The image of Matryona in the poem. The life story of Matryona in the poem Who Lives Well in Rus' (the fate of Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina). Matryona's life before marriage
The grandiose idea of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was to show a large-scale cross-section of all Russian rural life of that time through the eyes of ignorant men, freed people. The heroes go from the bottom to the very top, in search of “the happiest person,” asking everyone they meet, listening to stories, very often filled with worries, sorrows and troubles.
One of the most touching, heart-tugging stories: a story that characterizes Matryona Timofeevna - a peasant woman, wife, mother. Matryona talks about herself fully, without pretense, without hiding, pours out all of herself, lyrically retelling such an ordinary story of a woman of her class for that time. In it alone, Nekrasov reflected the terrible and bitter, but not devoid of bright moments of happiness, truth about the most forced, the most dependent. Not only from the will of the tyrant master, but from the all-powerful master of the husband, from the mother-in-law and father-in-law, from her own parents, to whom the young woman was obliged to obey unquestioningly.
Matryona Timofeevna remembers her youth with gratitude and sadness. She lived with her father and mother as if in Christ’s bosom, but, despite their kindness, she did not idle, she grew up a hardworking and modest girl. They begin to welcome suitors, send matchmakers, but from the wrong side. Matryona’s mother is not happy about the imminent separation from her beloved; she understands what awaits her own child ahead:
» Someone else's side
Not sprinkled with sugar
Not drizzled with honey!
It's cold there, it's hungry there,
There's a well-groomed daughter there
Violent winds will blow around,
The shaggy dogs bark,
And people will laugh!
This quote shows well how Nekrasov’s poetic lines are filled with the lyricism of folk wedding songs, traditional lament for the passing of girlhood. The mother’s fears are not in vain - in a strange house, Matryona Timofeevna does not find love from her new relatives, who always reproach her: “Drowsy, dormant, disorderly!” The work that is thrown onto the shoulders of young women seems exorbitant. There is no need to expect intercession from Philip, the legal spouse; he spends all his time away from his young wife, looking for income to live on. And he himself does not hesitate to “teach” Matryona with a whip, although he treats her with affection, and if there is success in business, he pampers his chosen one with gifts:
“In winter Filipushka 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!
Sang as I sang
At my parents' house."
But then, among all the troubles of life, an event happens that changes Matryona’s entire existence - the birth of her first child! She gives him all her tenderness, unable to part, to look at the wonderful gift of fate, and describes the boy’s appearance in these words:
“How written Demushka was
Beauty taken from the sun,
The snow is white,
Maku's lips are red,
The sable has a black eyebrow,
In Siberian sable,
The hawk has eyes!
All the anger from my soul, my handsome man
Driven away with an angelic smile,
Like the spring sun
Drives snow from the fields..."
However, the peasant woman's happiness is short-lived. It is necessary to collect the harvest, Matryona Timofeevna with a heavy heart leaves the baby in the care of the old man Savely, and he, having dozed off, does not have time to save the boy who got out of the cradle. The tragedy reaches its peak at the moment when Matryona is forced to watch the autopsy of Demushka’s body - the capital’s authorities decide that the mother herself planned to kill her child and conspired with an old convict.
Unbroken by this grief, Matryona Timofeevna continues to live, embodying all the strength of a Russian woman, capable of enduring many blows of fate and continuing to love. The feat of her maternal heart does not stop, each of the subsequent children is dear to Matryona no less than the firstborn, for them she is ready to endure any punishment. Her devotion to her husband, despite everything, is no less great. Saving Philip from being drafted into the army, she convinces the governor’s wife to let the father of the family go home, and returns with victory, for which her fellow villagers give the woman the nickname “governor.”
Self-denial, loyalty and a tremendous ability to love - all these are features of the image of Matryona Timofeevna, a Russian peasant woman who embodied all the difficult female lot.
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 theme 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 a warm word for each. 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 Klin. 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 a detailed description of the matchmaking ritual.
No matter how hard Matryona tried to extend 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!
