Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky and Yakov Petrovich Butkov - Russian writers of the XIX century , peers. In the writers' works, a similarity was noted, starting with belonging to the “Gogol school”, reinforced by the general theme of the works and a similar style. At the same time, it is quite difficult in Butkov’s work to separate the traits that arose directly under the influence of Gogol or through Dostoevsky’s mediation from the influence of Dostoevsky himself.
Unlike Dostoevsky, Butkov’s biography is less known due to the scarcity of surviving materials. Basically, they are presented in the form of memoirs of Alexander Milyukov and Stepan Yanovsky . From these evidence, we can conclude that Dostoevsky was interested and attentive to Butkov. During personal meetings, Fyodor Mikhailovich helped Butkov with topics for stories, and also listened to works already written by Yakov Petrovich.
Similarities in Creativity
The similarity of Dostoevsky and Butkov began with the original belonging to the “Gogol school”, was traced in the general theme of their works, similar to visual techniques and style [1] . To a large extent, it complicates the task of determining the influence of Dostoevsky on Butkov. In addition to the individual characteristics, the latter’s work was marked by features that arose directly under the influence of Gogol or through Dostoevsky, as well as certain features influenced by Dostoevsky himself [1] .
As in Dostoevsky’s novel “ The Double, ” Butkov’s work traces the desire to create doubles. These are Pshenitsyn and Kalachov from The Dark Man; Chebukov and Chebukevich from the "Decent person"; Trevchin and Gromotryasov, as well as Rylov and Rylovorotov from the story "Nevsky Prospect" [1] . The writer has characters with the same name and patronymic, only in the reverse order: Kuzma Terentyevich and Terenty Kuzmich from “Bitka”, Avdey Apollanovich and Apollon Avdeevich from the story “One Hundred Rubles” [1] .
Separate works of Butkov by the first readers were compared with similar works by Dostoevsky: “Petersburg Peaks” with “ Poor People ”, “Nevsky Prospect” with “ Mistress ”, the story “First Number” with the story “ Double ” [1] . The similarity of “The First Number” and “The Double” was traced in the presence of two main heroes-twins suffering from insanity, as well as in the use of the same character - the “Russian German” Karolina Ivanovna, whom the main characters of both works are going to marry [1] .
The protagonist of the story "Nevsky Prospect" in relation to his boss and his daughter and groom fully repeats the behavior of Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin from Dostoevsky's novel " Double " [2] .
Dostoevsky’s commentators draw attention to the connection between the “Weak Heart” and the story of Y. P. Butkov “A Particular Pair” (1846), in which even before the appearance of Dostoevsky’s works, a miserable, weak, humiliated hero, who considers his happiness an unattainable dream, is depicted. He reconciled with his position as a person who does not deserve ordinary human happiness, and the sphere of his life is turned to everyday concerns. A character named Pyotr Ivanovich Shlyapkin is an ordinary St. Petersburg official, “petty”, according to Butkov himself, is too poor and wretched to please himself by acquiring a new particular pair and get to a ball where he could fulfill his romantic dreams to meet the reciprocity of his beloved girl . The phantom of such hope is ironically compensated by thoughts of the upcoming dinner. If for the hero of Butkov a particular pair is the limit of his dreams, then the hero of Dostoevsky is in a more preferable position, being the owner of such a pair, but his happiness from this does not become more feasible [3] .
Relationships
The Soviet literary critic Boris Meilakh , compiler and commentator of the first collection of short stories by Yakov Butkov, noted that “the characterization of Butkov’s spiritual biography is very difficult due to the extreme scarcity of the surviving materials.” Basically, they are presented in the form of memoirs of Alexander Milyukov and Stepan Yanovsky [4] . From these evidence, we can conclude that Dostoevsky was interested and attentive to Butkov. During personal meetings, Fyodor Mikhailovich helped Butkov with topics for stories, and also listened to works already written by Yakov Petrovich [4] .
