What is the novel Shagreen Skin about? Literary parallels in the images of heroes. Screen adaptations and productions

In the novel “Gentlemen Golovlevs” by Saltykov-Shchedrin, a whole gallery of images of one family is displayed - the landowners Golovlevs. This family is heading towards degradation and destruction, it falls apart, and then its members physically fade into oblivion.

The image of Arina Petrovna: this is the only outstanding person in the Golovlev family. She is the mother and head of the family. “A powerful woman and, moreover, highly gifted with creativity,” the author characterizes her. Arina Petrovna manages the household and manages all family affairs. She is cheerful, strong-willed, energetic. But this is only useful in farming. Arina Petrovna suppresses her sons and her husband, who hates her for this. She never loved her husband; she considered him a buffoon, a weakling, and incapable of running a household. “The husband called his wife “witch” and “devil”, the wife called her husband “ windmill" and "stringless balalaika".

In fact, after living for forty years in the family, Arina Petrovna remains a bachelor, who is only interested in money, bills and business conversations. She has no warm feelings for her husband and children, no sympathy, which is why she punishes her loved ones so terribly when they treat property irresponsibly or do not obey her.

The image of Stepan Golovlev: this is a “gifted guy” with a mischievous character, good memory and learning abilities. However, he was brought up in idleness, all his energy was spent on mischief. Having graduated, Stepan turns out to be unable to make a career as an official in St. Petersburg, since he has neither the ability nor the desire for it. He once again confirms the nickname “Styopka the dunce”; he leads a wandering life for a long time. By the age of forty, he is terrified of his mother, who will not support him, but, on the contrary, will seize him. Stepan comes to the realization that he “can’t do anything” because he never tried to work, but wanted to get everything for nothing, to snatch a piece from his greedy mother, or someone else. He becomes an alcoholic in Golovlev and dies.

Image of Pavel Golovlev. This is a military man, but also a man suppressed by his mother, colorless. Outwardly, he snaps and is rude to his mother. But inside he is afraid of her and finds fault with her, resisting her influence. “He was a gloomy man, but behind the gloominess there was a lack of action - and nothing more.” Having moved to Golovlevo, he entrusts affairs to his housekeeper, Ulita. Pavel Golovlev himself becomes an alcoholic, consumed by hatred of his brother Judas. They die in this hatred, embittered, with curses and curses.

Image of Judas, Porfiry Golovlev. This man is the quintessence of the Golovlev family. He chose hypocrisy as his weapon. Under the guise of cute and sincere person he achieves his goals, gathers family property around himself. His low soul rejoices at the misfortunes of his brothers and sisters, and when they die, he receives sincere pleasure in the division of property. In relations with his children, he also thinks first of all about money - and his sons cannot stand it. Porfiry never allows himself to say something rude or caustic. He is polite, feignedly sweet and caring, endlessly argues, makes mellifluous speeches, and weaves verbal intrigues. People see his deceit, but succumb to it. Even Arina Petrovna herself cannot resist them. But at the end of the novel, Judas also comes to his downfall. He becomes incapable of anything except idle talk. For whole days he bores everyone with conversations that no one listens to. If the servant turns out to be sensitive to his “verbal language” and nagging, then he tries to run away from the owner. Judushka’s tyranny becomes more and more petty, he also drinks like his late brothers, and for entertainment he spends all day remembering minor insults or minimal miscalculations in the household in order to “sorry” them. Meanwhile, the real economy is not developing and is falling into desolation and decay. At the end of the novel, Judas has a terrible epiphany: “We need to forgive everyone... What... what happened?! Where… is everyone?!” But the family, divided by hatred, coldness and the inability to forgive, is already destroyed.

The image of Anna and the image of Lyuba from “The Golovlev Lords.” Judushka’s nieces are representatives of the last generation of Golovlevs. They try to escape from the oppressive atmosphere of the family, at first they succeed. They work, play in the theater and are proud of it. But they were not accustomed to consistent, persistent activity. Nor were they taught moral fortitude or firmness in life. Lyubinka is ruined by her cynicism and prudence, taken from her grandmother, and she herself pushes her sister into the abyss. From actresses, the “Pogorelsky sisters” become kept women, then almost prostitutes. Anninka, more morally purer, more spiritual, selfless and kind-hearted, stubbornly clings to life. But she, too, breaks down, and after Lyubinka’s suicide, sick and drinking, she returns to Golovlevo “to die.”

