Herzen's book begins with the stories of his nanny about the ordeals of the Herzen family in Moscow in 1812, occupied by the French (A.I. himself was then a small child); ends with European impressions 1865 - 1868. Actually, “The Past and Thoughts” cannot be called memoirs in the exact sense of the word: we find a consistent narrative, it seems, only in the first five parts out of eight (before moving to London in 1852); further - a series of essays, journalistic articles, arranged, however, in chronological order. Some chapters of “Past and Thoughts” were originally published as independent items (“Western Arabesques”, “Robert Owen”). Herzen himself compared “The Past and Thoughts” with a house that is constantly being completed: with “a set of extensions, superstructures, outbuildings.”
Part one - “Children's room and university (1812 - 1834)” - describes mainly life in the house of his father - an intelligent hypochondriac, who seems to his son (like his uncle, like his father’s youth friends - for example, O. A. Zherebtsov) a typical product XVIII century
The events of December 14, 1825 had an extraordinary impact on the boy's imagination. In 1827, Herzen met his distant relative N. Ogarev, a future poet, very beloved by Russian readers in the 1840s - 1860s; with him, Herzen would later run a Russian printing house in London. Both boys love Schiller very much; among other things, this quickly brings them together; the boys look at their friendship as an alliance of political conspirators, and one evening on the Sparrow Hills, “hugging each other, they swore an oath, in sight of all Moscow, to sacrifice their lives for their chosen struggle.” Herzen continued to preach his radical political views even as an adult - a student in the physics and mathematics department of Moscow University.
Part two - “Prison and exile” (1834 - 1838)”: in a fabricated case of insulting His Majesty, Herzen, Ogarev and others from their university circle were arrested and exiled; Herzen in Vyatka serves in the office of the provincial government, responsible for the statistical department; in the corresponding chapters of “Past and Thoughts” a whole collection of sad anecdotal cases from the history of government of the province is collected.
It also very expressively describes A.L. Vitberg, whom Herzen met in exile, and his talented and fantastic project for a temple in memory of 1812 on the Sparrow Hills.
In 1838, Herzen was transferred to Vladimir.
Part three - “Vladimir-on-Klyazma” (1838 - 1839)” - a romantic love story between Herzen and Natalya Aleksandrovna Zakharyina, the illegitimate daughter of Uncle Herzen, who was raised by a half-mad and evil aunt. Relatives do not consent to their marriage; in 1838 Herzen arrived in Moscow, where he was prohibited from entering, took his bride away and got married in secret.
Part four - “Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novgorod” (1840 - 1847)” describes the Moscow intellectual atmosphere of the era. Herzen and Ogarev, who returned from exile, became close to the young Hegelians - the Stankevich circle (primarily Belinsky and Bakunin). In the chapter “Not ours” (about Khomyakov, Kireevsky, K.
The book is divided into several parts, chronologically covering the author's life.
The first part relates to childhood and student youth. The author spends his childhood with his father and grows up in his house. In 1827, Herzen met N. Ogarev, with whom years later he opened his own printing house in London. Gradually, Herzen formed political views that were radical in nature.
He also finds the answer to them in Ogarev. Having matured, they take an oath on Sparrow Hills, promising to sacrifice their lives for the path they have chosen. Later
Herzen enters the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at one of the Moscow universities.
The next part tells about several weeks of imprisonment and exile in Vyatka, which occurred in 1834–1838. Herzen is arrested right at his home and, after a sleepless night in the office, is sent to prison. There, Herzen especially suffers from the inability to read, but soon the conditions of his detention are slightly relaxed and he is allowed to read Italian grammar. Two weeks later, Herzen was sent to the Krutitsky monastery, converted into gendarmerie barracks. He spent several months there before his trial.
Accusations
Herzen did not know, as well as the content of his sentence after the trial. Some said that they were being exiled to the Caucasus, others suggested that they were being sent to Bobruisk. After the trial, Herzen was exiled to Vyatka, where he worked in the office, and was given the leadership of the stylistic department. The reason for this exile is a case where he is accused of insulting the Emperor himself. While in exile, he meets Vitberg, and then he is sent to Vladimir.
“Vladimir-on-Klyazma” - Part 3 of the autobiography tells about the meeting of Herzen and Natalya Alexandrovna. After the death of her father, Natasha, while still a child, was taken in by her aunt, the princess. She is described as a tyrannical and evil woman. All her life Natalya secretly loved Alexander. Their correspondence lasted for a long time, but when the princess found out about this, she was determined to marry Natalya. Herzen could not allow his beloved to marry someone else and secretly left Vladimir for Moscow, where he arranged Natalya’s escape and they were secretly married by a priest.
“Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novgorod” is the fourth part of the autobiography. Herzen and Ogarev return, leave Klyazma and return to Moscow. Their link is over. They begin to get closer to Stankevich’s circle, although, as Herzen writes, before there was no sympathy between them, since they did not completely accept each other’s views.
Later, Herzen goes to St. Petersburg at the invitation of his father. However, after a short time they try to accuse Herzen of “contributing to the spread of harmful rumors” and again want to exile him to Vyatka. His frightened and nervous wife gives birth and loses the child.
Herzen and his family are nevertheless exiled to Novgorod, where he receives the position of adviser in the provincial government.
After some time, Herzen leaves Russia and begins a journey through Europe, where he meets many figures whom he talks about in his essays and stories.
"Paris - Italy - Paris" (1847–1852). Herzen arrives in Europe and describes his first days in France, writes about Rome, talking about the ongoing revolutionary movements and attractions, and about his escape to Switzerland. From this part, the presentation loses its consistency and turns into full-fledged articles and essays.
In Paris, Herzen meets Proudhon, a French politician, and describes his impressions of the meeting. They often have disputes and differences of opinion, but Herzen is surprised by his gentleness in personal communication. However, he does not like the way Proudhon treats women and some of his views on life and political structure.
After the June uprising in Paris in 1848, Herzen's little daughter fell ill. These events have a strong effect on Herzen's wife and she begins correspondence with Gerwerg, a German poet and good friend of Alexander. Their romance becomes a threat to the marriage and Herzen even offers to divorce, but Natalya Alexandrovna still loves her husband, so she explains to him and they leave. Gerwerg publishes personal correspondence with Natalya Alexandrovna and threatens the Herzens with violence and suicide.
In 1851, during a shipwreck, Herzen lost his mother and son. This finally affects Natalya Alexandrovna and she dies during the next birth.
Herzen can no longer bear the longing for his dead wife and therefore leaves for England. He sues Gerwerg and a long struggle begins in their relationship, but Herzen finds distraction only when he begins to work on his autobiography “The Past and Thoughts” and opens his own printing house.
Thus, the sixth part, “England,” tells the story of Herzen’s lonely life in London and the emigrants who at that time filled England. It begins with a description of her own feelings and suffering after the blows that followed one after another. Now, more than ever before, he wants the company of a friend, but he understands that he has no one to go to and there is no need to go. Only his son Sasha remains next to him, and the rest of the children are in Paris.
Herzen writes about emigrations of different nationalities and describes certain traits of their characters. For example, he believes that German emigrants are turning into full-blown Englishmen, and the French take a very long time to get used to the local way of life; I cannot forgive the English for the fact that they do not speak French and eat for lunch - not many small portions of various dishes, but swallow two pieces of meat. In the chapter “two processes” the author especially vividly describes the problems of emigrants and the clash with foreign laws. Herzen also talks about the government, which conducts its intrigues, about the people, how nations collide and how this manifests itself.
The seventh part (1858–1862) is dedicated to the Russian emigration of Herzen himself. He writes how one day his morning began with a visit from a Russian colonel. He considered it his duty to express gratitude to Herzen for his publications and articles, which are popular and read in Russia. Herzen also says that there were many more such visits after.
At the same time, Granovsky dies.
In the spring of 1856, Ogarev arrived and a year later they published the first sheet of “The Bell”. This magazine found a huge response in Russia, but also a huge amount of criticism. Herzen receives many letters in which he is praised or, on the contrary, they say that the topics of his articles are too bold and are not suitable for Russia.
Herzen is also visited by Prince Golitsyn, who secretly left Russia.
The final eighth part has no title or general theme and covers three years of the writer’s life (1865–1868). It includes Herzen's impressions of European countries and old letters from Polevoy, Belinsoy, Granovsky, Chaadaev, Proudhon and Carlyle. Most of it consists of letters that Herzen sent to his friends. Their everyday life helps to see the author better, and makes the autobiography look like a book of memories.
Herzen's book begins with the stories of his nanny about the ordeals of the Herzen family in Moscow in 1812, occupied by the French (A.I. himself was then a small child); ends with European impressions 1865 - 1868. Actually, “The Past and Thoughts” cannot be called memoirs in the exact sense of the word: we find a consistent narrative, it seems, only in the first five parts out of eight (before moving to London in 1852); further - a series of essays, journalistic articles, arranged, however, in chronological order. Some chapters of Past and Thought were originally published as independent works (“Western Arabesques”, “Robert Owen”). Herzen himself compared “The Past and Thoughts” with a house that is constantly being completed: with “a set of extensions, superstructures, outbuildings.”
