The history of the creation of Peter 1 Alexei Tolstoy. The history of the creation of the novel “Peter the Great”
As we already know, back in 1917 Tolstoy tried to find the answer to this in the past. Then this attempt ended in failure: the writer’s idealistic worldview led him to erroneous conclusions. The story “The Day of Peter” is deeply pessimistic. And the point is not that Peter in the eyes of the author is a half-crazed despot, but in the eyes of the people he is the Antichrist, who follows the symbolist Merezhkovsky. Tolstoy another time endowed a great statesman with traits of degeneracy. The source of pessimism is that Peter, according to the author’s conviction, “with his terrible will alone strengthened the state, developed the land,” and that he had no resistance. The tsar’s assistants are drunkards, a thief and a swindler, the people do not understand him and curse him, and Peter himself is guided not by state considerations, but by the base feeling of a small owner, they envy the fist-fist-neighbor-fist
“What was Russia to him, the tsar, the owner, who was inflamed with vexation and jealousy: how is it - his yard and cattle, hirelings and all the farming are worse, the worst of his neighbors? With a face twisted with anger and impatience, the owner galloped from Holland to Moscow... He flew in with annoyance - look, what a piece of land was inherited, not like the Elector of Brandenburg, from the Dutch Stadtholder. Now, on this very day, turn everything upside down, reshape it, cut off the beards, put on a Dutch caftan for everyone, become wiser, start thinking differently.” And even though all the nonsense was cracked from top to bottom, the window was still cut through, and fresh breeze He rushed into the old mansion - what happened was not what Peter wanted: “Russia did not enter, smart and strong, to the banquet of large states. And dragged by his hair, bloodied and gone mad with horror and despair, she appeared to her new relatives in a pitiful and unequal form - a slave.” With such an interpretation of the personality of Peter and the Petrine era, the deeply pessimistic ending of the story is completely logical: “and the burden on this day and all days, past and future, fell like a leaden burden on his shoulder, which took on a burden unbearable for man: one for all.”
In the fall of 1928, Tolstoy returned to the image of Peter in the play “On the Rack” (“Peter the First”). Over the twelve years that separated the tragedy from the story, the writer’s views on the Peter the Great era changed. It is not the whim of the tyrant owner, but historical necessity that forces the tsar to carry out government reforms. But as before, the deeply tragic romantic figure of Peter, alone in his titanic activity and incomprehensible even to those close to him, condemns everyone and everything to sacrifice for the sake of the state: the people, friends, son, wife, himself. Neither the author nor his hero is clear about the main thing: “Who is this for?” That’s why it sounds symbolic last phrase Peter, who sees his life’s work perishing: “A terrible end.”
The play was written by Tolstoy “out of the blue,” in more than two months (finished on December 12, 1928), without a detailed study of historical materials, without deep insight into the essence of the era. There are still expressive traces of the influence of Merezhkovsky’s reactionary writings. All this led to the fact that the play came out symbolic and romantic, and also thickly flavored with naturalistic details. Tolstoy himself later responded disparagingly about it, rightly pointing out that in the tragedy “On the Rack” “there was no true study of the material,” and therefore there was “a lot of romance” and Peter “smelled like Merezhkovsky.”
Having completed the play, Tolstoy intended to write a story about Peter and, after serious preparation, began writing it in February 1929. “The story is beginning to unfold the way I wanted it,” he reported to V.P. Polonsky on February 22. A month later, Tolstoy writes to him: “It seems to me that you will be satisfied with Peter, I have never written anything better. But it’s so hard that sometimes you get desperate.” Already in the second section, the writer realized that it was not a story that was being published, but a novel, and, moreover, a multi-volume one. On May 2, 1929, he confessed: “When I started working on Peter, I thought of concluding everything in one book, now I see my frivolity.” True, the writer also believed that the third (according to the then plan - the last) forehead of the first book would depict “Holland, the death penalty of the archers, stories from Mons, the beginning of the Northern War and the founding of St. Petersburg.” Tolstoy promised to finish this part in July 1929. However, the work overturned these calculations. The first book of "Peter" was completed only on May 12, 1930, and the last, seventh chapter is completed death penalty Streltsov. Other points of the plan formed the content of the second book, which Tolstoy wrote from December 1932 to April 22, 1934. The writer began working on the third book of the epic on December 31, 1943 and managed to bring it to the sixth section
IN different years Tolstoy intended to finish the epic novel in different ways. At one time he wanted to show in last book the death of Peter, a short-lived triumph of feudal reaction, and conclude with the image of another big son Russian people- M.V. Lomonosov, thereby giving an optimistic perspective Russian history after Peter. Already working on the third book, Tolstoy, in a letter to V.B. Shklovsko dated November 21, 1944, says: “I want to bring the novel only to Poltava, maybe to the Prut campaign, I don’t know yet. I don’t want the people in it to grow old - what should I do with the old ones? "Death prevented the writer from finishing his monumental work to end. But despite this, the epic of Peter is one of the most integral, completed works of Tolstoy himself and the pinnacle achievement of the world historical novel
Scientific historicism helped Tolstoy grasp the basic patterns of the Peter the Great era. And the patterns found, in turn, illuminated already familiar concrete historical material with new light, allowing us not only to imagine what we had read, but also to supplement it with our own imagination. And true historical figures, and the figures created by the writer’s imagination began to move, talk, think - live a new life.
How great artist Tolstoy was characterized by the ability to “hallucinate,” that is, to vividly imagine in his imagination what was being depicted. Tolstoy himself believed that this quality can and should be developed in oneself, since it is an indispensable condition for literary mastery in general. “This is the law for a writer,” he asserted, “to create a work through an internal vision of the objects that they describe.