“This is what Matryona is called in the family, and everyone tries to give 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. In addition, he spends almost all his free 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 me 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 entire 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
In many of his works, Nekrasov reflects on the fate of the Russian peasant woman: in the poem “Frost, Red Nose”, the poems “Troika”, “In full swing of the village suffering ...”, “Orina, the soldier’s mother” and many others. In the gallery of remarkable female images, a special place is occupied by the image of Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, the heroine of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”
Popular rumor brings truth-seekers to the village of Klin, where they hope to meet a happy peasant woman. How much severe suffering befell this “happy” woman! But her entire appearance emanates such beauty and strength that one cannot help but admire her. How reminiscent she is of the type of “stately Slavic woman” about whom Nekrasov wrote with delight in the poem “Frost, Red Nose.”
In trouble, he will not fail, he will save:
Stops a galloping horse
He will enter a burning hut!
Matryona begins her leisurely narrative about her own destiny, this is a story about why people consider her happy. Matryona Timofeevna, according to her, was lucky as a girl:
I was lucky in the girls:
We had a good
Non-drinking family.
The family surrounded their beloved daughter with care and affection. In her seventh year, they began to teach the peasant daughter to work: “she ran after the beetle herself... among the herd, she took it to her father for breakfast, she tended the ducklings.” And this work was a joy to her. Matryona Timofeevna, having worked hard in the field, washes herself in the bathhouse and is ready to sing and dance:
And a good worker
And the sing-dance huntress
I was young.
But how few bright moments there are in her life! One of them is an engagement to her beloved Philippushka. Matryona did not sleep all night, thinking about her upcoming marriage: she was afraid of “servitude.” And yet love turned out to be stronger than the fear of falling into slavery.
Then there was happiness,
And hardly ever again!
And then, after marriage, she went “from her maiden holiday to hell.” Exhausting work, “mortal grievances,” misfortunes with children, separation from her husband, who was illegally taken as a recruit, and many other adversities - this is Matryona Timofeevna’s bitter life path. She speaks with pain about what is in her:
There is no unbroken bone,
There is no unstretched vein.
I am amazed at the resilience, the courage with which this wonderful woman endured suffering without bowing her proud head. Your heart bleeds when you read the lines of the poem about the inconsolable grief of a mother who lost her first-born son Demushka:
I was rolling around like a ball
I was curled up like a worm,
She called and woke up Demushka
Yes, it was too late to call!..
The mind is ready to be clouded by a terrible misfortune. But enormous spiritual strength helps Matryona Timofeevna survive. She sends angry curses to her enemies, the policeman and the doctor, who are tormenting the “white body” of her son: “Villains! Executioners! Matryona Timofeevna wants to find “their justice, but Savely dissuades her: “God is high, the king is far away... We won’t find the truth.” “Why not, grandfather?” - asks the unfortunate woman. “You are a serf woman!” - and this sounds like a final verdict.
And yet, when a misfortune happens to her second son, she becomes “impudent”: she decisively knocks down the headman of Silantiy, saving Fedotushka from punishment, taking his rod upon herself. Matryona Timofeevna is ready to withstand any test, inhuman torment, in order to defend her children and husband from everyday troubles. What enormous willpower a woman must have to go alone?
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Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” contains as its key point the search by seven peasant men for people whose lives would be happy. One day they meet a certain peasant woman, Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, who tells them her sad life story.
Age and appearance
At the time of the story, Matryona is 38 years old, but the woman herself considers herself an old woman. Matryona is quite a beautiful woman: she is portly and dense, her face has already noticeably faded, but still retains traces of attractiveness and beauty. She had large, clear and stern eyes. They were framed by beautiful thick eyelashes.
Her hair was already noticeably gray, but her hair color could still be recognized. Her skin was dark and rough. Matryona's clothes are similar to the clothes of all peasants - they are simple and neat. Traditionally, her wardrobe consists of a white shirt and a short sundress.
Personality characteristics
Matryona has significant strength, a “Khokhloma cow” - this is the description the author gives her. She is a hardworking woman. Their family has a large farm, which Matryona mainly takes care of. She is not lacking in intelligence and ingenuity. A woman can clearly and clearly express her opinion on a particular issue, sensibly assess the situation and make the right decision. She is an honest woman - and she teaches the same to her children.
All her life after marriage, Matryona was forced to endure humiliation and various difficulties in her work, but she did not lose the basic qualities of her character, retaining her desire for freedom, but at the same time she cultivated insolence and harshness.