Part one- “Children’s room and university (1812 - 1834)” - describes mainly life in the house of his father - an intelligent hypochondriac, who seems to his son (like his uncle, like his father’s youth friends - for example, O. A. Zherebtsov) a typical product of the 18th century .
The events of December 14, 1825 had an extraordinary impact on the boy's imagination. In 1827, Herzen met his distant relative N. Ogarev, a future poet, very beloved by Russian readers in the 1840s - 1860s; with him, Herzen would later run a Russian printing house in London. Both boys love Schiller very much; among other things, this quickly brings them together; the boys look at their friendship as an alliance of political conspirators, and one evening on Vorobyovy Gory, “hugging each other, they swore an oath, in view of all Moscow, to sacrifice their lives for their chosen struggle.” Herzen continued to preach his radical political views even as an adult - a student in the physics and mathematics department of Moscow University.
Part two- “Prison and exile” (1834 - 1838) “: on a trumped-up case of insulting His Majesty, Herzen, Ogarev and others from their university circle were arrested and exiled; Herzen in Vyatka serves in the office of the provincial government, responsible for the statistical department; in the corresponding chapters of “Past and Thoughts” a whole collection of sad anecdotal cases from the history of government of the province is collected.
It also very expressively describes A.L. Vitberg, whom Herzen met in exile, and his talented and fantastic project for a temple in memory of 1812 on the Sparrow Hills.
In 1838, Herzen was transferred to Vladimir.
Part three- “Vladimir-on-Klyazma” (1838 - 1839) “is a romantic love story between Herzen and Natalya Aleksandrovna Zakharyina, the illegitimate daughter of Uncle Herzen, who was raised by a half-crazed and evil aunt. Relatives do not consent to their marriage; in 1838 Herzen comes to Moscow, where he is prohibited from entering, takes his bride away and gets married secretly.
In part four- “Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novgorod” (1840 - 1847) “describes the Moscow intellectual atmosphere of the era. Herzen and Ogarev, who returned from exile, became close to the young Hegelians - the Stankevich circle (primarily Belinsky and Bakunin). In the chapter “Not Ours” (about Khomyakov, Kireevsky, K. Aksakov, Chaadaev), Herzen speaks first of all about what brought Westerners and Slavophiles together in the 40s. (followed by explanations of why Slavophilism cannot be confused with official nationalism, and discussions about the Russian community and socialism).
In 1846, for ideological reasons, Ogarev and Herzen moved away from many, primarily from Granovsky (a personal quarrel between Granovsky and Herzen due to the fact that one believed and the other did not believe in the immortality of the soul is a very characteristic feature of the era) ; After this, Herzen decides to leave Russia.
Part five(“Paris - Italy - Paris (1847 - 1852): Before the revolution and after it”) tells about the first years spent by Herzen in Europe: about the first day of the Russian, who finally found himself in Paris, the city where much of what he at home I read with such greed: “So, I’m really in Paris, not in a dream, but in reality: after all, this is the Vendôme Column and rue de la Paix”; about the national liberation movement in Rome, about “Young Italy”, about the February revolution of 1848 in France (all this is described quite briefly: Herzen refers the reader to his “Letters from France and Italy”), about emigration in Paris - mainly Polish , with its mystical messianic, Catholic pathos (by the way, about Mickiewicz), about the June Days, about his flight to Switzerland, and so on.
Already in the fifth part, the sequential presentation of events is interrupted by independent essays and articles. In the interlude “Western Arabesques,” Herzen - clearly impressed by the regime of Napoleon III - speaks with despair about the death of Western civilization, so dear to every Russian socialist or liberal. Europe is being destroyed by the philistinism that has taken over everything with its cult of material well-being: the soul is declining. (This theme becomes the leitmotif of “Past and Thoughts”: see, for example: chapter “John Stuart Mill and his book “On Liberty” in the sixth part.) Herzen sees the only way out in the idea of a social state.
