The conflict between man and society in literature. I. Kabanova

26.07.2020

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Man and Society in the Literature of the Enlightenment

Educational novel in England: "Robinson Crusoe" by D. Defoe.

The literature of the Enlightenment grows out of the classicism of the 17th century, inheriting its rationalism, the idea of the educational function of literature, attention to the interaction of man and society. Compared with the literature of the previous century, in the educational literature there is a significant democratization of the hero, which corresponds to the general direction of educational thought. The hero of a literary work in the 18th century ceases to be a “hero” in the sense of possessing exceptional properties and ceases to occupy the highest levels in the social hierarchy. He remains a “hero” only in another sense of the word - the central character of the work. With such a hero the reader can identify himself, put himself in his place; this hero is in no way higher than an ordinary, average person. But at first, this recognizable hero, in order to attract the interest of the reader, had to act in an unfamiliar environment to the reader, in circumstances that awaken the reader's imagination. Therefore, with this “ordinary” hero in the literature of the 18th century, extraordinary adventures still occur, out of the ordinary events, because for the reader of the 18th century they justified the story of an ordinary person, they were the amusement of a literary work. The hero's adventures can unfold in different spaces, close or far from his home, in familiar social conditions or in a non-European society, or even outside of society in general. But the literature of the 18th century invariably sharpens and poses, shows in close-up the problems of the state and social structure, the place of the individual in society and the influence of society on the individual.

England in the 18th century became the birthplace of the educational novel. Let us recall that the novel is a genre that arose during the transition from the Renaissance to the New Age; this young genre was ignored by classicist poetics, because it had no precedent in ancient literature and resisted all norms and canons. The novel is aimed at an artistic study of contemporary reality, and English literature turned out to be especially fertile ground for a qualitative leap in the development of the genre, which the educational novel became for several reasons. First, England is the birthplace of the Enlightenment, a country where in the 18th century real power already belonged to the bourgeoisie, and bourgeois ideology had the deepest roots. Secondly, the emergence of the novel in England was facilitated by the special circumstances of English literature, where, over the previous one and a half centuries, aesthetic prerequisites were gradually formed in different genres, individual elements, the synthesis of which on a new ideological basis gave the novel. From the tradition of puritanical spiritual autobiography, the novel came into the habit and technique of introspection, methods of depicting the subtle movements of a person's inner world; from the genre of travel, describing the voyages of English sailors, - the adventures of pioneers in distant countries, the plot relies on adventure; finally, from the English periodicals, from the essays of Addison and Style of the early 18th century, the novel mastered the methods of depicting the mores of everyday life, everyday details.

The novel, despite its popularity among all strata of readers, for a long time was considered a "low" genre, but the leading English critic of the 18th century, Samuel Johnson, a classicist in taste, in the second half of the century was forced to admit: generation - these are, as a rule, those that show life in its true form, contain only such incidents that happen every day, reflect only such passions and properties that are known to everyone who deals with people. "

When the well-known journalist and publicist Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), nearly sixty years old, wrote Robinson Crusoe in 1719, the last thing he thought about was that he was writing a groundbreaking work, the first novel in Enlightenment literature. He did not expect that descendants would give preference to this particular text out of 375 works already published under his signature and earning him the honorary name of “the father of English journalism”. Literary historians believe that in fact he wrote much more, but it is not easy to identify his works, published under different pseudonyms, in the wide flow of the English press at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. At the time of the creation of the novel, Defoe had a huge life experience behind his back: he came from the lower class, in his youth he was a participant in the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, escaped execution, traveled around Europe and spoke six languages, learned the smiles and betrayal of Fortune. His values - wealth, prosperity, personal responsibility of a person to God and himself - are typically puritanical, bourgeois values, and Defoe's biography is a colorful, eventful biography of the bourgeois of the era of primitive accumulation. All his life he started various businesses and said about himself: "Thirteen times I became rich and poor again." Political and literary activity led him to a civil execution at the pillory. For one of the magazines, Defoe wrote a fake autobiography of Robinson Crusoe, in the authenticity of which his readers had to believe (and did).

