There are 1845 Nekrasov on the road. Analysis of the poem "On the Road" (Nekrasov)

The poem “On the Road” was written by Nekrasov in a very early age when he was just in search of his creative path. However, it already shows character traits Nekrasov's poetry, which will help you see brief analysis“On the road” according to plan. Using it in a literature lesson in 11th grade, it is easy to make the topic easier for students to understand.

Brief Analysis

History of creation- the poem was written in 1845, when Nekrasov had just turned twenty-four years old. However, the poet already felt an urgent need to indicate his civic position.

Subject- the coachman’s thoughts about his wife, who was ruined by her lordly upbringing.

Composition– one-part, the coachman’s story develops sequentially.

Genre- civil lyrics.

Poetic size- a three-foot anapest with alternating male and female rhymes and disordered rhyming.

Comparisons – “roars like crazy”, “like a sliver of thin and pale”.

Epithets - “a daring coachman”, “recruitment”, “manor’s house”, “noble manners”, “stern appearance”, “dashing woman”, “tireless work”, “drunk hand”, “persistent boredom”.

History of creation

Nekrasov created the story, which is an imaginary dialogue between a master and a coachman, in 1845. At the time of writing this poetic work, the poet was barely 24 years old, but he had a clear civic position and talentedly expressed it in poetic form.

When the young creator showed it to the then-famous critic Belinsky, he was moved and called him a “true poet.” Herzen considered this work excellent.

It was this work that marked a new stage in creative development Nekrasov, who moved from romanticism to realism and focused on civil lyrics.

Subject

The difficult fate of the Russian people is what worried the young author. And it is precisely this topic that his work “On the Road” is dedicated to. Pear, a peasant wife, found a feeling in the manor's house self-esteem- and this subsequently made the serf unhappy for the rest of her life.

The main idea is the hopelessness of the current situation. While in Russia there is serfdom, and the master can marry people at his own discretion, depriving them of their heartfelt inclination, ordinary people will be unhappy.

Composition

The verse has a beginning and an ending, but despite this, it is distinguished by a one-part composition.

The beginning is the master's request to the coachman to entertain him with some story or song, to which he responds with complaints about his wife and explains what exactly caused his dissatisfaction.

The story of Grusha, as told by her husband, is very sad: the girl for a long time was brought up in the manor's house as a friend of a little young lady, but then she got married, her father died, and the new owner of the estate sent the serf to where she belonged - to a peasant's hut, having previously given her in marriage. IN past life Her love for the teacher remained, but this one was only hard work. And although her husband did not exhaust her, he even pitied her in his own way and beat her only when he was drunk, she still felt humiliated.

The composition ends with the words of the master, who interrupted the coachman’s story, ironically noting that he “amused” him. The bleakness of the situation of peasant women and serfs in general, vividly depicted by Nekrasov in this seemingly simple story, deeply touches the soul.

Genre

This is one of the very first examples of Nekrasov’s civic poetry, which ardently denounces the unjust serfdom of Russia.

The three-foot anapest was not chosen in vain - it makes the poem look like Russian songs of complaint on the one hand and rhythmically repeats the clatter of hooves on the other. In this way, Nekrasov conveys the atmosphere of the story, which is being told on the road.

Thanks to the variety of types of rhyme, as well as the use of both masculine and feminine rhymes, Nekrasov manages to convey the liveliness of colloquial speech.

Means of expression

This work is not very rich in the usual means of expressiveness, for which there is an explanation: there is nowhere for flowery words to come from in the speech of such common man like a coachman. Nekrasov uses the simplest artistic means possible:

• Comparisons- “roars like crazy”, “like a sliver of thin and pale”.
• Epithets- “a daring coachman”, “recruitment”, “manor’s house”, “noble manners”, “stern appearance”, “dashing woman”, “tireless work”, “drunk hand”, “persistent boredom”.

The last epithet shows that the master is not as indifferent as he would like to seem - in fact, he experiences deep bitterness due to the awareness of the hopeless situation in which an unfree person may find himself.

