How the women's question is solved in the novel by Chernyshevsky. Women's issue in pre-revolutionary Russia - reasons, origins, opinions of Russian thinkers

A woman for "new people" is a comrade and like-minded person. Lopukhov departs from Vera Pavlovna, suppressing zoological jealousy and selfish pride. He acts with a reasonable consideration of true needs, individually and collectively.

A new attitude towards love

Love for them is the source of creativity. This is a bright feeling that strengthens and inspires to work, struggle and deeds: "if there was some germ of genius in me, with this feeling (love) I would become a great genius." For new people, only he loves “whose thought brightens and his hands are strengthened; love is to help exaltation and rise ... ". Showing the situations of the love triangle, Chernyshevsky ironically refutes the reproaches of "discerning readers" that he promotes immorality and divorce.

The difference between "new people" and "superfluous" people: to replace the passive and divorced from the people superfluous people(thinkers for the most part) came energetic, strong-willed, businesslike, active people from the democratic strata, thinkers and fighters at the same time: “Each of them is a brave man, unwavering, not retreating, who knows how to get down to business. And on the other hand, each of them is a person of impeccable honesty, so you can always rely on him. "

Unconventional and unusual for a Russian prose XIX century plot plot, more characteristic of French adventure novels - the mysterious suicide described in the first chapter "What to do?" - was, according to the generally accepted opinion of all researchers, its own ...

Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky - creator of the work special genre- fictional and publicistic novel "What is to be done?" In it, the writer tried to answer the eternal questions of Russian literature. The heroine's dreams contribute to the disclosure of the writer's intention ...

Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky is the creator of a work of a special genre - the fictional publicistic novel "What is to be done?" In it, the writer tried to answer the eternal questions of Russian literature. The heroine's dreams contribute to the disclosure of the writer's intention ...

If there are “winged” phrases in the world, then there must be “winged” questions. They always hover in the air breathed by a reasonable person. It seems to me that the ability to correctly pose a question is as important as answering it. For example, English literature...

1. New!

   NG Chernyshevsky in his novel "What is to be done?" makes an unusual emphasis on sane selfishness. Why is egoism reasonable, sane? In my opinion, because in this novel we first see " new approach to the problem "," new ...

The main character of the novel "What is to be done?" is Vera Pavlovna.

The girl is quite beautiful, slender, like a southern princess. She has thick black hair and dark skin. Vera Pavlovna is incredibly charming, feminine, dresses tastefully.

Vera grew up in a bourgeois family, where there was a terrible atmosphere of vulgarity and debauchery. Her father is a cowardly and hopeless person, and her mother is a woman with a tough disposition, a complex character, very selfish. To some extent, parenting by a mother can be called tyrannical.

Vera Pavlovna is a bright character of the work. She is incredibly sensitive, kind, has spiritual harmony. She is also very creative person: loves to play the piano and sing. Her voice is just wonderful, which makes everyone who heard it fall in love.

The main character set the goal of her life to gain freedom and independence. She does not want to obey anyone, because from the very childhood she was obliged to sheathe the whole family. The girl was not afraid of dirty work, she was not a white-handed woman. Faith is the ideal of that time. Proud, playful, independent of other people's opinions. Freedom comes first for her. This person is constantly improving and growing, developing his skills.

When Vera found out that her tyrant mother wants to “sell” her, that is, to marry her “successfully” to some vulgar and terrible man, the girl decides to take a desperate step - to commit suicide. After all, her ardent character and will to freedom are much more important than the whims of her mother. She is not ready to put up with such injustice, in her opinion, it is better to die than to live with someone you don’t love.

The brother's teacher, Lopukhov, helps to avoid an unwanted wedding. He organized a sham marriage. Faith, in turn, suits clothing industry... Its main principle is the equality of working girls, she wants to teach them freedom.

Later, Vera meets Lopukhov's friend Kirsanov. Faith falls in love with this young man and their feelings are mutual. Lopukhov, realizing that Vera Pavlovna under reliable protection disappears from their lives.

The image of Faith is a striving for freedom and true happiness without any framework. This is the heroine who achieves what she wants. She will not stop on her way for a cherished goal.