The plot of the novel is based on a true story told by Captain Woods Rogers in the account of his voyage, which Dafoe could read in the press. Captain Rogers recounted how his sailors removed a man from an uninhabited island in the Atlantic Ocean after spending four years and five months alone there. Alexander Selkirk, a violent mate on an English ship, quarreled with his captain and was landed on the island with a gun, gunpowder, a supply of tobacco and a Bible. When found by Rogers' sailors, he was dressed in goatskins and "looked wilder than the horned original wearers of this garment." He forgot how to speak, on the way to England he hid crackers in the secluded places of the ship, and it took time for him to return to a civilized state.

Unlike the real prototype, Defoe's Crusoe for twenty-eight years on a desert island has not lost his humanity. The story of the affairs and days of Robinson is permeated with enthusiasm and optimism, the book radiates an unfading charm. Today "Robinson Crusoe" is read primarily by children and adolescents as a fascinating adventure story, but the novel poses problems that should be discussed in terms of the history of culture and literature.

The protagonist of the novel, Robinson, an exemplary English entrepreneur who embodies the ideology of the emerging bourgeoisie, grows in the novel to a monumental depiction of a person's creative, constructive abilities, and at the same time his portrait is historically quite concrete.

Robinson, the son of a merchant from York, has dreamed of the sea from a young age. On the one hand, there is nothing exceptional in this - at that time England was the leading sea power in the world, English sailors sailed all the oceans, the profession of a sailor was the most widespread and was considered an honorable one. On the other hand, it is not the romance of sea voyages that attracts Robinson to the sea; he does not even try to enter a ship as a sailor and study naval affairs, but in all his voyages he prefers the role of a passenger paying the fare; Robinson confides in the wrong fate of the traveler for a more prosaic reason: he is attracted by "a rash idea of making himself a fortune, scouring the world." Indeed, outside of Europe it was easy to get rich quickly with a little luck, and Robinson flees home, disregarding his father's admonitions. Father Robinson's speech at the beginning of the novel is a hymn to the bourgeois virtues, the "middle state":

Leaving their homeland in pursuit of adventure, he said, or those who have nothing to lose, or ambitious, eager to take a higher position; starting up enterprises that go beyond the framework of everyday life, they strive to improve their affairs and cover their name with fame; but such things are either beyond my power, or humiliating to me; my place is the middle, that is, what can be called the highest stage of humble existence, which, as he was convinced by many years of experience, is for us the best in the world, the most suitable for human happiness, delivered from both want and deprivation, physical labor and suffering that fall to the lot of the lower classes, and from the luxury, ambition, arrogance and envy of the upper classes. How pleasant such a life is, he said, I can judge by the fact that everyone put in different conditions envy him: even kings often complain about the bitter lot of people born for great deeds, and regret that fate did not put them between two extremes - insignificance and greatness, and the sage speaks out in favor of the middle as a measure of true happiness, when heaven begs not to send him either poverty or wealth.

However, young Robinson does not heed the voice of prudence, goes to sea, and his first merchant enterprise - an expedition to Guinea - brings him three hundred pounds (typical, as he always calls sums of money in the narrative); this good fortune turns his head and completes his “doom”. Therefore, Robinson considers everything that happens to him in the future as a punishment for filial insubordination, for not listening to “the sober arguments of the best part of his being” - reason. And he finds himself on an uninhabited island at the mouth of the Orinoco, succumbing to the temptation to "get rich sooner than circumstances allowed": he undertakes to deliver slaves from Africa for Brazilian plantations, which will increase his fortune to three to four thousand pounds sterling. During this voyage, he ends up on an uninhabited island after a shipwreck.

And here the central part of the novel begins, an unprecedented experiment begins, which the author puts on his hero. Robinson is a small atom of the bourgeois world, who does not think of himself outside this world and treats everything in the world as a means to achieve his goal, who has already traveled three continents, purposefully walking along his path to wealth.

He turns out to be artificially torn out of society, placed in loneliness, placed face to face with nature. In the “laboratory” conditions of a tropical uninhabited island, an experiment on a person is being carried out: how will a person torn out of civilization behave, individually confronted with the eternal, pivotal problem of mankind - how to survive, how to interact with nature? And Crusoe repeats the path of humanity as a whole: he begins to work, so that work becomes the main theme of the novel.

