reader into the novel was explained by the need to draw the attention of the reading public to what, due to censorship conditions, Chernyshevsky could not speak openly and directly.

To answer the question "What to do?" Chernyshevsky raises and resolves the following burning problems from a revolutionary and socialist position:

1. The socio-political problem of reorganizing society in a revolutionary way, that is, through the physical collision of two worlds. This problem is given in hints in the history of Rakhmetov's life and in the last, 6th chapter "Change of scenery". Due to censorship, Chernyshevsky was unable to expand on this problem in detail.

2. Moral and psychological. This is a question about the internal restructuring of a person who, in the process of struggling with the old power of his mind, can cultivate new moral qualities in himself. The author traces this process from its initial forms (the struggle against family despotism) to preparation for a change of scenery, that is, for a revolution. This problem is revealed in relation to Lopukhov and Kirsanov, in the theory of rational egoism, as well as in the author's conversations with readers and heroes. This problem also includes a detailed story about sewing workshops, that is, about the importance of labor in people's lives.

3. The problem of the emancipation of women, as well as the norms of the new family morality. This moral problem is revealed in the life story of Vera Pavlovna, in the relations of the participants love triangle(Lopukhov, Vera Pavlovna, Kirsanov), as well as in the first 3 dreams of Vera Pavlovna.

4. Socio-utopian. The problem of the future socialist society. It is deployed in the 4th dream of Vera Pavlovna as a dream of a beautiful and bright life. This also includes the theme of labor emancipation, that is, of the technical machine equipment of production.

The main pathos of the book is a passionate enthusiastic propaganda of the idea of ​​a revolutionary transformation of the world.

The main desire of the author was the desire to convince the reader that everyone, provided they work on themselves, can become a "new person", the desire to expand the circle of their like-minded people. The main task was to develop a new methodology for the upbringing of revolutionary consciousness and "honest feelings". The novel was intended to become a life textbook for every thinking person. The main mood of the book is an acute joyful expectation of a revolutionary upheaval and a thirst to take part in it.

Which reader is the novel addressed to?

Chernyshevsky was an educator who believed in the struggle of the masses themselves; therefore, the novel is addressed to broad strata of the different-ranked democratic intelligentsia, which in the 60s became the leading force of the liberation movement in Russia.

Artistic techniques with the help of which the author conveys his thoughts to the reader:

Method 1: the title of each chapter is given a family and household character with a predominant interest in a love affair, which quite accurately conveys the plot plot, but hides the true content. For example, chapter one "The Life of Vera Pavlovna in the parental family", chapter two "First love and legal marriage", chapter three "Marriage and second love", chapter four "Second marriage", etc. These names breathe traditionally and imperceptibly what is truly new, namely the new character of human relations.

Method 2: application of plot inversion - moving 2 introductory chapters from the center to the beginning of the book. The scene of the mysterious, almost detective disappearance of Lopukhov diverted the attention of the censorship from the true ideological orientation of the novel, that is, from what was later given the main attention of the author.

Method 3: the use of numerous hints and allegories, called Aesop speech.

Examples: "golden age", "new order" - this is socialism; "Business" is revolutionary work; A “special person” is a person of revolutionary convictions; "Stage" is life; "Change of scenery" - new life after the victory of the revolution; The "bride" is a revolution; "Light beauty" is freedom. All of these techniques are designed for the reader's intuition and intelligence.

To understand why, why and what was written the novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky "What is to be done?" half of the XIX century. The noble revolution "from above" was defeated, and representatives of the so-called "commoners" took the lead. These people already had completely different ideals and goals. Belinsky, Pisarev, Dobrolyubov and people of their circle become the rulers of thoughts. Chernyshevsky occupies a special place among them.

Largely utopian ideas Nikolai Gavrilovich were based on the idealization of communal land tenure in Russian villages under serfdom. It was from this that his thoughts began about the possibility for Russia, where there is public ownership of land, bypassing the bourgeois path of development, to come to socialism. And this was considered by the advanced people of that time, almost the ultimate goal of mankind. But for this we need people of a new type, whom Chernyshevsky deduces in the famous novel. Characteristics of the heroes of the novel "What is to be done?" summary, the history of creation and the essence - all this is in the article.

