Resurrection (novel)

The novel "Resurrection" was written by the author in 1889 - 1890 , 1895 - 1896 , 1898 - 1899 . Three times a year, intermittently. Initially, the work was written under the title “ Konevskaya Tale ”, because in June 1887, Anatoly Fedorovich Koni told the story under Tolstoy of how one of the jurors during the trial recognized the woman whom he had once seduced in a prostitute accused of theft. This woman was named Koni and was a prostitute of the lowest rank with a disfigured face. But the seducer, who probably once loved her, decided to marry her and worked a lot. His feat was not completed: the woman died in prison ^[2] .

The tragedy of the situation fully reflects the essence of prostitution and separately resembles Guy de Maupassant 's story “ Port ” - Tolstoy’s favorite story, which he translated as “Francoise”: a sailor , arriving from a long voyage, found a brothel in the port , took a woman and recognized her sister only when she began to question him if he had seen such a sailor in the sea and called him his own name ^[2] .

Impressed by all this, Leo Tolstoy asked Koni to give the topic to him. He began to unfold his life situation into conflict, and this work took several years of writing and eleven years of reflection. ^[3]

Tolstoy, working on the novel, in January 1899 visited the overseer of the Butyrka prison I.M. Vinogradov and asked him about prison life. In April 1899, Tolstoy arrived at Butyrskaya Prison to go with the convicts sent to Siberia to the Nikolaev Station , and then portrayed this way in the novel. ^[4] When the novel began to be published, Tolstoy began to rework it and literally the night before the publication of the next chapter “did not give up: once he began to finish writing, he could no longer stop; the farther he wrote, the more he was fond of, often redoing what was written, changing, deleting ... " ^[5]

The full handwritten fund of the novel exceeds 8,000 sheets. For comparison, the manuscript of Flaubert’s novel “ Madame Bovary, ” which he wrote for 5 years, is 1788 corrected pages (487 pages in the final version) ^[2] .

Katyusha Maslova

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Maslova is the daughter of an unmarried courtyard woman, who survived from a passing gypsy . At the age of three, after the death of her mother, Katyusha was taken into the manor house by two old young ladies, landowners, and grew up with them, according to Tolstoy's definition, “a half- maid , half-nurse” . When she was sixteen years old, Katyusha fell in love with a young student , the nephew of the landowners, Prince Nekhlyudov, who had come to stay with her aunts. Two years later, on the way to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 , Nekhlyudov again drove to his aunts and, having spent four days, on the eve of his departure, seduced Katyusha, tucking a hundred-ruble note on her on the last day. Having learned about her pregnancy and having lost hope that Nekhlyudov would return, Maslova spoke to the landowners of rudeness and asked for a calculation. In the house of the village widow / midwife she gave birth. The child was taken to an educational home , where, as Maslova said, he died immediately upon arrival. Having recovered after giving birth, Maslova found a place in the house of the forester , who, after waiting a suitable moment, took possession of her. The forester’s wife, once having caught him with Maslova, rushed to beat her. Maslova was not given and there was a fight , as a result of which she was kicked out without paying what was healed.

Then Katyusha moved to the city, where after a series of unsuccessful attempts to find a suitable place, she ended up in a house of tolerance . To lull her conscience, Maslova made herself such a worldview in which she could not be ashamed of the position of a prostitute. This worldview was that the main benefit of all men without exception is sexual intercourse with attractive women. She is an attractive woman, may or may not satisfy this their desire. For seven years, Maslova changed two houses of tolerance and once was in the hospital. After she was placed in prison - on suspicion of poisoning in order to steal the money of her client - where she spent six months awaiting trial.

Compared to the fate of Rosalie Oni , in Tolstoy’s novel, the real story is completely rethought. From the very beginning of work on the novel, he “brings” the material closer, making it more “personal”, and the characters more understandable to themselves. Thus, the seduction scene of Katyusha is created by Tolstoy on the basis of personal memories of his youthful relationship with a maid named Gasha, who lived in his aunt's house. Shortly before his death, Tolstoy told his biographer P. I. Biryukov about the “crime” that he committed in his youth, seducing Gasha: “she was innocent, I seduced her, she was driven out, and she died” ^[6] .

Sofya Tolstaya also wrote about this in her diaries: “I know, he himself told me in detail about that in this scene Lev Nikolaevich describes his connection with his sister's maid in Pirogov” ^[7] .