An enlightening novel for the first time in the history of literature pays tribute to labor. In the history of civilization, labor was usually perceived as punishment, as evil: according to the Bible, God imposed the need to work on all the descendants of Adam and Eve as a punishment for original sin. For Defoe, labor appears not only as the real main content of human life, not only as a means of obtaining what is needed. Even the Puritan moralists were the first to talk about work as a worthy, great occupation, and in Defoe's novel, work is not poeticized. When Robinson gets to a desert island, he really doesn't know how to do anything, and only a little, through setbacks, he learns to grow bread, weave baskets, make his own tools, clay pots, clothes, an umbrella, a boat, breed goats, etc. It has long been noted that it is more difficult for Robinson to be given those crafts with which his creator was well familiar: for example, Defoe once owned a factory for the production of tiles, therefore Robinson's attempts to mold and burn pots are described in detail. Robinson himself is aware of the saving role of labor:

Even when I realized all the horror of my situation - all the hopelessness of my loneliness, my complete isolation from people, without a glimmer of hope for deliverance - even then, as soon as the opportunity opened up to stay alive, not to die of hunger, all my grief vanished like a hand : I calmed down, began to work to satisfy my urgent needs and to preserve my life, and if I regretted my fate, I least of all saw in it a heavenly punishment ...

However, under the conditions of the experiment on human survival started by the author, there is one concession: Robinson quickly “opens up an opportunity not to starve to death, to stay alive”. It cannot be said that all his ties with civilization have been cut. First, civilization acts in his skills, in his memory, in his position in life; secondly, from a plot point of view, civilization is surprisingly timely sending Robinson its fruits. He would hardly have survived if he had not immediately evacuated from the wrecked ship all food supplies and tools (guns and gunpowder, knives, axes, nails and a screwdriver, grindstone, crowbar), ropes and sails, bed and dress. However, at the same time, civilization is represented on the Island of Despair only by its technical achievements, and social contradictions do not exist for an isolated, lonely hero. It is from loneliness that he suffers most of all, and the appearance on the island of the savage Friday becomes a relief.

As already mentioned, Robinson embodies the psychology of the bourgeois: it seems completely natural to him to appropriate everything and everyone to which any of the Europeans do not have legal ownership. Robinson's favorite pronoun is “mine”, and he immediately makes his servant out of Friday: “I taught him to pronounce the word“ master ”and made it clear that this is my name”. Robinson does not ask questions whether he has the right to appropriate Friday, sell his friend from the captivity of the boy Ksuri, and trade in slaves. The rest of the people are of interest to Robinson insofar as they are partners or the subject of his transactions, trade operations, and Robinson does not expect any other attitude towards himself. In Defoe's novel, the world of people depicted in the story of Robinson's life before his ill-fated expedition is in a state of Brownian motion, and the stronger is its contrast with the light, transparent world of a desert island.

So, Robinson Crusoe is a new image in the gallery of great individualists, and he differs from his Renaissance predecessors by the absence of extremes, by the fact that he completely belongs to the real world. No one can call Crusoe a dreamer, like Don Quixote, or an intellectual, a philosopher, like Hamlet. His sphere is practical action, management, trade, that is, he is engaged in the same thing as the majority of mankind. His egoism is natural and natural, he is aimed at a typically bourgeois ideal - wealth. The mystery of the charm of this image lies in the very exceptional conditions of the educational experiment that the author made on him. For Dafoe and his first readers, the novel's interest was precisely in the exclusivity of the hero's situation, and a detailed description of his everyday life, his daily work was justified only by a thousand-mile distance from England.

Robinson's psychology is fully consistent with the simple and artless style of the novel. Its main property is credibility, complete persuasiveness. The illusion of the authenticity of what is happening is achieved by Defoe using so many small details that, it seems, no one would undertake to invent. Taking an initially improbable situation, Defoe then develops it, strictly observing the limits of plausibility.

The success of "Robinson Crusoe" among the reader was such that four months later Defoe wrote "The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe", and in 1720 released the third part of the novel - "Serious Reflections Throughout the Life and Wonderful Adventures of Robinson Crusoe." Over the course of the 18th century, about fifty more "new Robinsons" were published in various literatures, in which Defoe's idea was gradually turned upside down. In Defoe, the hero seeks not to run wild, not to simplify himself, to wrest the savage out of “simplicity” and nature - his followers have new Robinsons, who, under the influence of the ideas of the late Enlightenment, live one life with nature and are happy with a break with an emphatically vicious society. This meaning was put into Defoe's novel by the first passionate denouncer of the vices of civilization, Jean Jacques Rousseau; for Defoe, the separation from society was a return to the past of mankind - for Rousseau, he becomes an abstract example of the formation of man, the ideal of the future.

