The idea of the novel is what to do briefly. Chernyshevsky “What to do?”: plot and analysis of the novel. Work test

For the first time, a separate book famous work Chernyshevsky - novel “What to do?” - published in 1867 in Geneva. The initiators of the book's publication were Russian emigrants; in Russia the novel was banned by censorship by that time. In 1863, the work was still published in the Sovremennik magazine, but those issues where its individual chapters were published were soon banned. Summary"What to do?" The youth of those years passed Chernyshevsky on to each other by word of mouth, and the novel itself in handwritten copies, so much so did the work make an indelible impression on them.

Is it possible to do something

The author wrote his sensational novel in the winter of 1862-1863, while in the dungeons of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The dates of writing are December 14-April 4. From January 1863, censors began working with individual chapters of the manuscript, but, seeing only love line, the novel is approved for publication. Soon deep meaning works reach officials Tsarist Russia, the censor is removed from office, but the job is done - a rare youth circle of those years did not discuss the summary of “What to do?” With his work, Chernyshevsky wanted not only to tell Russians about the “new people”, but also to arouse in them a desire to imitate them. And his bold call echoed in the hearts of many of the author’s contemporaries.

Youth late XIX century Chernyshevsky's ideas turned into her own own life. Stories about the numerous noble deeds of those years began to appear so often that for some time they became almost commonplace. everyday life. Many suddenly realized that they were capable of Action.

Having a question and a clear answer to it

The main idea of the work, and it is doubly revolutionary in its essence, is personal freedom, regardless of gender. That's why main character novel - a woman, since at that time the dominance of women did not extend beyond the confines of their own living room. Looking back at the life of her mother and close friends, Vera Pavlovna early realizes the absolute mistake of inaction, and decides that the basis of her life will be work: honest, useful, giving the opportunity to live with dignity. Hence morality - personal freedom comes from the freedom to perform actions that correspond to both thoughts and capabilities. This is what Chernyshevsky tried to express through the life of Vera Pavlovna. "What to do?" chapter by chapter paints readers a colorful picture of the phased construction " real life" Here Vera Pavlovna leaves her mother and decides to open her own business, so she realizes that only equality between all members of her artel will correspond to her ideals of freedom, so her absolute happiness with Kirsanov depends on Lopukhov’s personal happiness. interconnected with high moral principles- this is all Chernyshevsky.

Characteristics of the author's personality through his characters

Both writers and readers, as well as omniscient critics, have the opinion that the main characters of the work are a kind of literary copies of their creators. Even if not exact copies, then very close in spirit to the author. The narration of the novel “What to do?” is told in the first person, and the author is acting character. He enters into conversation with other characters, even argues with them and, like a “voice-over,” explains to both the characters and the readers many points that are incomprehensible to them.

At the same time, the author conveys to the reader doubts about his writing abilities, says that “he doesn’t even speak the language well,” and certainly there is not a drop of “ artistic talent" But for the reader his doubts are unconvincing; this is also refuted by the novel that Chernyshevsky himself created, “What is to be done?” Vera Pavlovna and the rest of the characters are so accurately and versatilely drawn, endowed with such unique individual qualities that an author who does not have true talent would be unable to create.

New, but so different

Chernyshevsky’s heroes, these positive “new people”, according to the author’s conviction, from the category of unreal, non-existent, should one day by themselves firmly enter our lives. To enter, to dissolve in the crowd of ordinary people, to push them aside, to regenerate someone, to convince someone, to completely push the rest - those who are intractable - out of the general mass, ridding society of them, like a field of weeds. Artistic utopia, which Chernyshevsky himself was clearly aware of and tried to define through the title - “What to do?” A special person, in his deep conviction, is capable of radically changing the world around him, but how to do this, he must determine for himself.

Chernyshevsky created his novel as a counterweight to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons”; his “new people” are not at all like the cynical nihilist Bazarov, who irritates with his peremptory attitude. The cardinality of these images is in the implementation of their main task: Turgenev’s hero wanted to “clear a place” around him from everything old that had outlived his own, that is, to destroy, while Chernyshevsky’s characters tried more to build something, to create, before destroying.