At the same time, he inserts colloquialisms into the driver’s speech, which give it realism: you hear, you understand, a hundred, tois, crashing, byit, sam-at, patret.

Poem test

Rating Analysis

average rating: 4 . Total ratings received: 44.

In his work, the famous poet Nikolai Nekrasov more than once addressed the problems and suffering of the ordinary Russian people.

From childhood, he observed the cruel attitude towards serfs on the part of his father, a despotic and domineering man. His wife, the poet’s mother, often got it from him. These impressions were deposited in the memory and soul of Nikolai Alekseevich for the rest of his life and became an inexhaustible source for large number his works.

In 1845, young Nekrasov wrote a short poem, “On the Road.” It became his literary debut and immediately identified a theme that would forever remain central to his work.

“... You are a poet - and a true poet!”

It was with these enthusiastic words that the critic V. Belinsky addressed Nekrasov when he first heard “On the Road.” “How much sorrow and bile...” - this is how he responded about the novice poet’s verse in one of his conversations with I. Panaev. I immediately fell in love with the “excellent” work and

What did Nikolai Nekrasov, whose first collection “Dreams and Sounds” went virtually unnoticed, deserve such a high rating?

Composition and genre

The poem is more reminiscent of a story about happy life young peasant family. The plot begins with the master's complaint to the coachman about boredom. He asks to amuse himself with a daring song or a fable. “I’m not having fun myself...”, the driver N.A. Nekrasov begins his speech with these words. On the road, he slowly talks about the fate of his “villain” wife, who was brought up and lived for a long time in a manor house. Then sent to the village, where she now found herself on the edge of the grave. The sad story evokes a response from the master. “Well... that’s enough... Dispelled... the nagging boredom,” the work ends with these words.

So, instead of the traditional coachman's song, a soul-tearing monologue of a tormented heart sounds to the ringing of bells. And its heroes are the victims of serfdom, which has existed in Rus' for centuries.

The main theme of the poem “On the Road”

Nekrasov was always concerned about the plight of the oppressed people. He was especially sensitive to the bitter fate of a peasant woman, who was capable of enduring a lot in her life. In his first serious poem, which was “On the Road,” he talks about the unenviable lot of a serf girl, whose childhood and youth were spent in a manor house. This was a typical phenomenon for that time. Moreover, quite often the illegitimate children of the landowner found themselves in this situation. Their carefree and calm life almost always ended tragically, since for society they forever remained serfs. The feelings of peasants (by birth), who find themselves as toys in the hands of masters and who ultimately find themselves in an unusual social environment, help to understand the analysis of the poem “On the Road.”

Nekrasov about the heroine’s upbringing

Pear was the young lady's companion for many years. Together with her she studied reading and science, sewing and playing the musical instruments- i.e. everything that a society lady should know and be able to do.

Her husband describes her this way: “she had an imposing appearance” and good manners, so one could think that she was a “natural” young lady. Even the teacher alone wooed her (not a simple serf!), but something didn’t work out: “the nobility doesn’t need a servant.”

For the girl, everything changed in an instant: the young lady got married and left, and the landowner soon died, leaving Grusha an orphan. The young son-in-law who entered into the inheritance counted all the auditees. Replaced corvee with quitrent. Pear, with whom he did not get along, he sent to the village. This is how N. Nekrasov continues the poem “On the Road” and the story about the fate of the heroine.

Village and marriage

“The girl howled,” the coachman says about his wife’s new life. It was hard for her, not accustomed to peasant labor. Any work was a burden - “I feel sorry for it sometimes.” But the coachman did not blame Grusha; he believed that “her masters had ruined her.”

And the girl was not happy about marriage. They got married according to the will of the master - the time has come. So nothing made her happy in her new life. In front of strangers, she was still “here and there,” but, left alone, she shed all her tears. This is how the soul of a person, accustomed to living in completely different conditions, according to different moral laws, gradually perishes - the analysis of the poem “On the Road” leads the reader to such gloomy thoughts.

Nekrasov does not limit himself to describing the difficulties that arise in everyday life. He draws attention to another side of peasant life, which is not at all similar to the lordly life.

