The image of the peasant woman Matryona Timofeevna. Nekrasov has many works where he reflects on destinies ordinary women(“Troika”, “Frost, Red Nose”, “Orina, the Soldier’s Mother”, “Knight for an Hour”, etc.). It is no coincidence that in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” the central part of the narrative is devoted to one character - a Russian peasant woman.
Perhaps Nekrasov did not write about any peasant woman with such warmth and love as about Matryona Timofeevna. He gives the heroine the right to talk about the “happiness” that befell her. The heroine tells the wanderers about her life and invites them to draw their own conclusions about whether she can be called a happy person.
Matryona Timofeevna goes through all the trials that a Russian woman could go through. In her parents' house she lived freely and cheerfully, and after marriage she had to work like a slave and endure the reproaches of her husband's relatives. Her husband leaves to work, and Matryona is left completely alone in a family that is alien to her. My husband's visits bring me joy:
In winter Phillipushka came,
Brought a silk handkerchief
Yes, I went for a ride on a sled
On Catherine's day,
And it was as if there was no grief!..
Matryona is truly happy after the birth of her son Demushka. But then great grief befell her: her son dies. She took Demushka’s death hard. Then many misfortunes occur in her life: persecution of the master's manager, a hungry year, begging. It is no coincidence that Grandfather Savely speaks about the share of peasants:
There are three paths for men:
Tavern, prison and penal servitude,
And the women in Rus'
Three loops: white silk,
The second is red silk,
And the third - black silk,
Choose any one!
But in difficult moments, Matryona Timofeevna showed firmness and perseverance: she worked for the release of her husband, who was illegally taken as a soldier, and even went to the governor himself; snatched Fedotushka out when they decided to punish him with rods. Despite the tragic circumstances of her life, she managed to maintain dignity, nobility and rebellion. Her image exudes majesty. Her enormous energy, spiritual clarity, hard work, and vitality remained unchanged. Rebellious, determined, she is always ready to defend her rights, and this brings her closer to Savely. Matryona Timofeevna says about herself:
I have my head down
I carry an angry heart!..
For me, grievances are mortal
Gone unpaid...
Having told the wanderers about her difficult life, she says that “it’s not the case to look for a happy one among women!” In the last chapter, called “The Woman's Parable,” the peasant woman talks about the common female lot:
The keys to women's happiness,
From our free will
Abandoned, lost
From God himself.
But Nekrasov is sure that the “keys” must be found. The peasant woman will wait and achieve happiness. The poet speaks about this in one of Grisha Dobroskloyov’s songs:
You are still a slave in the family,
The poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is a rather rare and artistically unique phenomenon. And if we remember the analogues, then it can only be compared with Pushkin’s novel in verse. What they have in common will be monumentality and depth in the depiction of characters, combined with an unusually vivid poetic form.
The plot of the poem is simple: seven peasants set out to find out “who lives happily and freely in Rus'” and wander around trying to find this person. Having walked many roads and seen many people, they decided:
Not everything is between men
Find the happy one
Let's feel the women!
They point to Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, nicknamed the Governor, as the lucky one. This is a peasant woman, considered happy among the people. Wanderers find her:
Matrena Timofeevna,
dignified woman,
Wide and dense
About thirty-eight years old.
Beautiful; gray streaked hair,
The eyes are large, strict,
The eyelashes are the richest.
Severe and dark.
She tells them about her life - the life of a simple Russian peasant woman, full of worries, grief and sadness. Matryona says that if she was happy, it was only before marriage. What is this happiness? But this: We had a good, non-drinking family.
The little girl turned into an adult girl - a hard worker, beautiful face and strict in character. She didn’t stay too long with the girls, she quickly found a groom, and “a stranger on the mountain”, Philip Korchagin. The difficult life of a daughter-in-law in her mother-in-law’s house began for the heroine:
The family was huge
Grumpy... went to hell from the maiden holiday!
Matryona lives in harmony with her husband. He raised his hand to her only once, and then only at the instruction of his mother and sisters.
Matryona's son Demushka was born - the only consolation in the absence of her husband. But she was not happy about him for long: her grumpy mother-in-law sent her to work, saying that grandfather Savely would look after her son. But he neglected his affairs, fell asleep, worn out by the sun, and Demushka was eaten by pigs.