In the chapters about Proudhon, Herzen writes about the impressions of his acquaintance (Proudhon’s unexpected gentleness in personal communication) and about his book “On Justice in the Church and in the Revolution.” Herzen does not agree with Proudhon, who sacrifices the human personality to the “inhuman god” of a just state; Herzen constantly argues with such models of a social state - among the ideologists of the 1891 revolution like Ba-boeuf or among the Russian sixties, bringing such revolutionaries closer to Arakcheev (see, for example, chapter “Robert Owen” in part six).
Particularly unacceptable for Herzen is Proudhon's attitude towards women - the possessive attitude of the French peasant; Proudhon judges such complex and painful things as betrayal and jealousy too primitively. It is clear from Herzen’s tone that this topic is close and painful to him.
The fifth part concludes with the dramatic history of the Herzen family in the last years of Natalya Alexandrovna’s life: this part of “Past and Thoughts” was published many years after the death of the persons described in it.
The events of June 1848 in Paris (the bloody defeat of the uprising and the accession of Napoleon III), and then the serious illness of her little daughter had a fatal effect on the impressionable Natalya Alexandrovna, who was generally prone to bouts of depression. Her nerves are tense, and she, as can be understood from Herzen’s restrained story, enters into too close a relationship with Herwegh (the famous German poet and socialist, Herzen’s closest friend at that time), touched by complaints about the loneliness of his misunderstood soul. Natalya Alexandrovna continues to love her husband, the current state of affairs torments her, and she, finally realizing the need for a choice, explains to her husband; Herzen expresses her readiness to divorce if that is her will; but Natalya Alexandrovna remains with her husband and breaks up with Herweg. (Here Herzen paints in satirical colors the family life of Herwegh, his wife Emma - the daughter of a banker, who was married for her money, an enthusiastic German woman who obsessively takes care of her husband, who is brilliant, in her opinion. Emma allegedly demanded that Herzen sacrifice his family happiness for the sake of Herwegh's peace of mind.)
After reconciliation, the Herzens spend several happy months in Italy. In 1851, Herzen’s mother and little son Kolya died in a shipwreck. Meanwhile, Herwegh, not wanting to come to terms with his defeat, pursues the Herzens with complaints, threatens to kill them or commit suicide, and finally notifies mutual acquaintances about what happened. Friends stand up for Herzen; Unpleasant scenes follow with the recollection of old monetary debts, assault, publications in periodicals, and so on. Natalya Alexandrovna cannot bear all this and dies in 1852 after another birth (apparently from consumption).
The fifth part ends with the section “Russian Shadows” - essays about Russian emigrants with whom Herzen communicated a lot then. N.I. Sazonov, Herzen’s friend at the university, wandered a lot and somewhat senselessly around Europe, was carried away by political projects to the point that he didn’t think much of Belinsky’s “literary” activities, for example, for Herzen this Sazonov is the type of Russian person of that time, in vain ruined the “abyss of forces” not claimed by Russia. And here, remembering his peers, Herzen, in the face of the arrogant new generation - the “sixties” - “demands recognition and justice” for these people who “sacrificed everything that traditional life offered them, because of their convictions. Such people cannot simply be handed over to the archive..." A.V. Engelson for Herzen is a man of the generation of Petrashevites with his characteristic “painful breakdown”, “immense pride”, which developed under the influence of “trashy and petty” people who then made up the majority, with “a passion for introspection, self-research, self-accusation” - and moreover, with deplorable sterility and inability to work hard, irritability and even cruelty.
Part six. After the death of his wife, Herzen moved to England: after Herwegh made Herzen’s family drama public, Herzen needed the arbitration court of European democracy to sort out his relationship with Herwegh and recognize Herzen as right. But Herzen found peace not in such a “trial” (it never happened), but in work: he “set to work on Past and Thoughts and on the organization of the Russian printing house.”
The author writes about the beneficial loneliness in his London life at that time (“wandering alone through London, along its stone clearings, sometimes not seeing a single step ahead from the continuous opal fog and jostling with some running shadows, I lived a lot”); it was loneliness among the crowd: England, proud of its “right of asylum,” was then filled with emigrants; Part six (“England (1852 - 1864)”) mainly talks about them.
From the leaders of the European socialist and national liberation movement, with whom Herzen was familiar, some were close (chapter “Mountain Peaks” - about Mazzini, Ledru-Rollin, Kossuth, etc.; chapter “Camicia rossa” about how England hosted Garibaldi - about the national delight and intrigues of the government, which did not want to quarrel with France) - to spies, criminals begging for benefits under the guise of political exiles (chapter “London Freemen of the Fifties”). Convinced of the existence of a national character, Herzen devotes separate essays to the emigration of different nationalities (“Polish immigrants”, “Germans in emigration” (here see, in particular, the description of Marx and the “Marxids” - the “sulfur gang”; Herzen considered them very dishonest people capable of doing anything to destroy a political rival; Marx paid Herzen in kind). Two processes").