Therefore, you need to develop this ability of vision in yourself. You need to work on yourself in this regard
The behavior of anyone, even in passing, in one scene, the outlined character is determined psychologically by Tolstoy, and the psychology of a person, in turn, is determined by both the course of history and the situation of this person in the surrounding world, and the specific circumstances in which he lives and acts. At the same time, the writer, when creating an image, takes into account specific details, sometimes highlighting those that to the modern reader may give up as secondary, unimportant. Here, for example, is a very short scene, just one page, in which Peter, in the presence of clerk Andrei Andreevich Vinius, receives the merchant Zhigulin. The rich and intelligent merchant obviously heard quite a lot about Peter, because he does not fall at the king’s feet and does not pray, knocking his forehead about the forgery, as would have been the case before, but only bows. For him, Russian man From the lower classes, who grew up in the consciousness that the king is an earthly god, Peter’s order to sit in his presence sounds wild. However, Peter is not the same king as they were: who would have exchanged glances with the “king of all Rus'” in a conversation with a rootless, humble family merchant, received him personally, even without boyars, without Byzantine splendor, with one clerk, in an impoverished house on birch of the Dvina, not in luxurious clothes, but in a linen shirt, contaminated with resin, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows? But Zhigulin is a “merchant”, he is accustomed to everything in trade - pretending to be indifferent, being a hypocrite, hiding his feelings: the first commandment of a merchant is “if you don’t deceive, you won’t sell.”
And therefore Zhigulin almost does not betray mental turmoil (“he just moved his eyebrows”), only slowness, caution in his movements (“sat down with great attention”), and audible restraint in his words are visible. Nevertheless, while presenting his requests in a businesslike manner, without unnecessary words, the merchant does not forget to promise the Tsar a benefit in his own way - “we will serve our own.”
Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born on December 29, 1882 in the city of Nikolaevsk, now the city of Pugachev, Saratov region.
For more than twenty-five years, A. Tolstoy was worried about the Peter the Great era and Peter himself. The writer did not immediately find the key to a historically accurate depiction of the era of Peter. IN different periods creativity, he saw Peter and his era differently. In my essay I want to trace the evolution of the theme of Peter in the work of A. N. Tolstoy. But first you need to do a little historical excursion into the literature of the 18th-19th centuries, since in his work A. Tolstoy followed from his predecessors, especially from the work of A. S. Pushkin.
The creative history of “Peter the Great” is clear evidence of the artist’s persistent approach to a scientific understanding of history. Speaking at an evening at the Communist Academy in 1933, Tolstoy recalled: “I had my sights set on “Peter the Great” for a long time - from the beginning February revolution. I saw all the stains on his camisole, but Peter still stuck out as a mystery in the historical fog.”
“There is no doubt,” writes A. M. Kryukova, “that the emergence of A. Tolstoy’s historical consciousness was conditioned by the era of great social and political changes in 1917.” Indeed, Tolstoy’s interest in history is not a snobbish passion for antiquity, not a collector’s dry passion for ancient words and images, not an escape from reality. For Tolstoy, history was interesting as an opportunity to look at the experience of human generations from the heights of modernity, an attempt to draw useful conclusions for today, understand what is happening and understand it better. Therefore, Tolstoy is attracted not by any antiquity, but by certain historical eras, decisive periods of history that determined the fate of the people and the country for long periods of time.
Thus, the writer more than once explained his interest in the theme of Peter I with the desire to understand modernity, to approach the creative comprehension of the revolution “from the other end”: Peter I is an approach to modernity from its deep rear: In “ Brief autobiography“We read: “From the very first months of the February Revolution, I turned to the topic of Peter the Great.
It must have been more by the artist’s instinct than consciously that I sought in this theme the clue to the Russian people and Russian statehood.” Here, according to A. M. Kryukova, it is important to emphasize precisely this circumstance - the “instinct of the artist”, and not the task of creative response imposed on oneself or coming from outside. What led him to the epic “Peter the Great”? Answering this question, A. Tolstoy writes: “I was captivated by the feeling of completeness, unkempt and creative power that life when the Russian character was revealed with particular brightness.” In this regard, Tolstoy’s words about his creative interest in the four eras of Russian history (the era of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, civil war 1918-1920 and ours - today - unprecedented), in scope and significance - tragic and creative eras in which the Russian character was born and which reveal to us the secret of the writer’s artistic thinking in general. Pushkin's ideal of the connection of times was conceived by A. Tolstoy not as an abstract relationship between history and modernity, but as a single historical path in which one era passes into another and has a deep connection with it. intercom- general philosophical and historical-cultural topic: the formation of a folk, national identity. Thus, the idea of a work about Peter and his era, which Tolstoy turned to in 1917 (according to other sources - at the end of 1916), arose from a complex interweaving of impulses from modern reality and literary tradition.
Indeed, the growth of a powerful popular movement before October 1917 turned A. N. Tolstoy to a historical theme - the era of Peter I. It was at this time that the writer conceived the idea of his first stories on a historical theme (“The First Terrorists”, “Obsession” and “Day”) Peter"). In them he tries to find clues to the historical patterns of Russia's movement, to find answers to questions posed by the collapse of the old system and the rapidly growing revolution.
However, the writer, in his views on the Petrine era, remained captive of old ideas. Answering a question in 1933 about the reasons for his attraction to the theme of Peter, Alexey Tolstoy said that he did not remember what served as the motivating beginning for its emergence, while making two very important clarifications: “The story of Peter I was written at the very beginning of the February revolution. There is no doubt that this story was written under the influence of Merezhkovsky.” Two circumstances are placed side by side here: time and literary influence. And it was precisely the second circumstance - literary influence - that, after creating a novel on this topic, aroused in him a special desire to abandon D. Merezhkovsky and his early work: "It's a weak thing."
In the article “How We Write” (1929), Alexei Tolstoy writes: “Only in two cases did I prepare for work for a long time; the novel “Peter I” was conceived at the end of 1916, and the story “The Day of Peter” and the play were previously written "On the rack." Is it true, initial stage The writer’s work on the theme of the Peter the Great era, which led him to the creation of the novel “Peter the Great,” should be recognized as writing the story “Obsession,” and shortly before that, the completed essay “The First Terrorists.”