Darkness and illiteracy of the people

The driver is worried about one more thing about his wife’s behavior. She often looks at some kind of “pattern” and reads a book. He teaches his son to read and write, which is not customary among peasants - another destiny awaits him. And every day, like a young lady, she washes and scratches. He cuts and doesn't let you hit. “She will destroy her son too,” this thought overcomes the coachman.

The author is concerned about something else. An uneducated husband, far from culture and any science, is not able to understand Pear, in whom a noble upbringing and a book (the portrait may depict, for example, a writer) awakened a sensitive soul. I want to draw attention to this. The verse “On the Road” shows how downtrodden a simple man really is. That is why Grusha cannot find a like-minded person in the new conditions - no one here understands her. As a result, her master, who may not have wanted anything bad, crippled the young girl’s life. Now she is wasting away day by day, she has become “as thin and pale as a sliver,” she even walks as if through force. It's clear that she doesn't have long to live. “If only the woman were dashing!”

The fate of the coachman

It’s not easy for my husband in this story either. Married without consent. He doesn’t understand Pear, although unlike many others, he pitied his wife, didn’t scold her again, and even respected her. He almost never hit me - only when he was drunk. And in the future, widowhood and loneliness await him, which is not easy for a man with a small son in his arms to endure. And most importantly, it’s not his fault in this whole story - he’s just like everyone else

Thus, the analysis of the poem “On the Road” (Nekrasov wrote in this regard: “No matter what life is, it’s a tragedy!”) reveals the moral and social problems serfdom. After all, the whim of the masters destroyed the life of more than one person.

Means of expression

The poem “On the Road” is written in three-foot anapest. This meter, combined with the supposed clatter of hooves, is reminiscent of colloquial folk speech, which brings the coachman's story closer to a song, similar to a plaintive cry escaping from the depths of the soul. What makes a monologue realistic and colorful is the special order of words, the combination of paired, cross and ring rhymes, colloquial words and expressions: bait, ali, know-de, patret, etc.

The meaning of the poem

The analysis of the poem “On the Road” leads to several conclusions. Nekrasov in it, even before I. Turgenev with his “Notes of a Hunter,” drew the attention of his contemporaries to the difficult situation of the people. In the coachman's monologue, contrasting pictures of the life of landowners and the serfs dependent on them clearly emerge. The worst thing here is that the owners treated their slaves like any other thing in the house. This was an undisguised denunciation of the slavery that existed in the country and an open protest against the established order.

A simple but truthful picture emerges with each new line in the work “On the Road” by Nekrasov. The theme stated in the poem - serfdom has neither conscience nor laws - overnight turned the aspiring poet into the best representative of the “natural school”, which would soon establish itself in Russian literature and criticism.

Nekrasov worked hard on the work in 1845. Since the poet failed after the collection “Dreams and Sounds,” he tried and put all his strength into his work. He decided to change the themes of his work and make everyday life the main object of his works, writing about people’s lives and everyday problems that concerned the common people.

After V. G. Belinsky read this work, he was shocked. Despite the simplicity and ordinariness of the theme of the difficult fate of the peasantry, Belinsky gave a rather high rating to what was written:

Do you know that you are a poet, and a true poet!

Genre, direction and size

To a greater extent, Nekrasov wrote in the direction of realism. It is worth adding that “On the Road” is classified as civil poetry. The poet tried to convey the naturalness of the life of the peasantry, all the authenticity of what was happening in those days.

The work is written in the form of a conversation between a coachman. In terms of genre, it in some sense relates to coachman songs, goes back to folklore and is at the junction between the lyrical and epic principles.

Size: three-foot anapest. The rhyme is lively and energetic due to the interweaving of masculine and feminine, and there is also a chaotic rhyme of cross, pair and ring.

Images and symbols

Lyrical hero in Nekrasov’s work “On the Road” he experiences incredible boredom from life and melancholy. And in order to somehow have fun, he asks the coachman to help him with this, so that he will entertain him with some story, tell him something. This is an inquisitive traveler who does not shy away from talking with ordinary people and does not behave arrogantly. He is interested in the whole world, without exception. This is what a real poet should be. He is distinguished from others by his subtle perception of the world, the ability to analyze and reason. He knows and understands that a peasant’s wife, brought up in the traditions and morals of a manor’s house, cannot fall in love with the hard and ugly village life.