A person is a part of society. He exists among his own kind, is connected with them by thousands of invisible threads: personal and social. Therefore, you cannot live and not depend on those who live next to you. From the very birth we become a part of the world around us. Growing up, we think about our place in it. There can be a person in different relationships with society: harmoniously combine with him, oppose him, or be such a person who influences the course of social development. The issues of the relationship between the individual and society have always been of interest to writers and poets, therefore, they are reflected in fiction.

Let's take a look at some examples.

Let us recall the comedy of A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit". The main character of the work, Alexander Andreevich Chatsky, is opposed to the Famus society, into which he falls after a three-year journey. They have different life principles and ideals. Chatsky is ready to serve for the good of the Motherland, but does not want to serve ("I would be glad to serve, it is sickening to serve."), To look for a warm place, to care only about a career and income. And for people like Famusov, Skalozub and the like, service is an opportunity for a career, increasing income, and close ties with the right people. In his monologue "Who are the judges?" Chatsky speaks sharply about serfdom and serfdom, who do not consider the common people people, sell, buy and exchange their slaves. Members of the Famus society are precisely such serf-owners. Also, the hero of the play irreconcilably refers to the worship of everything foreign, which was so widespread at that time in Russia, to the "French from Bordeaux", to the passion for the French language to the detriment of Russian. Chatsky is a defender of education, because he believes that books and teaching are only beneficial. And people from Famusov's society are ready to "collect all the books and burn them." Griboyedov's hero leaves Moscow, here he received only "woe from wits." Chatsky is lonely and is not yet able to resist the world of the Famusovs and Skalozubs.

In the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" also speaks of personality and society. In the story "Princess Mary" the author tells about Pechorin and the "water society". Why do those around him dislike Pechorin so much? He is smart, educated, very well versed in people, sees their advantages and disadvantages and knows how to play on it. Pechorin is a "white crow" among others. People do not like those who are in many ways better than them, more difficult, more incomprehensible. The conflict between Pechorin and the "water society" ends with the duel of our hero with Grushnitsky and the death of the latter. What is the fault of poor Grushnitsky? Only by the fact that he followed the lead of his friends, he agreed to meanness. And what about Pechorin? Neither the princess's love nor the victory over the members of the "water society" made him happier. He cannot find his place in life, he has no goal to live for, so he will always be a stranger in the world around him.

In the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" also talks about the relationship between a person and the society in which he is. After marriage, the main character of the work, Katerina, finds herself in a "dark kingdom" ruled by such as Kabanikha and Dikoy. It is they who establish their laws here. Hypocrisy, hypocrisy, the power of power and money - that's what they worship. There is nothing alive in their world. And Katerina, whom Dobrolyubov calls "a ray of light in the dark kingdom," is cramped and difficult here. She is like a bird in a cage. Her free and pure soul breaks free. The heroine tries to fight the dark world: she seeks support from her husband, tries to find salvation in her love for Boris, but everything is in vain. Talking about the death of Katerina, the writer emphasizes that she could not resist the surrounding society, but, as Dobrolyubov wrote, for a moment illuminated the world of the "dark kingdom", aroused protest against it even in people like Tikhon, and shattered its foundations. And this is the merit of such a person as Katerina.

In the story of M. Gorky "The Old Woman Izergil" there is a legend about Larra. Larra is the son of a woman and an eagle. Proud, strong and brave. When he came to the “mighty tribe of people,” where his mother was from, he behaved as an equal even among the elders of the tribe, said that he would do as he wanted. And people saw that he considered himself the first on earth and came up with the most terrible execution for him. “The punishment is in him,” they said, they gave him freedom, that is, they freed (fenced off) everyone. It turned out that this is the most terrible thing for a person - to be outside of people. “This is how the man was amazed for his pride,” says the old woman Izergil. The author wants to say that you need to reckon with the society in which you live and respect its laws.

In conclusion, I would like to note that this topic made me think about my place in our society, about the people with whom I live.

How do adolescents understand the laws by which modern society lives?

Text: Anna Chainikova, teacher of Russian and literature at school No. 171
Photo: proza.ru

Already next week, graduates will test their literary analysis skills. Will they be able to reveal the topic? Find the right arguments? Will they fit into the evaluation criteria? We will find out very soon. In the meantime, we offer you an analysis of the fifth thematic area - "Man and Society". You still have time to use our advice.