The woman's life was very difficult. Matryona spent a lot of energy and health working for her husband’s family. She steadfastly endured all the sorrows and unfair treatment of herself and her children and did not complain; over time, her situation improved, but it was no longer possible to regain her lost health.
Not only her physical health suffered from life’s struggles - during this time, Korchagina cried a lot of tears, as she herself says, “you could fill three lakes.” Ironically, she calls them the unimaginable wealth of a lifetime.
On our website you can read the poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
Religion and true faith in God allowed Matryona not to go crazy - according to the woman herself, she finds solace in prayer, the more she indulges in this activity, the easier it becomes for her.
Once the governor’s wife helped Matryona solve the difficulties of her life, so people, remembering this incident, began to call Matryona “governor” among the common people.
Matryona's life before marriage
Matryona was lucky with her parents - they were good and decent people. Her father did not drink and was an exemplary family man, her mother always took care of home comfort and the well-being of all family members. Her parents protected her from the hardships of fate and tried to make her daughter’s life as simple and better as possible. Matryona herself says that she “lived like Christ in his bosom.”
Marriage and first sorrows
However, the time came and, like all grown girls, she had to leave her father's house. One day, a visiting man, a stove maker by profession, wooed her. Matryona thought he was a sweet and good person and she agreed to become his wife. According to tradition, after marriage, the girl moved to live in the house of her husband’s parents. This happened in Matryona’s situation, but here the young girl faced her first disappointments and sorrows - her relatives received her very negatively and hostilely. Matryona was very homesick for her parents and her old life, but she had no way back.
The husband's family turned out to be large, but not friendly - since they did not know how to treat each other kindly, Matryona was no exception for them: she was never praised for a job well done, but was always found fault and scolded. The girl had no choice but to endure humiliation and rude treatment of herself.
Matryona was the first worker in the family - she had to get up earlier than everyone else and go to bed later than everyone else. However, no one felt grateful to her or appreciated her work.
Relationship with husband
It is not known how Matrenin’s husband Philip perceived the current unfavorable situation within his new family - it is likely that due to the fact that he grew up in such conditions, this state of affairs was normal for him.
Dear readers! We invite you to familiarize yourself with what came from the pen of the talented classical poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov.
In general, Matryona considers him a good husband, but at the same time she harbors a grudge against him - he once hit her. It is likely that this characterization of their relationship on Matryona’s part was very subjective and she views the importance of her husband from the position that there are even worse things, so my husband, compared to such absolutely bad husbands, is very good.
Children of Matryona
The appearance of children with the new family did not take long to arrive - on Kazanskaya Matryona gives birth to her first child - her son Demushka. One day, the boy remains under the supervision of his grandfather, who was unscrupulous in the task assigned to him - as a result, the boy was killed by pigs. This brought a lot of grief into Matryona’s life, because for her the boy became a ray of light in her unsightly life. However, the woman did not remain childless - she still had 5 sons. The names of the elders are mentioned in the poem - Fedot and Liodor. The husband's family also did not treat Matryona's children joyfully or kindly - they often beat the kids and scolded them.
New changes
The hardships of Matryona’s life did not end there - three years after marriage, her parents died - the woman experienced this loss very painfully. Soon her life began to improve. My mother-in-law died and she became the full-time mistress of the house. Unfortunately, Matryona failed to find happiness - by that time her children had become old enough to be drafted into the army, so new sorrows appeared in her life.
Thus, Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina in Nekrasov’s poem became a collective symbol of a typical peasant woman who will endure everything and endure everything on her hump. Despite such hard work and frenzy at work, Matryona did not become happy - those around her, in particular her closest relatives, are picky and unfair towards her - they do not appreciate her work and do not realize her feat in relation to them. This state of affairs does not escape the woman, but her patience and optimism know no bounds.
Basically, in the poem, the life stories of peasants are presented in a short story of fellow villagers and wanderers. But one fate unfolds before the reader in detail. This is the story of Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, told in the first person.
♦ Why did the author, studying the movement of people's life, focus on the fate of a Russian woman, a peasant woman?
The reason is Nekrasov’s worldview. For the poet, a woman - mother, sister, friend - is the center of national life. Her destiny is the embodiment of the destiny of her native land. Already in the portrait of the heroine, natural majesty is emphasized, beauty that does not disappear over the years: “a dignified woman”, “large, stern eyes, rich eyelashes” and the severity, severity, strength of the entire appearance of the peasant woman.