But it didn’t end there; Matryona was not allowed to bury her son. They carried out an investigation, suspecting her of a shameful relationship with grandfather Savely and the murder of Demushka, they striped the boy’s body and... Having found nothing, they gave it to their mother, distraught with grief. For a very long time Matryona could not move away from this nightmare.
She missed her parents very much, but they did not often spoil her with their visits. Three years flew by like one day. Every year, so are the children. ... There is no time to think, no time to be sad.
In the fourth year, a new grief befell the heroine: her parents died. She still has close people left - Philip and children. But even here fate did not calm down, punishing either her children or her husband. When his son Fedotushka turned eight years old, his father-in-law gave him as a shepherd. One day the shepherd left, and one of the sheep was dragged away by a she-wolf, who, judging by the bloody trail, had just given birth. Fedot took pity on her and gave her back the already dead sheep he had captured. For this, the people in the village decided to flog him. But Matryona stood up for her son, and the landowner passing by decided to let the boy go and punish the mother.
The following describes a difficult, hungry year. On top of that, Philip was taken into the army out of turn. Now Matryona, who has a few days left before giving birth again, along with her children, is not a full-fledged mistress of the house, but a hanger-on. One night she prays fervently in the field and, inspired by some unknown force, hurries to the city to bow to the governor. But he meets only his wife there. Almost another son, Matryona, is born in this woman’s arms. Elena Alexandrovna helped the heroine by returning Philip and becoming the godmother of the child, whom she herself named Liodorushka. This is how Matryona got her nickname - “lucky one”.
Matryona Korchagina, who is considered among the people to be the most famous, told the wanderers about all this. happy woman:
I haven't trampled my feet.
Not tied with ropes,
No needles...
That's all happiness. But stronger than all this is the “spiritual storm” that passed through the heroine. You can’t turn a wounded soul inside out and you can’t show it to people, and therefore for everyone she is a lucky girl, but in reality:
For a mother scolded,
Like a trampled snake,
The blood of the firstborn has passed,
For me, grievances are mortal
Gone unpaid
And the whip passed over me!
This is the image of Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, the governor’s wife, who is known among the people as a happy woman. But is she happy? In our opinion, no, but in the opinion of a simple peasant woman of the 19th century, yes. This elevates Matryona: she does not complain about life, does not complain about difficulties. Her fortitude and determination delight the reader.
The image of Matryona Timofeevna, undoubtedly one of the strongest, shows the true character of a Russian woman who
Stops a galloping horse
He will enter the burning hut.
Almost every writer has a secret theme that worries him especially strongly and runs through his entire work as a leitmotif. For Nekrasov, the singer of the Russian people, such a topic was the fate of the Russian woman. Simple serf peasant women, proud princesses and even fallen women who sank to the social bottom - the writer had something for everyone warm word. And all of them, so different at first glance, were united by complete lack of rights and misfortune, which were considered the norm at that time. Against the background of universal serfdom, the fate of a simple woman looks even more terrible, because she is forced to “submit to a slave until the grave” and “be the mother of a slave son” (“Frost, Red Nose”), i.e. she is a slave in a square. “The keys to women’s happiness”, from their “free will” were lost a long time ago - this is the problem the poet tried to draw attention to. This is how the incredibly bright and strong image of Matryona Timofeevna appears in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by Nekrasov.
The story of Matryona’s fate is set out in the third part of the poem, called “The Peasant Woman.”
Wanderers are led to the woman by a rumor that claims that if any woman can be called lucky, it is exclusively the “governor” from the village of Klinu. However, Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, a “stately”, beautiful and stern woman, hearing the men’s question about her happiness, “became confused, thoughtful” and did not even want to talk about anything at first. It had already gotten dark, and the moon with the stars had risen into the sky, when Matryona finally decided to “open her whole soul.”
Only at the very beginning, life was kind to her, Matryona recalls. Her own mother and father took care of her daughter, called her “kasatushka”, cared for her and cherished her. Let us pay attention to the huge number of words with diminutive suffixes: pozdnehonko, sunshine, crust, etc., characteristic of oral folk art. Here the influence of Russian folklore on Nekrasov’s poem is noticeable - in folk songs, as a rule, the time of carefree girlhood is sung, sharply contrasting with the subsequent difficult life in her husband’s family. The author uses this plot to construct the image of Matryona and transfers almost verbatim from the songs the description of the girl’s life with her parents. Part of the folklore is introduced directly into the text. These are wedding songs, lamentation over the bride and the song of the bride herself, as well as detailed description matchmaking ritual.