In a letter to Andrei Kraevsky about the state of Butkov, Dostoevsky noted that he was “ready, having received 10 rubles in silver, to consider himself the happiest person in the world” [5] . Dostoevsky also spoke about the exploitation of his employees by the liberal editor. He wrote about this to an entrepreneurial journalist: “I know, Andrei Alexandrovich, that I <...> sending you notes asking for money, he called every execution of my request a favor. But I was in fits of excessive self-depreciation and humility from false delicacy. For example, I understood Butkov, who is ready, receiving 10 p. silver., consider yourself the happiest person in the world. This is a momentary, painful condition, and I survived from it ” [3] [6] .
In the end, Kraevsky’s exploiting habits eventually led Belinsky and several other leading employees of the popular magazine to leave P.A. Pletnev ’s contemporary magazine, sold to N. A. Nekrasov and I. I Panaev. Having parted with the circle of V. G. Belinsky and N. A. Nekrasov, Dostoevsky cut off his path to their publication, as a result of which he was forced to seek rapprochement with Kraevsky, but he did not idealize this man at all. Being constantly financially dependent on the editor of Fatherland Notes, Dostoevsky was also weighed down by this bondage, realizing that he was exchanging his talent with an obligation to catch the deadline for the next issue of the magazine. The traits of the enterprising editor of Fatherland Notes satirically refracted in the image of Julian Mastakovich, which, however, did not prevent Dostoevsky from publishing Weak Heart, like all his subsequent works for two years in the journal of Andrei Aleksandrovich [7] .
Dostoevsky guessed the sad fate of his friend. His literary career turned out to be short. Poor health, poverty and helplessness did their job: everyone forgotten Butkov died in the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene in 1856, not living to be thirty-five years old [3] .
Dostoevsky was at that time in Siberian exile and found out what happened from a letter from his brother Mikhail. His reaction to this news was very painful: “My friend, I feel sorry for poor Butkov! And so die! Why did you look that you gave him to die in the hospital! How sad it is! ” [8] .
Commentators indicate that the image of Butkov for a long time did not leave the artistic consciousness of Fyodor Mikhailovich [8] [3] . In addition to the "Weak Heart", certain features of Butkov are present in Mr. Golyadkin , in the district teacher from " Uncle's Dream " and in " Humiliated and Offended " [3] .
Along with such famous writers as Gogol, Turgenev, Granovsky, Blagosvetlov and Eliseev, Yakov Butkov became another writer who served as the prototype of the heroes of Dostoevsky. However, while the rest of the writers are quite far from their images, Butkov’s display became a true likeness of a genuine Butkov [9] .
A prototype in the works of Dostoevsky
Double
In addition to the similarities between the characters in various stories of Butkov and Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin - the main character of Dostoevsky’s novel “ The Double ”, there was a similarity with this character of Butkov himself [5] .
Philologist Moses Altman calls Butkov the main prototype of Golyadkin. On the one hand, Butkov was an ever-beaten, frightened man, over whom hung the eternal threat of being put into the soldier, but on the other, internally rebellious, extremely close to the hero of the Double. Also in favor of Butkov, as the prototype of Golyadkin, is the coincidence of his name and patronymic with the character. It was typical for Dostoevsky to endow his heroes with the names of their prototypes. This version is also confirmed by the character’s surname, which expresses “insignificance, poverty, infinite weakness”, which fully corresponds to Butkov, who lived in extreme poverty and died in the hospital, in the ward for the poor [5] .
Weak Heart
Whereas Butkova is united by name and character with Golyadkin, then with Vasily Shumkov, the main character of Dostoevsky’s novel “ Weak Heart ”, Yakov Petrovich is also united by life circumstances and fears. Failing to fulfill the order of his boss, Julian Mastakovich, Shumkov "was obsessed with being sent to the soldiers for not finishing work" [5] .
From the memoirs of Alexander Milyukov it follows that such a fear of becoming a soldier constantly oppressed Butkov: “A recruitment was announced, and Butkov, by rank and marital status, had to go into the soldiers ... Kraevsky saved him from this: he bought him a recruitment receipt so that so that Butkov pays for her, deducting part of the fee for the articles placed in the “Domestic Notes”. Given the industriousness and the moderate life that the literary proletariat led, it would not be very difficult, but he wrote a little and, as far as I know, he far from paid his debt ” [10] .