Essay on the theme of Vera Pavlovna

Chernyshevsky left a legacy to his descendants in the form of a novel about “new people”. The novel "What is to be done?" asks the reader questions and makes him analyze what is happening. Here you can meet a revolutionary, an educator, and "new people" and a person who is not ready for something new. Vera Pavlova Rozolskaya is a woman who throughout the novel shows her strength and confidence. She even in difficult circumstances improving, becoming the owner of a sewing workshop and a doctor. This image was written with love, since Chernyshevsky reflects in it his worldview of a revolutionary writer.

Vera Pavlovna was born and spent her childhood in a bourgeois family. Parents were not distinguished by high moral feelings. From the very childhood she was forced to work. Therefore, I quit piano lessons with a teacher. But she didn’t agree to her mother’s persuasion to marry a wealthy man and formalized a fictitious marriage with Lopukhov. This episode shows the girl's rebellious spirit. She is not ready to come to terms with outdated laws, she opposes falsehood and lies. And even in this family, everything is according to new rules: the main thing in everyday life is equality, no one crosses the border. Vera Pavlovna is convinced that the main thing is independence, which manifests itself not only in the ability to do what you want, but also in relation to another person and in relationships in general.

But her struggle boils down not only to a selfish desire to be equal with a man. She rescues young girls from poverty. V new apartment organizes a sewing workshop, hires workers with whom he shares the profit equally. Together with the girls, not only works, but also goes to picnics, communicates on important topics... It is very important for Vera Pavlovna to give happiness to others.

She cannot deceive her husband Lopukhov, when she fell in love with Kirsanov she immediately said about it. She is self-sufficient and understands that any outcome will be correct. After all, a woman does not give up sewing and studies the medical craft. After Lopukhov's "suicide" she experiences pain and blames herself. But after extinguishing these feelings, he still remains with his beloved Kirsanov, and later another family appears in the house - Beaumont.

Vera Pavlovna loves music and theater, reads a lot of classical and modern literature... She takes care of her appearance, so she always has a neat look and looks feminine. But at the same time, she a strong character and persistent life position... Chernyshevsky in the image of Vera Pavlovna combined the features of his wife and the "new women" of that time.

Chernyshevsky approaches this type in a completely different way. His novel What Is to Be Done? in general, it is polemical in relation to conservative and liberal-noble literature, and in the interpretation of the women's issue, Chernyshevsky is also polemic. His Vera Pavlovna is not at all similar to the same Kukshina, although she is a model of an emancipated woman. She is, first of all, a normal woman, who under no circumstances loses her femininity, but adds to her such qualities that were traditionally considered purely masculine: a healthy and subtle mind, the desire to work, education, independence. This is definitely positive hero novel by Chernyshevsky. Chernyshevsky seeks to prove that there is nothing monstrous or unnatural in the emancipation and liberation of a woman, that freedom and equality of women are an indispensable condition for a socially harmonious society. It is noteworthy that Chernyshevsky's love is a test situation, but the heroes come out of it with honor, and above all thanks to the “theory of reasonable egoism”, which expresses the essence of the morality of “new people”. “Free love”, according to Chernyshevsky, is beautiful and reasonable, it is a manifestation of respect for a woman and recognition of her inalienable rights. But truly free love is possible only in a free society, and therefore the true liberation of women lies on the path of social revolution.

Glossary:

• the image of faith pavlovna in the novel what to do
• the image of Vera Pavlovna and the woman's question in the novel what to do
• Vera Pavlovna in the novel What to do

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In literature lessons, as a rule, little attention is paid to the work of Chernyshevsky "What to do". This is partly correct: delving into the endless dreams of Vera Pavlovna, analyzing the plot, which serves only as a frame for the main idea of ​​the work, trying through gritting teeth to make out not the most highly artistic and easy tongue the author, stumbling over almost every word - the lessons are long, tedious and not entirely justified. From the point of view of literary criticism, this is not the best choice to consider. But what an influence this novel had on the development of Russian social thought in the 19th century! After reading it, one can understand how the most progressive thinkers of that time lived.

Nikolai Chernyshevsky was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress for his radical statements about the authorities at that time. His work was also born there. The history of the novel "What to do" began in December 1862 (the author added it in April 1863). Initially, the writer conceived it as a response to Turgenev's book "Fathers and Sons", where he portrayed a man new formation- the nihilist Bazarov. Eugene comprehended a tragic ending, but in contrast to him, Rakhmetov was created - a more perfect hero of the same mindset, who no longer suffered for Anna Odintsova, but was engaged in business, and very productively.