"Messrs. Golovlevs"- novel by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, written in 1875-1880. The work includes 5 chapters:

• "Family Court"
• "In a related way"
• "Family Summary"
• "Niece"
• "Escapee"

were originally published as a cycle of stories and were included in the satirical chronicle “Well-Intentioned Speeches,” published in the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski” in 1875-1876; then the chronicle was published without these chapters. In 1876, Saltykov-Shchedrin decided to create a novel; he highlighted the already written chapters from “Well-Intentioned Speeches” and subsequently added two more:

• "Illegal Family Joys" (1876)
• "Reckoning" (1880)

The chapters published in the magazine were revised by the writer.

Publication history

• “Family Court”, first published in the journal “Domestic Notes” in 1875, No. 10, under the title “Well-Intentioned Speeches. XIII. Family Court."
• "In a related way." First published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, 1875, No. 12, under the title “Well-Intentioned Speeches. XVII. In a family way"
• "Family Results". First published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, 1876, No. 3, under the title “Well-Intentioned Speeches. XVIII. Family results"
• "Niece." First published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, 1876, No. 5, under the title “Well-Intentioned Speeches. Before being exhausted."
• "Illegal family joys." First published in the magazine “Domestic Notes”, 1876, No. 12, under the title “Family Joys”. This chapter and subsequent ones were no longer included in the chronicle “Well-Intentioned Speeches.”
• "Descheat." First published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, 1876, No. 8
• "Calculation". First published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, 1880, No. 5, under the title “Decision (The last episode from Golovlev’s chronicle)”

Characters

Judushka_Golovlev. Cover of the book "Gentlemen Golovlevs" published by "Fiction". Moscow, 1980

• "The head of the family, Vladimir Mikhailovich Golovlev, from a young age was known for his careless and mischievous character, and for Arina Petrovna, who was always distinguished by her seriousness and efficiency, he never imagined anything attractive. He led an idle and idle life, most often locked himself in his office, imitated the singing of starlings, roosters, etc., and was engaged in composing so-called “free verses.”<…>Arina Petrovna immediately did not fall in love with these poems of her husband, calling them foul play and clowning, and since Vladimir Mikhailovich actually got married in order to always have a listener at hand for his poems, it is clear that the disagreement did not take long to occur. Gradually growing and becoming bitter, these quarrels ended, on the wife’s side, with complete and contemptuous indifference to her buffoon husband, on the husband’s side - with sincere hatred for his wife, hatred, which, however, included a significant amount of cowardice” - M. E. Saltykov -Shchedrin “Gentlemen Golovlevs”.
• « Arina Petrovna- a woman of about sixty, but still vigorous and accustomed to living at her own discretion. She behaves menacingly; single-handedly and uncontrollably manages the vast Golovlevsky estate, lives alone, prudently, almost stingily, does not make friends with neighbors, local authorities She behaves kindly, but demands from her children that they be so obedient to her that with every action they ask themselves: what will mummy say about this? In general, she has an independent, unyielding and somewhat obstinate character, which, however, is greatly facilitated by the fact that in the entire Golovlev family there is not a single person from whom she could encounter opposition.” - M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “Gentlemen Golovlevs.”
• « Stepan Vladimirovich, eldest son,<…>, was known in the family under the name Stepki-boobs and Styopka the mischievous one. He very early became one of the “hateful” and from childhood played in the house the role of either a pariah or a jester. Unfortunately, he was a gifted fellow who too readily and quickly accepted the impressions that environment. From his father he inherited an inexhaustible prankishness, from his mother the ability to quickly guess people’s weaknesses. Thanks to the first quality, he soon became his father's favorite, which further strengthened his mother's dislike for him. Often, during Arina Petrovna’s absences to do housework, the father and teenage son retired to the office, decorated with a portrait of Barkov, read free poetry and gossiped, and the “witch”, that is, Arina Petrovna, especially got it. But the “witch” seemed to instinctively guess their activities; she silently drove up to the porch, tiptoed to the office door and overheard cheerful speeches. This was followed by an immediate and brutal beating of Styopka the dunce. But Styopka did not let up; he was insensitive to either beatings or admonitions, and after half an hour he began to play tricks again. Either he will cut the girl Anyutka’s scarf into pieces, then sleepy Vasyutka will put flies in his mouth, then he will climb into the kitchen and steal a pie there (Arina Petrovna, out of economy, kept the children from hand to mouth), which, however, she will immediately share with her brothers.” - M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “Gentlemen Golovlevs.”
• “After Stepan Vladimirovich, the eldest member of the Golovlev family was a daughter, Anna Vladimirovna, which Arina Petrovna also didn’t like to talk about. The fact is that Arina Petrovna had designs on Annushka, and Annushka not only did not live up to her hopes, but instead caused a scandal throughout the entire district. When her daughter left the institute, Arina Petrovna settled her in the village, hoping to make her a free home secretary and accountant, and instead Annushka, in one beautiful night, fled from Golovlev with the cornet Ulanov and married him. After two years, the young capital lived, and the cornet fled to God knows where, leaving Anna Vladimirovna with two twin daughters: Anninka and Lyubonka. Then Anna Vladimirovna herself died three months later, and Arina Petrovna, willy-nilly, had to shelter the orphans at home. Which she did, placing the little ones in the outbuilding and assigning the crooked old woman Palashka to them.” - M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “Gentlemen Golovlevs.”
• « Porfiry Vladimirovich was known in the family under three names: Judas, a blood drinker and an outspoken boy, which were nicknames given to him by Styopka the dunce as a child. From his infancy, he loved to cuddle up to his dear friend Mama, sneak a kiss on her shoulder, and sometimes even lightly talk to her. He would silently open the door of his mother's room, silently sneak into the corner, sit down and, as if enchanted, do not take his eyes off his mother while she was writing or fiddling with accounts. But Arina Petrovna, even then, was somewhat suspicious of these filial ingratiations. And then this gaze fixed intently on her seemed mysterious to her, and then she could not determine for herself what exactly he was exuding from himself: poison or filial piety” - M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “Gentlemen Golovlevs.”
• “His brother was in complete contrast to Porfiry Vladimirovich, Pavel Vladimirovich. It was the complete personification of a person devoid of any actions. As a boy, he did not show the slightest inclination to study, or to play, or to be sociable, but he loved to live alone, alienated from people. He used to hide in a corner, pout and start fantasizing. It seems to him that he has eaten too much oatmeal, that this has made his legs thin, and he is not studying. Or - that he is not Pavel the noble son, but Davydka the shepherd, that a bolon has grown on his forehead, like Davydka’s, that he clicks the arapnik and does not study. Arina Petrovna would look and look at him, and her mother’s heart would boil.” - M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “Gentlemen Golovlevs.”

