History of creation

Chernyshevsky himself called these people a type that "has recently come into being and is rapidly growing", is a product and a sign of the times.

These heroes have a special revolutionary morality, which is based on the enlightenment theory of the 18th century, the so-called "theory of rational egoism." This theory is that a person can be happy if his personal interests coincide with the public.

Vera Pavlovna - main character novel. Her prototypes are Chernyshevsky's wife Olga Sokratovna and Marya Alexandrovna Bokova-Sechenova, who fictitiously married her teacher, and then became the wife of the physiologist Sechenov.

Vera Pavlovna managed to escape from the circumstances that had surrounded her since childhood. Her character was tempered in a family where her father was indifferent to her, and for her mother she was just a profitable commodity.

Vera is as enterprising as her mother, thanks to which she manages to create sewing workshops that give a good profit. Vera Pavlovna is smart and educated, balanced and kind to both her husband and girls. She is not a prude, not hypocritical and smart. Chernyshevsky admires Vera Pavlovna's desire to break outdated moral principles.

Chernyshevsky emphasizes the similarities between Lopukhov and Kirsanov. Both doctors, engaged in science, both from poor families and have achieved everything with hard work. For the sake of helping an unfamiliar girl, Lopukhov abandons his scientific career. He is more rational than Kirsanov. This is evidenced by the intention of imaginary suicide. But Kirsanov is capable of any sacrifice for the sake of friendship and love, avoids communication with a friend and lover in order to forget her. Kirsanov is more sensitive and charismatic. Rakhmetov believes him, embarking on the path of improvement.

But main character novel (not according to the plot, but according to the idea) - not just " new person”, but the “special person” is the revolutionary Rakhmetov. He generally refuses egoism as such, from happiness for himself. A revolutionary must sacrifice himself, give his life for those he loves, live like the rest of the people.

By origin he is an aristocrat, but he broke with the past. Rakhmetov earned as a simple carpenter, barge hauler. He had the nickname "Nikitushka Lomov", like a barge haul hero. Rakhmetov invested all his funds in the cause of the revolution. He led the most ascetic life. If new people are called Chernyshevsky the salt of the earth, then revolutionaries like Rakhmetov are “the color of the best people, engine engines, salt of the salt of the earth". The image of Rakhmetov is covered with a halo of mystery and innuendo, since Chernyshevsky could not say everything directly.

Rakhmetov had several prototypes. One of them is the landowner Bakhmetev, who transferred almost all of his fortune to Herzen in London for the cause of Russian propaganda. The image of Rakhmetov is collective.

The image of Rakhmetov is far from ideal. Chernyshevsky warns readers against admiring such heroes, because their service is unrequited.

Stylistic features

Chernyshevsky widely uses two means artistic expressiveness- allegory and silence. Vera Pavlovna's dreams are full of allegories. The dark basement in the first dream is an allegory of women's lack of freedom. Lopukhov's bride is a great love for people, real and fantastic dirt from the second dream - the circumstances in which the poor and the rich live. The huge glass house in the last dream is an allegory of the communist happy future, which, according to Chernyshevsky, will definitely come and bring joy to everyone without exception. Silence is associated with censorship prohibitions. But some mystery of images or storylines does not spoil the pleasure of reading in the least: "I know more about Rakhmetov than I say." The meaning of the finale of the novel, which is interpreted in different ways, the image of a lady in mourning, remains vague. All songs and toasts of a cheerful picnic are allegorical.

In the last tiny chapter, "A Change of Scenery," the lady is no longer in mourning, but in smart clothes. In a young man of about 30, the released Rakhmetov is guessed. This chapter depicts the future, albeit not far off.

IN modern society we often hear slogans about class inequality, social injustice and that a gigantic gap has formed between the poor and the rich. There were similar problems in the past. This is evidenced by the brightest work of Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky “What to do? From stories about new people.

Undoubtedly, it can be stated that the novel What Is To Be Done? is an ambiguous, complex and highly conspiratorial work, which is difficult to perceive, and even more so to expect ease of reading from it. First you need to study in more detail the ideas and worldview of the author, plunge into the atmosphere of that time. And this edition of Hobbibook will definitely help you.

N.G. Chernyshevsky (1828-1889) short biography

The future publicist was born in Saratov, in the family of a priest Gavrila Ivanovich Chernyshevsky. Initial education was given to him by his father at home, but this did not prevent Chernyshevsky from entering the Saratov Theological Seminary and, after graduating from it, continue his education at St. Petersburg University, at the Faculty of Philosophy.

He studied Slavic philology. Nikolai Gavrilovich was an incredibly well-read and erudite person. He knew Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, Polish and English.