Part seven is dedicated to Russian emigration itself (see, for example, separate essays about M. Bakunin and V. Pecherin), the history of free Russian printing and the “Bell” (1858 - 1862). The author begins by describing an unexpected visit to him by some colonel, a man, apparently, ignorant and completely illiberal, but who considered it his duty to appear before Herzen as his superior: “I immediately felt like a general.” First chapter - “Apogee and Perigee”: the enormous popularity and influence of “The Bell” in Russia comes after the famous Moscow fires and especially after Herzen dared to support the Poles in print during their uprising in 1862.
Part Eight(1865 - 1868) has no title and no general theme (it’s not for nothing that its first chapter is “Without Communication”); This describes the impressions made on the author in the late 60s. different countries of Europe, and Herzen still sees Europe as the kingdom of the dead (see the chapter on Venice and the “prophets” - “Daniels”, denouncing imperial France, by the way, about P. Leroux); It is not for nothing that an entire chapter - “From the Other World” - is dedicated to old people, once successful and famous people. Switzerland seems to Herzen to be the only place in Europe where one can still live.
“The Past and Thoughts” concludes with “Old Letters” (texts of letters to Herzen from N. Polevoy, Belinsky, Granovsky, Chaadaev, Proudhon, Carlyle). In the preface to them, Herzen contrasts letters with a “book”: in letters the past “does not press with all its might, as it does in a book. The random content of the letters, their easy ease, their everyday concerns bring us closer to the writer.” So understood, the letters are similar to the entire book of Herzen’s memoirs, where, along with judgments about European civilization, he tried to preserve the very “random” and “everyday”. As stated in Chapter XXIV. the fifth part, “What, in general, are letters, if not notes about a short time?”
Retold
Alexander Ivanovich’s book “The Past and Thoughts,” a brief summary of which we will consider, was published in 1868. It begins with the stories of the author's nanny about how Herzen's family wandered around Moscow, occupied by the French in 1812. Alexander Ivanovich himself was then still a little boy. The work ends with the events of 1865-1868, Herzen’s impressions of his trip to Europe.
Actually, one cannot call “the past and thoughts” memories in the full sense of the word. The summary of the work does not give a complete idea of the structure of the narrative, so we first note that only in the first five parts (there are 8 in total) we find a sequential presentation of events. Further, after the author moved to London in 1852, there follows a series of journalistic articles and essays, although arranged in chronological order. It must be said that some chapters of the work were first published as independent works (Robert Owen, Western Arabesques). Herzen compared his creation to a house that is constantly being completed, with a collection of outbuildings, superstructures and outbuildings.
First part
“The nursery and the university” is the name of the first part of the work “The Past and Thoughts”. Its summary is as follows. It tells about the time from 1812 to 1834. The first part of the work mainly describes Herzen’s life in his father’s house. He was a smart hypochondriac. He seems to his son (as, indeed, both his uncle and his father’s youth friends) as a typical product of the 18th century.
The events that occurred on December 14, 1825 had a great impact on the child’s imagination. In 1827, Herzen met N. Ogarev, his distant relative. This is the future poet, with whom Herzen will later run the Russian printing house in London. Both boys are interested in Schiller. They look at their friendship as an alliance of two political conspirators. One day on Sparrow Hills they swear to sacrifice their lives for freedom.
Herzen continues to preach radical views on politics even as he grows up, when he becomes a student at Moscow University (department of physics and mathematics).
Let us note that the author of the work “The Past and Thoughts” also talks about events after death. The summary (Part 1, Chapter 3) cannot go into detail on this. However, we note that, as the author writes, political persecution during the reign of Alexander was rare. However, Nicholas, who replaced him, was hated for his petty pedantry, cold cruelty, and rancor. Arrests began. The wives of those who were sent to hard labor were deprived of their civil rights. They had to give up all their acquired wealth and go to Eastern Siberia, under the supervision of the local police. All this is noted by Herzen in his work “The Past and Thoughts.” The summary (part 1, chapter 3 was just presented) continues with the events of the second part.
Second part
It is called "Prison and Exile" and describes the years from 1834 to 1838. Ogarev (his photo is presented below), Herzen and other members of the university circle are accused of lèse his majesty. They are arrested and exiled on a fabricated case.