Formation of the “new man” in the middle of the 19th century

These two works of great Russian writers became the second half of the 19th century century as a kind of beacon - a ray of light in dark kingdom. Both Chernyshevsky and Turgenev loudly declared the existence of a “new man” and his need to create a special mood in society capable of bringing about fundamental changes in the country.

If you re-read and translate the summary of “What to do?” Chernyshevsky into the plane revolutionary ideas, deeply affected the minds of a certain part of the population of those years, then many of the allegorical features of the work will become easily explainable. The image of the “bride of her grooms”, seen by Vera Pavlovna in her second dream, is nothing more than “Revolution” - this is precisely the conclusion drawn by writers who lived in different years, who studied and analyzed the novel from all sides. The rest of the images that are narrated in the novel are also marked by allegory, regardless of whether they are animated or not.

A little about the theory of reasonable egoism

The desire for change not only for oneself, not only for one’s loved ones, but also for everyone else runs like a red thread through the entire novel. This is completely different from the theory of calculating one’s own benefit, which Turgenev reveals in Fathers and Sons. In many ways, Chernyshevsky agrees with his fellow writer, believing that any person not only can, but should also reasonably calculate and determine his individual path to his own happiness. But at the same time, he says that you can only enjoy it surrounded by the same happy people. This is the fundamental difference between the plots of the two novels: in Chernyshevsky, the heroes forge well-being for everyone, in Turgenev, Bazarov creates his own happiness without regard to those around him. Chernyshevsky is all the closer to us through his novel.

“What to do?”, the analysis of which we give in our review, is ultimately much closer to the reader of Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons.”

Briefly about the plot

As the reader who has never picked up Chernyshevsky’s novel has already been able to determine, the main character of the work is Vera Pavlovna. Through her life, the formation of her personality, her relationships with others, including men, the author reveals main idea of your novel. Summary “What to do?” Chernyshevsky's list of characteristics of the main characters and details of their lives can be conveyed in a few sentences.

Vera Rozalskaya (aka Vera Pavlovna) lives in a fairly wealthy family, but everything in her home disgusts her: her mother with her dubious activities, and her acquaintances, who think one thing, but say and do something completely different. Having decided to leave her parents, our heroine tries to find a job, but only with Dmitry Lopukhov, who is close to her in spirit, gives the girl the freedom and lifestyle that she dreams of. Vera Pavlovna creates a sewing workshop with all seamstresses having equal rights to its income - a rather progressive idea for that time. Even her suddenly flared up love for her husband’s close friend Alexander Kirsanov, which she became convinced of while caring for the sick Lopukhov with Kirsanov, does not deprive her of sanity and nobility: she does not leave her husband, she does not leave the workshop. Seeing the mutual love of his wife and close friend, Lopukhov, staging suicide, frees Vera Pavlovna from all obligations to him. Vera Pavlovna and Kirsanov get married and are quite happy about it, and a few years later Lopukhov appears in their lives again. But only under a different name and with a new wife. Both families settle in the neighborhood, spend quite a lot of time together and are quite satisfied with the circumstances that have arisen in this way.

Does being determine consciousness?

The formation of Vera Pavlovna’s personality is far from the pattern of character traits of those of her peers who grew up and were brought up in conditions similar to her. Despite her youth, lack of experience and connections, the heroine clearly knows what she wants in life. Getting married successfully and becoming an ordinary mother of a family is not for her, especially since by the age of 14 the girl knew and understood a lot. She sewed beautifully and provided the whole family with clothes; at the age of 16 she began earning money by giving private piano lessons. Her mother's desire to get her married is met with a firm refusal and she creates her own business - a sewing workshop. About broken stereotypes, oh brave actions strong character work "What to do?" Chernyshevsky in his own way gives an explanation for the well-established statement that consciousness determines the existence in which a person finds himself. He defines, but only in the way he decides for himself - either following a path not chosen by him, or finding his own. Vera Pavlovna left the path prepared for her by her mother and the environment in which she lived and created her own path.