As the writer's contemporaries write: "the versatility of knowledge and the vastness of information on holy scripture, general civil history, philosophy, etc., he amazed us all. Our mentors considered it a pleasure to talk with him, as with a person already fully developed.
(A. I. Rozanov. Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky. - In the collection: N. G. Chernyshevsky in the memoirs of his contemporaries.)

During his student years, revolutionary socialist views were formed in Chernyshevsky, which did not influence him. further fate. His worldview was reinforced by the works of Hegel and Feuerbach. The acquaintance with Vvedensky also had a significant influence on the writer. *

For reference

*I.I. Vvedensky(1813-1855) - Russian translator and literary critic. He is considered the founder of Russian nihilism. Known as the author of translations of stories by Fenimore Cooper, Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens. .

Chernyshevsky outlined his thoughts already in 1850:

“Here is my way of thinking about Russia: an irresistible expectation of an imminent revolution and a thirst for it, although I know that for a long time, perhaps for a very long time, nothing good will come of this, that perhaps oppression will only increase for a long time, etc. .- what needs?<...>peaceful, quiet development is impossible"

After graduating from university, he becomes a teacher of literature at the Saratov gymnasium and immediately begins to share with his students his socialist convictions, which "smell of hard labor."

In parallel with his academic life, Nikolai Gavrilovich tried his hand at the literary and journalistic fields. His first small articles were published in the journal "Saint-Petersburg Vedomosti" and "Otechestvenny Zapiski". But the most prominent was his collaboration (1854-1862) with the Sovremennik magazine, which was directed by famous classic Russian Literature Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov.

The magazine openly criticized the current state regime in the country and supported the revolutionary democratic movement. The atmosphere between the editorial board of Sovremennik and the state apparatus escalated in 1861.

On February 19, 1861, Alexander II issues a manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants” and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom.

Understanding the predatory nature of this reform, Chernyshevsky boycotted the manifesto and accused the autocracy of robbing the peasants. The publication of revolutionary proclamations began. In June 1862, the Sovremennik magazine was temporarily closed, and Chernyshevsky was arrested a month later.

While in prison, Nikolai Gavrilovich wrote the novel of his life “What to do? From stories about new people. In it, he tries to offer a modern hero who responds to the challenges of society. Thus, Chernyshevsky continues Turgenev's line in Fathers and Sons.

Chernyshevsky "What to do?" - summary

The development of the plot and, in general, the narrative itself in Chernyshevsky's novel is rather extraordinary. The beginning convinces us of this.
1856, an emergency happened in one of the hotels in St. Petersburg - a suicide note was found. There are also indirect traces of the man's suicide. Having established his identity, the tragic news is reported to his wife, Vera Pavlovna.

And here the author abruptly moves the reader four years ago, using the same artistic effect very similar to a flashback (he will resort to it more than once), in order to tell us what led the heroes of the story to such a sad ending.

In addition to the alternation of events, Chernyshevsky uses the voice of the narrator in the novel, commenting on what is happening. The author engages the reader in a confidential conversation, evaluating events, characters and their actions. It is the scenes-dialogues with the reader that account for the main semantic load.

So, 1852. Chernyshevsky places us in the society of an apartment building in which 16-year-old Vera Rozalskaya lives with her family. The girl is not bad-looking, modest, well-educated and prefers to have her own opinion in everything. Her hobby is sewing, she sews her family quite easily.

But her life does not please her at all, on the one hand, the father, who manages this house, behaves like a “rag”, on the other, her mother, Marya Alekseevna, is a despot and tyrant. The educational technique of the parent consists of daily abuse and assault. The matter is even more aggravated when Marya Alekseevna decides to profitably marry her daughter to the son of the mistress of the house.

It would seem that fate is sealed - the unloved man and the house, as a locked cage. But Vera's life changes dramatically with the appearance in the house of a student of the medical academy, Dmitry Lopukhov. Mutual feelings arise between them, and the girl leaves her parents' house to build her life at her own discretion.

It is in such a simple plot that Chernyshevsky weaves his revolutionary work.

Note that the manuscript of the novel was transmitted from Peter and Paul Fortress in parts and published in separate chapters in the journal Sovremennik. This turned out to be a very wise decision by Chernyshevsky, because it is one thing to look at individual passages, and another to look at the novel as a whole.

IN AND. Lenin noted that Chernyshevsky " knew how to influence all the political events of his era in a revolutionary spirit, passing - through the obstacles and slingshots of censorship - the idea peasant revolution, the idea of ​​the struggle of the masses for the overthrow of all the old authorities"(Lenin V.I. Complete. collected works. T. 20. S. 175)

After the release of the last part of What Is to Be Done?, the commission of inquiry and the censors put all the components together and were horrified, the novel was banned by the censors and republished only in 1905. What ideas did the state try to silence? And why did contemporaries speak of the novel with such admiration?

