– Of the many Russian writers in the 19th Century, there are three that stand out as having their works be representative of all other Russian literature. These three writers never met one another, yet they shared similar themes within their writing.
– The first writer is Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) whose work focused on two major themes: nature and love.
– The second writer is Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), who focused greatly on religion and social order.
– Finally, the third Russian author was Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910) whose work dealt with the issues of war and death.
Alexander Pushkin: Nature and Love Russian Literature has a long tradition of excellence in storytelling dating back to the 13th Century. It was not until the 19th Century, however, that it emerged as a literary power thanks to Alexander Pushkin’s narrative poems such as Eugene Onegin . Throughout this time period Pushkin wrote several poems about his love for Natalya Goncharova and blended these elements into larger works. His The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1821) tells the tale of a Russian soldier in captivity, while his Fountain of Bakhchisarai (1822) describes the love story between Prince Potemkin and a beautiful slave.
Pushkin’s works were not limited to love; he also wrote about nature in The Bronze Horseman (1833), which tells the tale of an impoverished clerk who is forced to build a monument to Peter the Great after he floods an entire city in order to prevent another attack on Russia. Although Pushkin’s work may seem simple when compared with other Russian authors, it was revolutionary at the time because it dealt primarily with subjects that had never been written about before.
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Religion and Social Order
Another Russian author that stands out is Fyodor Dostoevsky whose works were imbued with social commentary. His work, Crime and Punishment (1866), for example, shows how poverty can lead to crime while his The Idiot (1868) discusses the place of faith within society. Perhaps his most famous work, however, is Demons (1872) which examines the roots of Marxism in 19th Century Russia. Dostoevsky’s books were recognized by many scholars as revolutionary because they dealt with ideas that could not be ignored any longer by the Russian people . While Pushkin was known for his beautiful style of writing, Dostoevsky strove to deliver a message and impact readers by offering a perspective they may not have considered before.
Lev Tolstoy: War and Death
The final Russian author to be recognized for his writing was Lev Tolstoy whose works included such masterpieces as War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). Both of these stories focus on the idea that there is no meaning to life without love; this theme subsequently influenced Fyodor Dostoevsky who wrote about it in The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Tolstoy’s work also discussed the social order and how people behave within society, ideas found within Crime and Punishment . Finally, like Dostoevsky , he criticized organized religion without becoming too critical of those who did believe.
As a whole, Russian literature in the 19th Century was revolutionary because it defied the idea that society needed to focus on itself rather than look outwards at how it could help others . In addition, by examining social issues and offering new ideas on religion and philosophy, these authors brought about a change within Russia that had been hitherto ignored.
The early 19th Century was largely dominated by Romanticism. Many writers during this period used the form of Romanticism to express their dissatisfaction with society. One example is that of Aleksandr Pushkin, who wrote about many social issues through his poems, plays, and novels. He also created works which could be considered to be satire, such as Eugene Onegin, a novel about an antihero named Eugene Onegin who looks down on both the aristocracy and bourgeoisie.
Mikhail Lermontov also wrote in this Romantic vein about rebellion against oppression in many of his works including A Hero Of Our Time (1840), but he died fighting Russian Imperial soldiers in a duel and thus became a hero and symbol of resistance. The works after that of Lermontov’s were often much darker and more pessimistic in nature, for example those of Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
These writers appear to have been influenced by the events such as the Decembrist revolt (1825) followed by the repressive reigns of Alexander I and Nicholas I, which may account for their somber tones. For example, Dostoevsky wrote about existential themes such as morality, poverty, civil oppression, crime, prison camps and capital punishment in his novels Crime And Punishment (1866), The House Of The Dead (1862) and many others. In the latter part of the 19th century, Russian writers began to experiment with different forms of narrative.
Nikolay Leskov was an example of this. His works were often made up of a collection of stories linked together by common characters or themes, yet he did not follow traditional linear storytelling, but instead included stories which took place at different times and in varying locations. He also used a lot of folkloric elements in his work because he felt that they suited the style that would best depict the lives and feelings of ordinary people.
The style used by Anton Chekhov differed from that employed by other authors such as Dostoevsky who wrote about existential themes such as morality, poverty, civil oppression, crime, prison camps and capital punishment. Chekhov is known as a “realist” writer with a style which represented ordinary life in his time. His writing was very observational with a comedic touch to it which made fun of various social issues such as the distance from country life to the city, with all its attractions and distractions.
He wrote plays, short stories and novels alike with themes that were described as being tragicomic. The most well-known writers of Russian fiction include the novelist Leo Tolstoy who is best known for his epic War And Peace (1869) published after Anna Karenina (1877). Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy remains one of Russia’s greatest novelists whose books are read by millions worldwide. He was a moral philosopher and his works often dealt with ethical and philosophical issues such as redemption and the redemptive value of love.