No matter how hard Matryona tried to prolong her free life, she was still married off to a man, also a stranger, not from her native village. Soon the girl, along with her husband Philip, leaves home and goes to an unfamiliar land, to a large and inhospitable family. There she ends up in hell “from the maiden holi”, which is also conveyed through a folk song. “Drowsy, dormant, unruly!
“- that’s what they call Matryona in the family, and everyone tries to ask her more work. There is no hope for the husband’s intercession: even though they are the same age, and Philip treats his wife well, he still sometimes beats him (“the whip whistled, blood sprayed”) and will not think of making her life easier. Moreover, he is almost all free time spends his time earning money, and Matryona has “no one to love.”
In this part of the poem, Matryona’s extraordinary character and inner spiritual fortitude become clearly visible. Another would have despaired long ago, but she does everything as told and always finds a reason to rejoice at the simplest things. The husband returned, “brought a silk handkerchief / And took him for a ride on a sleigh” - and Matryona sang joyfully, as she used to sing in her parents’ house.
The only happiness of a peasant woman is in her children. So the heroine Nekrasov has her first-born son, whom she cannot stop looking at: “How written Demushka was!” The author very convincingly shows: it is the children who do not allow the peasant woman to become embittered and who maintain her truly angelic patience. The great calling - to raise and protect her children - lifts Matryona above the drabness of everyday life. The image of a woman turns into a heroic one.
But the peasant woman is not destined to enjoy her happiness for long: she must continue working, and the child, left in the care of the old man, dies due to a tragic accident. The death of a child at that time was not a rare event; this misfortune often befell the family. But it’s harder for Matryona than the others - not only is this her first-born, but the authorities who came from the city decide that it was the mother herself, in collusion with the former convict grandfather Savely, who killed her son. No matter how much Matryona cries, she has to be present at the autopsy of Demushka - he was “sprayed”, and this terrible picture is forever imprinted in her mother’s memory.
The characterization of Matryona Timofeevna would not be complete without one more important detail - her willingness to sacrifice herself for others. Her children are what remains most sacred for the peasant woman: “Just don’t touch the children! I stood for them like a mountain...” Indicative in this regard is the episode when Matryona takes upon herself the punishment of her son. He, being a shepherd, lost a sheep, and he had to be whipped for it. But the mother threw herself at the landowner’s feet, and he “mercifully” forgave the teenager, ordering the “impudent woman” to be whipped in return. For the sake of her children, Matryona is ready to go even against God. When a wanderer comes to the village with a strange demand not to breastfeed children on Wednesdays and Fridays, the woman turns out to be the only one who did not listen to her. “Whoever endures, so mothers” - these words of Matryona express the entire depth of her maternal love.
Another key characteristic of a peasant woman is her determination. Submissive and compliant, she knows when to fight for her happiness. So, it is Matryona, from the whole huge family, who decides to stand up for her husband when he is taken into the army and, falling at the feet of the governor’s wife, brings him home. For this act she receives the highest reward - popular respect. This is where her nickname “governor” came from. Now her family loves her, and the village considers her lucky. But the adversity and “spiritual storm” that passed through Matryona’s life do not give her the opportunity to describe herself as happy.
A decisive, selfless, simple and sincere woman and mother, one of the many Russian peasant women - this is how the reader appears before the reader “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by Matryona Korchagin.
I will help 10th grade students describe the image of Matryona Korchagina and her characteristics in the poem before writing an essay on the topic “The image of Matryona Timofeevna in “Who Lives Well in Rus'”.”
Work test
The image of Matryona Timofeevna, a Russian peasant woman, is surprisingly realistic and vivid. In it, the author combined all the qualities and traits characteristic of Russian women - representatives of this segment of the population. The fate of this heroine is in many ways similar to the fate of other peasant women in Rus'.
Years of living in one's own family
Matrena Timofeevna was born into a large family. The first years of her life were truly happy. Matryona will then often remember the carefree time when she was surrounded by the care and love of her parents. However, peasant children grow up very quickly. As soon as the girl grew up, she began to help her parents in everything. The games were gradually forgotten, since there was less time left for them, and the hard work of the peasants came first. But still youth takes its toll, and the girl found it even after working day time to rest.