Dmitry Nekhlyudov

Dmitry Ivanovich Nekhlyudov is a prince, a man from high society. Tolstoy characterizes the young Nekhlyudov as an honest, selfless youth who is ready to give himself in for any good deed and who considers his spiritual being his “real self” . In his youth, Nekhlyudov, who dreams of making all people happy, thinks, reads, talks about God, truth, wealth, poverty; considers it necessary to moderate his needs; dreams of a woman only as a wife and sees the highest spiritual pleasure in sacrifice in the name of moral requirements. Such a worldview and actions of Nekhlyudov are recognized by the people around him as strangeness and boastful originality. When, having reached adulthood , he, being an enthusiastic follower of Herbert Spencer and Henry George , gives the peasants the estate inherited from his father, because he considers unfair possession of the land, this act terrifies his mother and relatives, and becomes a constant subject of reproach and ridicule over him all his relatives. At first, Nekhlyudov tries to fight, but it turns out to be too difficult to fight and, unable to withstand the struggle, he gives up, becoming what others want him to and completely drowning out the voice that requires something else from him. Then Nekhlyudov enters the military service , which according to Tolstoy "corrupts people . " And so, already such a man, on his way to the regiment, he calls into the village to his aunts, where he seduces Katyusha in love with him and, on the last day before leaving, shoves a hundred-ruble note to her, comforting himself with the fact that “everyone does it” . After leaving the army with the rank of lieutenant guard , Nekhlyudov settled in Moscow, where he leads the idle life of a bored esthete , a refined egoist who loves only his pleasure ^[8] , ^[9] .

In the first unfinished draft of the future novel (then also “Konevskaya Tale”) the main character is called Valeryan Yushkov, then, in the same draft, is Yushkin. Making attempts to “bring” the material closer, Tolstoy initially borrowed for his hero the name of his aunt from the father of P. I. Yushkova, in whose house he lived in his youth.

It is generally accepted that the image of Nekhlyudov is largely autobiographical, reflects the change in the views of Tolstoy himself in the eighties, that the desire to marry Maslova is the moment of the theory of “ simplification ”. And the introduction to the gospel at the end of the novel is a typical " Tolstoyism " ^[10]

It should be noted that in the works of Tolstoy Dmitry Nekhlyudov from Resurrection had several literary predecessors. For the first time, a character with that name appeared with Tolstoy as early as 1854 , in the novel " Adolescence " (chap. XXV). In the story " Youth " he becomes the best friend of Nikolenka Irtenyev - the protagonist of the trilogy. Here, the young prince Nekhlyudov is one of the brightest characters: smart, educated, tactful. He is several years older than Nikolenka and acts as his senior comrade, helping him with advice and keeping him from stupid, rash acts.

Also Dmitry Nekhlyudov is the protagonist of the Tolstoy stories “ Lucerne ” and “ Morning of the landowner ”; you can add to them the story " Cossacks ", in the process of writing which the surname of the central character - Nekhlyudov - was replaced by Tolstoy Olenin. All these works are largely autobiographical, and Leo Tolstoy himself is easily guessed in the image of their main characters.

In a district court with the participation of jurors, a case is being heard on the theft of money and poisoning, which resulted in the death of the merchant Smelkov. Among the three accused of the crime appears tradeswoman Ekaterina Maslova, engaged in prostitution. Maslova is innocent, but, as a result of a miscarriage of justice, she is sentenced to four years in hard labor in Siberia ^[11] .

At the trial, among the jurors, there is Prince Dmitry Nekhlyudov, who recognizes in the defendant Maslova a girl who was seduced and abandoned by him about ten years ago. Feeling guilty before Maslova, Nekhlyudov decides to hire a well-known lawyer for her, file a case for appeal and help with money ^[12] .

The injustice in the court that struck Nekhlyudov and the attitude of officials towards this cause him to feel disgust and disgust for all the people with whom he has to meet this day, after the trial, and especially the representatives of the high society that surrounds him. He thinks as soon as possible to get rid of the jury, from the society around him and to go abroad. And so, discussing this, Nekhlyudov recalls Maslova; first, a prisoner - as he saw her at the trial, and then, in his imagination, one by one, the minutes experienced with her begin to arise ^[11] .

Remembering his life, Nekhlyudov feels like a scoundrel and a villain ^[12] , and begins to realize that all that disgust for people that he felt all that day was essentially a disgust for himself, for that idle and bad life that he led and, naturally, he found for himself a society of people leading the same life as he. Desiring to break away from this life at all costs, Nekhlyudov no longer thinks about abroad - which would be an ordinary flight. He decides to repent before Katyusha, do everything to ease her fate, ask for forgiveness “as the children ask,” and if necessary, marry her ^[11] .

