Bestuzhev-Marlinsky: biography and photos

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky is one of the most prominent representatives of the romantic trend in Russian literature. His novels, poems, as well as critical articles were very popular in his time, and every output of his work was an event in the literary life of our country. He is also known as a member of the Decembrist uprising and as a friend of Pushkin.

Some facts of life

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, whose biography we are interested in, was born in 1797 in an impoverished but noble family of nobles. His father was also associated with literature, took part in publishing, his mother came from a petty bourgeoisie. Their son was trained in the Mountain Cadet Corps, but, not having finished the training course, entered the service. He was an aide-de-camp under the control route of the message, then enlisted in the military service. His regiment was stationed at Peterhof in the town of Marley (after which he later took a pseudonym for himself). At the same time, the beginning of his literary activity.

First works

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky was an adherent of the romantic trend, the features of which were manifested in his early works "Roman and Olga", "The Revel Tournament" and others. He actively collaborated with leading journals of the time, and later together with another poet Ryleev released his own almanac "The Polar Star", in which he posted his critical articles devoted to reflections on contemporary literature and works of the past. His thoughts and ideas each time provoked a lively polemic in literary circles, because in those years there were discussions about the direction in which domestic poetry and prose should develop.

Literary views

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky sharply opposed the classicism, arguing that this direction is already outdated. At the same time, he advocated the affirmation of romanticism in literature. The writer was a fan of such poets as Shakespeare, Schiller, and in particular, Byron. He argued that the principles put forward by these authors should become the basis for the development of Russian literature. The poet himself preferred to depict people with strong, extraordinary characters, with strong passions, rebellious by nature. In those years this was really a new word in literature and criticism. The well-known publicist Belinsky highly estimated the author's articles.

Participation in the Decembrist movement

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky was a member of the "Free Society of Lovers of Russian Literature", where he was a permanent member. At the same time, he was a member of the society of the Decembrists and even took part in the events on the Senate Square. He himself brought the soldiers of the Moscow regiment, but after the defeat of the performance voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. For participation in the movement, he was demoted and sentenced to twenty years of hard labor, replaced by a reference to Siberia. He was sent to Yakutsk, where he studied the life and culture of local people. Subsequently, on the basis of his observations, he wrote a number of articles on life in this region.

In the Caucasus

Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky after a while was transferred to military service with the right of length of service. He went to serve in the Caucasus, where he participated in the battles with the mountaineers, showing courage and fearlessness, for which he was awarded. This period is significant in the history of his work by the fact that it was here that he created his most famous works.

He created Bestuzhev-Marlinsky novels, which became a significant phenomenon in the history of Russian literature of the period of romanticism. The most striking works are "Lieutenant Belozor", "Ammalat-bek" and others. Their peculiarity is that in them the writer brought out a completely new type of hero: a person of extraordinary, with strong feelings and temperament. His characters bear the imprint of Byron's romanticism. In this way they attracted contemporaries, so each new novel of the author was expected with impatience. Bestuzhev died in 1837 in battle, his body was never found.

The Tale

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, whose short stories have a clear imprint of Romanticism, paid attention to the image of strong personalities and extraordinary adventures. Such, for example, is his story, The Neuhausen Castle, which is devoted to describing the friendship of two opponents: a knight and a Novgorod centurion who, while enemies on the battlefield, still respected each other. Such a reception was generally characteristic of romantic works. Based on the motives of this work, a film was shot in Soviet times, which indicates that the writer's works are still popular.

Friendship with Pushkin

Creativity Bestuzhev-Marlinsky should be seen in the context of an era when a great influence had the romance that permeated our country from Western European countries. On this basis, the writer made friends with Pushkin, who in the early period of his work also paid tribute to this direction. That is why the writer willingly published Romantic poems of Alexander Sergeevich in his almanac, as well as excerpts from his poems "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", "The Gypsies". The last work Bestuzhev valued especially highly. However, very soon Pushkin began to create realistic works that met the needs of educated circles and the reading public. Bestuzhev remained an adherent of romanticism. Nevertheless, the two poets maintained friendly relations. They regularly exchanged letters. It is known that Pushkin highly appreciated Marlinsky's novella, some of them even had a certain influence on him (for example, the story "The Snowstorm").

Importance of creativity

Bestuzhev's works had a great influence on contemporary literature. At this time there was a transition from classicism to romanticism. Therefore, educated circles of the time showed a genuine interest in his work. According to the memoirs of a contemporary, Marlinsky's novels opened a new stage in the development of Russian literature. But very soon realistic works began to appear. This, first of all, the story of Pushkin and Gogol, who abandoned romanticism and moved on to a realistic depiction of life.

Their works marked a new trend in prose, when writers began to describe life as it is. Against the background of these works Bestuzhev-Marlinsky's works were lost and after a while they were forgotten. Nevertheless, his work became a notable phenomenon in the domestic literature. His work had an impact on the work of Lermontov (on the novel "The Hero of Our Time", and especially on the drama of the writer).