Certain features of Butkov’s “benefactor”, Andrei Kraevsky , whose journal Yakov Petrovich was forced to collaborate with, are traced in the head of Shumkov, Yuliana Mastakovich. In addition, although the character’s name does not coincide with the prototype, which is typical for Dostoevsky’s work, the names of Butkov and Shumkov are consonant. To some extent, this can serve as an additional author’s indication that Butkov served as the prototype of the protagonist [11] .
The plot of the story was inspired by episodes from the biography of the writer Yakov Butkov , this is evidenced by the correspondence of contemporaries of Dostoevsky and the recollections of Alexander Milyukov , who at that time was on friendly terms with Fedor Mikhailovich [12] .
Yakov Butkov became the prototype of the main character of the story Vasya Shumkov. Dostoevsky and Butkov were peers, and Fyodor Mikhailovich was sympathetic and caring towards Yakov Petrovich [12] , a talented nugget, a native of the bourgeois who did not receive any education and achieved all self-education. The friendship between Butkov and Dostoevsky is reported in his memoirs by S. D. Yanovsky. The years 1846-1847 were the time when Butkov, Dostoevsky and Milyukov collaborated with Kraevsky in "Domestic Notes" [3] .
When creating the image of Shumkov, Dostoevsky used some of the realities of the life of his prototype: just like Butkov, Shumkov follows an obligation to congratulate his boss Julian Mastakovich on holidays, so as not to be considered irreverent. Like Kraevsky, Julian Mastakovich saved Shumkov from recruitment. In addition, commentators see the randomness of the sound similarity of the names Shumkov and Butkov [6] .
Uncle's Dream
Butkov also appears in the image of the poor district teacher Vasily from Dostoevsky ’s short story “ Uncle's Dream ”. The unfortunate bridegroom, Vasily, who died early, is similar to his namesake, Vasily Shumkov from the novel “ Weak Heart ”, behind which stands Yakov Butkov. The literary critic Valery Kirpotin noted: “In the background of Uncle's Dream are images that are, as it were, the rudiments of the heroes of the works of Dostoevsky himself in the forties. Such is Vasya, the dreamer, a weak heart ... dying from the inability to combine a legal marriage, due to poverty, with the subject of his passion ” [8] .
Humiliated and Insulted
In the novel Humiliated and Offended , Dostoevsky creates the image of the writer Ivan Petrovich, who dies alone in a hospital. According to philologist Moses Altman, at that time Fyodor Mikhailovich could also recall Butkov who died in the hospital [8] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Altman, 1975 , p. 15.
- ↑ Altman, 1975 , p. 15-16.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cancer V. D. Russian Virtual Library . F. M. Dostoevsky, "Weak Heart". Literary commentary . Date of treatment June 6, 2012. Archived June 25, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Altman, 1975 , p. 14.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Altman, 1975 , p. sixteen.
- ↑ 1 2 Perlina, 1972 , p. 476.
- ↑ Dostoevsky F.M. Weak heart. - Complete works in 30 volumes. - L .: Nauka, 1972. - T. 2. - S. 16-48. - 527 p. - 200,000 copies.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Altman, 1975 , p. 18.
- ↑ Altman, 1975 , p. 18-19.
- ↑ Altman, 1975 , p. 17.
- ↑ Altman, 1975 , p. 17-18.
- ↑ 1 2 Perlina, 1972 , p. 475.
Literature
- Altman M.S. Dostoevsky. By milestones of names. - Saratov: Publishing house of the Saratov University, 1975. - S. 16-19. - 280 p.
- Perlina N. M. Notes // F. M. Dostoevsky. Complete Works in thirty volumes / ed. A.S. Dolinina and E.I. Kiyko. - Leningrad: Nauka, 1972. - T. 2. - S. 472-474. - 528 s. - 200,000 copies.
Links
- Weak heart . Network publication “Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Anthology of life and work. " Date of treatment July 22, 2017.