In such a state of moral insight, spiritual enthusiasm and the desire to repent, Nekhlyudov comes to prison to meet Katyusha Maslova, but, to her surprise and horror, sees that Katyusha, whom he knew and loved, died long ago, she “wasn’t, but there was one Maslova ” - a street girl who looks at him with brilliant “ bad shine ” ^[12] , as one of her clients, asks him for money, and when he transfers it and tries to express what’s the main thing with which he came, she doesn’t listen to him at all, hiding the money she took from the overseer for clear

“After all, this is a dead woman” ^[12] , Nekhlyudov thinks, looking at Maslova. In his soul, for a moment, a “tempter" wakes up, who tells him that he will not do anything with this woman and you just need to give her money and leave her. But this moment passes. Nekhlyudov defeats the "tempter" , remaining firm in his intentions ^[11] .

Having hired a lawyer, Nekhlyudov draws up a cassation appeal to the Senate and leaves for St. Petersburg to be present himself when considering the case. But, despite all his efforts, the appeal is rejected, the votes of the senators are divided and the court’s verdict remains unchanged ^[11] .

Returning to Moscow , Nekhlyudov brings with him, for Maslova's signature, a petition for clemency to the "highest name", which he no longer believes in success, and, a few days later, after the party of prisoners, with which Maslova is being transferred, goes to Siberia.

During the stages of progress, Nekhlyudov manages to get Maslova’s transfer from the department of criminal prisoners to political ones. This translation improves her position in all respects, and her rapprochement with some of the political prisoners has “a decisive and most beneficial effect on Maslova ” ^[12] . Thanks to her friend Marya Pavlovna Katyusha realizes that love does not consist in one “sexual love”, and beneficence is a person’s “habit”, “effort”, which should be “a matter of life”.

Throughout the story, Tolstoy gradually “resurrects” the souls of his heroes. It leads them along the steps of moral perfection, reviving the “spiritual being” in them and exalting it above the “animal” . This “resurrection” opens for Nekhlyudov and Maslova a new understanding of the world, making them sympathetic and attentive to all people ^[12] .

At the end of the novel, Maslova’s party, after passing about five thousand miles, arrives in a large Siberian city with a large transit prison. All the mail that went from the center of Russia to Nekhlyudov flocked to the post office of this city (being in constant movement through the stages, he simply could not receive letters). Parsing mail, Nekhlyudov finds a letter from his youth friend Selenin. Together with the letter, Selenin sends Nekhlyudov a copy of the official paper pardoning Maslova, according to which hard labor is replaced by a settlement in Siberia.

With the news of pardon, Nekhlyudov comes on a date with Maslova. On this date, he tells her that as soon as the official paper comes out, they will be able to decide where to settle. But Maslova refuses Nekhlyudov. During her stay with political prisoners, she became closely acquainted with Vladimir Simonson, who was referred to the Yakutsk region , who fell in love with her. And, despite the fact that Nekhlyudov was and remains the only man whom she truly loved, Maslova, no longer wanting Nekhlyudov’s sacrifice and fearing that she would ruin his life, chooses Simonson ^[12] .

Having said goodbye to Maslova, Nekhlyudov walks around the prison prison cells together with the traveling Englishman, as his translator , and only late in the evening, tired and depressed, returns to his hotel room. Left alone, Nekhlyudov recalls everything he has seen in recent months: that “terrible evil” that he saw and recognized in the offices of officials, in the courts, in prisons, etc .; the evil that "triumphed, reigned, and there was no chance to not only defeat him, but even understand how to defeat him" ^[12] . All this now rises in his imagination and requires clarification. Tired of thinking about it, Nekhlyudov sits down on the sofa and “mechanically” opens the Gospel , presented to him by an Englishman ^[11] .

Reading the Gospel, Nekhlyudov did not sleep all night, " absorbing water like a sponge," absorbing in himself the necessary, important and joyful that was revealed to him in this book " and finding answers to all tormenting questions. Thus, ending his novel, in the last chapter of it, Leo Tolstoy , through the lips of Dmitry Nekhlyudov, expresses his view of Christian teaching . It is significant that, initially, according to S. I. Taneyev , the novel had a “successful ending” that described the lives of heroes in England ^[13] , but in August 1895 the writer decided to abandon such an ending.

In the gospel understanding of Tolstoy, “The Resurrection” <...> the revolt of love from the tomb of the body ” ^[14] ,“ from the tomb of his personality ” ^[15] .