In “Obsession,” Alexei Tolstoy does not show us the major historical events of the era; in fact, the figure of Peter himself is not in the story: it depicts tragic death innocently spoken Kochubei and the unhappy love of his daughter Matryona, that is, the plot of the story is based mainly on the transfer of intimate, love experiences of the hero. But the story is still important. “It’s not for nothing that two months later,” writes Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, “...I remembered it by heart from word to word, to the comma (missing only one place in several lines”).
This was an experience, according to the writer himself, of developing a general historical and everyday background and coloring of the old language.
“Peter the First” Tolstoy Alexey
The novel opens with a description of real historical events. In 1675, Fyodor Alekseevich ascended the throne. But after his death, a struggle for power begins. During Peter's early childhood, his sister, Princess Sophia, began to rule the state. In an effort to maintain power, she persuades the Streltsy army to revolt, but Peter escapes. A confrontation arises between Princess Sophia, her favorite, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, and the young Ivan Alekseevich and Pyotr Alekseevich. “And everything went as before. Nothing happened. Over Moscow, over the cities, over hundreds of districts spread across the vast land, the twilight of a hundred years soured—poverty, servility, lack of contentment.”
All these events develop in parallel with the most ordinary incidents in life. ordinary people. The author describes the Brovkin family, in particular the difficult life of little Alyoshka, who is constantly punished for his mischief. One day Ivashka Brovkin goes to Moscow and takes his son Aleshka with him. Along the way, Alyoshka runs away, frightened by his father’s anger. This is where it begins independent life. He gets a job selling pies. Here he meets Aleksashka Menshikov. One day Alyoshka and Aleksashka meet an unusually dressed boy. They easily strike up a conversation with him and surprise him with a needle trick.
Peter, and it was he who met Alyosha and Menshikov, lived three miles from the capital in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Peter was drawn to the home environment and found an inexplicable charm in communicating with the inhabitants of the German settlement. Here he meets Captain Franz Lefort. Here he meets his first love, the daughter of a local wine merchant, Anna Mons. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna hastily marries the young tsar to Evdokia Lopukhina in order to settle him down. In Preobrazhenskoe, Peter gathers many of his peers, from whom he forms regiments. Companions for playing soldiers were called amusing ones. The number of amusing people began to increase so much that there was not enough room for everyone in the village. Therefore, some of them were located in the nearest village - Semenovskoye. Thus, the funny shelves become a prototype of the future Russian army. Peter becomes close to captain Fyodor Sommer, who strongly supports his endeavors. Peter learns that the boy who so amazed him with his magic trick is in the service of Captain Franz Lefort. The young king takes him to his place and makes him his bed. From this time on, Aleksashka Menshikov became a significant figure in Peter’s life, a man who had great influence on the Tsar. Aleksashka, in turn, does not forget about his friend Alyoshka. He gets him into the amusing army as a drummer and helps him in the future. One day Alyoshka meets his father in Moscow. He forgives him all his insults and gives him money. With this money, Ivashka Brovkin bought himself out of serfdom and became a wealthy merchant. In addition, he, again through his son, met Peter himself. And at this time rumors were already beginning to circulate about the king. He amazes everyone by the fact that he brings people closer to himself, guided not so much by their origin and nobility, but by their intelligence and intelligence. It is not for nothing that his motto is mentioned in the novel by the author himself: “From now on, nobility will be judged by suitability.”
Sophia, who saw Peter's growing power and his growing influence, is trying to organize a rebellion against him. And again her choice falls on the Streltsy regiment. However, some of the archers take an oath to warn the king and thereby save him. The forewarned Peter leaves Preobrazhensky for the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The revolt is suppressed. Its instigators were brutally executed. Vasily Golitsyn himself and his family were sent into exile. And Sophia is locked in Novodevichy Convent. Peter remains the sole ruler.
Soon Evdokia brings Peter his first child, Alexei Petrovich. And almost simultaneously, his mother, Natalya Kirillovna, dies.
Among the smart and active people of that era were big hopes on Peter. They saw him as an intelligent, far-sighted politician, a firm, self-confident person. Many then understood that “Russia - a gold mine - lay under centuries-old mud... If not the new tsar will raise life, then who will?” The already famous Franz Lefort becomes close to the king. He helps the king with advice. One of the tsar's first major accomplishments was the campaign against Crimea. Crimea was a very important territory for Russia, where many of its interests converged. Peter sends part of his army to Azov. The campaign to Crimea ends in failure for Russia, but this did not break Peter’s will. He carries out his reforms and “breaks through the window to Europe,” as they will later talk about him. However, these reforms were not unanimously accepted by the people. The beginning of the 18th century was marked by riots and discontent. People went into the forests, burned themselves in huts, just so as not to surrender into the hands of the Antichrist. “The Western infection uncontrollably penetrated into dormant existence... The boyars and landed nobility, the clergy and archers were afraid of change (new things, new people), hated the speed and cruelty of everything new... But those, rootless, efficient, who wanted change, who were enchantedly drawn to Europe... - these said that in the young king We were not mistaken." When Peter was in Arkhangelsk for the first time, he was amazed by the view of the sea. And indeed, the sea was very important for Russia. Peter orders the construction of ships in Voronezh. Having recruited a strong fleet, the tsar makes a new attempt to take Azov. The fortress surrendered, but the Turkish Empire rebelled against Russia. The king is forced to look for allies. He calls on European states to cooperate. Peter travels secretly to Holland under the name of the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Peter Mikhailov. Here he learns crafts. And his absence in the country threatens a riot. And again Sophia incites the archers to an uprising, a conspiracy. The return of the Tsar to Moscow threatens with cruel reprisals against the rebels. “The whole country was gripped by horror. The old stuff was hidden in the dark corners. Byzantine Rus' was ending." There has long been a rift in the relationship between Evdokia and Peter. And so Evdokia is sent to Suzdal, to a monastery. In her place is the “Kukui queen” Anna Monet; That’s what they call her house in Moscow—the Tsaritsyn’s Palace. The tsar's faithful assistant and friend Franz Lefort suddenly dies.