“He plowed me deep”, - said Vladimir Ilyich (V. I. Lenin on literature and art. M., 1986. P. 454). "For the Russian youth of that time, - the famous revolutionary, anarchist Peter Kropotkin wrote about this book, - she was a kind of revelation and turned into a program».

Analysis and heroes of Chernyshevsky's novel "What is to be done?"

1. Women's issue

First of all, you need to understand that one of the key characters of the novel is Vera Pavlovna. After all, her main goal in life is independence and complete equality in society. For women of that time, a new and daring motivation.

Now we are used to the fact that a woman easily occupies leading positions and is not at all ready to devote herself to domestic seclusion. And at that time, the maximum that a woman could afford was to become an actress, a governess or an ordinary seamstress in a factory. And then because of the shortage of labor during the period of industrialization. There was no talk of state care during her illness or pregnancy.

Add to this marriages under duress. And we get an approximate picture of the social status of women in the XIX century. The character of Vera Pavlovna mercilessly destroys all these established stereotypes. She is a person of a new formation, a person of the future.

Dreams of Vera Pavlovna in the novel "What to do?"

Not without reason, Vera Pavlovna's utopian dreams occupy a central place in the novel. They create images of the future.

The first dream reflects the freedom of a woman, the second is rather abstract and shows the main character an alternative present, the third one carries a new philosophy of love, and the last, fourth dream shows the reader a new society that lives on the principle of social justice.

Of course, the novel produced the effect of a bombshell, most women took Vera Pavlovna as an example of the struggle for freedom and equality, spiritual liberation.

2. Theory of egoism and socialism

Dmitry Lopukhov and his buddy Alexander Kirsanov, people of strong character and unwavering honesty. Both followers of the theory of selfishness. In their understanding, any act of a person is interpreted by his inner conviction and benefit. These characters clearly demonstrate new trends in matters of personal relationships, statements of new norms of morality and love.

Even now, many of the beliefs of the heroes have not lost their relevance. For example, here is Dmitry Lopukhov's opinion on family relationships:

“... alterations of characters are good only when directed against some bad side; and those parts that she and I would have had to remake in ourselves had nothing wrong. In what way is sociability worse or better than inclination to solitude, or vice versa? But the alteration of character is, in any case, rape, breaking; and in breaking a lot is lost, a lot freezes from rape. The result that she and I might (but only might, not probably) achieve was not worth the loss. Both of us would have somewhat discolored ourselves, more or less blotted out the freshness of life in ourselves. For what? Just to keep famous places in famous rooms. It's different if we had children; then it would be necessary to think a lot about how their fate will change from our separation: if for the worse, then preventing this is worth the greatest effort, and the result is the joy that you did what was necessary to preserve the best fate for those you love.

The revolutionary stands out as a separate character-symbol Rakhmetov. The author dedicates a separate chapter “A Special Person” to him. This is a person who understands that the struggle for the reorganization of society will be waged not for life, but for death, and therefore carefully prepares himself for this. He renounces his personal interests for the sake of one common purpose. The image of Rakhmetov shows the characteristic features of revolutionaries nascent in Russia, with an unbending will to fight for moral ideals, nobility and devotion to the common people and to their homeland.

As a result of joint actions, all the main characters create a small socialist society inside one, separately taken clothing factory. Chernyshevsky describes in the most subtle details the process of the formation of a new labor society. And in this context "What to do?" can be seen as a program for action, clearly answering the questions posed: what should be; what does work mean in a person's life; philosophy of love and friendship; the place of women in modern society and so on.

Of course, the concept of "What to do?" many tried to challenge and prove their groundlessness. They were mainly the authors of so-called anti-nihilistic novels. But this no longer matters, since Chernyshevsky's prophecy was destined to come true.

Despite its popularity among the masses, the state reacted to revolutionary writer not so kind. He was deprived of all the rights of the estate and sentenced to 14 years of hard labor, followed by a settlement in Siberia (1864). Later, Emperor Alexander II reduced the term of hard labor to 7 years. In 1889 Chernyshevsky received permission to return to hometown Saratov, but soon died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Eventually

Thus, seemingly ordinary fiction carries elements of scientific and journalistic work, which includes philosophy, psychology, revolutionary views, and social utopia. All this forms a very complex alloy. The writer thus creates a new morality that changes people's behavior - frees them from a sense of duty to anyone and teaches them to educate their "I". Therefore, Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?" naturally ranked as one of the varieties of the so-called "intellectual prose".

Nikolay Chernyshevsky

What to do?

Dedicated to my friend O. S. Ch.