Between the realms of dreams and reality

Determining your path does not mean finding it and following it. There is a huge gap between dreams and their implementation in reality. Some people do not dare to jump over it, while others gather all their will into a fist and take a decisive step. This is how Chernyshevsky responds to the problem raised in his novel “What is to be done?” The analysis of the stages of formation of Vera Pavlovna’s personality is carried out by the author himself instead of the reader. He guides him through the heroine’s embodiment of her dreams of her own freedom in reality through active work. Let it be difficult, but direct and completely passable path. And according to it, Chernyshevsky not only guides his heroine, but also allows her to achieve what she wants, letting the reader understand that only through activity can the cherished goal be achieved. Unfortunately, the author emphasizes that not everyone chooses this path. Not everyone.

Reflection of reality through dreams

In a rather unusual form he wrote his novel “What is to be done?” Chernyshevsky. Vera's dreams - there are four of them in the novel - reveal the depth and originality of the thoughts that evoke in her real events. In her first dream, she sees herself freed from the basement. This is a certain symbolism of leaving her own home, where she was destined for an unacceptable fate. Through the idea of liberating girls like her, Vera Pavlovna creates her own workshop, in which each seamstress receives an equal share of her total income.

The second and third dreams explain to the reader through real and fantastic dirt, reading Verochka’s diary (which, by the way, she never kept) what thoughts about existence different people take possession of the heroine at different periods of her life, what she thinks about her second marriage and the very necessity of this marriage. Explanation through dreams is a convenient form of presentation of the work that Chernyshevsky chose. "What to do?" - content of the novel , reflected through dreams, characters of the main characters in dreams is a worthy example of Chernyshevsky’s use of this new form.

Ideals of a bright future, or Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream

If the heroine’s first three dreams reflected her attitude towards accomplished facts, then her fourth dream reflected dreams about the future. It is enough to remember it in more detail. So, Vera Pavlovna dreams of a completely different world, implausible and beautiful. She sees many happy people living in a wonderful house: luxurious, spacious, surrounded by amazing views, decorated with flowing fountains. In it no one feels disadvantaged, there is one common joy for everyone, one common well-being, everyone is equal in it.

These are the dreams of Vera Pavlovna, this is how Chernyshevsky would like to see reality (“What to do?”). Dreams, and they, as we remember, about the relationship between reality and the world of dreams, reveal not so much spiritual world heroine, as much as the author of the novel. And his full awareness of the impossibility of creating such a reality, a utopia that will not come true, but for which it is still necessary to live and work. And this is also what Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream is about.

Utopia and its predictable ending

As everyone knows, his main work is the novel “What is to be done?” - Nikolai Chernyshevsky wrote while in prison. Deprived of family, society, freedom, seeing reality in the dungeons in a completely new way, dreaming of a different reality, the writer put it on paper, without believing in its implementation. Chernyshevsky had no doubt that “new people” are capable of changing the world. But the fact is that not everyone will withstand the power of circumstances, and not everyone will be worthy better life- he understood this too.

How does the novel end? The idyllic coexistence of two families close in spirit: the Kirsanovs and the Lopukhovs-Beaumonts. A small world created by active people full of nobility of thoughts and actions. Are there many similar happy communities around? No! Isn't this the answer to Chernyshevsky's dreams about the future? Whoever wants to create his own prosperous and happy world will create it; whoever doesn’t want to will go with the flow.

Features of the genre of the novel by N.G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?”

I. Introduction

The novel as the leading genre in Russian literature of the mid-19th century. (Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy). Features of the Russian novel: attention to the problem of personality, focus on moral and ethical problems, a broad social background, developed psychologism.

II. Main part

1. All of the listed features are inherent in the novel “What is to be done?” At the center of the novel are images of “new people,” primarily the image of Vera Pavlovna. The author traces the formation and development of Vera Pavlovna’s personality, the formation of her self-awareness, the search and acquisition of personal happiness. The main problems of the novel are ideological and moral, related to the establishment of the philosophy and ethics of the “new people”. The novel quite fully presents the social and everyday way of life (especially in the chapters “The Life of Vera Pavlovna in her Parental Family” and “First Love and Legal Marriage”). The characters of the main characters, especially Vera Pavlovna, are revealed by the author through the depiction of them inner world, that is, psychologically.