The construction of a military fleet in Voronezh continues actively. Russia is growing stronger. New ships are being laid down. They are beginning to fear Russia.
Ivan Artemyich Brovkin is expanding his business. He manages supplies to the army. Now he is an eminent merchant who can safely be proud of his children. And Alexey Brovkin is not indifferent to Princess Natalya Alekseevna, Peter’s sister.
In the 1700s, the Great Northern War broke out. Peter declares war on the Swedes. Young and ambitious king Charles XII defeats Russian troops near Narva. Considering Peter a weak enemy, Charles goes against the Polish king. He stayed in Poland for about 6 years and overthrew Augustus from the throne. Peter is torn to pieces at this time. He manages to manage affairs in Moscow, Novgorod, and Voronezh. Peter's decision to cast cannons from monastery bells became infamous. Volunteers are being recruited into the army. And many peasants, trying to escape serfdom, rush to the army. Well-trained Russian troops capture the Marienburg fortress. Many prisoners were taken. Among them they notice a slightly disheveled, but still very pretty girl. Alexander Menshikov takes the beautiful Katerina for himself. At this time, Peter learns about Anna Mons's betrayal with the envoy Kenichsek. Menshikov, in order to pacify the tsar’s formidable temper, introduces him to Katerina. This is the future Tsarina Catherine I.
“The embarrassment near Narva did us great good,” says Peter. “By beating, iron becomes stronger, a man matures.” Peter marches victoriously to Narva. General Horn understands perfectly well that the city cannot withstand a siege, but, nevertheless, does not want to surrender the city. The result is meaningless sacrifices. Narva is taken. General Horn is defeated. “You will not be honored by me,” he hears from Peter. “Take him to prison, on foot, across the whole city, so that he can see the sad work of his hands...”
A. N. Tolstoy worked on the topic of the era of Peter I that fascinated him for more than two decades. Long before creating the novel “Peter the Great,” he wrote the stories “Obsession” and “The Day of Peter,” and the essay “The First Terrorists,” which, based on authentic documents, told about the attempt on the life of Tsar Peter. These were the first drafts of Tolstoy's future epic novel. Even then he worked a lot on historical sources in order to most fully convey the events of the Petrine era.
The author's close acquaintance with this historical period allowed him to fully convey the flavor of the era. The writer recreates the political and cultural life, life and national traditions, morals, customs, social and religious conflicts of this turning point in the life of Russia.
Central location occupies in the novel reform activities Tsar Peter I. Tolstoy saw in the decisive reforms of this sovereign a positive, reasonable beginning, since they were aimed at creating new Russia- civilized, developed country. The author of the novel emphasizes the great progressive significance of these transformations. Tolstoy depicted Peter I himself in large statesman, emphasizing the leadership’s talent, perseverance, and tenacity of character. In the example of Peter we can see positive features Russian national character.
But, as you know, this king was, although an extraordinary, but very controversial person. And Tolstoy does not close his eyes to the historical truth; he shows by what forces reforms were carried out in the country, how Peter subjugated all those who disagreed and imposed his decisions. For example, the novel shows how the tsar forces his entourage to learn European etiquette, mockingly cuts the boyars’ beards, organizes clownish processions through the streets of Moscow, tortures and executes the archers.
Peter I is depicted in the novel as an imperious person. Makings of strong character appear in Peter back in adolescence, when he managed to give the first rebuff to his sister, ruler Sophia. In the struggle with Princess Sophia for power, a plan for future transformations in Russia is already taking shape in his mind. And he gets his way. Tolstoy shows in the novel how Peter I was building a fleet, founding the Arkhangelsk shipyard, and studying shipbuilding abroad. His reforms cover literally all spheres of life in Russia late XVII - early XVIII century: army, navy, science, culture, everyday life, external and domestic policy
Realistic household and political situation Tolstoy also creates Peter's era by describing Peter's contemporaries, his associates and political enemies, or simply people typical of their time. Ruler Sophia, step-sister Petra, who challenged his rights to the throne, is portrayed by Tolstoy as a cunning, powerful woman, capable of deceit. She has the will, the state mind, but, drawn into palace intrigues, she becomes the organizer of the boyar-streltsy opposition. And thus opposes the progressive reforms of Peter.
The image of Peter I in the novel is contrasted with the image of the Swedish king Charles XII, passionate about the idea of conquering neighboring states. Charles XII is depicted by Tolstoy as a war fanatic. Carried away by battles, he often neglects reason and caution, forgets about the interests of his country. All of Peter’s actions, on the contrary, are aimed at protecting the interests of Russia. War is not a reason for him to show his courage. War for Peter is the need to protect the interests of the country. Tolstoy portrays Field Marshal Sheremetev, an outstanding Russian military leader, as devoted to the defense of his country. The author emphasizes the best features in him: simplicity, modesty, humanity, devotion to duty, lack of vanity.
Depicting many heroes and their personal destinies in his novel, the author closely connects them with the events taking place in the country. Dynamic times of change require new heroes. Representatives of some sections of society quickly rise up, while others find themselves thrown back. For example, the arrogant boyar Buynosov does not accept reforms, he yearns for the old days. In Peter's innovations, he sees only the humiliation of the old boyar families People like Buinosov are being replaced by figures from the serving nobility and merchant class, who actively participate in Peter’s transformations. Using the example of the fate of Aleksashka Menshikov and the Brovkin family, Tolstoy shows how people from the lower classes become close associates of the tsar and occupy high positions. This was possible only because Peter considered “nobility according to fitness”
In his novel A.N. Tolstoy also truthfully portrayed the poverty and downtroddenness of the common people. We see peasants, serfs, soldiers suffering from exorbitant exactions and backbreaking labor. The theme of the plight of the people is one of the main ones in the novel “Peter the Great”. Tolstoy reflects in his work such a phenomenon of Russian reality of that time as the schismatic movement. The author talks about runaway peasants rushing to forest wilds, to schismatic monasteries. The fugitives are ready for any hardship, just to “live in freedom, and not by order of the sovereign.”
