The rise of the Russian intelligentsia is accurately depicted through the characters of Ivan Turgenev's novel, Fathers and Sons. The story Fathers and Sons takes place in 1859, two years before the emancipation of the serfs. The novel takes a look at a pair of families, one of moderate wealth and the other of poorer standings. The family of Arkady and of Bazarov is the main families within the book, but Madame Odintsov's family is just as important.
Consequently, this story written by Turgenev gives off a subtle message, portraying each character within the story to a certain intelligentsia group during this era. During the nineteenth century the Russian Empire went through a dramatic change in its population. This new enlightened population brought about a new age for Russia, their name was the intelligentsia. This new intelligentsia varied between many different groups with intricately different ideologies. The diverse groups within Russia went by many specific names. The romantics were inspired by such German minds as Hegel and Schelling. An offshoot of the romantic ideal was a group of romantic intellectuals called the Slavophiles.
A group that leaned towards the right was called the Official Nationality. Another large group that sometimes followed the reforms created by Peter the Great were the Westernizers. A big Westernizer of the time was Peter Chaadaev with his writings from "Apology of a Madman". This exert describes the change in attitude Chaadaev had after being put under house arrest by the tsar. Two extreme Hegelian leftist groups were the Nihilists.
[...] From the novel Fathers and Sons, Nikolai Petrovich would fall under the category of Slavophiles and Romantics. Some examples would be his attitude towards his serfs. Nikolai's liberal policy of allowing the serfs to rent land from him falls in line with the Slavophile agenda. Another example of how Nikolai is a Slavophile could be seen when Pavel tells Nikolai to marry his new mistress, Fenichka. The original hesitation towards marriage could either be because of Nikolai's conviction with the Orthodox church or because of the separation of class and Pavel's opinion. [...]
[...] Ivan Turgenev's novel - Fathers and Sons The rise of the Russian intelligentsia is accurately depicted through the characters of Ivan Turgenev's novel, Fathers and Sons. The story Fathers and Sons takes place in 1859, two years before the emancipation of the serfs. The novel takes a look at a pair of families, one of moderate wealth and the other of poorer standings. The family of Arkady and of Bazarov is the main families within the book, but Madame Odintsov's family is just as important. [...]
[...] The novel, Fathers and Sons has many characters that fit the ideologies of these numerous groups. Bazarov declares himself a nihilist throughout the novel while other characters never mention where their loyalties lie, however their attitude or the way they present themselves gives the reader a good idea of which group their allegiance lies. In the middle of all these new ideologies is the symbolic freethinking Russian that has a choice between these numerous groups. This symbol is also depicted as a character in Fathers and Sons, that character is Arkady. [...]
[...] and Steinberg, Mark D. A History of Russia. New York: Oxford University Press 334-339 Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons. Doylestown, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 1948. [...]
[...] This group is called the Slavophiles. The Slavophiles “expressed a fundamental vision of integration, peace, and harmony among people” (Riasanovsky 336). However this group's main difference between the Romantics and themselves is the introduction of the Orthodox Church. With a religion included in romantic thinking, the similarities between the two groups are still the same however the Slavophiles “remain unalterable opposed to Western constitutional and other legalistic and formalistic devices” (Riasanovsky 337). This lack of constitutionalism is believed to not be effective due to the religious belief that all men are sinful and that one individual should bear the burden of the country as a whole in order to keep the population's conscious clean and free of worry or trouble. [...]
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