Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is one of the classics of Russian literature. Writer, poet and publicist, he was the head of the Sovremennik magazine and editor of Otechestvennye zapiski. He wrote many wonderful works. But as the researchers note, the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" can be considered the pinnacle of his work.
The work on the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" has been carried out by the writer for several years. As Nekrasov himself said, this was his favorite child. In it, he wanted to talk about the difficult and harsh life in Russia at the end of the 19th century. This narration was not the most flattering to some strata of society, so the work had an ambiguous fate.
History of creation
Work on the poem began in the early 60s of the 19th century. This is evidenced by the aforementioned exiled Poles. The uprising itself and their arrest took place in 1863-1864. The first part of the manuscript was marked by the author himself in 1865.
Nekrasov began to continue working on the poem only in the 70s. The second, third and fourth parts were released in 1872, 1873 and 1876, respectively. In general, Nikolai Alekseevich planned to write 7 parts according to some data, and 8 parts according to others. However, due to a serious illness, he could not do this.
Already in 1866 the prologue of the poem appeared in the first issue of the Sovremennik magazine. Nekrasov printed the first part for 4 years. This was due to the unfavorable attitude of the censorship towards the work. In addition, the position of the print publication itself was rather precarious. Immediately after its release, the censorship committee spoke unflatteringly about the poem. Although they allowed it to be published, they sent their comments to the highest censorship authority. The very first part was published in its entirety only eight years after it was written.
The subsequent parts of the poem, published later, aroused even more outrage and disapproval of the censorship. This discontent was justified by the fact that the work is clearly negative in nature and attacks on the nobility. All parts were printed on the pages of Notes of the Fatherland. The author never saw a separate edition of the work.
In recent years, Nekrasov was seriously ill, but continued to actively oppose censorship. They did not want to publish the fourth part of the poem. Nikolai Alekseevich made many concessions. He rewrote and deleted many episodes. He even wrote praise to the king, but this did not have any impact. The manuscript was published only in 1881 after the death of the writer.
Plot
At the beginning of the story, the main characters are asked the question of who lives well in Russia. 6 options were presented: the landlord, the official, the priest, the merchant, the minister and the tsar. The heroes decide not to return home until they receive an answer to this question.
The poem consists of 4 parts, but it is not complete. Sensing imminent death, Nekrasov in a hurry finished the work. A clear and precise answer was never given.