People of the past and the future

Although the Decembrists had already become by that time mythological heroes, the nobles as a whole for the author are none other than vulgar people. This is exactly how the composition of the work is built: from vulgar people to new ones, from them to higher ones, and at the end - dreams. Dynamics consists in moving from the past through the present to the future. The past is characters like Serge and Solovtsov. They have no basis, since they are not busy with business, and one of the women of the novel, Julie, calls the idle life vile. Another thing is the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie. They still work to get a livelihood. These are the Rozalskys, headed by Marya Alekseevna. She is not up to entertainment, she is active, but everything is subject to the calculation of personal benefit. Even to the departure of her daughter, she reacts by shouting: "Robbed!" Nevertheless, Chernyshevsky devotes praise to this image of the novel "What is to be done?" a whole chapter. Why? The answer to this question is given in the second dream of Vera Pavlovna. But before that, many events take place in the work. Read the summary of the novel "What to do" below.

Detective start

Although the content of the novel "What to do" is short, we will try to convey in maximum detail the entire atmosphere that reigns in it. So, it all starts as in a detective novel. A tenant disappears from a St. Petersburg hotel. He leaves a note, from the content of which they conclude that the young man has committed suicide. It’s not true, but it’s not a joke either. He did indeed end the life he had led before. Then, gradually, new heroes of the novel "What is to be done?" NG Chernyshevsky does not hesitate, violating the literary tradition, to interrupt the narration with a conversation with readers. They are different, and he sometimes argues with them, then agrees, discusses the heroes of the work, their actions. Then he returns to the plot again. He is, in fact, uncomplicated.

Love in the name of revolution

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

Higher man

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

Change the world to make a person better

Rakhmetov in the novel "What is to be done?" It seems that their ideals are based on the same, but they have no concept of human imperfection. It is not people who are to blame, but the reality around them. It is worth rebuilding it on the basis of brotherhood and common service for the good of all members of society, and the best qualities will appear in people. A kind of heaven on earth will come. In the same vein, love problems and family relationships will be resolved. The dependence of a woman on a man is where these problems are rooted in What Is to Be Done? As soon as the representatives of the two sexes become equal, the excessive concentration of women on love will disappear.

Two years alone

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

After the publication of the proclamation addressed to the peasants, its alleged author was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. An investigation began, which lasted two years. Hunger strikes, protests, solitary confinement of Alekseevsky Ravelin. It was in such conditions that the story of the creation of the novel "What is to be done?" In four months Chernyshevsky wrote a novel full of allegories and false plot moves. Readers with a taste for a different type of work were simply unable to grasp the theme of What Is to Be Done? And most importantly, why was all this created? The work caused them first of all irritation, which was experienced, for example, by Turgenev. The novel caused him simply "physical disgust." A similar feeling was experienced by the censors, especially since the novel was passed on to freedom in four parts. The first thing that attracted attention was the love collisions in the relationships of the heroes. When it was realized what the author was actually calling for, it was already too late, the magazine with publications had time to disperse throughout the country.

Reasonable selfishness as the goal of life

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

Good for the people and the rejection of happiness

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

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

Dreams about the future

The dreams of Vera Pavlovna are the main connecting links between the parts of the novel. In the already mentioned second, she sees two parts of the field. On one side, wheat was richly yielded, on the other, only dirt. Again, you can see the analogy with Jesus' parable about the tares. But the conclusions are different. Sacrifice by order, according to the "commandments", for the "new" people is unacceptable. Dirt is an allegory for the lives of people like Serge who appeared in a dream. It is not useful for anything, and it is not useful to anything. There will be no place for him in a new life. If we remember the very first dream, then this is an allegory of the acquired freedom and the desire to make others free. Dreams in a novel are not only foresight and a show of the future. They are used to analyze the psychological state of a character. In the third in a row, Vera Pavlovna guesses that she does not like Lopukhov. On this score, it is interesting to read the opinion about the novel of the "bodies of political investigation". One of the harmful ideas of the novel there is declared precisely the idea of ​​freedom of marriage. "A woman can freely live in harmony with her husband and lover at the same time." This seems unacceptable to the censors, and here it is difficult to argue with them.