But the fact is that the coachman has no time for fun, he is worried about his wife, so he tells the master the story of his life. This is an ordinary peasant with a traditional set of values: family, home, land. But everything with him is not like with people, because he got an atypical lady as his wife. All the time he suffers from the fact that she is unhappy with his company, and his entire set of life attitudes is alien to her.

His wife, a peasant woman named Grusha, was raised in a manor house and had the opportunity to receive a good education. She learned to read and even learned to play the organ. But after the death of the master and the growing up of the young lady, with whom the girl was a companion, the refined and unsuited for physical labor, Grusha was sent back to the village, where she was forcibly married not for love to a rude and unkempt man. All her suffering is no longer from work that she is not used to doing, but from violence and powerlessness, from the inability to control her destiny. This is an intelligent, sensitive and gifted nature, which the owners only crippled with their patronage. If she had been brought up like everyone else, none of this would have happened, but the Lord's coming is more important than her fate. The girl’s feelings and talents were trampled underfoot by yet another whim.

The driver is still perplexed and doesn’t understand. What did he do, because all his life, according to him, he treated her well. He only beat her when she was drunk, but that doesn’t count. The coachman is too simple and stupid, and does not understand why his wife does not behave like other women. He lives without second thoughts about the present, does what he does until the moment comes that he has to think about it. Of course, he blames the gentlemen for her “depravity,” but, in fact, they are to blame not for her upbringing, but for not properly settling the girl with such skills.

Themes and mood

1. Nekrasov raises in a poem theme of the tragedy of human fate who is not his own master. Slavery in his description takes on a sophisticated form. The girl was deceived by vain hopes, lured by an easy and beautiful life, and then, without thinking about her adaptation to new conditions, she was thrown out of the house, and even married against her will. It is impossible to even imagine how she felt when she experienced all the hardships of serfdom herself.
2. The problem of misunderstanding. The lyrical hero, who listens to the coachman's story, understands perfectly well that it is difficult for his wife to live in such conditions not from hard work, but from a violent life, from humiliation. The coachman believes that the peasant woman was ruined by her upbringing, which she received in the manor’s house. He is partly right, but in a country where education and manners interfere with life, a free and highly intellectual personality cannot develop. This is another problem raised by the poet - the backwardness of Russia, mired in serfdom.
3. Love theme. The coachman loves his wife in his own way, but his upbringing includes and provides for a system of corporal punishment. The wife must also work equally with the man, must fulfill marital duties and manage to manage the household. There is no time for music or reading novels. Naturally, he does not understand the true needs and feelings of a woman raised according to the lordly canons. Her love is a romantic and sublime feeling from numerous fictional stories. She perceives life differently, her ideas are close to the ideal learned from books. For her, her husband's love seems like gross ignorance and intolerable vulgarity.
4. The problem of permissiveness and irresponsibility. The gentlemen do not think about the fate of the peasants; their actions are not motivated by anything other than their own whims. They do not consider servants to be people, and all bookish humanism disappears when they dispose of slaves. Neither the king nor the court punishes this in any way, so the nobles use their power without hesitation.
5. Mood it creates a depressing feeling, because nothing can help Grusha, and there are hundreds, and maybe thousands, of such Pears. The problem posed by the author has not been solved, and the main theme (the harshness and injustice of serfdom) did not lose its urgency for many years. This page in Russian history should be considered shameful.

main idea

The theme of landowner tyranny is not new for the literature of those years. The heroine of the poem, a peasant girl, at the whim of her master, touched world culture and felt like a person of a different social level, but, in essence, she remained the same slave, and fate proved this very convincingly. The meaning of the author's message to descendants is that you cannot dispose of a person like a thing. He has a mind and feelings, consciousness and will, and, therefore, has the right to self-determination and personal life, which are consistent with his choice. Now this is obvious, but then only advanced thinkers understood it.