Matryona Timofeevna is called lucky. She herself, having heard about this, “It wasn’t that she was surprised... / But somehow she became confused.” Is it fair that the people gave her such a nickname? Let's figure it out.
1. The youth of the heroine. Marriage.
The heroine’s marriage is successful by all standards: the family is prosperous; a loving, not angry, not sick or old husband. But this life cannot be called happy. It is not the external enemy, but the harsh life, the cruel family way of life that deprives the peasant woman of joy. Gradually, Nekrasov reveals the connection of this way of life with the general structure of the country. Among the slaves, a young woman has nowhere to seek protection. Even in her own family she cannot hide from the advances of the master’s steward. Of all the slaves, she is the last, the most powerless.
2. Death of the firstborn.
It is not grandfather Savely, not the evil mother-in-law that dooms Dyomushka to death, but the same slave labor that forces a female worker to leave the baby under the care of a hundred-year-old man. Intuitively understanding this, the mother forgives Savely the death of her son and shares his grief with him. The strength of her faith and depth of feelings contrast with the callousness and greed of officials.
3. Fedotushka’s guilt.
Nekrasov does not idealize the peasant community. People embittered by need and hard work cannot appreciate the spiritual impulse of a child, imbued with pity for a hungry wolf. The mother, saving Fedotushka from punishment, saves not only his health, but also the boy’s sensitive, kind soul. The mother's sacrifice preserves the son as a man, not a slave. It is not the pain, but the cruel insult that Matryona Timofeevna remembers many years later. And again the unavenged insult is sung out, cried out in song.
4. Hard year. Governor's wife
Matryona Timofeevna’s endless patience and humble submission hide strength of character, determination and strong will. For the sake of the children, so that they do not become the downtrodden and defenseless sons of a soldier, she goes to save her husband from conscription. The governor's intervention seems like a wonderful gift of fate. But the main merit belongs to Matryona Timofeevna. The reward is the return of her husband, the respect of her family, and the status of the mistress of the house. But these awards cannot erase the torment experienced from the memory and heart. And new sorrows await the peasant woman: “... A grove of children... Is it a joy?.. / Five sons! Peasant / Orders are endless - / They’ve already taken one!”
The story about the fate of the peasant woman is full of bitterness. The fate of the “lucky girl” turns out to be a story of endless misfortunes. But let’s think again about why Matryona Korchagina is singled out and considered happy.
Let us ask ourselves: did fate manage to break the peasant woman? Did Matryona Timofeevna become a slave in the midst of universal slavery?
The author convincingly shows that the peasant woman is not broken by everyday storms. The harsh beauty of her mighty soul was tempered in them. Matryona Timofeevna is not a slave, but the mistress of her destiny. Its strength is manifested not in violent prowess, not in revelry, not in a brief heroic impulse, but in the everyday struggle with the hardships of life, in patient and persistent life-building.
Next to Matryona Timofeevna, even the “hero of the Holy Russian” grandfather Savely seems weak. The author's attitude towards this hero is ambivalent; it combines admiration and a sad smile. Savely’s heroism is not only useless, but unpromising. He is not given the power to influence the future, just as he is not given the power to save Dyomushka. The rebellious impulse of the Korezh men, who buried the German Vogel alive, does not solve the issues of Russian life, but is redeemed at too high a price. “To be intolerant is an abyss! / To endure is an abyss...” - grandfather knows this for sure, but he doesn’t know how to determine the limit of patience. With his awkward heroism, Savely is thrown out of worldly life, deprived of a place in it. Therefore, his strength turns into weakness. That’s why the old man reproaches himself:
Where have you gone, strength?
What were you useful for?
Under rods, under sticks
Left for little things!
And yet, against the backdrop of many peasant images, grandfather Savely stands out for his clarity and strength of mind, integrity of nature, and freedom of spirit. He, like Matryona Timofeevna, does not completely become a slave, he builds his own destiny.
So, using the example of these two characters, the author convinces us of the inexhaustible moral strength and resilience of the people, which serves as a guarantee of their future happiness.
Book materials used: Yu.V. Lebedev, A.N. Romanova. Literature. Grade 10. Lesson-based developments. - M.: 2014