Film adaptations

• - “Judushka Golovlev” (dir. Alexander Ivanovsky).
• 2010 - “Gentlemen Golovlevs” (dir. Alexandra Erofeeva)

Links

The main character of the work is Porfiry Vladimirovich Golovlev, one of the sons of the large family of the landowner Arina Petrovna, nicknamed from the very beginning early childhood relatives Judas and the bloodsucker.

The writer presents the hero as a hereditary nobleman with a bright, humble face, eyes exuding a charming, poisonous gaze and a voice that paralyzes the will.

The characteristic features of Judushka Golovlev are his hypocrisy, deceitful pretense, expressed in the form of excessive acquisitiveness and stinginess. From an early age, Judas, with the help of ingratiation, sneaking and lies, receives the best from her mother, and subsequently, using already improved methods of influencing her mother, becomes sole owner Golovlev family estate.

Distinguished by idle talk and talkativeness, Judas does not have a single moral principle in her character, since by nature she has a malicious gut. At the same time, Golovlev positions himself in the image of a direct and truthful person, committing disgusting and base acts. However, in his character there is religiosity and piety, expressed in daily prayers for many hours, but these qualities are due to Judas’s fear of evil spirits, and they are not able to cultivate kindness and compassion for others in the hero’s soul.

Being a widower, Golovlev raises two sons, treating them with complete indifference, cruelty and coldness. Both sons pass away at a young age, without waiting for the help he needed from his father.

Having inherited the estate, Golovlev takes up the duties of the owner, driving his elderly mother into his brother’s house and beginning to tyrannize the servants and workers, since he does not feel a single moral restriction for unseemly actions. At the same time, he is able to destroy a person only with the help of his caustic phrases and words.

Judas seduces a simple girl Eupraxia, forcing her to enter into cohabitation with him. The girl gives birth to Golovlev’s son, whom he gets rid of by sending the baby to an orphanage.

In old age, Judas becomes a wild, withdrawn person, constantly talking in his thoughts with different people. Suddenly he remembers his dead mother and feels pangs of conscience for his cruel treatment of her. Judas visits her mother’s abandoned grave, and on the way to which she freezes on the road and dies.

Using the image of Judushka Golovlev, the writer reveals moral problems serfdom society.