The peasant woman returns to her environment and marries a peasant without the skills for peasant labor. Without the habit of such an existence, she is doomed to death. The author unexpectedly compares two moralities: master's and peasant's. The coachman's family life was not successful, but when telling his story, he openly sympathizes with his wife, understanding the tragedy of her situation: “The gentlemen ruined her.” The true humanism of the simple Russian peasant contrasts with the rigidity of enlightenment and the pseudo-humanity of the masters. This the main idea works: kindness should be in deeds, not in words. Even a rude and drinking man feels sorry for the girl, but not for her smart, respected and sober owners. This means that they are clearly being hypocritical and deceiving themselves, because their souls are a hundred times more primitive than the nature of a village peasant.

Means of artistic expression

Since Nekrasov wrote in the genre of coachman songs, you can find many colloquialisms in his work, such as: “girl”, “woman”, “man”, “bait”, “sick” and “where”. This is how he reproduces genuine folk speech without embellishment.

For expressiveness and conveying the emotional mood, the author uses such epithets as: “dashing woman”, “daring coachman”, “tireless work”, and metaphors: “drunk hand”, “persistent boredom”.

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The Russian poet N.A. Nekrasov wrote talentedly and soulfully about the fate of serfs and the lot of Russian women. The greatness of Nekrasov lies in the fact that his poems expressed the advanced, progressive ideas of his time, in the fact that, through the tragic reality of oppressed Russia, he foresaw a better fate for his people and sang it in moving poetry.

The poet did not immediately reach the heights of creativity. In the early 1840s, Nekrasov joined the staff of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. His reviews published in the magazine were noticed by V.G. Belinsky, who subsequently met Nekrasov personally. At that time, Nekrasov’s literary activities were criticized, and Belinsky believed that Nekrasov would forever remain nothing more than a useful magazine employee. But when in 1845 Nekrasov brought his poem “On the Road” to Belinsky, he enthusiastically accepted this work and called Nekrasov a true poet. The success of the poem “On the Road” contributed to Nekrasov’s creative flourishing and his emergence as a national poet.

The poem is constructed in the form of a dialogue between a coachman and his rich rider. The leading theme of the poem “On the Road” is the forced fate of a serf woman, whose life, due to changed circumstances, has turned into sheer torment.

Compositionally, the poem is divided into three unequal parts. In the first part of the work, a rich passenger asks the coachman to relieve boredom - to sing a funny song or tell an amusing story. The second part contains the story of a coachman who responded to the request of a rich rider. The poem ends with a remark from the rider, interrupting the coachman’s story and declaring that he has entertained him enough.

Main part literary work- a coachman's story about his wife named Grusha, who, being a serf, was raised in a manor house from childhood, together with the owner's daughter. Pear received a good education, knew how to read and play musical instruments. She dressed like a real young lady. But one day her life changed dramatically, and not in better side. The landowner's daughter got married and left for St. Petersburg. The owner of the estate soon died, and his son-in-law took over the estate. The new owner did not get along with Grusha, who still lived in the master's house. Taking advantage of the fact that the girl was a serf by her position, he sent her to the village, to the peasants. Soon Grusha was married to a coachman.

With the appearance of a white-handed wife in the life of a simple man, his worries increased significantly. The wife, although she was not lazy, did not know peasant work at all. It was very difficult for her to adapt to the new reality. The coachman felt sorry for her and tried to console her by buying simple new clothes. But his participation helped Grusha little; she often cried. The coachman was sincerely worried about the fate of his son, whom Grusha raised like a young gentleman - she washed him, cut his hair and combed his hair, taught the boy to read and write. All this, according to her husband, was not worth doing at all. Complaining to the rider that his wife eats very little, the coachman expressed fears that with such a lifestyle she would not last long in this world.

The coachman's story creates a mood of hopeless despondency, hopelessness of existence, but for his rider this story is a means of entertainment. He was not at all touched by troubles and sorrows ordinary people, serfs.