I
Fool

On the morning of July 11, 1856, the servants of one of the large St. Petersburg hotels near the station of the Moscow railway were at a loss, partly even in alarm. The day before, at nine o'clock in the evening, a gentleman arrived with a suitcase, took a room, gave his passport for registration, asked himself for tea and a cutlet, said that they should not disturb him in the evening, because he was tired and wanted to sleep, but that tomorrow they would certainly wake up at eight hours, because he had urgent business, locked the door of the room and, making noise with a knife and fork, making noise with a tea set, he soon calmed down, apparently he fell asleep. Morning has come; at eight o'clock the servant knocked on the door of yesterday's visitor - the visitor does not raise his voice; the servant knocked harder, very hard - the newcomer did not answer. Apparently, he was very tired. The servant waited a quarter of an hour, again began to wake up, again he did not wake up. He began to consult with other servants, with the barman. "Has anything happened to him?" “We have to break down the doors.” - "No, that's not good: you have to break the door with the police." We decided to try to wake up again, harder; if he doesn't wake up here, send for the police. Made the last test; did not wake up; sent for the police and are now waiting to see her. At about ten o'clock in the morning a police official came, knocked himself, ordered the servants to knock - the same success as before. "Nothing to do, break down the door, guys." The door was broken. The room is empty. "Look under the bed" - and there is no traveler under the bed. The police officer went up to the table - on the table lay a sheet of paper, and on it was written in large letters: “I leave at 11 pm and will not return. I will be heard on the Liteiny Bridge, between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning. Don't have any suspicions." “So that’s it, the thing is now clear, otherwise they couldn’t figure it out,” said the police official. - What is it, Ivan Afanasyevich? the bartender asked. Let's have some tea, I'll tell you. The story of the police officer has long been the subject of animated retelling and reasoning in the hotel. The story was like this. At half-past three in the morning—and the night was cloudy and dark—a fire flashed in the middle of the Liteiny Bridge, and a pistol shot was heard. Guard servants rushed to the shot, few passers-by came running - there was nobody and nothing at the place where the shot rang out. So, he did not shoot, but shot himself. There were hunters to dive, after some time dragged hooks, dragged even some kind of fishing net, dived, groped, caught, caught fifty large chips, but the body was not found and was not caught. And how to find? - the night is dark. It is already at the seaside during these two hours - go and look there. Therefore, progressives arose who rejected the previous assumption: “Maybe there was no body? maybe he was drunk or just a mischief-maker, fooled around, shot, and ran away, or else, perhaps, he is standing right there in the bustling crowd and laughing at the alarm that he has done. But the majority, as always, when they reason prudently, turned out to be conservative and defended the old: "What a fool - I put a bullet in my forehead, and that's it." The progressives were defeated. But the victorious party, as always, was divided immediately after the victory. Shot himself, yes; but why? “Drunk,” was the opinion of some conservatives; "squandered," other conservatives argued. "Just a fool," someone said. Everyone agreed on this "just a fool", even those who denied that he had shot himself. Indeed, whether a drunk, squandered, shot himself, or a mischievous person, did not shoot himself at all, but only threw a thing away - it's all the same, a stupid, stupid thing. This stopped the case on the bridge at night. In the morning, in a hotel near the Moscow railway, it turned out that the fool did not fool around, but shot himself. But as a result of history, an element remained with which even the vanquished agreed, namely, that if he did not fool around, but shot himself, he was still a fool. This result, satisfactory to everyone, was especially durable precisely because the Conservatives triumphed: in fact, if only he had fooled around with a shot on the bridge, then, in fact, it would still be doubtful whether he was a fool or just a mischievous person. But he shot himself on the bridge - who shoots himself on the bridge? how is it on the bridge? why on the bridge? stupid on the bridge! - and therefore, undoubtedly, a fool. Again some doubt arose: he shot himself on the bridge; they don't shoot on the bridge, so he didn't shoot himself. But in the evening, the hotel servants were called to the unit to look at the shot-through cap pulled out of the water - everyone recognized that the cap was the same one that was on the road. So, he undoubtedly shot himself, and the spirit of denial and progress was finally defeated. Everyone agreed that he was a "fool" - and suddenly everyone started talking: on the bridge - a clever thing! This is so as not to suffer for a long time, if you fail to shoot well, - wisely reasoned! from any wound he will fall into the water and choke before he comes to his senses - yes, on the bridge ... smart! Now it was absolutely impossible to make out anything - both a fool and clever.

His novel "What to do?" the famous Russian writer Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky created during the period when he was imprisoned in one of the cells of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The time of writing the novel is from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863, that is, the work, which became a masterpiece of Russian literature, was created in just three and a half months. Starting from January 1863 and until the moment of the author's final stay in custody, he handed over the manuscript in parts to the commission that dealt with the writer's case. Here the work was censored, which was approved. Soon the novel was published in the 3rd, as well as 4th and 5th issues of the Sovremennik magazine for 1863. For such an oversight, the censor Beketov lost his position. This was followed by bans on all three issues of the magazine. However, it was already too late. Chernyshevsky's work was distributed throughout the country with the help of "samizdat".