At the same time, using the example of the poor man Andryushka Golikov, Tolstoy shows that some gifted people from the lower classes could realize their talents. Palekh icon painter Andryushka Golikov got the opportunity to study painting in Italy. But most importantly, Tolstoy shows the huge role of the people in the implementation of Peter’s grandiose plans. It was the hard work of ordinary people, their daily labor that created the new Russia.
Against the backdrop of the turbulent events taking place in the country political events Tolstoy does not forget to show the cultural life of the Petrine era. The writer talks about the mechanic-inventor Kuzka Zhemov, who wants to build the first flying machine. The Tsar’s beloved sister, Natalya Alekseevna, is organizing the theater and writing poetry for it. It is she who helps Peter introduce him into Russian life European customs.
The novel by A. N. Tolstoy is distinguished by its wide coverage of the life of Russia during the reign of the outstanding sovereign Peter I. Controversial and dynamic, this era in Russian history is presented by Tolstoy in all its manifestations, which allows us to talk about its realistic artistic depiction in the novel. The writer is his wonderful novel made a significant contribution to the depiction of the Petrine era and, through the prism of those events, to the depiction of the Russian national character.
St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after. Rimsky-Korsakov
HISTORY ABSTRACT ON THE TOPIC:
THE IMAGE OF PETER IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE.
The work was completed by a student
4 courses of DRL
Bokova Elizaveta.
Head: associate professor of the department
social sciences and humanities
E.A. Ponomareva.
St. Petersburg, 2012
Image of PeterIin Russian literature.
1.Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
2. From Lomonosov to A.S. Pushkin………………………………………………………4
3. Novel “Peter”I» A. Tolstoy………………………………………………………………10
4. Works of other writers and historians of Russia about the personality of Peter the Great and his time………………………………………………………………………………………… …….12
5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14
6. List of used literature…………………………………………….15
Introduction.
“And henceforth we must work and prepare everything in advance, before missing the time of irrevocable death is like”
PeterI.
The personality of Peter I constantly attracted the attention of both his contemporaries and posterity.
Peter was glorified and reviled, songs were written about him and he was cursed, he was loved and feared (often at the same time), incense was smoked for him and thunder from heaven was called upon his proudly raised head.
It was impossible to remain indifferent to Peter, it was impossible to treat him “in any way.” And this attitude up to our time is explained not only by the greatness of his figure and the deeds he created, but also by the brightness of his personality, multifaceted, complex, impetuous and integral, his bright mind, the burning of his broad Russian soul. Even Peter’s appearance, different from everyone else with his familiar, special, seemingly incompatible features, could not help but capture the attention of the people around him.
Of course, great Russian writers and poets could not ignore Peter. Over the entire time that has passed since the reign of Peter, many works have been written in different genres, in which the main figure is this great king from the Romanov family.
The authors interpreted the personality of the tsar differently: some paid more attention to the features of a tyrant who, through reforms, turned Russia to an “alien” European course of development, but most writers admired his greatness and his transformative activities, which literally “awakened” Russia and understood how important this figure was in the development and formation of our country. In many ways, Peter and everything that was connected with him became a red thread, a cross-cutting theme of literature of the 18th-19th centuries.
“The difference in views occurred, firstly, from the enormity of the deed accomplished by Peter, and the duration of the influence of this deed: - the more significant any phenomenon, the more contradictory views and opinions it gives rise to, and the longer they talk about it: secondly, from the fact that Russian life did not stop after Peter, and with each new situation, its thinking Russian person had to turn to the activities of Peter, the results of which remained inherent in further movement, and discuss it, apply it to new conditions, a new situation of life: thirdly “, the difference in views on Peter’s activities depended on the immaturity of our historical science.”
In this essay we will touch upon the most significant works that showed and still show readers the scale of Peter the Great’s personality.
From Lomonosov to Pushkin.
« I cry to you, wisdom is endless,
Shine your ray to me, where sincerity is heartfelt
And the spirit is full of jealousy and hurries in delight
Peter the Great speaks out loud to the universe
And show how he is above man
He has endured labors unheard of for us since ages...”
(ode “Peter the Great”, Lomonosov)
Lomonosov revered Peter - the great collector of lands, a tireless worker and a learned man, beloved by the people.
The ideal of the time of Lomonosov and Derzhavin (late 18th century) was an enlightened monarchy and, in principle, education and the pursuit of knowledge, and it is logical that the ideal hero of their time was Peter I.
Derzhavin’s most striking examples of “petrism” are the odes “Nobleman” and “Monument of Peter the Great”:
« Leaving the scepter, throne, palace,
I was a wanderer, covered in dust and sweat,
Great Peter, like some kind of god,
He shone with majesty at work:
Honorable and in rags hero!
Catherine in low stakes
And not on the royal throne
She was a great wife"
(ode "Nobleman")
« Although death lifts his scythe The same applies to the rulers of the earth; But the memory remains forever In the hearts of people there are good kings. Your virtue will remain, You are our successor! Nero, Caligula, Commodes, When on the thrones where they sit, Though their late births remember them, But they remember it like pestilence and famine. Your virtue will remain, Oh, Peter! dear to all ages; Keep, keep always, Creator, “You are our successor!”
(Ode "Monument to Peter the Great")
As much as Peter I was a great reformer, a powerful statesman who moved Russia forward on a grand scale, Pushkin was the Peter the Great of Russian literature. The theme of Peter is a “cross-cutting” theme in Russian literature in general, in the work of Pushkin in particular.