To deceive the vigilant censors and the judicial commission, the author introduces into the political utopia a love triangle that occupies most on the volume of the text. With this trick, he confused the officials, and they gave permission to publish. When the deception was revealed, it was already too late: the novel "What is to be done" was sold throughout the country in issues of Sovremennik and handwritten copies. The ban did not stop the distribution of the book or the imitation of it. It was removed only in 1905, and a year later, individual copies were officially released. But for the first time in Russian it was published long before that, in 1867 in Geneva.

It is worth citing some quotes from contemporaries in order to understand how significant and necessary this book was for people of that time.

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

The anarchist Kropotkin spoke enthusiastically about the work:

For Russian youth of that time, it was a kind of revelation and turned into a program, became a kind of banner

Even Lenin honored her with his praise:

The novel “What to do?” Plowed me deeply. This is a thing that gives you a charge for life.

genre

There is an antithesis in the work: the direction of the novel "What to do" is sociological realism, and the genre is utopia. That is, truth and fiction are closely adjacent in the book and give rise to a mixture of the present (objectively reflected realities of that time) and the future (the image of Rakhmetov, the dreams of Vera Pavlovna). That is why he caused such a resonance in society: people painfully perceived the prospects put forward by Chernyshevsky.

In addition, "What to Do" is a philosophical and journalistic novel. He earned this title thanks to hidden meanings, which were gradually introduced by the author. He was not a writer either, he just used what everyone understood. literary form to disseminate their political views and expressing their deep thoughts about fair social structure tomorrow... In his work, it is precisely the journalistic intensity that is obvious, it is philosophical issues that are highlighted, and the fictional plot serves only as a cover from the close attention of the censors.

What is the novel about?

It's time to tell what the book "What is to be done?" The action begins with the fact that an unknown person committed suicide by shooting himself and falling into the river. It turned out to be a certain Dmitry Lopukhov, a progressive-minded young man who was pushed to this desperate act by love and friendship.

The essence of the prehistory "What to do" is as follows: the main character Vera lives with an ignorant and rude family, a calculating and cruel mother has established her own rules there. She wants to marry her daughter to the rich son of the mistress of the house where her husband works as a manager. An avaricious woman does not shun any means, she can even sacrifice the honor of her daughter. A moral and proud girl is looking for salvation from her brother's tutor, student Lopukhov. He is secretly engaged in her education, sparing a bright head. He also arranges for her to escape from home under the auspices of a fictitious marriage. In fact, young people live like brother and sister, there are no love feelings between them.

"Spouses" are often in a society of like-minded people, where the heroine meets best friend Lopukhov - Kirsanov. Alexander and Vera are imbued with mutual sympathy, but they cannot be together, as they are afraid of hurting the feelings of a friend. Dmitry became attached to his "wife", discovered in her a multifaceted and strong personality doing her education. A girl, for example, does not want to sit on his neck and wants to arrange her life on her own, opening a sewing workshop, where women in trouble could honestly earn. With the help of loyal friends, she realizes her dream, and a gallery opens in front of us female images with life stories characterizing a vicious environment where the weaker sex has to fight for survival and defend honor.

Dmitry feels that he is interfering with his friends, and fakes his own suicide, so as not to stand in their way. He loves and respects his wife, but he understands that she will be happy only with Kirsanov. Naturally, no one knows about his plans, everyone sincerely mourns his death. But from a number of hints from the author, we understand that Lopukhov calmly left abroad and returned from there in the final, reuniting with his comrades.

A separate line of meaning is the company's acquaintance with Rakhmetov, a man of a new formation who embodies the ideal of a revolutionary, according to Chernyshevsky (he came to Vera on the day she received a note about her husband's suicide). It is not the hero's actions that are revolutionary, but his very essence. The author tells about him in detail, reporting that he sold the estate and led a Spartan lifestyle, just to help his people. In his image and hidden true meaning books.

