Both adults and children love to read the fascinating tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The fact is that they are not like others, as they are rich in vivid images and original stories. The author actually founded a new genre of political fairy tales, in which he combined elements of fiction with real life events. All the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin are created on the basis of the traditions of Russian and Western European folklore, they are permeated with satire, the elements of which Shchedrin learned from the great fabulist Krylov.
Tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin read
In all his works, Saltykov-Shchedrin raises the problem of class inequality. His tales also tell about this in an allegorical form. Here the collective image of the oppressed working people is personified by the positive protagonist - a kind, harmless animal or a person, whom the author simply calls “a man”. Shchedrin shows lazy and evil rich men in the form of predators or people of higher ranks (for example, generals).
Moreover, the author endows the peasant with kindness, intelligence, ingenuity, generosity and hard work. He clearly sympathizes with him and in his person all the poor people who are forced to work hard for the rich tyrants all their lives. A peasant treats his masters with irony, without losing, however, his own dignity.
Also, with sympathy in his tales, Saltykov-Shchedrin describes kind, cute animals that suffer from evil predatory brethren. He endows the animals with human traits of character, thanks to which the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin are even more interesting to read. And the thoughtful reader, having made fun of the comical actions of animals, quickly realizes that everything happens in the same way in people's lives, and that the existing reality is sometimes cruel and unfair.
Saltykov - Mikhail Evgrafovich Shchedrin (real name Saltykov, pseudonym N. Shchedrin) (1826-1889), writer, publicist.
Born on January 27, 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province, in an old noble family. In 1836 he was sent to the Moscow Noble Institute, from where, two years later, for excellent studies, he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.
In August 1844 Saltykov joined the office of the Minister of War. At this time, his first novellas, "The Contradiction" and "The Confused Business," were published, which aroused the anger of the authorities.
In 1848 Saltykov-Shchedrin was exiled to Vyatka (now Kirov) for his "harmful way of thinking", where he received the post of a senior official on special assignments under the governor, and after a while - an adviser to the provincial government. Only in 1856, in connection with the death of Nicholas I, the restriction on residence was lifted.
Returning to St. Petersburg, the writer resumed his literary activity, while working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and participating in the preparation of the peasant reform. In 1858-1862. Saltykov served as vice-governor in Ryazan, then in Tver. Having retired, he settled in the capital and became one of the editors of the Sovremennik magazine.
In 1865 Saltykov-Shchedrin returned to civil service: at various times he headed the treasury chambers in Penza, Tula, Ryazan. But the attempt was unsuccessful, and in 1868 he agreed with the proposal of N. A. Nekrasov to enter the editorial office of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, where he worked until 1884.
A talented publicist, satirist, artist, Saltykov-Shchedrin in his works tried to direct the attention of Russian society to the main problems of that time.
"Provincial Essays" (1856-1857), "Pompadours and Pompadours" (1863-1874), "Poshekhonskaya antiquity" (1887-1889), "Tales" (1882-1886) stigmatize theft and bribery of officials, cruelty of landlords, tyranny of chiefs. In the novel The Lord Golovlevs (1875-1880), the author depicted the spiritual and physical degradation of the nobility in the second half of the 19th century. In "The History of a City" (1861-1862), the writer not only satirically showed the relationship between the people and the authorities of the city of Foolov, but also rose to criticism of the government leaders of Russia.
Born into a wealthy family of Evgraf Vasilyevich Saltykov, a hereditary nobleman and collegiate counselor, and Olga Mikhailovna Zabelina. He was educated at home - his first mentor was the serf artist Pavel Sokolov. Later, a governess, a priest, a seminary student and his older sister were involved in the education of young Mikhail. At the age of 10, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin entered the Moscow Noble Institute, where he demonstrated great academic success.
In 1838, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. There, for success in his studies, he was transferred to study at the state expense. At the Lyceum, he began to write "free" poetry, ridiculing the surrounding shortcomings. Poems were weak, soon the future writer stopped studying poetry and did not like being reminded of the poetic experiences of his youth.