Interest in historical topics, including the era of Peter, arose from Pushkin in the 1820s and especially after December 14, 1825. Historical events for Pushkin are not valuable in themselves; he always sought not only to show the great victories and deeds of the reformer, but also to reveal their results and influence on the destinies of individual people. The gigantic figure of Peter undoubtedly delighted the poet, everything that Peter accomplished was dear to Pushkin, -Petersburg, “young city // The beauty and wonder of full countries”, - and at the same time, Pushkin could not come to terms with Peter’s tyranny and despotism, and critically assessed the results and methods of his activities. This duality in the evaluation criteria determined the duality in the image of Peter, which manifested itself in his works. For A.S. Pushkin, Emperor Peter is the only initiator of reforms. The idea of the socio-economic conditionality of the reformation could not arise at that time, therefore the image of Peter was presented by Pushkin as the embodiment of some higher, demiurgic, elemental force, an instrument of Providence.
“The insignificant heirs of the northern giant, amazed at the brilliance of his greatness, imitated him with superstitious precision in everything that did not require new inspiration. ... Peter I was not afraid of people’s freedom, the inevitable consequence of enlightenment, for he trusted his power and despised humanity, perhaps more than Napoleon.” (Notes on Russian history of the 18th century)
Working on Peter's theme, Pushkin used various genres.
In his first works dedicated to Peter: the poem “Stanzas” (1826) and “Poltava” (1828), the poet creates a clearly idealized image of Peter:
“Now an academician, now a hero
Either a sailor or a carpenter
He is an all-encompassing soul
There was an eternal worker on the throne" ("Stanzas")
But the assessment of the era is not so clear:
"the beginning of Peter's glorious deeds
Riots and executions were gloomy"
(“Stanzas”).
In Poltava, which glorifies Peter, it is time for reforms, “When Russia is young... “...Muzhala with the genius of Peter” named "troubled times"
The assessment of the era and the will of the autocrat is figuratively summarized in the words:
“So heavy mlat,
Crushing glass, forges damask steel"
- here the idea of necessary violence, tragic for "glass" but beneficial for "damask steel" which is forged by the king-demiurge.
The tragic deaths of Kochubey and Iskra characterize the cruel morals of Peter and the era.
In "Poltava" Peter - "genius", "his eyes
They shine. His face terrible
The movements are fast. He is beautiful,
He’s like God’s thunderstorm.”
Here Peter is the Demiurge, the embodiment of the providential forces of history, but in his image it is not only inspiration from above that is important - the combination of the beautiful and the terrible leads to the idea of the elemental unbridledness of his character, which brings evil: the reason for Mazepa’s betrayal is the insult inflicted on him by Peter in a fit of insanity. completely justified anger.
A. S. Pushkin’s dual approach to assessing history, the awareness of the irreconcilable contradiction between the historical necessity of state building and the destinies of the people, personal destinies, was the basis for the ideological content of the poem “The Bronze Horseman.”
The founding of St. Petersburg, according to Pushkin, was motivated by state necessity:
“from here we will threaten the Swede
Here, on new waves
All flags will come to visit us"
Open a “window to Europe” for us “destined by nature.”
But the fate of Eugene, the historical ruthlessness of the transformative activities of Peter I becomes “ Bronze Horseman"A terrible reproach to the entire work of the converter.
The image of Peter in The Bronze Horseman is revealed in the unity of irreconcilable opposites: he and "wonderful builder" And “an idol on a bronze horse”, “a proud idol”, That
"by whose will fatal
The city was founded above the sea...
Terrible he is in the surrounding darkness!
What a thought on the brow!
What power is hidden in it!
... At the height, with an iron bridle
Has Russia reared up?
He is the embodiment of elemental forces and state greatness, History and Fate, hostile to man.
The mystical idea of the superhuman nature of Peter is characteristic only of the poetry of A. S. Pushkin. In prose works
the image of a reformer is more down-to-earth.
In Pushkin’s unfinished novel “The Blackamoor of Peter the Great” Peter -
“Hero of Poltava, mighty and formidable transformer of Russia”, but in the description of the morals of the era, the character of Peter and the methods of the Reformation, ironic notes can also be traced.
The tyranny and despotism of Peter are also shown: he orders Rzhevsky to give his daughter for his favorite, he rides with a club in his hands “to the rogue Danilych... to exchange money for his newleprosy."
As Pushkin portrays, Peter loved those Russian morals and customs that did not seem to him a manifestation of patriarchal savagery. Talking with Ibrahim, Peter reveals such good nature and cheerfulness, “that no one writes Pushkin in the affectionate and hospitable host could suspect the hero of Poltava, the powerful and formidable transformer of Russia.”
Peter takes on the role of matchmaker for his godson, loves national dishes, and is not averse to “relaxing, as is the Russian custom.” He sincerely cares about Ibrahim: “Listen..., you are a lonely person, without family and tribe, a stranger to everyone except me. If I die today, what will happen to you tomorrow, my poor Arab? You need to get settled while there is still time; find support in new connections, enter into an alliance with the new boyars.”
Peter's penchant for broad and great fun, good-natured slyness, hospitality - all this complements the image of Peter, who, according to Pushkin, embodies the traits of a national character. Pushkin gives a deep insight into Peter's democracy. Peter judges people and chooses his assistants not based on class, but on mental abilities and knowledge. Without at all diminishing Peter's outstanding personal qualities, Pushkin helps the reader understand and feel the historical pattern of Peter's transformations and their necessity.
The novel remained unfinished, but despite this, Pushkin’s contemporaries highly appreciated “Arap Peter the Great.” V.G. Belinsky wrote: “If this novel had been finished as well as it began, we would have had an excellent historical Russian novel.”
Pushkin also emphasizes the nobility of Peter in “My Genealogy,” indicating the Tsar’s mercy to the Arab, his great-grandfather.
This poem was a kind of response to Bulgarin’s libel, in which the dignity of Pushkin’s ancestors was touched upon. The indignant poet then wrote in the unfinished article “Refutations to Critics”: “One newspaper said that my great-grandfather..., godson and pupil of Peter the Great, “…” - was bought by the skipper for a bottle of rum. My great-grandfather, if it was bought, it was probably cheap, but it went to a skipper, whose name every Russian pronounces with respect and not in vain.”