And only in 1905, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, the ban was lifted. Already in 1906, the book "What to do?" published in a separate edition.

Who are the new heroes?

The reaction to Chernyshevsky's work was mixed. Readers, based on their opinion, were divided into two opposing camps. Some of them believed that the novel is devoid of artistry. The latter fully supported the author.

However, it is worth remembering that before Chernyshevsky, writers created images of “superfluous people”. a shining example such heroes are Pechorin, Oblomov and Onegin, who, despite their differences, are similar in their "smart uselessness". These people, "pygmies of deed and titans of words", were bifurcated natures, suffering from a constant discord between will and consciousness, deed and thought. In addition, their feature served as moral exhaustion.

This is not how Chernyshevsky presents his heroes. He created images of "new people" who know what they need to desire, and are also able to carry out their own plans. Their thought goes along with the deed. Their consciousness and will are not at odds with each other. Heroes of Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?" presented as bearers of new morality and creators of new interpersonal relations. They deserve the main attention of the author. No wonder even a summary of the chapters of "What to do?" allows us to see that by the end of the second of them, the author "lets go of the stage" such representatives of the old world - Marya Alekseevna, Storeshnikova, Serge, Julie and some others.

The main problem of the essay

Even the very brief content of “What to do?” gives an idea of ​​the issues that the author raises in his book. And they are the following:

- The need for a socio-political renewal of society, which is possible through a revolution. Due to censorship, Chernyshevsky did not expand on this topic in more detail. He gave it in the form of half-hints when describing the life of one of the main characters - Rakhmetov, as well as in the 6th chapter.

- Psychological and moral problems. Chernyshevsky argues that a person, using the power of his mind, is able to create in himself new moral qualities set by him. At the same time, the author develops this process, describing it from the smallest, in the form of a struggle against despotism in the family, to the most ambitious, which found expression in the revolution.

- Problems of family morality and women's emancipation. This topic the author reveals in the first three dreams of Vera, in the history of her family, as well as in the relations of young people and the imaginary suicide of Lopukhov.

- Dreams of a bright and beautiful life that will come with the creation of a socialist society in the future. Chernyshevsky illuminates this topic thanks to the fourth dream of Vera Pavlovna. The reader sees here also the facilitated work, which became possible thanks to the development of technical means.

The main pathos of the novel is the propaganda of the idea of ​​transforming the world by making a revolution, as well as its expectation and preparation of the best minds for this event. At the same time, the idea is expressed of active participation in the upcoming events.

What was Chernyshevsky's main goal? He dreamed of developing and implementing the latest methodology that would allow for the revolutionary education of the masses. His work was supposed to be a kind of textbook, with the help of which every thinking person would begin to form a new worldview.

The entire content of the novel "What to do?" Chernyshevsky is divided into six chapters. Moreover, each of them, except for the last one, is further subdivided into small chapters. In order to emphasize the particular importance of the final events, the author speaks of them separately. To do this, in the content of the novel "What to do?" Chernyshevsky included a one-page chapter titled "Change of scenery".

The beginning of the story

Consider the summary of Chernyshevsky's novel "What is to be done?". Its plot begins with a found note, which was left in one of the rooms of the hotel in St. Petersburg by a strange guest. It happened in 1823, on July 11. The note says that soon its author will be heard on one of the bridges of St. Petersburg - Liteiny. At the same time, the man asked not to look for the guilty. The incident happened the same night. A man shot himself on Liteiny Bridge. The perforated cap that belonged to him was fished out of the water.

The following is a summary of the novel "What to do?" introduces us to a young lady. On the morning when the event described above happened, she is in a dacha located on Kamenny Island. The lady is sewing, singing a bold and lively French ditty, which speaks of a working people whose liberation will require a change of consciousness. This woman's name is Vera Pavlovna. At this moment, the maid brings the lady a letter, after reading which she begins to sob, covering her face with her hands. The young man who entered the room makes attempts to calm her down. However, the woman is inconsolable. She pushes the young man away. At the same time, she says: “His blood is on you! You are in the blood! I'm the only one to blame..."

What was said in the letter that Vera Pavlovna received? We can learn about this from the presented brief content "What to do?". In his message, the writer indicated that he was leaving the stage.

The appearance of Lopukhov

What further do we learn from the summary of Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done? After the events described, a story follows, telling about Vera Pavlovna, about her life, as well as about the reasons that led to such a sad outcome.