FIPI comment:

For the topics of this direction, the view of a person as a representative of society is relevant. Society in many ways shapes the personality, but the personality is also capable of influencing society. Themes will allow us to consider the problem of the individual and society from different sides: from the point of view of their harmonious interaction, complex confrontation or irreconcilable conflict. It is equally important to think about the conditions under which a person should obey social laws, and society should take into account the interests of each person. Literature has always shown interest in the problem of the relationship between man and society, the creative or destructive consequences of this interaction for the individual and for human civilization.

Vocabulary work

Explanatory dictionary by T.F. Efremova:
MAN - 1. A living being, unlike an animal, has the gift of speech, thought and the ability to produce tools of labor and use them. 2. The carrier of any qualities, properties (usually with a definition); personality.
SOCIETY - 1. A set of people united by historically conditioned social forms of common life and activity. 2. A circle of people united by a common position, origin, interests. 3. The circle of people with whom someone is in close contact; Wednesday.

Synonyms
Human: personality, individual.
Society: society, environment, environment.

Man and society are closely interconnected and cannot exist without each other. Man is a social being, he was created for society and from early childhood is in it. It is society that develops, shapes a person, in many respects it depends on the environment and environment what a person will become. If, due to various reasons (conscious choice, chance, exile and isolation, used as punishment) a person finds himself outside of society, he loses part of himself, feels lost, experiences loneliness, and often degrades.

The problem of interaction between the individual and society worried many writers and poets. What can this relationship be like? What are they built on?

Relationships can be harmonious when a person and society are in unity, they can be built on confrontation, the struggle of an individual and society, and maybe on an open, irreconcilable conflict.

Often heroes challenge society, oppose themselves to the world. In literature, this is especially common in the works of the era of romanticism.

In the story "Old woman Izergil" Maxim Gorky, telling Larra's story, invites the reader to think about the question of whether a person can exist outside of society. The son of a proud free eagle and an earthly woman, Larra despises the laws of society and the people who invented them. The young man considers himself exceptional, does not recognize authorities and does not see the need for people: “… He, boldly looking at them, replied that there were no more people like him; and if everyone honors them, he does not want to do this "... Disregarding the laws of the tribe in which he found himself, Larra continues to live as he lived before, but refusal to obey the norms of society entails exile. The tribal elders say to the audacious youth: “He has no place among us! Let him go wherever he wants”- but this only makes the son of a proud eagle laugh, because he is used to freedom and does not consider loneliness a punishment. But can freedom become painful? Yes, turning into loneliness, she will become a punishment, says Maxim Gorky. Coming up with the punishment for the murder of a girl, choosing from the most severe and cruel, the tribe cannot choose one that satisfies everyone. “There is a punishment. This is a terrible punishment; you will not invent such a thing in a thousand years! The punishment for him is in himself! Let him go, let him be free "- says the sage. Larra's name is symbolic: "Outcast, thrown out".

Why, then, what at first aroused the laughter of Larra, "who remained free like his father," turned into suffering and turned out to be a real punishment? A person is a social being, therefore he cannot live outside society, Gorky argues, and Larra, although he was the son of an eagle, was still half human. “There was so much melancholy in his eyes that he could have poisoned all the people of the world with it. So, from that time on, he was left alone, free, awaiting death. And so he walks, walks everywhere ... You see, he has already become like a shadow and will be like that forever! He does not understand people's speech or their actions - nothing. And everything seeks, walks, walks ... He has no life, and death does not smile at him. And there is no place for him among people ... This is how the man was amazed for his pride! " Torn from society, Larra seeks death, but does not find it. Saying “the punishment to him is in himself,” the sages who comprehended the social nature of man predicted a painful test of loneliness and isolation for the proud young man who challenged society. The way Larra suffers only confirms the idea that a person cannot exist outside of society.