Why remember about Chernyshevsky

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

He showed in the novel people who are independent of the rules and even the laws of life. They, above all Rakhmetov, change themselves of their own free will, but in the name of the good of others. It is the need for this that the author strove to convey to the readers. Therefore, there is a lot of talk about the fact that the main thing in his work is journalism, not artistry. It is unlikely that Chernyshevsky himself would deny this. The task of art is to ennoble man. Something like this sounded his statement in more early works... He achieved the effect by mixing a variety of stylistic and compositional elements in the novel. As soon as the genre of his main work was not determined, none of them was finally recognized as correct. Originality was largely predetermined by the need to bypass censorship. Allegories, conversations with the reader, Aesopian language. It is especially used in the last chapter. After all, the novel ends optimistically. "Change of scenery" means the victory of the revolution. Everyone is happy, including Rakhmetov himself, who did not consider himself entitled to even dream of a future for himself. His dance at a wedding means that the time has come when even an "iron" man can reflect on his own life.

This concludes our retelling of the summary of the novel "What is to be done?" The only thing that can be said with certainty is that the work should not be forgotten. You need to read it and think about what the author wanted to say.

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

History of creation and publication

Chernyshevsky wrote the novel while in the solitary cell of the Alekseevsky Ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863. Since January 1863, the manuscript has been transferred in parts to the commission of inquiry on the Chernyshevsky case (the last part was submitted on April 6). The commission, and after it the censors, saw in the novel only love line and gave permission to print. The oversight of the censorship was soon noticed, and the responsible censor, Beketov, was removed from office. However, the novel had already been published in the journal Sovremennik (1863, no. 3-5). Despite the fact that the issues of Sovremennik, in which the novel What Is to Be Done? Were published, were banned, the text of the novel in handwritten copies spread throughout the country and caused a lot of imitations.

“They talked about Chernyshevsky’s novel not in a whisper, not quietly, but at full throat in the halls, at the entrances, at Mrs. Milbret’s table and in the basement brewery of Steenbok’s passage. They shouted: 'disgusting', 'lovely', 'abomination', etc. - all in different tones. "

P.A.Kropotkin:

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

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

The ban on the publication of the novel "What is to be done?" was filmed only in 1905. In 1906, the novel was first published in Russia as a separate edition.

Plot

The central character of the novel is Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya. To avoid marriage imposed by a mercenary mother, the girl enters into a fictitious marriage with medical student Dmitry Lopukhov (teacher of Fedya's younger brother). Marriage lets her leave parental home and independently manage their lives. Vera studies, tries to find her place in life, and finally opens a “new type” sewing workshop - this is a commune where there are no hired workers and owners, and all girls are equally interested in the well-being of the joint venture.

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

To give his wife freedom, Lopukhov fakes a suicide (the novel begins with an episode of an alleged suicide), he himself leaves for America to study industrial production in practice. After a while, Lopukhov, under the name of Charles Beaumont, returns to Russia. He is an agent of an English firm and came on its behalf to purchase a stearin factory from the industrialist Polozov. Delving into the affairs of the plant, Lopukhov visits Polozov's house, where he meets his daughter Ekaterina. Young people fall in love with each other and soon get married, after which Lopukhov-Beumont announces his return to Kirsanov. A close friendship is struck between families, they settle in the same house and a community of “new people” is growing around them - those who wish to arrange their own and social life “in a new way”.