Life of Matryona Timofeevna in her husband's house
Matryona Timofeevna remembers her youth. This heroine was hardworking, pretty, and active. This is the image of Matryona Timofeevna in This peasant woman, which is not surprising, was looked at by many guys. But then a betrothed appears, and the girl’s parents give our heroine in marriage to him. The new situation means the end of Matryona Timofeevna’s free and free life. She will now live with someone else’s family, whose attitude towards this one is far from the best. Giving her daughter away in marriage, the mother worries about her fate and grieves for her. The parent understands perfectly all the upcoming hardships of life that are destined to befall her beloved Matryona. No one in someone else’s family will show sympathy for the girl, and the husband himself will also never stand up for his wife.
Difficult relationship with husband and his relatives
Matryona Timofeevna shares her sad thoughts. He did not at all want to exchange his free life in his home for an unfamiliar, alien family. This heroine understood from the first days of living in a new environment how difficult it would be for her now.
Relationships with sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and father-in-law were very difficult. Matryona in new family had to work hard without hearing kind words to your address. But even in this difficult life, the peasant woman had simple, simple joys: her husband gave her a silk scarf, a ride on a sleigh...
The relationship between the heroine we are interested in and her husband was not at all cloudless. At that time, the husband had the right to beat his wife if something in her behavior did not suit him. In this case, no one will take the girl’s side; on the contrary, in the husband’s family, all relatives will only be happy to see Matryona Timofeevna’s suffering.
Birth of first child
Life became difficult for this peasant woman after her marriage. Gray, monotonous, similar friend Days dragged on for each other: quarrels, hard work, reproaches from relatives... But the peasant woman has angelic patience. She endures all the hardships without complaining. The event that turned her life upside down was the birth of a child. Through him, the image of Matryona Timofeevna is revealed more clearly. Now this woman is no longer so embittered because her love for the baby pleases and warms her.
Death of a baby
The peasant woman’s joy at the birth of her son did not last long. Working in the field takes a lot of time and effort, but here you still have infant. At first, this heroine took him into the field with her. But then her mother-in-law began to reproach her, since it was impossible to work with complete dedication with a child. And the poor woman was forced to leave her baby with grandfather Savely. One day this old man neglected and the child died.
Tragic events after the death of a baby
His death was a terrible tragedy for our heroine. But peasants have to put up with the fact that their children often die. For Matryona, this death was a difficult ordeal because the child was the first-born. To all the troubles, the police, the policeman and the doctor come to the village, who accuse the peasant woman of killing the child in conspiracy with grandfather Savely, a former convict. Matryona Timofeevna begs not to perform the autopsy in order to bury the child without desecration of the body. But no one listens to the peasant woman. From what happened she almost
Mother stands up for her son
The death of a child and other hardships of peasant life are unable to break this woman. The image of Matryona Timofeevna is an example of perseverance and patience. Time passes, and every year she has children. And the peasant woman continues to live, do her hard work, raise children. The most important thing that a peasant woman possesses is love for children. Matryona Timofeevna, whose characteristics are presented in our article, is ready to do anything just to protect her children. This is evidenced by the episode when they wanted to punish Fedot, her son, for his offense. Matryona throws herself at the feet of a landowner passing by, so that he can help save the boy from punishment. He orders Fedot to be released and the “impudent woman” to be punished.
Matryona Timofeevna saves her husband from recruitment
Why does this peasant woman have to endure punishment? Only for the love for children that knows no bounds, for the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of others. This readiness is manifested in the way Matryona Timofeevna rushes to the defense of her husband, who is awaiting recruiting. She manages to get to the governor’s wife and ask her for help. She frees Philip from recruitment.
Matryona Timofeevna is still a young girl, but she has already had to go through a lot. This is the death of a son, and beatings, and reproaches, and a time of hunger.
Can Matryona Timofeevna be called happy?
One cannot call the peasant woman that Matryona Timofeevna was happy. The characterization of this heroine is entirely based on the fight against misfortune. All the difficult trials and difficulties that befall her can lead a person not only to spiritual death, but also to physical death, breaking him. This is often what happens. Rarely happens long life peasant women. Often these women die in the prime of their years. The lines telling about the life of this heroine are not easy to read. But at the same time, one cannot help but admire this woman and her spiritual strength. After all, this heroine went through many different tests and at the same time was not broken, which Nekrasov shows us.