Essay on the topic Judas

Judas is an interesting character, even a little malicious and sinister. Since childhood, he had become accustomed to whispering and conveying unpleasant news in a gentle voice, faithfully looking into his eyes. His own mother was surprised at her son’s greed, stinginess and cruelty. Why did Porfiry become like this? Maybe because the mother never really loved her children, considering them a burden? She lived her whole life with an unloved husband, who also loved to play dirty tricks on people. Perhaps the relationship between parents also influenced Porfisha’s character.

Her daughter died and left her two granddaughters, her eldest son Stepan drank himself from despair. Mrs. Golovleva divides her estate into two: Judushka and Pavel. Quietly and peacefully, Porfisha’s mother survives from her native estate, and the poor woman goes to Pavel, who subsequently becomes an alcoholic and dies.

Porfiry is not liked either by his family or by the courtyard people. Being a crafty person from childhood, in order to be a beloved son, he could not hesitate to tell about any mistake of his sister and brothers. No, not right away, but first he’ll start from afar, spark interest, spark interest, and then lay out the most important thing. He can easily gain the trust of anyone, just as he did with his good friend Mama. Always affectionate, he never uses bad words always only minimally affectionate and from this it becomes even more disgusting and scary. Sometimes facial expressions and gestures were enough for him to get his way.

It’s especially disgusting to listen to how Porfiry Vladimirovich so affectionately refuses his son who needs money, it’s so unpleasant that disgust appears towards this man. Really, you can’t allocate an amount from your capital that will help a person, because he has no one but you. He behaves the same way with his nieces, who can’t stand it and leave. Cunning and evil, but at the same time cowardly and unable to admit his mistakes, he quietly sends his newborn son to an orphanage. So that they don't find out about his love affair.

So Judas was left alone. And only conversations with his niece over a bottle of alcohol open his eyes that it is he who is to blame for the death of all his relatives.

Sometimes it’s too late when we realize the horror of what we’ve done. And this is unfortunate. We need to be more humane and kinder.

Several interesting essays

• Essay There are no other people’s children (How do you understand the expression)

  There is a fairly well-known expression about attitude towards other people. In an ideal society, elders are treated the same as parents are treated, peers are treated the same as brothers and sisters are treated

• Analysis of Bazhov's fairy tale The Stone Flower

  Fairy tale " Stone flower"is available in the collection entitled "Malachite Box". This collection was published in 1939. The story is made in such a way that children can understand it.

Every person living in Russia should know their history so as not to repeat past mistakes and know the structure of society. War, so much is put into the meaning of this word. Grief, sadness, loss, togetherness

Once upon a time, television was considered an extraordinary miracle that completely absorbed viewers. In order to find out latest news, look new movie or program, people dropped everything they were doing and sat down in front of the blue screens.

• Essay The image of Lorenzo in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare

  Franciscan monk Lorenzo secretly marries young people and strives to help them find happiness.

Reality reflected in the novel. The novel "The Golovlevs" was written by Shchedrin between 1875 and 1880s. Separate parts of it were included as essays in a cycle called “Well-Intentioned Speeches.” As part of this cycle, for example, the chapters “Family Court”, “In a Kinship”, “Family Results” were published. But, having received warm approval from Nekrasov and Turgenev, Shchedrin decided to continue the story about the Golovlevs and separate it into a separate book. Its first edition was published in 1880.

The crisis of the Russian social system, which so acutely affected various spheres of its life, had a special impact on the disintegration of family relationships. Family ties that once united members of numerous noble families began to break before our eyes. This was reflected in the fragility of property and economic relations and the rottenness of the morality that held together people united by family ties. The reverence for elders has faded, and concern for the education of the younger ones has faded. Proprietary claims became the determining factor. All this was superbly shown by Shchedrin in the novel “The Golovlevs,” which became one of the highest achievements Russian realism.

Three generations of one “noble nest”. The writer recreated the life of a landowner family in pre-reform and especially in post-reform Russia, the gradual collapse of the “nest of nobility” and the degradation of its members. Decay takes over three generations of the Golovlevs. The older generation includes Arina Petrovna and her husband Vladimir Mikhailovich, the middle generation includes their sons Porfiry, Stepan and Pavel, and the younger generation includes their grandchildren Petenka, Volodenka, Anninka and Lyubinka. One of the features of the composition of Shchedrin’s book is that each of its chapters includes, as the most important result of the existence of the “escheated family,” the death of one of the Golovlevs. The first chapter shows the death of Stepan, the second - Pavel, the third - Vladimir, the fourth - Arina Petrovna and Peter (deaths multiply before our eyes), in last chapter the story is told about the death of Lyubinka, the death of Porfiry and the dying of Anninka.