Pushkin answered Bulgarin in poetry, “and very coolly,” as he himself put it in the “Post scriptum” to “My Pedigree”: This skipper was that glorious skipper, Who moved our land, Who gave a powerful, sovereign run to the helm of his native ship. But in the first part, Peter’s cruelty is indicated: The spirit of stubbornness has spoiled us all: I am indomitable in my relatives, My ancestor did not get along with Peter and was hanged by him for that. In this poem we see the duality of Peter’s character: “a glorious skipper,” “the spirit of stubbornness spoiled us all,” “he was... hanged by him.”
In the writer’s historical work about Peter’s time - “The History of Peter”, Pushkin did not limit himself to collecting and systematizing the material; the entire text of the “history” is permeated with the author’s digressions and notes - approving, critical, ironic - showing Pushkin’s attitude towards Peter and his activities: “Peter boasted of his cruelty...”, “he himself was a strange monarch,” “On July 1, Peter fell ill (with a hangover?),” “... a very prudent decree, with a small admixture of autocracy...” and others.
Peter's final concept, formulated in the History, is as follows:
“The difference between the state institutions of Peter the Great and his temporary decrees is worthy of surprise. The first are the fruit of an extensive mind, filled with goodwill and wisdom; the latter are cruel, capricious and, it seems, written with a whip. The first were for eternity, or at least for the future; the latter were wrested from an impatient, autocratic landowner. Note: This should be added to the history of Peter, having thought it over.”
I. Feinberg believes that here Pushkin reveals the duality and inconsistency of Peter’s activities; this “difference” is understood by him as a contradiction between the goals and means of the reformation. But this statement can also be interpreted as a generalization of the contradictory character of Peter himself: “an extensive mind, full of goodwill and wisdom” and, at the same time, “an impatient autocratic landowner.”
Pushkin also managed to develop an understanding of Peter’s era in his works: an analysis of his works suggests that Pushkin came close to the idea of the regularity of Peter’s reforms, their conditionality by socio-economic, state-political reasons, which was in many ways ahead of the historical thought of that time. The importance of A. S. Pushkin’s creativity in the development of Peter’s theme cannot be overestimated. He generalized, rethought and embodied in artistic images the entire experience of socio-historical thought of the 18th and early XIX centuries, and his concept of Peter’s personality became the basis for the further development of this topic in literature, an inexhaustible source of images and motifs for all subsequent authors.
The novel "Peter"I» Alexei Tolstoy.
In the novel "Peter I" A. N. Tolstoy depicted time, events, people, their way of life and customs with historical truthfulness. “To understand the secret of the Russian people, its greatness,” the author wrote, “you need to know its past well and deeply: our history, its fundamental nodes, the tragic and creative eras in which the Russian character was born.”
A. N. Tolstoy widely covered the most important events of the Peter I era, showed the role in them of the most diverse segments of the population and the enormous historical significance of the figure of Peter I.
On the pages of the novel, Tsarevich Peter appears in the scene of the Streltsy rebellion, when his mother, Natalya Kirillovna, carries the boy out onto the porch: “Chub-faced and blunt-nosed, he craned his neck. His eyes are round, like those of a mouse...” He saw the bloody massacre, the exorbitant cruelty of the Streltsy , incited by Khovansky and Vasily Golitsyn. These events left an indelible mark on the prince’s soul and caused a nervous shock.
Peter grew up very active, excitable, impressionable; it was impossible to contain him in the hothouse atmosphere of the palace, where his two brothers withered away.
There was a struggle for power, and Peter shocked the boyars with his frivolous behavior, games inappropriate for a tsar, scratches, bruises and pimples on his arms.
Peter was drawn to the German settlement; he is very interested in life on Kukui, where he is surprised by everything: “What is this for? What is this for? And how is it organized?” He will remain like this for the rest of his life, thanks to his lively curiosity he will constantly learn, let everything pass through himself, not be afraid of any work, no difficulties. He must reach everything himself; to carry out reforms, he needs independence of mind, the absence of authorities.
A. N. Tolstoy shows the extraordinary endurance of Peter, who could go for days without sleep or food, forcing everyone in the amusing army to unconditionally accept his rules of the game, which eventually turned into a serious study of military science. The comrades in these games are boys from the common people, smart, loyal and brave - the core of the future guard.
In one of the chambers of the Preobrazhensky Palace, a ship workshop was organized, where, under the leadership of the Germans, they built models of galleys and ships, and studied arithmetic and geometry. Boris Golitsyn advised Peter to build a shipyard on Lake Pereyaslavl and sent him all the necessary literature, and Natalya Kirillovna said: “You gave birth to a good son, he will turn out to be smarter than everyone else, give him time. He has a sleepless eye...”
Peter, who loved the German Anna Mons (later erased from his heart for betrayal), was married to A. Lopukhina, a young, stupid and primitive girl who wanted her husband to sit near her skirt. But Peter was busy with work and worries from morning to evening - amusing ships were being built on Lake Pereyaslavl.
Having learned from Uncle Lev Kirillovich about Sophia’s conspiracy, that royal power hanging by a thread, Peter remembers the horrors of his childhood, the execution of Naryshkin supporters, and he has a seizure. He rides into Trinity; Sophia, having learned about this, says: “It’s free for him to run wild.” Counting on the troops, she was mistaken: the archers went to Peter, despite Sophia’s threats. “Like a dream from memory - power was leaving, life was leaving” from Sophia.
The situation in the country forced Peter to be cruel and merciless (often beyond measure); terrible theft, desolation, backwardness caused him terrible anger.
Peter grew very mature after the defeat at Azov; failure hardened him, he became stubborn, angry, businesslike. He sets his sights on a new campaign; For this purpose, it strengthens its combat power: it builds a fleet in Voronezh. And two years later, victory was not long in coming.
Peter's struggle with the boyars was cruel and irreconcilable; he broke the structure of the old boyar duma, now admirals, engineers, generals, foreigners sat in it - all of them were like-minded people of the young tsar.