2. Genre originality of the novel “What is to be done?”:

a) “What should I do?” - first of all, a social novel; for it the problem of the relationship between the individual and society is extremely important. Outwardly, it is structured as a love novel, but, firstly, in the love story of Vera Pavlovna, it is precisely the connection between personality and living conditions that is emphasized, and secondly, the problem of love itself is for Chernyshevsky part of a broader problem - the position of women in society: what it was like what it is now and what it should and can be;

b) in the novel “What to do?” there are also features of a family novel: it traces in detail the household structure family life Lopukhovs, Kirsanovs, Beaumonts, down to the location of the rooms, the nature of daily activities, food, etc. This side of life was important to Chernyshevsky because in the problem of women’s emancipation, family life plays a very significant role: only with its change can a woman feel equal and free;

c) Chernyshevsky introduces elements of a utopian novel into his work. Utopia is an image of a happy and devoid of internal contradictions life of people, usually in a more or less distant future. Such a utopian picture is presented by most of Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream, in which Chernyshevsky describes in detail, right down to the very small parts(palaces made of glass and aluminum, furniture, dishes, winter gardens, the nature of work and rest), paints a picture of the future happy life humanity. Utopian paintings of this kind are important for Chernyshevsky from two points of view: firstly, they give him the opportunity to express his social and moral ideal in visual form, and secondly, are intended to convince the reader that new social relations are truly possible and achievable;

d) Chernyshevsky’s novel can also be described as journalistic, since, firstly, it is devoted to pressing problems of our time (“the women’s question”, the formation and development of the heterogeneous intelligentsia, the problem of reorganizing the social system in Russia), and secondly, in it the author does not directly speaks out about these topical problems, addresses the reader with appeals, etc.

III. Conclusion

So, genre originality Chernyshevsky's novel is defined as common features Russian novel (psychologism, ideological and moral issues, etc.), and an original combination in one work genre features inherent different types novel.

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The novel “What to do?” has a subtitle: “From stories about new people with common benefit...”. With this, the author determined the main theme of the novel. “New people” - Dmitry Sergeevich Lopukhov, Alexander Matveevich Kirsanov and their friends - in their personal qualities are opposite to the “vulgar” ones. Previously, decent people sometimes appeared in the vulgar world, but they were lonely and either wasted away, or reconciled with vulgarity and “turned to good people living on earth... only to smoke the sky." In the novel “What to do?” we already see a whole group of “new people”: in addition to Lopukhov, Kirsanov and Vera Pavlovna, the heroes of the novel are Katya Polozova, the Mertsalovs, young professors, officers, students - comrades and students of Lopukhov and Kirsanov are mentioned in the episodes. This is a circle of people united by common interests and a common cause. Their life is filled with deep content: questions of philosophy, advances in natural science, economic theories, events in political life - everything is of keen interest to them and causes heated debate.

“New people” do not pursue any selfish goals, therefore, in their circle there reigns absolute sincerity and simplicity of relationships, strong friendship, constant readiness to help each other, and complete equality. This is how they fundamentally differ from the people of the “antediluvian world,” in which everyone fights for their “place in life,” which gives rise to rivalry, hypocrisy, and oppression of the weak by the strong. Even among those belonging to the “selected” society, social inequality is clearly visible: Storeshnikov “barely clung to Jean’s tail, Jean barely clung to Serge’s tail.”

Describing in detail the life of the “new people,” Chernyshevsky tries to emphasize that there is nothing special about it. To live the way these people live - that is, not to do anything vile, not to waste time in vulgar idleness, to devote yourself wholeheartedly to your favorite work, to strive for knowledge, to have reasonable entertainment - every person can and should, in this “not God knows what a heroic feat is.” The “new people” are just good people. But they differ from the good people of former times in that they “do not smoke the sky”, do not become “superfluous people”, but actively participate in life and in its transformation. The difference between the heroes of “What to do?” from “extra people” is explained not only by the time of their appearance, but also social status: « extra people“belonged to the nobility, the “new” ones were commoners who went through a harsh labor school. Both Lopukhov and Kirsanov “early got used to making their way with their chests, without any support” with images of “new people”

Chernyshevsky clarified the ideas about common democrats, which was necessary in connection with the heated debate caused by I. S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons.”