In 1841, the first poem "Lear" was published.
In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, Mikhail Saltykov entered the service of the Office of the War Ministry, where he wrote free-thinking works.
In 1847, the first story "Contradictions" was published.
On April 28, 1848, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was sent to Vyatka, away from the capital, to exile for the story "A Confused Business". There, he had an impeccable working reputation, did not take bribes and, enjoying great success, was a member of all houses.
In 1855, having received permission to leave Vyatka, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin left for St. Petersburg, where a year later he became an official for special assignments under the Minister of Internal Affairs.
In 1858, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was appointed vice-governor in Ryazan.
In 1860 he was transferred to Tver as vice-governor. In the same period, he actively collaborates with the magazines Moskovsky Vestnik, Russkiy Vestnik, Library for Reading, and Sovremennik.
In 1862, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin retired and tried to found a magazine in Moscow. But the publishing project failed and he moved to St. Petersburg.
In 1863 he became an employee of the Sovremennik magazine, but due to microscopic fees he was forced to return to the service.
In 1864, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin was appointed chairman of the Penza treasury chamber, later he was transferred to Tula in the same position.
In 1867 he was transferred to Ryazan as head of the Treasury.
In 1868, he again retired with the rank of a truly state councilor and wrote his main works "The History of a Town", "Poshekhonskaya Antiquity", "Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg" "The History of a Town".
In 1877, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin became editor-in-chief of Otechestvennye zapiski. He travels to Europe and meets Zola and Flaubert.
In 1880, the novel "The Lord Golovlevs" was published.
In 1884, the journal Otechestvennye zapiski was closed by the government and the state of health of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin sharply deteriorated. He is ill for a long time.
In 1889 the novel "Poshekhonskaya antiquity" was published.
In May 1889, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin fell ill with a cold and died on May 10. He was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin (real name Saltykov, pseudonym "N. Shchedrin") was born on January 27 (January 15, old style), 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province (now Taldomsky district, Moscow region). He was the sixth child of a hereditary nobleman, a collegiate councilor, his mother came from a family of Moscow merchants. Until the age of 10, the boy lived on his father's estate.
In 1836, Mikhail Saltykov was enrolled in the Moscow noble institute, where the poet Mikhail Lermontov had previously studied, in 1838, as the best student of the institute, he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Saltykov became known as the first poet on the course, his poems were published in periodicals.
In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, he was assigned to serve in the office of the Ministry of War in St. Petersburg.
In 1845-1847, Saltykov attended meetings of the circle of Russian utopian socialists - "Friday" Mikhail Butashevich-Petrashevsky, whom he met while still at the Lyceum.
In 1847-1848, the first reviews of Saltykov were published in the journals Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski.
In 1847, the first story of Saltykov, Contradictions, dedicated to the economist Vladimir Milyutin, was published in Otechestvennye zapiski.
The publication of this work coincided with the tightening of censorship restrictions after the Great French Revolution and the organization of a secret committee chaired by Prince Menshikov, as a result the story was banned, and its author was exiled to Vyatka (now Kirov) and appointed to the post of scribe in the Provincial government.
In 1855 Saltykov received permission to return to St. Petersburg.
In 1856-1858 he was an official for special assignments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, participated in the preparation of the peasant reform of 1861.
From 1856 to 1857, "Provincial Essays" by Saltykov under the pseudonym "N. Shchedrin" were published in the "Russian Bulletin". "Essays" were noted by the attention of Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Nikolai Dobrolyubov, who devoted articles to them.
In March 1858 Saltykov was appointed vice-governor of the city of Ryazan.
In April 1860, due to a conflict with the Ryazan governor, Saltykov was appointed vice-governor of Tver, in January 1862 he resigned.
In 1858-1862, the collections Innocent Stories and Satires in Prose were published, in which the city of Foolov, a collective image of contemporary Russian reality, first appeared.