The main idea of ​​the poem “On the Road” is that serfdom, as a form of enslavement of people, humiliates human dignity and gives rise to an innumerable number of personal tragedies. This is what happened in the case of Grusha. Raised in an atmosphere of freedom, she suddenly found herself a slave, someone else's property. This change in her life caused Grusha severe mental trauma, from which she was never able to recover.

A characteristic feature of the poem “On the Road” is the absence of a compositional and stylistic device, called a “remark” in literature. This technique consists in the author’s retreat from the immediate plot narrative. There are no directions in the poem “On the Road”. Another characteristic feature of the poem is that a significant part of the text - the coachman’s monologue addressed to the master, is essentially a hidden dialogue: “Hear, you,...”, “You understand, a hundred...”.

When writing this poem, Nekrasov used a three-foot anapest as a poetic meter. The choice of this poetic meter makes the poem look like a song and increases the melody of the work. At the same time, the author uses several rhyme schemes in the work - cross, adjacent and ring.

Based on the analysis of the work “On the Road”, we can conclude that in the text of the verse a song basis is visible, which is felt in the following: in the echoes of the melodies of coachman songs, in the folklore epithets “white-handed”, “white-faced”, in the dialogical nature of the folk song, in using a characteristic size.

Nekrasov actively used various means artistic expression when creating the poem “On the Road”. He used such epithets as “tireless work”, “daring coachman”, “dashing woman”, as well as metaphors “villainous wife”, “drunk hand”, “persistent boredom”. When describing the appearance of the coachman's wife, the author gives such comparisons as “pale and thin as a sliver”, “roars like a crazy woman”. The poem also contains a large number of common folk expressions, with the help of which the author conveys the driver’s direct speech: “you understand, ...", “having crashed into ...”, “bait”, “sam-at”, “hear”, “ali”, “tois” " and others. These dialects give the coachman's story authenticity and increase the realism of the work.

In the poem, I liked that the heroine of the coachman’s story, his wife Grusha, does not give up in a difficult life situation. Yes, it is very difficult for her, but she continues to read books and raises her son the way she considers right - she teaches the child to be clean, tidy and teaches the boy to read and write. This small episode in the coachman’s story shows that a Russian woman will not be broken by any tragedies in life. She will be able to fulfill her maternal duty to the end.

- "Boring! boring!.. Daring coachman,
Dispel my boredom with something!
A song or something, buddy, binge
About recruitment and separation;
What a tall tale makes you laugh
Or what did you see, tell me -
I will be grateful for everything, brother.”

I'm not happy myself, sir:
The villainous wife crushed!..
Do you hear, from a young age, sir, she
In the manor's house she was taught
Together with the young lady to various sciences,
You see, sew and knit,
Play and read on the jew's harp -
All noble manners and things.
Dressed differently from ours
In the village our sarafans,
And, roughly imagine, in an atlas;
I ate plenty of honey and porridge.
She had such an imposing appearance,
If only the lady, hear you, natural,
And it’s not like our brother is a serf,
So, I wooed her noble
(Listen, the teacher crashed into
Bait the coachman, Ivanovich Toropka), -
Yes, to know, God did not judge her happiness:
There is no need for a servant in the nobility!

The master's daughter got married,
Yes, and to St. Petersburg... And having celebrated the wedding,
Sam-at, do you hear, returned to the estate,
I fell ill on Trinity night
I gave God my master's soul,
Leaving Pear an orphan...
A month later my son-in-law arrived -
I went through the audit of the soul
And from the plowing he turned into a quitrent,
And then I got to Grusha.
Know she was rude to him
In something, or simply cramped
It seemed like living together in the house,
You see, we don’t know, -
He returned it to the village -
Know your place, little man!
The girl howled - it came cool:
Beloruchka, you see, white little one!

As luck would have it, nineteenth year
At that time it happened to me... I was imprisoned
Because of the tax, they married her...
Look how much trouble I've gotten myself into!
The view is so, you know, harsh...
No mowing, no walking after the cow!..
It’s a sin to say that you’re lazy,
Yes, you see, the matter was in good hands!
Like carrying firewood or water,
As I went to corvée - it became
Sometimes I feel sorry for Indus... so much! -
You can’t console her with a new thing:
Then the cats rubbed her leg,
So, listen, she feels awkward in a sundress.
With strangers, here and there,
And furtively roars like a crazy woman...
Her masters destroyed her,
What a dashing woman she would be!