The hero of another legend told by the old woman Izergil is Danko, the absolute opposite of Larra. Danko does not oppose himself to society, but merges with it. At the cost of his own life, he saves desperate people, leads them out of the impenetrable forest, illuminating the path with his burning heart torn from his chest. Danko accomplishes the feat not because he expects gratitude and praise, but because he loves people. His act is selfless and altruistic. He exists for the sake of people and their good, and even in those moments when the people who followed him shower him with reproaches and indignation boils in his heart, Danko does not turn away from them: "He loved people and thought that maybe they would die without him.". "What will I do for people ?!"- exclaims the hero, tearing a flaming heart out of his chest.
Danko is an example of nobility and great love for people. It is this romantic hero that becomes Gorky's ideal. A person, according to the writer, should live with people and for the sake of people, not close in himself, not be an egoistic individualist, and he can be happy only in society.

Aphorisms and sayings of famous people

All roads lead to people. (A. de Saint-Exupery)
Man is created for society. He is unable and does not have the courage to live alone. (W. Blackstone)
Nature creates man, but develops and forms his society. (V.G.Belinsky)
Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other. (Seneca)
Anyone who loves loneliness is either a wild beast or the Lord God. (F. Bacon)
Man is created to live in society; separate him from him, isolate him - his thoughts will get confused, his character will harden, hundreds of absurd passions will arise in his soul, extravagant ideas will sprout in his brain like a wild thorn among a wasteland. (D. Diderot)
Society is like air: it is necessary for breathing, but not enough for life. (D. Santayana)
There is no dependence more bitter and humiliating than dependence on human will, on the arbitrariness of one's peers. (N. A. Berdyaev)
You shouldn't be guided by public opinion. This is not a lighthouse, but wandering lights. (A. Maurois)
It is common for every generation to consider itself called upon to remake the world. (A. Camus)

What questions are worth pondering?

What is the manifestation of the conflict between man and society?
Can a person win the fight against society?
Can a person change society?
Can a person exist outside of society?
Can a person remain civilized outside of society?
What happens to a person cut off from society?
Can a person become a person in isolation from society?
Why is it important to maintain individuality?
Do I need to express my opinion if it differs from the opinion of the majority?
What is more important: personal interests or the interests of society?
Is it possible to live in society and be free from it?
Where does the violation of social norms lead?
What kind of person can be called dangerous to society?
Is a person responsible to society for their actions?
What does the indifference of society to man lead to?
How does society treat people who are very different from it?

The most perfect examples of Balzac are the novels Lost Illusions and The Peasants. In these works, society itself really becomes the historian. In Lost Illusions, for the first time, the writer and the literature of that time had a kind of “self-movement” of society: in the novel they began to live independently, showing their needs, their essence, the most diverse social strata.

The provincial bourgeoisie, represented by the Kuente brothers and Seshar's father, was able to ruin and dishonor the honest talented inventor David Seshar.

Provincial aristocrats and provincial bourgeoisie infiltrate the Parisian salons, borrow their ways of making a career, destroying rivals. The Parisians themselves ... are bloodless, but in a fierce struggle, the states of swagger, political, and salon intrigues gain a privileged position, thereby causing the envy and hatred of the vanquished.

Balzac shows how success is bought and sold in personal life, art, politics, commerce. We see that only strength and unprincipledness are valued in this world, which create external brilliance. Humanity, honesty, talent are not needed by this society. The most remarkable story for the laws of society is the story of David Séchard, a talented inventor who had to give up work on his discovery, and - especially - the poet Lucien Chardon.

This is their path - the path of losing illusions, a characteristic phenomenon in France. Lucien is like a young Rastignac, but without willpower and a cynical willingness to sell himself, and like Raphael de Valentin - who is addicted, but does not have enough strength to conquer this world himself.

Lucien is immediately distinguished from David Seshar by his thirst for respect and selfishness. His naivety, dreaminess, ability to fall under other people's influences lead to disaster: he actually renounces his talent, becomes a corrupt journalist, carries out dishonorable acts and ends up committing suicide in prison, horrified by the chain of his actions. Balzac shows how the illusions of a young man who has learned the inhuman laws of the modern world are dispelled.

These laws are the same for both the province and the capital - in Paris they are more cynical and, at the same time, more hidden under the cover of hypocrisy.

Balzac's novels testify to the fact that society condemns a person to give up illusions. For honest people, this means deepening their privacy, as happened with David Seshar and his wife Evoya. Some heroes learn to profitably trade their beliefs and talent.

But only those who, like Rastignac, have a strong will and are not subject to the temptation of sensuality, can win. The exception is the members of the Commonwealth, to which Lucienne Chardon joins for a certain time. This is an association of disinterested and talented ministers of science, art, public figures who live in cold attics, who live from hand to mouth, but do not renounce their beliefs.