The main characters and their characteristics

First of all, the novel is notable for its characters, and not for the plot, which was needed to distract the attention of the censors. Chernyshevsky in the work "What to do" draws images strong people, "Salt of the earth", intelligent, decisive, courageous and honest people, on whose shoulders later the frantic machine of the revolution will rush at full speed. These are the images of Kirsanov, Lopukhov, Vera Pavlovna, who are the central characters of the book. All of them are constant participants in the action in the work. But above them the image of Rakhmetov stands alone. In contrast to him and the trinity "Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna" the writer wanted to show the "usualness" of the latter. In the last chapters, he brings clarity and literally chews up his idea for the reader:

“At the height at which they stand, all people must stand, can stand. Higher natures, which you and I cannot keep up with, my pathetic friends, higher natures are not like that. I showed you a light outline of the profile of one of them: you see the wrong features "

1. Rakhmetov – the main character novel "What is to be done?" Already from half of the 17th year began its transformation into " special person", Before that he was" an ordinary, good, high school student who finished the course. " Having managed to appreciate all the "delights" of the free student life, he quickly lost interest in them: he wanted something more, meaningful, and fate brought him to Kirsanov, who helped him to embark on the path of rebirth. He began to greedily absorb knowledge from all sorts of areas, read books "drunkenly", train physical strength by hard hard work, gymnastics and lead a Spartan lifestyle to strengthen his will: give up luxury in clothes, sleep on felt, there is only that can afford the common people. For closeness with the people, dedication, developed strength among people, he acquired the nickname "Nikita Lomov", in honor of famous barge haule, distinguished by its physical capabilities. In the circle of friends, they began to call him a "rigorist" because "he accepted the original principles in material, moral, and mental life", and later "they developed into a complete system, which he adhered to unswervingly." This is an extremely purposeful and fruitful person who works for the good of others' happiness and limits his own, I am content with little.
2. Vera Pavlovna- the main character of the novel "What to do", a beautiful swarthy woman with long dark hair. In her family, she felt like a stranger, because her mother tried to marry her profitably at any cost. Although she was characterized by calmness, poise and thoughtfulness, in this situation she showed cunning, inflexibility and willpower. She pretended to favor courtship, but in fact was looking for a way out of the trap set by her mother. Under the influence of education and a good environment, she is transformed and becomes much smarter, more interesting and stronger. Even her beauty blossoms, as does her soul. Now we have before us a self-confident and intellectually developed woman of a new type, who runs a business and provides for herself. This is the ideal of a lady, according to Chernyshevsky.
3. Lopukhov Dmitry Sergeevich- medical student, husband and liberator of Vera. He is distinguished by composure, a sophisticated mind, cunning, and at the same time, responsiveness, kindness, sensitivity. He sacrifices his career to save a stranger, and even limits his freedom for her. He is calculating, pragmatic and restrained, his entourage appreciates efficiency and education in him. As you can see, under the influence of love, the hero also becomes a romantic, because again he radically changes his life for the sake of a woman, staging suicide. This act betrays him a strong strategist who calculates everything in advance.
4. Alexander Matveevich Kirsanov- the beloved of Vera. He is a kind, intelligent, sympathetic young man, always ready to meet friends halfway. He opposes his feelings for the wife of a friend, does not allow him to destroy their relationship. For example, he stops visiting their house for a long time. The hero cannot betray Lopukhov's trust, both of them "with their breasts, without connections, without acquaintances, paved their way for themselves." The character is decisive and firm, and this masculinity does not prevent him from having a delicate taste (for example, he loves opera). By the way, it was he who inspired Rakhmetov to the feat of revolutionary self-denial.

The main characters of "What to do" are noble, decent, honest. There are not so many such characters in literature, and there is nothing to say about life, but Chernyshevsky goes further and introduces an almost utopian character, thereby showing that decency is far from the limit of personality development, that people have crumbled in their aspirations and goals, that you can be even better, harder, stronger. Everything is cognized in comparison, and by adding the image of Rakhmetov, the writer raises the bar of perception for readers. This is exactly what, in his opinion, a real revolutionary looks like, capable of leading the Kirsanovs and Lopukhovs. They are strong and smart, but not mature enough for decisive independent action.