Everyone is looking at some kind of portrait
Yes, he’s reading some book...
Inda fear, hear me, aches,
That she will destroy her son too:
Teaches literacy, washes, cuts hair,
Like a little bark, she scratches every day,
He doesn’t hit, he doesn’t let me hit...
The arrows won't be amused for long!
Hear how thin and pale the sliver is,
He walks, just by force,
He won’t eat two spoons of oatmeal a day -
Tea, we’ll end up in the grave in a month...
And why?.. God knows, I didn’t languish
I am her tireless work...
Dressed and fed, did not scold without a way,
Respected, just like that, willingly...
And, listen, I almost never hit you,
Unless under the influence of a drunken...

- “Well, that’s enough, coachman! Overclocked
You are my persistent boredom!..”

Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “On the Road”

Nikolai Nekrasov is rightfully considered an expert on the peasant soul, therefore many of his works are dedicated to representatives of the lower classes, who during the times of serfdom were equated with livestock. In those distant times, serfs were counted per soul, and the more of them there were on the estate, the richer the owner was known. However, even in Rus' there were exceptions when a peasant girl became a favorite in a manor’s house and even married a nobleman.

However, Nikolai Nekrasov never had any illusions about such misalliances, believing that they were doomed. And in this regard, he was much more concerned about the fate of the peasants, who, at the whim of the masters, first became equal to them, and later returned to the difficult life of serfdom. The poem “On the Road,” written by the poet in 1845, is dedicated to precisely this occasion.

Nikolai Nekrasov often resorted to the form of dialogue in his poetic works, believing that poems only benefit from this, becoming livelier and more understandable to the reader. "On the Road" is no exception. This work begins with the gentleman, with whom the poet identifies himself, asking the coachman to cheer him up during his next long journey with a song or interesting story. To which the coachman replies: “I’m not happy myself, master.” The reason for his sadness lies in his beautiful wife, who has had a difficult lot. From childhood, she grew up in the master's house with the owner's daughter, learning various sciences and good manners, “ate plenty of honey and porridge,” and also knew a lot about needlework and exquisite clothes. However, the master's daughter soon grew up and got married, leaving for St. Petersburg, and her father unexpectedly died.

When the owner’s son-in-law took over the estate, the first thing he did was “go through the audit of the soul,” that is, he counted all the serfs, assigning them a new rent. In addition, the young owner of the estate did not get along with Grusha, who behaved like a secular young lady, but at the same time still remained a serf peasant. She was ordered to return to the village, about which the girl had a very vague idea. After all, before that she had never worked in the field or looked after domestic animals, did not know how to cook and believed that specially hired servants should clean the house.

Grusha’s troubles did not end there, as the new master soon decided to marry her to a serf, who turned out to be a coachman. According to him, living with his wife, who had been accustomed to luxury since childhood, turned out to be very difficult, since, by peasant standards, she turned out to be a useless housewife. Although the hero of the poem notes that “it’s a sin to say that she’s lazy,” at the same time, the young housewife “doesn’t get things done in her hands.”

However, the driver is much more worried not about this, but about the very strange behavior of his wife, who “stealthily roars like crazy,” reads books and teaches his little son to read and write, and also raises him “like a little bark,” forcing him to wash, walk in clean clothes and comb his hair. At the same time, the coachman understands that his wife yearns for her past, well-fed and happy life, so she has become “as thin and pale as a sliver,” and is about to go to the grave.

The final part of the poem consists of one short phrase, into which the author put all his aggression mixed with sarcasm, noting that the coachman “dispelled persistent boredom.” However, it was replaced by an awareness of the hopelessness in which the serfs were forced to live, and a feeling of bitterness for the unknown Pear, who was unable to bear the test of luxury. She became another toy in someone’s hands, which was thrown away as unnecessary, without even thinking about what was happening at that moment in her soul.