These people help each other, do not seek fame, but are inspired by the idea of benefiting society and developing their field of knowledge or art.

Their life is based on work. The head of the Commonwealth is Daniel D'Artez, a writer and philosopher whose aesthetic program is similar to that of Balzac himself. The Commonwealth includes Republican Michel Chretien, who dreams of a European federation. But the author himself is aware that the Commonwealth is a dream, because of this, its members are mostly only schematically depicted, the scenes of their meetings are somewhat sentimental, which is unusual for the talent of the author of The Human Comedy.

Balzac himself called the novel "Peasants" "research", he investigated the opposition of the new nobility, which appeared during Napoleon's time, the bourgeoisie and the peasantry, and for him this is a class that "will someday swallow the bourgeoisie, as the bourgeoisie once devoured the nobility."

Balzac does not idealize the peasants - nevertheless, they are not only petty extortionists and deceivers: they remember 1789 well, they know that the revolution did not free them, that all their wealth, as once, is a hoe, and that master the same, although it is now called - Work. The unclean, deceitful and dark peasant Furchon appears before the readers as a kind of philosopher, a revolutionary in his soul, who remembers the years of the revolution: “The curse of poverty, your Excellency,” he says, referring to the general, “is growing rapidly and growing much higher than your tallest oaks and they make gallows out of oaks ... ”.

The spirit of the revolution lived in the memory of the people. It is because of this that the oppressed peasant turns out to be the accuser of the masters who do not respect him. This is the result of the "research" carried out by Balzac in this novel.

The melodramatic finale of the work does not belong to its author, but was completed at the request of the widow of the writer Evelina Ganskaya.

Having visited St. Petersburg in 1843, Balzac did not meet with any of the Russian writers; the names of A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, M. Lermontov were not known to him. Those who happened to meet him left miserable and illiterate testimonies, in the manner of the one sent by VK Kuchelbecker's niece: “Recently we saw Balzac, who came to Russia for several months; no, you cannot imagine what this vile physiognomy is. Mother noticed, and I completely agree with her, that he looks like the portraits and descriptions that we read about Robespierre, Danton and other similar faces of the French Revolution: he is short, fat, his face is fresh, rosy, his eyes are smart, but the whole facial expression has something bestial. "

The cultural level of the "author" of the letter according to the preserved style of presentation. Official Russia expressed its rejection of the French writer even more understandably: he was under secret police surveillance, and the books that came to him from France were subjected to a long and thorough check. The attitude of criticism towards Balzac was also ambiguous.

In the 30s in Russia, he was perceived mainly as a connoisseur of the human heart, master psychologist V. Belinsky, who at first admired the works of the French novelist, seeing the writer's skill in depicting the most complex impulses of the soul, in creating a gallery of never-repeated characters, soon time became sharply hostile to him because of his legitimism. "

Taras Shevchenko recalls Balzac's works in the story “The Musician”. I. Franko in numerous articles considered Balzac one of the greatest representatives of the realistic tradition in world literature. Lesia Ukrainka, in a letter to her brother M. Kosach at the end of 1889, submitted an expanded prospectus of the works of outstanding writers, which it would be desirable to translate into Ukrainian.

In particular, she advised members of the Pleiad circle to translate Balzac's novels “The Thirty-Year-Old Woman,” “Lost Illusions,” “Peasants”.

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Honore de Balzac is a French novelist born in Touré. Balzac is one of the great masters of novels. Having belonging to a noble family, he himself later added a part - de to his name. Without taking care of the child's education as a child, his parents sent him to the grammar school in Tours and then to the Vendome College, where he was a weak student, [...] ...
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Born in the ancient French city of Tours. As a sixteen-year-old boy, Balzac comes to Paris to study law. For a long time, the young man could not engage in jurisprudence: he understood his purpose and declared that he wanted to become a writer. To begin with, he tried himself in the field of theater. Balzac's first play, Oliver Cromwell, failed when staged. The angry father deprived his son of moral and material support. [...] ...
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Reference. Zulma Carro (1796-1889) - a friend of Balzac. The novel "The Banking House of Nucingen" is dedicated to her in 1838. In the dedication, the following lines are addressed to her: "To you, whose lofty and incorruptible mind is a treasure for friends, to you, who for me is both the public and the most indulgent of the sisters." When the short-lived relationship of the writer with the Duchess d'Abrantes was just beginning, [...] ...
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Arguments for the final essay in the directions: "Man and Society", "Courage and Cowardice". M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time". Part 2.