In 1862-1864 Saltykov was a member of the editorial board of the Sovremennik magazine.
In 1864-1868, he served as chairman of the Penza Treasury Chamber, manager of the Tula Treasury Chamber and manager of the Ryazan Treasury Chamber.
Since 1868 he collaborated with the journal "Otechestvennye zapiski", since 1878 he was the editor-in-chief of the journal.
During the period of work in the "Notes of the Fatherland" the writer created his significant works - the novels "The History of a City" (1869-1970) and "The Lord Golovlevs" (1875-1880).
At the same time, the writer worked on publicistic articles, in the 1870s he published collections of stories "Signs of the Times", "Letters from the Province", "Pompadours and Pompadurs", "Lords of Tashkent", "Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg", "Well-intentioned Speeches", which became a noticeable phenomenon not only in literature, but also in socio-political life.
In the 1880s, the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin were published, the first of them were published in 1869.
In 1886 the novel "Poshekhonskaya antiquity" was written.
In February 1889, the writer began preparing the author's edition of the collected works in nine volumes, but during his lifetime only one volume came out.
May 10 (April 28, old style) 1889 Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin died in St. Petersburg. He was buried at Literatorskie mostki of the Volkovskoye cemetery.
In 1890, a complete collection of the writer's works was published in nine volumes. From 1891 to 1892, a complete collection of works in 12 volumes was published, prepared by the author's heirs, which was reprinted several times.
Saltykov-Shchedrin was married to Elizaveta Boltina, whom he met during the Vyatka exile, the son Konstantin and daughter Elizabeth were born in the family.
The tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin combine folklore motives and satiricalism inherent in all the literary activities of the Russian writer. Most of them were created in the late period of this author's work. What works did Saltykov-Shchedrin write? A list of fairy tales and their brief analysis are presented in the article.
Social satire
Saltykov-Shchedrin has repeatedly addressed this genre. The list of fairy tales does not include such works as "The History of a City", "Modern Idyll", "Abroad". But they also have fantastic motives.
It is no coincidence that the writer often resorted to the fairy tale genre in the eighties. It was during this period that the socio-political situation in Russia became so aggravated that it became more and more difficult for a writer to use his satirical potential. Folklore stories, the heroes of which are often animals and other living creatures, have become one of the ways to bypass censorship restrictions.
Science fiction and reality
What did Saltykov-Shchedrin rely on in the creation of small works? The list of fairy tales is a list of works, each of which is based on folk art and satire in the spirit of Krylov's fables. In addition, the traditions of Western European romanticism influenced the writer's work. But, despite the borrowing of various motives, the short works created by Saltykov-Shchedrin are completely original in the genre.
List of fairy tales
- "Bogatyr".
- "Hyena".
- "Wild landowner".
- "Conscience is gone."
- "The Wise Squeaker".
- Poor Wolf.
- "Selfless Hare".
- "Kissel".
- "Horse".
- "Unsleeping Eye".
- Idle Talk.
- "Liberal".
- "Way-way".
- "Christ's Night".
Heroes
In the fairy-tale works of Saltykov-Shchedrin, there are two forces, depicted not without a hint of social inequality. One of them is the people. The second is, of course, the elements that exploit ordinary workers. The people, as a rule, were symbolized by birds and defenseless animals. Idle but dangerous landowners were personified by predators.
The above list contains the fairy tale "Horse". In this work, the main image symbolizes the Russian peasantry. Thanks to the work of Konyagi, grain is sprinkled on the endless fields of the country. But he has neither rights nor freedom. His lot is endless hard labor.
The generalized image of the Russian peasant is also present in The Wild Landowner. One of the most striking images in Russian literature of the 19th century is a simple humble worker - a character who can so often be met when reading short tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The list should be supplemented with the following works:
- Idle Talk.
- "Village fire"
- "The raven petitioner".
- "Christmas tale".
- "Eagle patron".