One of the most significant heroes of the novel is the revolutionary Rakhmetov, a friend of Kirsanov and Lopukhov, whom they once introduced to the teachings of the utopian socialists. Rakhmetov is devoted to a short digression in Chapter 29 ("A Special Man"). This is the hero of the second plan, only episodically connected with the main storyline of the novel (he brings Vera Pavlovna a letter from Dmitry Lopukhov with an explanation of the circumstances of his alleged suicide). However, in the ideological outline of the novel, Rakhmetov plays a special role. What it consists of, Chernyshevsky explains in detail in the XXXI part of chapter 3 ("Conversation with the discerning reader and his expulsion"):

Artistic identity

“The novel“ What is to be done? ”Plowed me deeply. This is a thing that gives a charge for life. " (Lenin)

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

L. Yu. Brik recalled Mayakovsky: “One of the books closest to him was“ What is to be done? ”By Chernyshevsky. He constantly returned to her. The life described in it echoed ours. Mayakovsky, as it were, consulted with Chernyshevsky about his personal affairs, found support in him. "What to do?" Was the last book he read before he died. "

• In the novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky "What is to be done?" aluminum is mentioned. In the "naive utopia" of Vera Pavlovna's fourth dream, it is called the metal of the future. And this great future by now (mid XX - XXI century) aluminum has already reached.
• The “Lady in Mourning” appearing at the end of the work is Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevskaya, the writer's wife. At the end of the novel, we are talking about the release of Chernyshevsky from the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was at the time of writing the novel. He did not wait for release: on February 7, 1864, he was sentenced to 14 years in hard labor, followed by settlement in Siberia.
• The main characters with the surname Kirsanov are also found in the novel by Ivan Turgenev "Fathers and Sons".

Screen adaptations

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

The novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky "What is to be done?" created by him in the chamber of the Peter and Paul Fortress in the period from 12/14/1862 to 04/04/1863. in three and a half months. From January to April 1863, parts of the manuscript were transferred to the commission on the writer's case for censoring. The censorship found nothing reprehensible and allowed the publication. The oversight was soon discovered and the censor Beketov was removed from office, but the novel had already been published in the journal Sovremennik (1863, No. 3-5). The bans on the issues of the magazine did not lead to anything and the book was distributed throughout the country in "samizdat".

In 1905, under Emperor Nicholas II, the ban on publication was lifted, and in 1906 the book was published in a separate edition. The reaction of readers to the novel is interesting, as they are divided in opinions into two camps. Some supported the author, others considered the novel devoid of artistry.

Analysis of the work

1. Socio-political renewal of society through revolution. In the book, the author, due to censorship, could not expand on this topic in more detail. It is given by half-hints in the description of Rakhmetov's life and in the 6th chapter of the novel.

2. Moral and psychological. That a person with the power of his mind is able to create in himself new given moral qualities. The author describes the whole process from small (the fight against despotism in the family) to large-scale, that is, revolution.

3. Women's emancipation, norms of family morality. This topic is revealed in the history of Vera's family, in the relationship of three young people before Lopukhov's alleged suicide, in Vera's first 3 dreams.

4. Future socialist society. This is a dream of a beautiful and bright life, which the author unfolds in the 4th dream of Vera Pavlovna. Here is the vision of lightened labor with the help of technical means, that is, the technogenic development of production.

(Chernyshevsky writes a novel in the chamber of the Peter and Paul Fortress)

The pathos of the novel is the propaganda of the idea of ​​transforming the world through revolution, the preparation of minds and the expectation of it. Moreover, the desire to actively participate in it. The main goal of the work is the development and implementation of a new method of revolutionary education, the creation of a textbook on the formation of a new worldview for every thinking person.

Story line

In the novel, it actually covers the main idea of ​​the work. It was not for nothing that at first even the censors considered the novel nothing more than a love story. The beginning of the work, deliberately entertaining, in the spirit of French novels, aimed to confuse the censorship and, along the way, attract the attention of the majority of the reading public. The plot is based on an uncomplicated love story, which hides the social, philosophical and economic problems of that time. Aesop's narrative language is permeated through and through with the ideas of the coming revolution.

The plot is as follows. There is an ordinary girl Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya, whom the selfish mother tries in every possible way to pass off as a rich man. Trying to avoid this fate, the girl resorts to the help of her friend Dmitry Lopukhov and enters into a fictitious marriage with him. Thus, she gains freedom and leaves her parents' house. In search of earnings, Vera opens a sewing workshop. This is not an ordinary workshop. There is no hired labor here, women workers have their share of the profits, therefore they are interested in the prosperity of the enterprise.