The writer outlines a peculiar predetermination of the degradation of members of the extensive Golovlev family. Stepan once recalls details characterizing the order in Golovlevo: “Here is uncle Mikhail Petrovich (in common parlance Mishka the Brawler), who also belonged to the “hateful” and whom grandfather Pyotr Ivanovich imprisoned his daughter in Golovlevo, where he lived in the common room and ate from one cup with the dog Trezorka. Here is Aunt Vera Mikhailovna, who out of mercy lived in the Golovlev estate with her brother Vladimir Mikhailych and who died of moderation,” because Arina Petrovna reproached her with every piece eaten at dinner, and with every log of firewood “used to heat her room.” It becomes clear that the children in this family initially cannot respect their elders if they keep their parents in the position of dogs and at the same time starve. What is also clear is that children will repeat this practice in their own behavior. Shchedrin thoroughly characterizes the way of life and traces the fates of all the named representatives of the three generations.

Vladimir Mikhailovich and Arina Petrovna. Here is the head of the family - Vladimir Mikhailovich Golovlev, known for his careless and mischievous character, idle and idle life. He is characterized by mental depravity, writing “free poetry in the spirit of Barkov,” which his wife called “foulness” and their author - “a windmill” and “a stringless balalaika.” An idle life increased dissipation and “liquefied” the brains of Golovlev Sr. Over time, he began to drink and stalk the “maid girls.” Arina Petrovna was at first squeamish about this, and then gave up on the “toadstool girls.” Golovlev Sr. called his wife a “witch” and gossiped about her with his eldest son Stepan.

Arina herself Petrovna was the sovereign mistress of the house. She used a lot of strength, energy and wolfish spirit to expand her possessions, accumulate goods and increase her capital. She ruled the peasants and households despotically and uncontrollably, although she did not know how to control all four thousand souls that belonged to her. She devoted her entire life to acquisitions, the desire to accumulate and, as it seemed to her, creation. However, this activity was meaningless. In her zeal and hoarding, she is very reminiscent of Gogol’s Plyushkin. Her son Stepan talks about his mother like this: “How much, brother, she rotted so much good - passion!<...>There’s an abyss of fresh stock, and she won’t even touch it until all the old rot is eaten away!” She stores her rich supplies in cellars and barns, where they turn into decay. The writer endows Arina Petrovna with terrible cruelty. The novel begins with the mistress of the estate dealing with the Moscow innkeeper Ivan Mikhailovich, an innocent man, giving him up as a recruit.

Arina Petrovna talks a lot about “family ties.” But this is just hypocrisy, since she does nothing to strengthen the family and methodically destroys it. According to Shchedrin, the children “did not touch a single string of her inner being,” since these strings themselves did not exist, and she turned out to be the same “stringless balalaika” as her husband. Her cruelty towards children knows no bounds: she can starve them, keep them locked up like Stepan, and not be interested in their health when they are sick. She is convinced that if she “threw away a piece” to her son, then she should no longer know him. Arina Petrovna hypocritically announces that she “supplies money” for orphan girls and takes care of them, but feeds them rotten corned beef and showers them with reproaches on these “beggars,” “parasites,” “insatiable wombs,” and in a letter to Porfiry she angrily calls them “ puppies." She tries to humiliate her children, already humiliated, even more, specially selecting suitable insults for this. “Are you pouting like a mouse on a rump!” - she shouts to Pavel. And in other cases, she resorts to comparisons that should coarse the statement and trample the interlocutor into the mud. “How did it feel for me to find out that he threw his parent’s blessing, like a gnawed bone, into a trash heap? “- she asks. “You won’t even get a pimple on your nose,” the mother instructs her hateful children. And then he sanctimoniously tries to surround everything with deanery, with references to God and the Church. And he always accompanies these actions with falsehood and lies. This is how she greets her sons when they appear at the family court: solemnly, heartbroken, with legs trailing. And Shchedrin notes: “In general, she loved to play the role of a respectable and dejected mother in the eyes of the children...” But the constant thirst for enrichment, rounding off her estate and hoarding killed her and completely distorted her mother’s feelings. As a result, the “family stronghold” that she seemed to have erected collapsed. It is curious that the name Peter and patronymic Petrovich, Petrovna appear especially often in the list of Golovlevs, dully recalling the etymology of this word (“stone”). But all bearers of this name, right up to Petenka, one after another leave the stage and die. The “stone” of the stronghold turns out to be undermined and destroyed. Brother Mikhail Petrovich dies, then her husband, then the eldest and youngest sons, her daughter and grandchildren die. And Arina Petrovna actively contributes to this. Everything that she seemed to create turned out to be ghostly, and she herself turned into a pathetic and powerless hanger-on with dull eyes and a hunched back.