What is the conflict between man and society?

The conflict between a person and society appears when a strong, bright personality cannot obey the rules of society. So, Grigory, the main mountain of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time" is an outstanding person who challenges moral laws. He is the “hero” of his generation, who has absorbed his worst vices. A young officer, endowed with a sharp mind and attractive appearance, treats the people around him with disdain and boredom, they seem to him pitiful and funny. He feels that he is not needed. In vain attempts to find himself, he brings only suffering to people who are not indifferent to him. At first glance, it may seem that Pechorin is an extremely negative character, but, consistently plunging into the thoughts and feelings of the hero, we see that not only he himself is to blame, but also the society that gave birth to him. In his own way, he reaches out to people, unfortunately, society rejects his best impulses. Several such episodes can be seen in the chapter "Princess Mary". The friendly relationship between Pechorin and Grushnitsky turns into rivalry and enmity. Grushnitsky, suffering from wounded pride, acts meanly: he shoots an unarmed man and wounds him in the leg. However, even after the shot, Pechorin gives Grushnitsky a chance to act with dignity, is ready to forgive him, he wants an apology, but the latter's pride turns out to be stronger. Dr. Werner, playing the role of his second, is almost the only person who understands Pechorin. But even he, having learned about the publicity of the duel, does not support the main character, only advises him to leave the city. Human pettiness and hypocrisy harden Gregory, make him incapable of love and friendship. Thus, Pechorin's conflict with society was that the main character refused to pretend and hide his vices, like a mirror showing a portrait of the entire generation, for which society rejected him.

Can a person exist outside of society?

A person cannot exist outside of society. Being a social being, a person needs people. So, the hero of the novel M.Yu. Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time" Grigory Pechorin comes into conflict with society. He does not accept the laws by which society lives, feeling falsity and pretense. However, he cannot live without people, and, without noticing it, instinctively reaches out to those around him. Not believing in friendship, he becomes close to Dr. Werner, and playing with Mary's feelings, with horror begins to realize that he is falling in love with a girl. The main character deliberately pushes people who are not indifferent to him, justifying his behavior with the love of freedom. Pechorin does not understand that he needs people even more than they need him. Its finale is sad: a young officer dies alone on the way from Persia, never finding the meaning of his existence. In pursuit of his needs, he lost his vitality.

Direction "Courage and cowardice".

How are the concepts of courage and self-confidence (stupidity) related? WITHpetty to admit wrong.

Courage, expressed in overconfidence, can lead to irreparable consequences. It is generally accepted that courage is a positive quality of character. This statement is true if it is associated with intelligence. but a fool is sometimes dangerous. So, in the novel "The Mountain of Our Time" M.Yu. Lermontov, one can find confirmation of this. Young cadet Grushnitsky, one of the characters in the chapter "Princess Mary", is an example of a person who pays great attention to outward manifestations of courage. He loves to have an effect on people, speaks in pompous phrases and pays excessive attention to his military uniform. He cannot be called a coward, but his bravery is ostentatious, not aimed at real threats. Grushnitsky and Pechorin have a conflict, and offended pride requires a duel with Grigory. However, Grushnitsky decides on meanness and does not load the enemy's pistol. Upon learning of this, Pechorin puts him in a difficult situation: to ask for forgiveness or to be killed. Unfortunately, the cadet cannot defeat his pride, he is ready to bravely meet death, because recognition is unthinkable for him. His "courage" is of no use to anyone. He dies because he does not realize that the courage to admit his mistakes is sometimes the most important thing.

How are the concepts of courage and self-confidence (stupidity) related?

Another character whose daring was foolish is Azamat, Bela's younger brother. He is not afraid of risk and bullets whistling over his head, but his courage is stupid, even fatal. He steals his sister from home, risking not only his relationship with his father and his safety, but also Bela's happiness. His courage is not aimed either at self-defense or at saving lives, therefore it leads to sad consequences: his father and sister die at the hands of a robber from whom he stole a horse, and he himself is forced to flee to the mountains. Thus, courage can lead to dire consequences if it is used by a person to achieve goals or protect their ego.