Theme

• Love theme... Chernyshevsky in the novel "What to do" reveals the favorite motive of the writers in a new role. Now an extra link in love triangle self-destructs and sacrifices its interests to the reciprocity of the remaining parties. In this utopia, a person controls his feelings as much as possible, sometimes even, it seems, and completely refuses them. Lopukhov ignores vanity, male pride, feelings for Vera, just to please friends and at the same time provide them with happiness without guilt. This perception of love is too far from reality, but we take it at the expense of the author's innovation, who presented a hackneyed theme in such a fresh and original way.
• Strength of will... The hero of the novel "What to do" has curbed in himself almost all passions: he gave up alcohol, society of women, stopped wasting time on entertainment, being engaged only in "other people's affairs or nobody's business in particular."
• Indifference and responsiveness... If Vera's mother, Marya Aleksevna, was indifferent to the fate of her daughter and thought only about the material side of the family's life, then an outsider, Lopukhov, without any ulterior motive sacrifices his bachelor peace and career for the girl. So Chernyshevsky draws a line between the old-regime bourgeoisie with a petty greedy soul and representatives of a new generation, pure and disinterested in their thoughts.
• Revolution theme... The need for change is expressed not only in the image of Rakhmetov, but also in the dreams of Vera Pavlovna, where the meaning of life is revealed to her in symbolic visions: it is necessary to lead people out of the dungeon, where they are imprisoned by conventions and a tyrannical regime. The writer considers enlightenment to be the basis of the new free world, it is with it that begins happy life heroines.
• Education theme... New people in the novel "What to do" are educated and smart, they devote most of their time to learning. But this does not exhaust their impulse: they try to help others and put their efforts into helping the people in the fight against age-old ignorance.

Problematic

Many writers and public figures even after a while this book was mentioned. Chernyshevsky understood the spirit of that time and successfully developed these thoughts further, creating a real memo to the Russian revolutionary. The problematic in the novel "What to do" turned out to be painfully topical and topical: the author touched upon the problem of social and gender inequality, topical political problems and even imperfections of the mentality.

• Women's question... The problems in the novel "What to do", first of all, relate to women and their social disorder in realities tsarist Russia... They have nowhere to go to work, nothing to feed themselves without a humiliating marriage of convenience or even more humiliating earnings on a yellow ticket. The position of the governess is not much better: no one will do anything to the owner of the house for harassment, if he is a noble person. So Vera would have fallen victim to the officer's lust, if it had not been saved by progress in the person of Lopukhov. He treated the girl differently, as an equal. This attitude is the key to the prosperity and independence of the weaker sex. And the point here is not in rabid feminism, but in the banal opportunity to provide for oneself and the family in case the marriage did not work out or the husband died. The writer complains about the powerlessness and helplessness of women, and not about the underestimated superiority of one sex over the other.
• Monarchy crisis. Ever since the uprising on Senate Square in 1825, ideas about the failure of the autocracy have ripened in the minds of the Decembrists, but the people were not then ready for upheavals of this magnitude. Subsequently, the thirst for revolution only strengthened and with each new generation it became stronger, which could not be said about the monarchy, which fought this dissent as best it could, but, as you know, by 1905 it swayed itself, and in the 17th it voluntarily surrendered its positions Provisional Government.
• Problem moral choice... Kirsanov runs into her when he realizes his feelings for his friend's wife. Vera constantly feels her, starting with a failed "profitable marriage" and ending with a relationship with Alexander. Lopukhov also faces a choice: to leave everything as it is, or to act fairly? All the heroes of the novel "What to do" withstand the test and make an impeccable decision.
• Poverty problem. It is depressing financial situation leads Vera's mother to moral degradation. Marya Alekseevna cares about "real dirt", that is, she thinks how to survive in a country where she is not considered anything without a title and wealth? Her thoughts do not burden her with excesses, but worries about her daily bread. Constant need reduced her spiritual needs to a minimum, leaving no space or time for them.
• The problem of social inequality. Vera's mother, not sparing her daughter's honor, lures officer Storeshnikov to make him her son-in-law. There was not a drop of dignity left in her, because she was born and lived in a rigid hierarchy, where those who are lower are wordless slaves to those who are higher. She will consider it fortunate if the master's son dishonors her daughter, if only he would marry after that. Such an upbringing disgusts Chernyshevsky, and he caustically ridicules him.

The meaning of the novel

The author created a role model for young people to show how to behave. Chernyshevsky gave Russia the image of Rakhmetov, in which most of the answers to the burning questions "what to do", "who to be", "what to strive for" are collected - Lenin saw this and took a number of actions that led to a successful coup, otherwise he would not spoke of the book so enthusiastically. That is, the main idea the novel "What to Do" is an enthusiastic hymn to a new type of active person who can solve the problems of his people. The writer not only criticized contemporary society, but also suggested ways to solve those conflict situations who tore him apart. In his opinion, it was necessary to do as Rakhmetov did: to give up selfishness and class arrogance, to help common people not only in words, but in rubles, to participate in large and global projects that can really change the situation.