Shchedrin characterizes in detail the life and fate of the landowner’s eldest son - Stepan. Accustomed to playing tricks under the guidance of his father since childhood (either he will cut the girl Anyuta’s scarf into pieces, then sleepy Vasyutka will put flies in her mouth, then he will steal a pie from the kitchen), he acts in the same way at the age of forty: on the way to Golovlevo he steals his companions have a glass of vodka and sausage and are going to “send away to hello” all the flies that have stuck to their neighbor’s mouth. It is no coincidence that this eldest son of the Golovlevs is nicknamed in the family Styopka the dunce and the “lanky stallion” and plays the role of a real jester in the house. He is distinguished by a slavish character, intimidated, humiliated by those around him, the feeling that he, “like a worm, will die of hunger” cannot leave him. Gradually he finds himself in the position of a hanger-on, living on the edge of a “gray abyss”, in the role of a hateful son. He becomes an alcoholic, forgotten and despised by everyone, and dies either from a dissolute life, or killed by his own mother.

The eternal type of Porfiry Golovlev. Stepan's brother is depicted most vividly in Shchedrin's novel - Porfiry Golovlev. WITH As a child, he was given three nicknames. One - "frank boy" - was probably due to his addiction to whispering. The other two especially accurately expressed the essence of this Shchedrin hero. He was nicknamed Judas, the name of the traitor. But in Shchedrin this evangelical name appears in a diminutive form, since Porfiry’s betrayals are not grandiose, but everyday, everyday, albeit vile, evoking a feeling of disgust. So, during the family court, he betrays his brother Stepan, and then does the same with his younger brother, Pavel, contributing to his quick death. The dying Paul turns to him with indignant words: “Judas! Traitor! He sent his mother around the world!” This time the word “Judas” is pronounced without its diminutive suffix. Porfiry betrays many other people depicted in the novel. Porfiry’s third nickname is “Blood Drinker.” Both brothers imagine him as a vampire. According to Stepan, “this one will get into your soul without soap.” “And his mother, the “old witch,” will eventually decide: he will suck both the property and the capital out of her.” And in the eyes of Pavel, Porfiry looks like a “blood drinker.” “He knew,” the author notes, “that Judas’s eyes exude poison, that his voice, like a snake, crawls into the soul and paralyzes a person’s will.” And that’s why he is so confused by his “vile image.” This ability of Judas to suck blood from people is especially clearly manifested first in the scene at Pavel’s sick bedside, and then in the episode of his mother’s preparations, when he is ready to inspect her chests and take away her tarantass.

Judas is characterized by such properties as constant flattery, sycophancy and servility. At that time, when his mother was strong, he obsequiously listened to her, smiled, sighed, rolled his eyes, spoke tender words to her, and agreed with her. “Porfiry Vladimirych was ready to tear his vestments, but he was afraid that there would probably be no one in the village to repair them.”

The hypocrisy of Porfiry Golovlev looks even more disgusting. The author of the novel, talking about the behavior of his hero at the bedside of a dying man, notes: this hypocrisy “was to such an extent the need of his nature that he could not interrupt the comedy once begun.” In the chapter “Family Results,” Shchedrin emphasizes that Judushka was “a hypocrite of a purely Russian type, that is, simply a person devoid of any moral standard,” and this property was combined in him with “ignorance without borders,” hypocrisy, lies and litigiousness. Each time this hypocrite and deceiver strives to turn to God, remember the Scriptures, raising his hands in prayer and languidly rolling his eyes up. But when he pretends to pray, he thinks about something else and whispers something that is not at all divine.

