G.R. Derzhavin, "Felitsa": a summary

Often works of literary creativity, which are far from the present for many years and even centuries, turn out to be difficult for perception, understanding and mastering not only by school pupils, but even by adults. That is why today we are talking about such a poet of the second half of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, as Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin. "Felitsa", the summary of which will be discussed in this article, will help us better understand the author and his creative heritage.

Historical comment: creation

It is impossible to start a conversation about a work without determining what Derzhavin himself lived at the time of his creation. "Felitsa" (short content and even analysis - the topic of this material) was written by Gabriel Romanovich in Petersburg in 1782. The genre of the traditional ceremonial ode in this case was destroyed by the poet: he decided on the crime of the law of the three calm and in his creation combined the vocabulary of the book with the running, colloquial. In addition, in the space of one work satirical and laudatory mixed, which also contradicted the established canons.

Favorable coincidence

Friends Derzhavin, first heard the ode, were delighted with her, but hurried to cool the poet's fervor: the publication of the work had nothing to hope, because it clearly read attacks against the noble Catherine's nobles. Nevertheless, fate itself seemed to have arranged everything so that the work did not lie forever in the box of the Derzhavin desk. A year later, the ode came to the poet Osip Kozodavlev, from him - to the lover of literature II. Shuvalov, who read these poems at a dinner in front of the company of gentlemen, among whom was Prince Potemkin, one of the veiled faces ridiculed. The prince decided to pretend that his work does not touch and does not have anything to do with him, as a result of which Gabriel Romanovich could breathe a sigh of relief.

The Reaction of Catherine II

What could the further-known little poet Derzhavin further expect? "Felitsa," a brief summary of which will soon be described, attracted the president of the Russian Academy, E. Dashkova, and in 1783 the work was anonymously printed in one of the spring issues of the magazine "Interlocutor of Russian Language Lovers." Dashkova presented the poem to the empress herself; Catherine was moved to tears and was very interested in the author of the work. As a result, Derzhavin received from the Empress an envelope with 500 gold rubles and a gold-dusted snuffbox. Soon Gabriel Romanovich was introduced to the court and benefited from the tsarina. Thus, it was after the creation of this ode that Derzhavin gained literary fame. "Felitsa", whose brief content will answer the questions of interest, is a work of innovation. It differed qualitatively in thought and form from everything that existed before.

G. Derzhavin, "Felitsa": a summary of the stanzas. Start

Ode consists of 25 stanzas. The beginning of it is traditionally classic: in the first stanzas a solemn, elevated image is drawn. Catherine is called Kirghiz-Kaisatsky Tsarevna because at that time the poet himself had villages in the then Orenburg province, near which the territories of the Kyrgyz horde, subject to the empress, began. In addition, there is mentioned a fairy tale about Tsarevich Chlora - it is an oriental, colorful work, which was written and printed in 1781 by Catherine herself for a 5-year-old grandson, the future Emperor Alexander Pavlovich (known as Alexander I). Chlor, abducted by the khan, was the son of the great prince of Kiev. The kidnapper, wanting to test the boy's abilities, sent him to certain death, ordering to get a rose without thorns. Chlorine was helped by Felitsa, a kind, kind and cheerful Khan's daughter, who gave him a companion helper, her son, whose name was Rassudok. The boy was tempted: Murza Lentiag wanted to knock him out of the way, but Chloru was always helped by Reason. At last the comrades reached the stony mountain, where the same rose without thorns grew - as it turned out, it was Virtue. As a result, Chlor successfully extracted it and returned to his father, the Kiev tsar. It is the theme of virtue that passes through the whole ode with a red thread. Felice is named the Empress herself in honor of the Roman goddess of bliss, success and happiness.

The main part of the ode. Image of the monarchy

What else does Derzhavin say in his creation? Felitsa (the summary will help anyone who wants to understand the meaning of the work) is contrasted in contrast not only to his court and the approximate, but also to the author himself, who approaches his consideration of the person very critically. So, Catherine poeticizes so much that her literary portrait is completely devoid of flaws. Her perfect moral-psychological inner world is revealed through habits, the description of actions, orders, state actions. The Empress loves to walk in silence, simply to eat without frills, and read and write a lot. Descriptive part and the image of appearance are compensated by the general mood, impression of the portrayed features of the enlightened monarchy: she is modest, democratic, unpretentious, simple, friendly, intelligent and talented in the sphere of state activity.

Antithesis "the empress - nobles"

Who, however, contrasted Derzhavin with the ideal empress in every sense? "Felitsa" (in the abbreviation this is understood particularly clearly) describes us as a depraved "I"; Behind him lies the collective image of an approximate courtier, who, in essence, includes the features of all the closest associates of the queen. This and the already mentioned Prince Grigory Potemkin, whose portrait can be seen below, and Catherine's favorites Grigory and Alexei Orlov, revelers, fans of racing and fisticuffs, Field Marshal Peter Panin, first - a hunter, and only then a civil servant, Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, Who especially read the popular short story, and many others. And to whom did Derzhavin himself relate himself? "Felitsa" (an analysis of odes, brief content and analysis help to establish this) is a work in which the author approaches his personality without bias, and therefore relates himself to the grandee of the company, because by this time Gavriil Romanovich has already become a state counselor. However, along with this, he was able to objectively acknowledge his own sins, weaknesses, vices, and, according to the poet's personal remark, "stupidity." Derzhavin does not condemn the human passions of court servants and noble husbands: he understands that, peculiar to many, they are sometimes counterbalanced by a brilliant mind and talent that serve the benefit of the Russian state and for its prosperity.

Satirical criticism of the past

However, Derzhavin is not always without malice. "Felitsa", a brief description of the main idea of which was presented in this article, also presents the reader one more line - this is the description of the period of Anna Ioannovna's reign. Here the poet does not hide his indignation at the occasion of the violent marriage of the ancestral prince M. Golitsyn at the whim of the queen on the old ugly dwarf, because of which a worthy person turned into a court jester (strophe 18). Degraded, according to Derzhavin, there were other representatives of noble Russian families - Count A. Apraksin and Prince N. Volkonsky. Ode G.R. Derzhavin "Felitsa", whose brief content allows us to appreciate her large-scale idea, among other things, affirms the inviolability of the human right to preserve personal dignity and honor. The defeat of these categories is conceived by Gabriel Romanovich as a great sin, and therefore he calls on both the reader and the empress to respect them. To do this, Catherine must comply with the laws, be the guarantor of their supremacy, protect the "weak" and "miserable", show mercy.

Final lines

Finally, the artistic originality of O. Derzhavin's "Felitsa", which was briefly described in detail in the sections above, appears in the final stanzas of the work. Here the exaltation of the empress and her government goes back to a new limit - the author asks the "great prophet" and "heavenly powers" to bless Catherine and save her from disease and evil.

Although the end again brings the reader back into the mainstream of classicism and the canonical odes, yet, in conjunction with the rest of the content, it seems to have a new, rethought significance. Praise here is not just a tribute to direction, traditions and conventions, but a real impulse of the author's soul, who at that time still sincerely believed in the image of Catherine created by him. The famous critic Belinsky called this work "one of the best creations" of Russian poetry of the 18th century.