A real revolutionary, according to Chernyshevsky, is obliged to live the life that an ordinary person lives. People in power should not be elevated to a separate elite caste, as is often the case. They are the servants of the people who appointed them. Something like this can be expressed the position of the author, which he conveyed to his "special" hero and which he wants to convey through him to the reader. Rakhmetov - the accumulation of all positive qualities, one might say, "superman", as in Nietzsche. With the help of it, the idea of ​​the novel "What to do" is expressed - bright ideals and a firm determination to defend them.

Nevertheless, Chernyshevsky warns the reader that the path of these people is thorny and "meager in personal joys", "to which they are calling you." These are people trying to be reborn from a person into an abstract idea, devoid of personal feelings and passions, without which life is hard and joyless. The writer warns against admiration for such Rakhmetovs, calling them ridiculous and pitiful, because they are trying to embrace the immensity, exchange fate full of earthly blessings for duty and unrequited service to society. But in the meantime, the author understands that without them life would completely lose its taste and "sour". Rakhmetov - not romantic hero, but quite a real man, which the creator examines from different angles.

Interesting? Keep it on your wall!

It just so happened with Chernyshevsky that the character of Vera Pavlovna in his novel became the most developed and gradually turned into the compositional center of the book. It has already been said that there is a lot in this an interesting portrait copied from living nature, and therefore a conscientious description, like a photograph, involuntarily reveals a lot in an image so important for the author and his novel, especially a woman.

Let's start from the beginning - with a song that Vera Pavlovna sings in French. How does she know this language of the upper class so well and, moreover, gives it lessons? After all, she grew up in a poorly educated and deeply immoral family: her father is a thief and a bribe-taker, her mother is a rude, cunning drunkard with no conscience and no trace of knowledge of languages. Several years of Vera's not very diligent visit to the inferior boarding school of knowledge foreign language do not give, we need a French governess at home and a French teacher at the Institute for Noble Maidens, reading books and magazines, parents and their guests should speak this language, as it should be in the world. None of this happened in the girl's life.

Already from this trifle characteristic of the author, it is clear that she violates her own theoretical principle "Being determines consciousness", for his heroine, despite her illiterate family, soulless environment, four years of boarding school and low birth, is a highly educated and highly moral person with very advanced outlook on life and well-hung language, politically economically and legally savvy, capable of organizing and supplying permanent orders for a sewing workshop and a cheerful girl's hostel with her. Where it all suddenly came from is unclear.

In a novel by Turgenev or Goncharov, this would be obvious to everyone, unforgivable mistake against the laws of realistic artistry, and no one noticed these incongruities against the background of the complete general fantasy of his main book in Chernyshevsky. Everyone saw the ideas, not the less artistic ways of expressing them. The author deliberately allows such rude shifts in his very flexible, obliging realism (later it was correctly called socialist), in order to show an oppressed woman who is breaking free for the sake of enlightenment and advanced ideas from a bad environment and bravely fighting for her rights, for her freedom. After all, otherwise it was impossible to correctly formulate and further develop in the novel the idea of ​​the famous "women's question", that is, the problem of equal rights of women and men in Russian society. This "question" is the main content of the thoughts, actions, dreams and dreams of Vera Pavlovna.

The "Women's Question" is one of the main issues in the revolutionary democratic ideology and propaganda. For the commoners wanted to attract women to their side, promising them a successful struggle for their rights, high social ideals, new role in society, legal and economic equality, higher and secondary education (after all, women were not admitted to universities, and gymnasiums and schools for them did not exist), equality in marriage and love, raising children. Again, the split goes through the main thing in Russian society and life - through the family. In a semi-eastern semi-cultural country (Chernyshevsky's friend Dobrolyubov called her “ dark kingdom"), Where girls and married people had not so long ago been locked up in chambers, such ideas inevitably carried away the advanced, thirsty social activities women and became a great power. They went to the public, and then to the revolution (about this Turgenev wrote "Nov" and the prose poem "Threshold").