Judas is characterized by “mental debauchery” and idle talk. He, according to the author, goes into a “binge of idle thinking.” From morning to evening he “languished over fantastic work”: he made all sorts of unrealistic assumptions, “considered himself, talked with imaginary interlocutors.” And all this was subject to his predation and “thirst for acquisition,” for in his thoughts he tyrannized, tormented people, imposed fines on them, ruined them and sucked blood. Idleness finds an excellent form of embodiment - idle talk, of which Shchedrin's hero was a master. This is manifested during the trial of Stepan and in the episodes when his mother became a listener to his idle talk. He invariably surrounds his every base act, every slander and complaint about people with idle talk and false phraseology. At the same time, according to Shchedrin, he does not speak, but “pulls the gimp,” “spreads,” “rants,” “annoys,” “itches.” And therefore it was not simple idle talk, but “a stinking ulcer that constantly drained pus from itself” and an unchanging “deceitful word.” Shchedrin, portraying Porfiry Golovlev, relies on Gogolian traditions. Like Sobakevich, he praises his faithful serf servants. Like Plyushkin, he hoards and sits in a greasy robe. Like Manilov, he indulges in meaningless daydreaming and idle calculations. But at the same time, brilliantly combining the comic with the tragic, Shchedrin creates his own unique image, which is included in the gallery of world types.

The satirist perfectly reproduces the relationship between the mistress of the estate and Judushka with representatives of the third generation of Golovlevs. It turns out that the latter find themselves victims of the ruthless attitude of greedy money-grubbers and bigots, cruel or criminally indifferent people. This applies, first of all, to the children of Judas himself.

Third generation, Vladimir, Petenka and nieces. VlaDimir, when starting a family, he counted on his father’s financial help, especially since Judas promised to support him. But at the last moment, the hypocrite and traitor refused the money, and Vladimir, in a fit of despair, shot himself. Another son of Judas - Petenka- squandered government money. He also comes to his rich father, hoping for help. Having entangled his son with Jesuit phraseology, defining his son’s request as extortion “for crappy things,” Judushka kicks out Petenka, who turned out to be convicted and died on the road, not reaching the place of exile. With his mistress Evprakseyushka, Judushka gives birth to another son, whom he sends to a Moscow orphanage. The baby was unable to endure the roads in winter and died, becoming another victim of the “bloodsucker.”

A similar fate awaits the granddaughters of Arina Petrovna, the nieces of Judushka - Lyubinka and Anninka, twins left after the death of their mother. Defenseless and deprived of help, drawn into the legal process, they cannot withstand the pressure of life circumstances. Lyubinka resorts to suicide, and Anninka, who could not find the strength to drink the poison, is turned into a living dead by Judushka and pursued to Golovlevo with her harassment, anticipating the agony and death of this last soul from the Golovlevo family. So Shchedrin conveyed the story of the moral and physical degeneration of three generations of a noble family, the rotting of its foundations.

Genre originality of the novel. Before us chronicle novel, consisting of seven relatively independent chapters, similar to Shchedrin’s essays, but held together by a single plot and strict chronology, subordinated to the idea of ​​steady degradation and death. At the same time, this is a family novel, compared with E. Zola’s epic “Rugon-Macquart”. With all his pathos, he debunks the idea of ​​​​the integrity and strength of the noble family and testifies to the deep crisis of the latter. The peculiarity of the genre determined the originality of such components of the novel as landscape with its stingy laconicism, gloomy coloring and gray, poor colors; images of everyday things that play a special role in the possessive world of the Golovlevs; portrait, emphasizing the steady “escheat” of the heroes; a language that perfectly reveals the essence of the reproduced characters and conveys the position of the satirist himself, his bitter irony, sarcasm and apt formulas of his naked speech.

Questions and tasks:

How the crisis of the Russian social system and the decomposition of familiesAre these relations reflected in the novel by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin?

What do you see as the peculiarities of the composition of this satirist’s book?

What is remarkable about the appearance and behavior of the senior members“escheated” family?

How was the life of Styopka the dunce?

What means of artistic representation are you interested in?M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin resorts to strikingness when depictingthe death of Porfiry Golovlev?

What awaits representatives of the third generation in life?Golovlev?

How do you define the genre of Shchedrin’s work?

· "The head of the family, Vladimir Mikhailovich Golovlev, from a young age was known for his careless and mischievous character, and for Arina Petrovna, who was always distinguished by her seriousness and efficiency, he never imagined anything attractive. He led an idle and idle life, most often locked himself in his office, imitated the singing of starlings, roosters, etc., and was engaged in composing so-called “free verses.”<…>Arina Petrovna immediately did not fall in love with these poems of her husband, calling them foul play and clowning, and since Vladimir Mikhailovich actually got married in order to always have a listener at hand for his poems, it is clear that the disagreement did not take long to happen. Gradually growing and becoming bitter, these disagreements ended, on the wife’s part, with complete and contemptuous indifference to her buffoon husband, on the husband’s part - with sincere hatred of his wife, hatred, which, however, included a significant amount of cowardice.”- M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin"Messrs. Golovlevs."