A. N. Tolstoy describes in detail the profound changes in Peter’s consciousness after his trip abroad. There was a lot there that was extraordinary and marvelous for the Russian eye. Peter remembered sleepy, poor and clumsy Russia, he does not yet know, “with what forces to push people aside, to open their eyes... The devil brought me to be born a king in such a country!” All these thoughts arouse in him furious anger towards his own people and envy towards foreigners. The first impulse is to outweigh, to flog. “But who, who? The enemy is invisible, incomprehensible, the enemy is everywhere, the enemy is within himself...”
In Holland, Peter works at a shipyard as a sailor, is not afraid of any work, and studies shipbuilding. Peter's personality is actively being formed, his active, state mind is revealed, everything is subordinated in him main goal: to turn your country on the path leading from vegetation and isolation to progress, to the introduction of the Russian state into the circle of advanced states as a great power. He sets his sights on a war with a strong enemy - Sweden, in order to have access to Baltic Sea. Realizing that for this he needs to be well equipped and armed, he decides to build factories in the Urals.
The defeat at Narva did not break Peter, but forced him to act: “... we haven’t learned to fight yet... for a cannon to fire here, it must be loaded in Moscow.” He begins careful preparations and three years later, having marched with a new army, with new cannons against the Swedes, he wins, standing firmly on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
Speaking as a realist writer, A. N. Tolstoy truthfully describes the foundation of the new capital of Russia - the city of St. Petersburg. Peasants work in terrible conditions: in swamps, half-starved, ragged, sick; the city is built on human bones.
A. N. Tolstoy looks at Peter not only as a major historical figure who controlled thousands of people, but also conveys the tsar’s ability to maintain friendship and respect for Lefort, to listen to his advice. Lefort's death was a huge loss for Peter: "There will be no other friend like him... Joy - together and worries - together."
A. N. Tolstoy widely shows the abundance of people's talents, which Peter noticed and sent them abroad to study, since he understood that without young scientists it was impossible to make changes in the country. Peter valued people not for ranks and titles, but for talent, skills, dexterity and hard work, so in his circle there were many people from the people: this was Aleksashka Menshikov, and the Brovkin family, and Fyodor Sklyaev, and Kuzma Zhemov, and the Vorobyov brothers, and many others.
There were nobles and boyars who understood and supported the tsar: Prince Caesar Romodanovsky, the skilled commander Sheremetyev, diplomat Pyotr Tolstoy, Admiral Golovin, and clerk Venus.
The more grandiose Peter's plans are, the tougher his character becomes; he is unforgiving towards those who hinder his progress and slow down the implementation of his ideas.
The merchants played a very important role in the tsar’s reforms: “God tied us with one rope, Pyotr Alekseevich, - where you go, we go,” says Ivan Brovkin to Peter on behalf of the merchants.
But despite the scale of the transformation of Peter I, not only did they not improve the lot of the people, but, on the contrary, led to increased exploitation and increased extortions from poor peasants. They were driven thousands of miles away to build ships and cities, separating them from their families, to mine iron, and were marked to death as soldiers. All this is also covered in the novel, the writing of which was based on the torture records of the late 17th century, collected by Professor N.Ya. Novombergsky and handed over to the writer by historian V.V. Kolmash. in 1916
A. N. Tolstoy created a monumental image of Peter I, but this is not the ideal figure of a “crown bearer.” He depicted the most complex interweaving of rough and gentle, kind and evil, humane and cruel. It was an image in development. But, of course, Peter I was a man of genius in terms of his potential and the scale of the transformations carried out in Russia - this is obviously what the author of the novel believed.
Writers' viewsXXcentury and historians of Russia
on the personality of Peter the Great.
In the literature of the 20th century, the theme of Peter has not lost its relevance. It is represented by the novel by D. Merezhkovsky (Antichrist: Peter and Alexey), a cycle of stories, two plays and the aforementioned novel by A. N. Tolstoy (Peter the Great), stories by Yu. Tynyanov ( Wax Person) and B. Pilnyak (Nikola on Posady, The Petersburg Tale), a story by A. Platonov (Epifansky locks).
In the second half of the 20th century, novels by Y. German (Young Russia, 1952), A. Sokolov (Menshikov), B. Zabolotskikh (Captain of the Four Seas) were created; stories by Sun. Ivanov (The Night of Tsar Peter), Y. Semenov (The Death of Peter), etc.
19th century fiction writers V. Aladin, O. Kornilovich, N. Kukolnik, K. Masalsky, P. Furman, G. wrote about Peter. Danilevsky, D. Mordovtsev, L. Zhdanov and others.
A significant work about Peter I was D. Granin’s novel “Evenings with Peter the Great,” published in 2000.
The literature about Peter is notable not only for the number of works created, but also for the endless diversity and inconsistency of assessments of Peter, from “the builder of the miraculous” to the “king-Antichrist.” Artistic interpretations of the image of Peter, embodied in literary works, become a reflection, an integral part of the general cultural process of development of the historical self-awareness of society, which takes shape in the form of various scientific, philosophical, religious and artistic interpretations of history, successively replacing each other.
As for the historical assessment of the personality of the tsar, the question of Peter plays a special role in the historical concept of N.M. Karamzin. The main idea of his “History” was the idea of the civilizing role of autocracy in the history of Russia. At first, N. Karamzin proceeded from the idea of community historical path Russia and Europe, therefore, in “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” he wrote about the beneficence and inevitability of Peter’s reforms, and assessed Peter’s reforms as a positive example of creative state activity. French revolution and the crisis of the philosophy of the encyclopedists forced him to change his point of view. In his “Note on Ancient and New Russia” addressed to Alexander I, the historian tried to warn the supreme power against mistakes that could lead to revolution. Peter's attempt to speed up the course of history made, in Karamzin's opinion, a repetition of the revolution in Russia possible. So Karamzin, without denying the high personal qualities of Peter, the necessity and beneficence of his reforms in general, begins to criticize Peter’s despotism, revolutionary methods of implementing reforms and his excessive passion for imitation, destructive for national self-awareness.