Vera immediately begins to struggle with her low environment and says to her mentor in ethical issues, the progressive-minded Frenchwoman Julie: “I want to be independent and live my own way; what I need myself, I’m ready for that; what I don’t need, I don’t want and don’t want. I only know that I don’t want to give in to anyone, I want to be free, I don’t want to owe anything to anyone. ” It is obvious that the most honest Julie - lung woman behavior, Verochka and the author of the novel are of little concern. Further, Chernyshevsky points out the ways for such an advanced girl to arrange her life well, to become a ray of light in the dark kingdom.

She needs to break out of the basement, as Vera calls her “ugly family,” life with her mother and father, find new brave people with progressive views who will help her, enlighten, find and show her a way out. Vera turned her eyes to the handsome teacher of her brother, student of the military medical academy Dmitry Lopukhov. He talks to her about new ideals, the struggle for the happiness of all people, gives Feuerbach and other clever books to read " kind people", Talks about some new love, full of mutual respect, built on the theory of reasonable egoism, that is, the natural and legitimate striving of every person for his own benefit:" Your personality in this situation is a fact; your actions are the necessary conclusions from this fact, drawn by the nature of things. You are not responsible for them, and it is stupid to blame them. " And this is the famous theory "Everything is permissible." Following it, you can jump into your lover's carriage, or you can "ideologically" take up the ax.

Further, the student-educator is already taking practical steps to save Vera, who is suffering in her rude family, but he sees a way out and offers her only one: the girl's flight from the family and a fictitious marriage without parental consent. The leading girl immediately agrees and says to the student, "We will be friends." But then he describes in detail the structure of their future family life, based on complete economic independence from each other (here Vera, with her four years at the boarding house, hopes for the lessons she will give) and secluded living in different rooms. So friendship alone is not enough for a lively girl. They are crowned by a kind democratic priest, who has read the same Feuerbach and therefore calmly transgresses church rules and secular laws. Here are the basics new family... For many, they turned out to be convenient and attractive.

So, with the help of Vera, readers learned a new morality, new views on love and women's rights, ways of salvation through a secret marriage (often fictitious), new order family life. A woman is not a thing, no one can possess her, she should not depend on a man materially, marriage is free, love is free, she does not bear any responsibility for her actions, done for her own good by the method of rational egoism, she can love, and maybe stop loving and leave the former husband and children for the sake of a more courageous and worthy fighter for the happiness of all people. The state, church and society, including the harsh author of "Anna Karenina", repeated to the woman who violated the laws of morality and community that she was sinful, guilty, and punished her for her sins. Lopukhov asserts something else: "You are not to blame." So there is no need to rush under the locomotive ... So an encyclopedia of new morality began to take shape, according to which thousands and thousands of Russian advanced intellectuals later lived and acted. Vera Pavlovna found many grateful followers.

Further, Vera Pavlovna clearly indicates and substantiates the practical ways of economic emancipation of the Russian woman. This is a common, that is, all useful and progressive business. Vera Pavlovna organizes her famous sewing workshop on the money that came from nowhere, where, according to the new order, very good educated girls who have come from nowhere work hard and honestly share the money earned from nowhere. They live in a large common apartment, have a common table and shop together for clothes, shoes, etc. Where do they get money for this, if a seamstress's monthly earnings are several rubles, and only about two thousand must be paid for an apartment per year - this is the author does not interest and remains without explanation. Of course, there was a collective reading of "smart books" aloud as in a lyceum, purposeful self-education, group trips to the theater and out of town with disputes on political themes... Behind all this there is an open propaganda of the revolutionary democratic ideas of Chernyshevsky.

In a word, the sci-fi dream of the French utopian socialist Charles Fourier came true, and a phalanx - a cell of a new just society and a phalanx - a socialist community - were successfully formed in the center of St. Petersburg. It turns out that such workshops are very profitable and progressive (although a simple alignment on office accounts shows the opposite: the low cost of manual labor of Russian seamstresses does not correspond to the high price of imported fabrics, stocks, American sewing machines, rent and taxes, not to mention the inevitable bribes and theft and considerable expenses for a phalanster hostel), and Vera Pavlovna and her friends open their new branches and a fashionable store on Nevsky Prospekt. This path of liberated female labor, indicated in Chernyshevsky's novel, immediately became popular, and such workshops and dormitories-communes in real Russia there were many, because all women wanted to free themselves, make good money, get into a new cultural environment, to meet “new” men there and in this way finally solve the notorious “women's question”. The main book, which was passed on and read aloud there, was the novel "", published abroad or rewritten by hand.