Progressive youth were dissatisfied with some one-sidedness and dryness of Bazarov, as well as with the fact that Bazarov was shown alone among something alien to him. noble society. But Turgenev, according to Pisarev, “simply did not know how the Bazarovs behaved with other Bazarovs.” Chernyshevsky was well acquainted with people like Lopukhov and Kirsanov. His characters reflected the features of the writer’s friends - doctor P. I. Bokov, physiologist I. M. Sechenov and other “New People”, with various individual character traits - sociable and reserved, cheerful and reserved, passionately loving art and indifferent they were united by common qualities that truly distinguished them from the people of the old world. New People respect the dignity of others and firmly assert their own independence. This trait is also characteristic of Verochka Rozalskaya. “...If you dare to approach me in the theater, on the street, somewhere, I will slap you in the face,” she declares to Storeshnikova. “Mother will torture me... but let it be with me, whatever happens, it doesn’t matter!” Lopukhov, Kirsanov, and Katya Polozova also resolutely defend their honor. “New people” have a goal in life and persistently strive to achieve it. “Each of them is a courageous person, who does not hesitate, does not retreat, who knows how to take up a task, and if he takes it up, he already grasps it tightly, so that it does not slip out of his hands.” Each of them is a person of impeccable honesty, such that the question does not even come to mind: “Can I rely on this person unconditionally in everything?” These people are not just honest, they are noble and selfless; For the sake of the happiness of others, they are ready to sacrifice their own happiness, and, if necessary, their lives. An example of noble self-sacrifice is Lopukhov’s act, which forms the plot basis of the novel. Lopukhov sincerely loves Vera Pavlovna, but when he saw that she loved Kirsanov, in order to remove obstacles to their happiness, he faked suicide and left for America. He is filled with high spiritual nobility farewell letter to friends: “I embarrassed your calmness. I'm leaving the stage. Don't be sorry; I love you both so much that I am very happy with my determination. Farewell".

“New people” are modest and afraid of pompous phrases like fire. They don't want the people they sacrifice to feel burdened with gratitude, so they say they do it "for selfish reasons," for "their own benefit." “... This is a false concept: the victim is soft-boiled boots, argues Lopukhov. “Whatever is more pleasant, that’s what you do.” Lopukhov and Kirsanov adhere to the theory of “reasonable egoism,” according to which each person is guided only by his own benefit. Not everyone understands what this benefit really is. A “vulgar” person considers it profitable to rob and deceive other people, while “new people” believe that their happiness lies in fighting for the happiness of other people. “...If I once act against my entire human nature, I will forever lose the possibility of peace, the possibility of self-satisfaction, I will poison my whole life,” thinks Kirsanov.

The theory of “reasonable egoism” expresses the morality of revolutionary democrats. Liberal nobles said that their “duty” was to “serve the people.” Chernyshevsky claims that one can fight for the happiness of the people only at the behest of the heart, according to the attraction of “one’s nature,” and words about duty are false words. For “new people,” the people are not something extraneous that needs to be taken care of to the detriment of their own interests. They themselves are part of the people - the most advanced and conscious part of it, therefore the “new people” are alien to the discord between mind and feeling, inherent in heroes from the nobility. “The personal benefit of the new people coincides with the general benefit, and their egoism contains the broadest love for humanity,” wrote D. I. Pisarev in the article “The Thinking Proletariat.”