The author says that his heroine was born in St. Petersburg. This is where she grew up. The lady's father - Pavel Konstantinovich Vozalsky - was the manager of the house. The mother was engaged in the fact that she gave money on bail. The main goal of Marya Alekseevna (mother of Vera Pavlovna) was the profitable marriage of her daughter. And she did her best to resolve this issue. The evil and narrow-minded Marya Alekseevna invites a music teacher to her daughter. Buys Vera beautiful clothes, goes to the theater with her. Soon on a swarthy beautiful girl pays attention to the owner's son - officer Storeshnikov. The young man decides to seduce Vera.

Marya Alekseevna hopes to force Storeshnikov to marry her daughter. To do this, she requires Faith to favor the young man. However, the girl understands true intentions her boyfriend and in every possible way refuses signs of attention. Somehow she even manages to mislead her mother. She pretends to be supportive of the womanizer. But sooner or later the deception will be revealed. This makes the position of Vera Pavlovna in the house simply unbearable. However, everything suddenly resolved, and at the same time in the most unexpected way.

Dmitry Sergeevich Lopukhov appeared in the house. This graduate medical student was invited by Vera's parents to join her brother Fedya as a teacher. At first, young people were very wary of each other. However, then their communication began to flow in conversations about music and books, as well as about a fair direction of thought.

Time has passed. Vera and Dmitry felt sympathy for each other. Lopukhov learns about the plight of the girl and makes attempts to help her. He is looking for a governess job for Verochka. Such work would allow the girl to live separately from her parents.

However, all Lopukhov's efforts were unsuccessful. He could not find such owners who would agree to take in a girl who had run away from home. Then the young man in love takes another step. He leaves his studies and starts translating a textbook and private lessons. This allows him to start getting sufficient funds. At the same time, Dmitry makes an offer to Vera.

First dream

Vera has her first dream. In it, she sees herself emerging from a dark and damp basement and meeting an amazing beauty who calls herself love for people. Vera talks to her and promises to let girls out of such basements who are locked in them, as she was locked.

family well-being

Young people live in a rented apartment, and everything is going well for them. However, the landlady notices oddities in their relationship. Verochka and Dmitry only call each other "darling" and "darling", they sleep in separate rooms, entering them only after knocking, etc. All this is surprising to an outsider. Vera tries to explain to the woman that this is a completely normal relationship between spouses. After all, this is the only way to not get bored with each other.

The young wife runs the household, gives private lessons, reads books. Soon she opens her own sewing workshop, in which the girls are self-employed, but receive part of the income as co-owners.

Second dream

What else do we learn from the summary of Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done? In the course of the plot, the author introduces us to the second dream of Vera Pavlovna. In it, she sees a field with ears of corn growing on it. There is also dirt here. And one of them is fantastic, and the second is real.

Real dirt means taking care of what is most needed in life. It was precisely this that Marya Alekseevna was constantly burdened with. On this, ears can be grown. Fantastic dirt is a concern for the unnecessary and superfluous. On such soil, ears of corn will never grow.

The emergence of a new hero

The author shows Kirsanov as a strong-willed and courageous person, capable not only of a decisive act, but also of subtle feelings. Alexander spends time with Vera when Dmitry is busy. Together with his friend's wife, he goes to the opera. However, soon, without explaining any reasons, Kirsanov stops coming to the Lopukhovs, which greatly offends them. What appeared the real reason this? Kirsanov's falling in love with a friend's wife.

The young man reappeared in the house when Dmitry fell ill to cure him and help Vera with care. And here the woman realizes that she is in love with Alexander, which is why she is completely confused.

third dream

From the summary of the work "What to do?" we learn that Vera Pavlovna is having a third dream. In it, she reads the pages of her diary with the help of some unknown woman. From it, she learns that she feels only gratitude for her husband. However, at the same time, Vera needs a gentle and quiet feeling, which she does not have for Dmitry.

Solution

The situation in which three decent and smart people, at first glance seems unsolvable. But Lopukhov finds a way out. He shoots himself on the Liteiny Bridge. On the day that Vera Pavlovna received this news, Rakhmetov came to see her. This old acquaintance of Lopukhov and Kirsanov, who is called "a special person."

Acquaintance with Rakhmetov

In the summary of the novel “What to do”, the “special person” Rakhmetov is presented by the author as a “higher nature”, which Kirsanov helped to awaken in his time by familiarizing himself with the necessary books. The young man comes from a wealthy family. He sold his estate, and distributed the money he received for it to fellows. Now Rakhmetov adheres to a harsh lifestyle. In part, this was prompted by his unwillingness to have what he does not have. common man. In addition, Rakhmetov set as his goal the education of his own character. For example, to test his physical abilities, he decides to sleep on nails. In addition, he does not drink wine and does not make acquaintances with women. In order to get closer to the people, Rakhmetov even walked with barge haulers along the Volga.

What else is said about this hero in Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done? Summary makes it clear that Rakhmetov's entire life consists of sacraments that are clearly revolutionary. A young man has many things to do, but they are not all personal. He travels around Europe, but at the same time in three years he is going to Russia, where he will certainly need to be.