Vera and Aleksandr Kirsanov are mutually in love. To free his imaginary wife from remorse, Lopukhov fakes a suicide (it is with his description that the whole action begins) and leaves for America. There he acquired a new name, Charles Beaumont, became an agent of an English firm and, fulfilling its assignment, came to Russia to acquire a stearic plant from the industrialist Polozov. Lopukhov at Polozov's house meets his daughter Katya. They fall in love with each other, the affair ends with a wedding. Now Dmitry is announced to the Kirsanov family. Friendship begins with families, they settle in the same house. Around them, a circle of "new people" is formed who want to arrange their own and social life in a new way. Lopukhov-Beumont's wife Ekaterina Vasilievna also joins the business, arranges a new sewing workshop. Such is the happy ending.

main characters

The central character of the novel is Vera Rozalskaya. She is especially sociable, belongs to the type of "honest girls" who are not ready to compromise for a profitable marriage without love. The girl is romantic, but, despite this, she is quite modern, with good administrative inclinations, as they would say today. Therefore, she was able to interest the girls and organize a sewing production and more than one.

Another character in the novel is Dmitry Sergeevich Lopukhov, a student at the Medical Academy. Somewhat closed, prefers loneliness. He is honest, decent and noble. It was these qualities that prompted him to help Vera in her difficult situation. For her sake, he drops out of his last year and begins to engage in private practice. Considered the official husband of Vera Pavlovna, he behaves towards her in the highest degree decent and noble. The apogee of his nobility is his decision to stage his own death in order to allow Kirsanov and Vera, who love each other, to unite their fates. Just like Vera, he refers to the formation of new people. Smart, adventurous. This can be judged if only because the British firm entrusted him with a very serious matter.

Kirsanov Alexander is the husband of Vera Pavlovna, Lopukhov's best friend. He is very impressed by his attitude towards his wife. He not only loves her dearly, but is also looking for something to do for her in which she could fulfill herself. The author feels deep sympathy for him and speaks of him as a courageous person who knows how to carry on to the end the work he has undertaken. At the same time, the person is honest, deeply decent and noble. Not knowing about the true relationship of Vera and Lopukhov, falling in love with Vera Pavlovna, disappears from their house for a long time, so as not to disturb the peace of his loved ones. Only Lopukhov's illness compels him to appear for the treatment of a friend. The fictitious husband, realizing the state of the lovers, imitates his death and makes room for Kirsanov next to Vera. Thus, lovers find happiness in family life.

(In the photo, the artist Karnovich-Valois in the role of Rakhmetov, the play "New People")

A close friend of Dmitry and Alexander, the revolutionary Rakhmetov is the most significant hero the novel, although little space is allotted to it in the novel. In the ideological outline of the narrative he played a special role and is devoted to a separate digression in chapter 29. The person is extraordinary in all respects. At the age of 16, he left the university for three years and wandered around Russia in search of adventure and character education. This is a person with already formed principles in all spheres of life, in material, physical and spiritual. At the same time, he has an ebullient nature. He sees his future life in serving people and prepares for this, tempering his spirit and body. He even refused his beloved woman, because love can limit his actions. He would like to live like most people, but he cannot afford it.

In Russian literature, Rakhmetov became the first practical revolutionary. Opinions about him were completely opposite, from indignation to admiration. This is the ideal image of a revolutionary hero. But today, from the standpoint of knowledge of history, such a person could only arouse sympathy, since we know how accurately history proved the correctness of the words of the Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte: "Revolutions are conceived by heroes, performed by fools, and scoundrels use its fruits." Perhaps the voiced opinion does not quite fit into the framework of the image and characteristics of Rakhmetov formed for decades, but this is really so. The above does not in the least detract from the qualities of Rakhmetov, because he is a hero of his time.

According to Chernyshevsky, using the example of Vera, Lopukhov and Kirsanov, he wanted to show ordinary people of the new generation, of whom there are thousands. But without the image of Rakhmetov, the reader could have a deceptive opinion about the main characters of the novel. According to the writer, all people should be like these three heroes, but the highest ideal that all people should strive for is the image of Rakhmetov. And with this I completely agree.