Noticing that Vera Pavlovna fell in love with Kirsanov, Lopukhov decided that he not only had no right to interfere, but was even obliged to help them. The morality that Lopukhov was guided by is formulated by Pisarev as follows: “... a person does not have the right to take away the happiness of another person either by his actions, or words, or even silence.” If Lopukhov had not helped Vera Pavlovna, she might have been able to suppress her feelings, but Lopukhov did not want to take credit for someone else’s happiness. By his attitude towards Vera Pavlovna, says Chernyshevsky, Lopukhov proved “that courage will never betray him in anything, that in all trials, whatever, he will remain calm and firm, that... until the last minute of his life, how no matter the blows he is exposed to, he will be happy with the consciousness of his human dignity.” In other words, a person who is honest in his personal life, like Lopukhov, is ready to die for a just cause, that is, he is capable of being a revolutionary.

People like Lopukhov and Kirsanov were not so rare during the revolutionary situation of the 60s, but they still constituted a small part of society.

The main theme of Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?”

History of creation and publication

Chernyshevsky wrote the novel while in solitary confinement in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863. Since January 1863, the manuscript has been transferred in parts to the investigative commission in the Chernyshevsky case (the last part was transferred on April 6). The commission, and after it the censors, saw only a love story in the novel and gave permission for publication. The censorship oversight was soon noticed, and the responsible censor, Beketov, was removed from office. However, the novel had already been published in the magazine Sovremennik (1863, No. 3-5). Despite the fact that the issues of Sovremennik, in which the novel “What is to be done?” were published, were banned, the text of the novel in handwritten copies was distributed throughout the country and caused a lot of imitations.

“They talked about Chernyshevsky’s novel not in a whisper, not in a low voice, but at the top of their lungs in the halls, on the porches, at Madame Milbret’s table and in the basement pub of the Stenbokov Passage. They shouted: “disgusting,” “charming,” “abomination,” etc. - all in different tones.”

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

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

In the novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?” aluminum is mentioned. In the “naive utopia” of Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream, it is called the metal of the future. And this great future By now (mid XX - XXI centuries) aluminum has already reached.
The “lady in mourning” who appears at the end of the work is Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevskaya, the writer’s wife. At the end of the novel we are talking about the release of Chernyshevsky from the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was while writing the novel. He never received his release: on February 7, 1864, he was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor followed by settlement in Siberia.
The main characters with the surname Kirsanov are also found in Ivan Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”.

Literature

Nikolaev P. Revolutionary novel // Chernyshevsky N. G. What to do? M., 1985

Film adaptations

1971: Three-part teleplay (directors: Nadezhda Marusalova, Pavel Reznikov)

Notes

Links

Categories:

Literary works in alphabetical order
Nikolai Chernyshevsky
Political novels
Novels of 1863
Novels in Russian

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"What to do" - famous novel N. G. Chernyshevsky, written by him during his imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1862-1863. The manuscript was handed over to the censorship commission, which saw only a love story in the novel and allowed publication. However, later the censors saw a revolutionary beginning in this work, but the novel was already published in the Sovremennik magazine. Issues containing this novel were confiscated, but still it was distributed to the masses in handwritten form.

The plot of the work

Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya, the main character of the novel, not wanting to marry a rich groom, enters into a fictitious marriage with Lopukhov, a medical student - a noble and decent man. Thus, Vera Pavlovna leaves her father's house. Being an independent and active person, she is trying to find her purpose. She opens a sewing workshop, where she recruits girls who are just as interested in developing the business as she is.

Then Vera Pavlovna falls in love with her fictitious husband's friend Alexander Kirsanov. Kirsanov has mutual feelings for her, but in order not to ruin his friend’s family, Kirsanov leaves them for a long time. Subsequently, realizing that marriage is burdening Vera, Lopukhov fakes his suicide, thereby giving Vera and Kirsanov the opportunity to be together. Lopukhov leaves for America, where he becomes an agent of an English company, then returns to Russia, gets married, and reports his return to the Kirsanov family.

Chernyshevsky devotes separate pages to Rakhmetov. Despite the fact that he is a supporting hero, he is special for Chernyshevsky. In Rakhmetov, the author wanted to collect all the qualities of the “new” people of that time. He studies revolutionary literature and is an ardent supporter of his cause. He did not allow himself excesses, ate cheap food, slept on felt, and worked hard. He did all this in order to better understand life ordinary people. He saw his life goal in serving for the benefit of the common people.