It was Rakhmetov who came to Vera Pavlovna after receiving a note from Lopukhov. After his persuasion, she calmed down and even became cheerful. Rakhmetov explains that Vera Pavlovna and Lopukhov had very different tempers. That is why the woman reached out to Kirsanov. Soon Vera Pavlovna left for Novgorod. There she married Kirsanov.

The dissimilarity between the characters of Verochka and Lopukhov is also mentioned in a letter that soon arrived from Berlin. In this message, a medical student who allegedly knew Lopukhov well conveyed Dmitry's words that he began to feel much better after the separation of the spouses, as he always sought solitude. Namely, the sociable Vera Pavlovna did not allow him to do this.

The life of the Kirsanovs

What does the novel What to Do next tell its reader about? Nikolai Chernyshevsky? The summary of the work makes it possible to understand that the love affairs of the young couple settled well to the common pleasure. The lifestyle of the Kirsanovs is not much different from that of the Lopukhov family.

Alexander works hard. As for Vera Pavlovna, she takes baths, eats cream and is already engaged in two sewing workshops. The house, as before, has neutral and common rooms. However, the woman notices that her new husband does not just allow her to lead a lifestyle she likes. He is interested in her affairs and is ready to help in difficult times. In addition, the husband perfectly understands her desire to master some urgent occupation and begins to help her in the study of medicine.

fourth dream

Getting acquainted briefly with Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done?, we proceed to continue the plot. It tells us about the fourth dream of Vera Pavlovna, in which she sees amazing nature and pictures from the life of women of different millennia.

At first, the image of a slave appears before her. This woman obeys her master. After that, in a dream, Vera sees the Athenians. They begin to bow to the woman, but at the same time they do not recognize her as their equal. Then the following image appears. This is a beautiful lady, for whom the knight is ready to fight in the tournament. However, his love immediately passes after the lady becomes his wife. Then, instead of the face of the goddess, Vera Pavlovna sees her own. It does not differ in perfect features, but at the same time it is illuminated by the radiance of love. And here comes the woman who was in the first dream. She explains to Vera the meaning of equality and shows pictures of citizens future Russia. They all live in a house built of crystal, cast iron and aluminium. In the morning these people work, and in the evening they begin to have fun. The woman explains that this future must be loved and should be strived for.

Completion of the story

How does the novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky “What is to be done?” End with. The author tells his reader that guests often come to the Kirsanovs' house. The Beaumont family soon appears among them. When meeting with Charles Beaumont, Kirsanov recognizes him as Lopukhov. The two families become so close to each other that they decide to continue living in the same house.

In St. Petersburg in the summer of 1856, in a hotel room, they find a note from a guest: they say, I ask you not to blame anyone for anything, they will soon hear about me on Liteiny Bridge. Typical suicide note!

And in fact, soon a man was shooting on the Liteiny Bridge - in any case, a shot cap was fished out of the water.

In a dacha on a stone island, a young lady who is sewing while singing a revolutionary French song receives a letter with her maid that makes her burst into tears. The young man tries to console her, but the lady blames him for the death of the one who sent this posthumous letter: this man leaves the stage because he loves Vera and his friend too much.

So the young lady's name is Vera. Her father is the manager of a large tenement house, mother is a usurer and pawnbroker (gives money on bail). Mamenka is alien to high ideals, she is stupid, evil and thinks only about profit. And her only goal is to marry Vera to a rich man. Suitors need to be lured! For this, Vera is dressed up, taught music, taken to the theater.

When the son of the owner of the house begins to court the girl, the mother pushes her in every possible way to meet him.

Although a licentious young man is not at all going to marry a pretty swarthy girl with beautiful black hair and expressive black eyes. He dreams of an ordinary affair, but Vera pushes him away. The girl is resolute and very independent: from the age of fourteen she sheathes the whole family, from the age of sixteen she gives lessons in the boarding school where she herself studied. However, life with her mother is unbearable, and it was impossible for a girl to leave home without parental permission in those days.

And now fate comes to the aid of a freedom-loving girl: a teacher, a medical student Dmitry Lopukhov, is hired to help her brother Fedya. Verochka is shy at first, but then conversations about books and music, about what justice is, help their friendly rapprochement. Lopukhov is trying to find her a place as a governess, but not a single family wants to take responsibility for a girl who does not want to live at home. Then Lopukhov offers Verochka a fictitious marriage. She happily agrees.

For the sake of saving Verochka, Lopukhov even quits the course shortly before graduation and earns extra money with private lessons and translations. So he manages to rent decent housing.

Here Verochka has a dream. This is not an ordinary dream - like the other four dreams, it is important in the structure of the novel. The girl sees that she has been released from a damp and cramped basement. Meets her a beautiful woman- the embodiment of love for people. Vera Pavlovna gives her a promise to help release other girls from the cellars.