According to Lenin , in this work Leo Tolstoy “attacked with passionate criticism all modern state, church, social, economic orders, and expressed direct and sincere protest against the society of lies and falsehood” ^[16] .

Shortly after the release of the novel, its direct influence on world literature began to affect. Already in 1903, the Swiss writer Eduard Rod published the novel “ L'Inutile effort ”, which uses part of the plot lines of Tolstoy, with the characters discussing Leo Tolstoy’s novel among themselves. The influence of the novel affected the idea of Galsworthy 's novel “The Island of the Pharisees” ( The Island Pharisees , 1904). In the novel of the Venezuelan writer Romulo Gallegos, “Reinaldo Solar” ( El último Solar , 1920), the hero is fascinated by Tolstoy, although following the ideas of the count — cultivating the land independently and marrying a prostitute — is ridiculous ^[17] . In the Soviet science-fiction film Otrochi in the Universe ( 1974 ), the characters Misha and Katya discuss a novel aboard a spaceship.

Theatrical Drama

• 1930 - Moscow Art Theater ( V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko )
• 1998 - Maly Theater ( E. E. Martsevich )

Opera Performances

Among the opera arrangements of the novel are Risurrezione Italian composer Franco Alfano , Vzkriesenie of Slovak composer Jan Kicker and Resurrection by American composer Tod Machover .

Films

• 1907 - Resurrection / En Opstandelse (Denmark), directed by Viggo Larsen
• 1909 - Resurrection / Resurrection (USA), director David Griffith , Katyusha Maslova - Florence Lawrence , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Arthur Johnson
• 1909 - Resurrection - Russia
• 1910 - Resurrection / Résurrection (France), directors Andre Calmette , Henri Defontaine
• 1914 - Katyusha no uta (Japan)
• 1914 - Katyusha / Katyusha (Japan), directed by Kiyamatsu Hosoyama
• 1915 - Resurrection of a Woman / A Woman's Resurrection (USA), director Gordon Edwards , Katyusha Maslova - Betty Nansen , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - William Kelly
• 1915 - Katyusha Maslova - Russia, director Pyotr Chardynin , Katyusha Maslova - Natalya Lisenko
• 1917 - Resurrection / Resurrezione - Italy, director Mario Caserini , Katyusha Maslova - Maria Giacobini , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Andrea Habay
• 1918 - Resurrection / Resurrection - USA, director Edward Jose , Katyusha Maslova - Pauline Frederick , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Robert Elliott
• 1923 - Resurrection / Résurrection France. Director Marcel L'Erbier
• 1927 - Resurrection / Resurrection - USA, director Edwin Karev , Katyusha Maslova - Dolores del Rio , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Rod La Rock ,
• 1931 - Resurrection / Resurrection - USA. Director Edwin Karev , Katyusha Maslova - Lupe Veles , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - John Bowles
• 1931 - Resurrection / Resurrección - USA, directors Eduardo Arosamena , David Selman . Katyusha Maslova - Lupe Veles , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Gilbert Roland
• 1934 - We Live Again - USA. Director Ruben Mamulyan , Katyusha Maslova - Anna Stan , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Fredrik March
• 1938 - Resurrection / Duniya Kya Hai - India. Director G.P. Pavar
• 1943 - Resurrection / Resurrección - Mexico. Director Gilberto Martinez Solares
• 1944 - Resurrection / Resurrezione - Italy. Director Flavio Calzavara . Katyusha Maslova - Doris Duranti , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Claudio Gora
• 1958 - Resurrection / Auferstehung - France, Italy, Germany (Germany). Director Rolf Hansen , Katyusha Maslova - Miriam Bru , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Horst Buchholz
• 1960 - “ Resurrection ” - USSR. Director Michael Schweizer . Katyusha Maslova - Tamara Syomina , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Evgeny Matveev
• 1965 - Resurrection / Resurrezione - Italy (TV series). Director Franco Henriquez
• 2001 - Resurrection / Resurrezione - Germany, France, Italy. Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani . Katyusha Maslova - Stefania Rokka , Dmitry Nekhlyudov - Timothy Peach

• Vladimir Yarantsev. Siberian "Resurrection"
• Gornaya V. Z. Foreign contemporaries of L. N. Tolstoy about the novel “Resurrection” // Roman L. N. Tolstoy's “Resurrection”: Historical and Functional Research / USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of World Lite. them. A. M. Gorky. - M .: Nauka, 1991 .-- S. 100-165.