· « Arina Petrovna- a woman of about sixty, but still vigorous and accustomed to living at her own discretion. She behaves menacingly; single-handedly and uncontrollably manages the vast Golovlev estate, lives solitary, prudently, almost stingily, does not make friends with neighbors, is kind to the local authorities, and demands from her children that they be in such obedience to her that with every action they ask themselves: something Will mommy tell you about this? In general, she has an independent, unyielding and somewhat obstinate character, which, however, is greatly facilitated by the fact that in the entire Golovlev family there is not a single person from whom she could encounter opposition.” -M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin"Messrs. Golovlevs."

· « Stepan Vladimirovich, eldest son,<…>, was known in the family under the name Stepki-boobs and Styopka the mischievous one. He very early became one of the “hateful” and from childhood played in the house the role of either a pariah or a jester. Unfortunately, he was a gifted fellow who too readily and quickly accepted the impressions generated by the environment. From his father he inherited an inexhaustible prankishness, from his mother the ability to quickly guess people’s weaknesses. Thanks to the first quality, he soon became his father's favorite, which further strengthened his mother's dislike for him. Often, during Arina Petrovna’s absences to do housework, the father and teenage son retired to the office, decorated with a portrait of Barkov, read free poetry and gossiped, and the “witch”, that is, Arina Petrovna, especially got it. But the “witch” seemed to instinctively guess their activities; she silently drove up to the porch, tiptoed to the office door and overheard cheerful speeches. This was followed by an immediate and brutal beating of Styopka the dunce. But Styopka did not let up; he was insensitive to either beatings or admonitions, and after half an hour he began to play tricks again. Either he will cut the girl Anyutka’s scarf into pieces, then sleepy Vasyutka will put flies in his mouth, then he will climb into the kitchen and steal a pie there (Arina Petrovna, out of economy, kept the children from hand to mouth), which, however, she will immediately share with her brothers.” -M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin"Messrs. Golovlevs."

· “After Stepan Vladimirovich, the eldest member of the Golovlev family was a daughter, Anna Vladimirovna, which Arina Petrovna also didn’t like to talk about. The fact is that Arina Petrovna had designs on Annushka, and Annushka not only did not live up to her hopes, but instead caused a scandal throughout the entire district. When her daughter left the institute, Arina Petrovna settled her in the village, hoping to make her a gifted home secretary and accountant, and instead, Annushka, one fine night, fled from Golovlev with the cornet Ulanov and got married to him. After two years, the young capital lived, and the cornet fled to God knows where, leaving Anna Vladimirovna with two twin daughters: Anninka and Lyubonka. Then Anna Vladimirovna herself died three months later, and Arina Petrovna, willy-nilly, had to shelter the orphans at home. Which she did, placing the little ones in the outbuilding and assigning the crooked old woman Palashka to them.” -M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin"Messrs. Golovlevs."

· « Porfiry Vladimirovich was known in the family under three names: Judas, a blood drinker and an outspoken boy, which were nicknames given to him by Styopka the dunce as a child. From his infancy, he loved to cuddle up to his dear friend Mama, sneak a kiss on her shoulder, and sometimes even talk a little bit about her. He would silently open the door of his mother's room, silently sneak into the corner, sit down and, as if enchanted, do not take his eyes off his mother while she was writing or fiddling with accounts. But Arina Petrovna, even then, was somewhat suspicious of these filial ingratiations. And then this gaze fixed intently on her seemed mysterious to her, and then she could not determine for herself what exactly he was exuding from himself: poison or filial piety" -M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin"Messrs. Golovlevs."

· “His brother was in complete contrast to Porfiry Vladimirovich, Pavel Vladimirovich. It was the complete personification of a person devoid of any actions. As a boy, he did not show the slightest inclination to study, or to play, or to be sociable, but he loved to live alone, alienated from people. He used to hide in a corner, pout and start fantasizing. It seems to him that he has eaten too much oatmeal, that this has made his legs thin, and he is not studying. Or - that he is not Pavel the noble son, but Davydka the shepherd, that a bolon has grown on his forehead, like Davydka’s, that he clicks the arapnik and does not study. Arina Petrovna would look and look at him, and her mother’s heart would boil.”M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin"Messrs. Golovlevs."