The mother is furious, but she cannot do anything: the daughter is married!

Young people live in different rooms, they don’t go to each other without knocking. This is a great friendly coexistence, but not conjugal love. Vera Pavlovna does not sit on the neck of her savior: she gives private lessons, runs the household. And now, finally, he opens his own sewing workshop. This is very important - this is how she fulfills her promise given in a dream. Girls don't just get paid for their work: they get a share of the income. In addition, the workers are very friendly: they spend together free time go on picnics.

Vera Pavlovna sees a second dream: about a field on which ears grow. In addition to ears of corn, there are two types of dirt on the field: real and fantastic. Real dirt can give rise to something necessary, useful, but nothing worthwhile will come from fantastic dirt. This dream helps Vera Pavlovna to understand and forgive her mother, whom only the circumstances of her life made her so embittered and greedy. However, her worries about the "real dirt" helped Verochka learn and stand on her own feet.

Alexander Kirsanov begins to visit the Lopukhov family often. He is a graduate of the medical faculty, a man who paved the way in life with his breast.

Kirsanov entertains Vera Pavlovna when Lopukhov is busy, taking her to the opera, which they love very much.

Vera Pavlovna feels some anxiety. She tries to make her relationship with her husband more passionate - but the anxiety does not leave her. Kirsanov, without explaining anything, stops visiting the Lopukhovs. He fell in love with his friend's wife - and is trying to overcome his feeling: "out of sight - out of mind." However, soon Kirsanov still has to visit the Lopukhovs: Dmitry fell ill, and Alexander begins to treat him.

Vera Pavlovna realizes that she herself is in love with Kirsanov. This helps her understand the third dream: / a certain woman, somewhat similar to opera singer Bosio helps Verochka read the pages of her diary, which she never actually kept. Verochka is afraid to read the last pages of the diary, but Bosio reads them aloud to her: yes, the feeling that the heroine has for her husband is just gratitude.

Smart, decent, "new" people are unable to find a way out of the situation, and in the end Lopukhov decides on a trick: a shot on the Liteiny Bridge.

Vera Pavlovna is in despair. But then Rakhmetov comes to her with a letter from Lopukhov. It turns out that Lopukhov did not commit suicide at all - he simply decided not to interfere with his wife and friend to connect their lives.

Rakhmetov is a "special" person. Once Kirsanov recognized in him a “higher nature” and taught him to read “necessary books”. Rakhmetov was very rich, but he sold his estate, appointed his own special scholarships, and he himself lives the life of an ascetic. He doesn't drink wine, he doesn't touch women.

Once, he even slept for a while, like a yogi, on nails to test his willpower. He has a nickname: Nikitushka Lomova. This is due to the fact that he walked with barge haulers along the Volga in order to better know the life of the people.

Chernyshevsky only hints at the main business of Rakhmetov's life, but the quick-witted reader will realize that this is a revolutionary, "the engine of engines, the salt of the salt of the earth."

Having received an explanation of what happened from Rakhmetov, Vera Pavlovna leaves for Novgorod, where she marries Kirsanov a few weeks later.

After some time, they receive greetings from abroad - Lopukhov reports that he is quite satisfied with life, since he has long wanted to live in solitude.

The Kirsanovs live a busy life, work hard. Vera Pavlovna now has two workshops. With the help of Kirsanov, she begins to study medicine. In her husband, the heroine found both support and a loving friend who cares about her interests.

The fourth dream of Vera Pavlovna -. this is a historical gallery of female types from different times and peoples: a slave woman, a beautiful lady is also essentially a fantasy toy of a knight in love...

Vera Pavlovna also sees herself: her features are illuminated by the light of love. The woman of the future is equal and free. She also sees the structure of the future society: huge houses made of crystal and aluminum, everyone is happy with free labor. We need to work for this beautiful future right now.

The Kirsanovs are gathering a society of "new people" - decent, hardworking and professing the principles of "reasonable egoism". The Beaumont family soon enters the circle of these people. Once upon a time, Ekaterina, then still Polozova, received reasonable advice from Kirsanov about relations with a contender for her hand: the richest bride in St. Petersburg almost married a swindler. But now she is happily married to Charles Beaumont, an "English firm agent". However, he speaks excellent Russian - he allegedly lived in Russia until the age of twenty, where he returned again.

The astute reader has already guessed that this, of course, is Lopukhov. The families soon became so friendly that they began to live in the same house, and Catherine Beaumont also arranges a workshop, although she has enough of her own funds. However, she wants to be useful to people and society, to build their lives according to the laws of creative labor.

The circle of “new people” is expanding, faith in a happy future for Russia is growing stronger.