Characteristics of the main characters

Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya is the main character of the novel, a young girl, she grew up in St. Petersburg, studied at a boarding school, sews well, is cheerful, sociable, despite her youth, she is a mature person, responsible, independent. A large place in the novel is devoted to the dreams of Vera Pavlovna. Through her dreams, Chernyshevsky expresses his philosophical reflections.
Lopukhov is a medical student, honest, noble, decent, belongs to the new generation. He selflessly helps Vera Pavlovna, offers to enter into a fictitious marriage for her so that she can leave her home and avoid an unwanted marriage. Being in a fictitious marriage, he does not insist on a relationship between him and Vera. Seeing that Vera Pavlovna is unhappy in her marriage to him, she stages her suicide, thereby giving her the opportunity to free herself from the bonds of marriage.
Kirsanov – best friend Lopukhova, honest, decent, serious, smart, responsible, works in a hospital. He loves Lopukhov's wife, Vera Pavlovna Rozalskaya, but tries not to interfere with their family life and disappears. After Lopukhova's staged suicide, he marries Rozalskaya.
Rakhmetov is a friend of Kirsanov and Lopukhov, a nobleman, a bright, extraordinary personality, a real revolutionary, the author calls him a “special person.” He unswervingly follows his principles. Despite the fact that he is a nobleman, he leads an ascetic lifestyle and wants to understand the life of ordinary people. Having fallen in love once, he suppresses this feeling in every possible way, since he believes that it will interfere with his lofty thoughts.

The meaning of Vera Pavlovna's dreams in the work

A special place in the novel is given to the dreams of Vera Pavlovna. In the first dream, in a veiled form, there is talk of a revolution that will help women defend their rights. In the second dream we are talking about “pure dirt” - that is, ordinary people, the main thing for them is work. “Rotten dirt” are those people who live off the labor of other people.

The fourth dream deals with the past, present and future of humanity. She again dreams of the image of a revolution that speaks of equality and freedom.

Problems of the work

In his novel, Chernyshevsky touches on many pressing issues of the time.

The main problems of the novel are:

the problem of a woman’s place in the society of that time
the problem of the crisis of the autocratic system
problem moral choice
the hard life of poor people

First of all, the author raises the problem of a woman’s place in the society of that time. Women cannot get decent jobs and support themselves; instead, they can only marry for convenience. Vera Pavlovna found herself in the same situation, but thanks to Lopukhov, she managed to avoid such a fate. Chernyshevsky raises the issue of the lack of rights and helplessness of women of that time. And in the person of Lopukhov and Kirsanov, he calls for treating a woman as an equal person.

Note 1

The crisis of autocracy came quite a long time ago, people wanted revolution, their desire became stronger and stronger. The monarchy fought very sluggishly against the new worldview and dissent.

Each of the main characters of the novel is tested by the problem of moral choice. Vera entered into a fictitious marriage not out of love, but is trying in every possible way to preserve it. Kirsanov, not wanting to destroy his friend’s family, leaves his friends for a long time. Lopukhov, seeing Vera's suffering, stages suicide and thereby frees her from the bonds of marriage. It should be noted that all the heroes pass these tests with dignity.

The problem of poverty is also topical for that time. In order for a woman to exist, she had to marry a rich man. It is precisely concerns about the financial condition of her daughter that make Vera’s mother forget about morality and lead her to moral degradation.

The main idea of the work

The heroes of Chernyshevsky’s novel were created by him as role models for young people. In his “special” hero Rakhmetov, Chernyshevsky gives readers the answer to the question “What to do?” The main idea of the work is to show the reader something new active person, whose goal is to live and act for the benefit of his people. The novel is interesting, first of all, because the author not only describes and is indignant about the social and moral situation that had developed at that time, but also puts forward ways, in his opinion, of the correct solution. With the character of Rakhmetov, the author calls on readers of that time to abandon their selfish motives and calls not to pay attention to the difference in classes. In the image of Rakhmetov, Chernyshevsky reveals the main idea of the novel - the determination to defend bright ideals.