The image of Matryona Timofeevna is surprisingly harmonious. This woman at the same time appears patient, enduring, strong and caring, loving, gentle. She is forced to cope on her own with the troubles and difficulties that befall the family, and not expect help from anyone.
However, despite this, Matryona Timofeevna finds the strength to work, live, and continue to enjoy the modest joys that sometimes befall this woman. And even if she admits honestly that she cannot be called happy, this woman does not fall into the sin of despondency for a minute. In the struggle for survival, she manages to emerge victorious.
We briefly examined the image of Matryona Timofeevna. We can talk about this woman for a very long time. She is admirable. The third part of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is dedicated to this woman. Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna, whose image was presented in our article, is described in the work in some detail. You can turn to Nekrasov’s poem and get to know this peasant woman better.
In the image Matryona Timofeevna Nekrasov embodied the fate of all Russian peasant women. Many folklore elements surround this image, the heroine goes through all the stages typical of married woman, who lives in her husband’s family and is a serf peasant. Matryona's fate is full of troubles and misfortunes, rare joy, a warm human attitude brings the woman back to life and she again becomes cheerful and cheerful, as in her youth.
Matryona's life before marriage
Matryona tells wanderers about her girlhood life, using vocabulary with a diminutive connotation. Father and mother spoiled their daughter, did not force her to work, she did not hear a bad word. Only at that time did the girl get enough sleep and enjoy the affection and care of her family. Later, when she was sent to a foreign village after the wedding, she learned how difficult a woman’s life can be, even if her husband loves and pities her. Matryona describes her fate as follows: “Now there is only wealth: three lakes have been cried with burning tears.” The heroine of the poem Strong woman, not only physically (“Kholmogory cow”), but also morally: she experienced a lot of grief, but life did not break her.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” contains the most beautiful folklore traditions, which are introduced directly into the text of the work. It is the chapter describing Matryona’s life that is especially rich in oral folk art.
Appearance of Matryona Timofeevna
The heroine's last name is Korchagina, she lives in the village of Klin. Matryona is 38 years old, she calls herself an old woman, realizing that youth and beauty are lost due to hard work. The author lovingly describes his heroine of the poem: “Beautiful; gray hair, large, stern eyes, rich eyelashes, stern and dark. She’s wearing a white shirt, a short sundress, and a sickle over her shoulder...” The words that the author uses are taken from folk songs: “written kralechka”, “pourin’ berry”, “girl’s eyes”, “ruddy face”, “pretty”, “beloved”, “white face”. The beauty of Matryona is the beauty of a Russian woman, strong, strong, hardworking. Describing Matryona at work, the author draws every detail with pleasure: the heroine evokes sincere sympathy from the reader. She is honest, straightforward, patient, caring, smart, savvy and a little sassy.
Characteristics of Matryona, her life philosophy
Matryona Timofeevna has five children, she is ready to give her life for each of them. When trouble happened - younger son neglected the flock of sheep entrusted to him, she came to the master instead of her son in order to save the child from flogging. The very first son, Dyomushka, died when he was very young; grandfather Savely was assigned to look after him, but then he fell asleep. The child ended up in a pen where there were pigs, they ate him alive. The authorities insisted on an autopsy, accusing Matryona of conspiring with her convict grandfather in the murder of the child. The woman had to endure a monstrous sight that she will never forget. Her husband Philip loves Matryona, but sometimes he still gives up. When he brings her a gift and takes her on a sleigh ride, the heroine feels happy again. She knows that many women have suffered a fate even more difficult than hers: “It’s not the job to look for a happy one among women...”, “The keys to women’s happiness, to our free will, have been abandoned, lost to God himself!..
" Matryona is frank with strangers; she found her woman’s happiness in children and in work. A stern mother-in-law and the bad attitude of her husband’s relatives led to the accumulation of a lot of pain, resentment and melancholy in her soul: “There is no unbroken bone in me, no unstretched vein, no unspoiled blood…”
Matryona teaches her children to be honest and not to steal. She is a believing woman: “the more I prayed, the easier it became...” It was faith that helped Matryona survive the most difficult moments in her life.
Our article contains quotes from Matryona Timofeevna that characterize her image most vividly. The material will be useful when analyzing the poem and writing creative works on the topic.
Work test