Life in prison is described in detail by the author of the work “The Past and Thoughts.” The summary (Chapter 3 of this part gives an idea of prison life) continues with the fact that Herzen serves in Vyatka, in the office of the local provincial government. He is in charge of the statistical department. The chapters of the work contain many sad anecdotal cases on the topic of governing the province. In the same part, A.L. Vitberg is described. Herzen met him in exile. Herzen was transferred to Vladimir in 1838. In this city, further events of the work to which this summary is devoted take place. “The Past and Thoughts,” part 1 and part 2 of which we have already described, continues with the events of 1838-39. At this time, Herzen met his beloved. The next part is devoted to the development of relations with her.
The third part
“Vladimir-on-Klyazma” is the name of the third part of the work “The Past and Thoughts”. Its summary introduces us to the author's love story with Zakharyina Natalya Alexandrovna, who was the illegitimate daughter of his uncle and was brought up by an evil and half-insane aunt. But Herzen introduces us not only to her. For example, the chapter “In Moscow without me” in the work “The Past and Thoughts” (Chapter 4) refers to the events of 1834. We will not give a brief summary of it, since this time has already been described in the second part. Let's move on to the description of the author's relationship with Natalya Alexandrovna Zakharyina.
The lovers from the work “The Past and Thoughts” do not receive consent for marriage from relatives. The summary (Chapter 3 of this part is called “Separation”) ends with the departure from Vyatka. Herzen (his portrait is presented above) came to Moscow in 1838, although he was prohibited from entering there. He takes his bride away and marries her secretly. This concludes the third part of Herzen (“The Past and Thoughts”). A summary of further events next is presented below.
Fourth part
The period from 1840 to 1847 is described in the part “Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novgorod”. It tells about the intellectual atmosphere of Moscow at that time. Ogarev and Herzen, who returned from exile, became close to the Hegelians - Stankevich’s circle. Bakunin and Belinsky become their friends. Herzen, in the chapter “Not Ours” (about Chaadaev, K. Aksakov, Kireevsky, Khomyakov) talks about what brought them together in the 40s. Further, he explains why Slavophilism should not be confused with official nationalism. Herzen also talks about socialism and the Russian community.
For ideological reasons, in 1846 Herzen and Ogarev moved away from many, primarily from Granovsky. A personal quarrel occurs between the author and Granovsky due to the fact that one did not recognize, and the other recognized, the immortality of the soul. After this, Herzen decides to leave the country. “The Past and Thoughts,” the summary of which we describe, is a large work. Therefore, we can talk about it only in general terms.
Fifth part
It describes the years from 1847 to 1852. The author talks about the first years he spent in Europe. Herzen talks about the first day in the French capital, about his impressions of Paris. He talks about “Young Italy”, the Roman national liberation movement, the revolution in France in February 1848, etc.
Describing the brief content of the story “The Past and Thoughts,” we note that the sequential presentation of events already in this part is interrupted by articles and essays by Herzen. The author speaks in an interlude entitled “Western Arabesques” about the death of Western civilization, so dear to the Russian liberal or socialist. Europe is being destroyed by the philistinism, which has taken possession of everything and has a cult of material well-being. This theme can be called the leitmotif of the entire work. Herzen sees the only way out in building a social state.
The author, in the chapters dedicated to Proudhon, talks about the impressions of meeting him and notes the unexpected gentleness of this man in communication. He also talks about Proudhon’s book “On Justice in the Church and in the Revolution.” Herzen cannot agree with the author of this work, because he sacrifices the human personality to a just state. Herzen constantly argues with such models of the state, bringing such revolutionaries closer to Arakcheev (for example, in the sixth part, in the chapter “Robert Owen”).
Herzen also does not like Proudhon’s possessive attitude towards women. He believes that the author of the book judges such painful and complex things as jealousy and betrayal too primitively.
Drama in the life of Herzen
The fifth part ends with the history of the Herzen family, the last years of Natalya Alexandrovna’s life. The accession of Napoleon III, and then the serious illness of her daughter, greatly affected this woman, who was prone to depression. She enters into a close relationship with the famous German socialist and poet Herwegh. This man was Herzen's closest friend at that time. The woman was touched by Herweg’s complaints about loneliness, about the fact that no one understands him. Natalya continues to love her husband. She is tormented by the current situation and, finally understanding the need for a choice, the woman explains to Herzen. He is ready to get a divorce if Natalya Alexandrovna wants it. However, she breaks up with Herweg and remains with her husband.
After the reconciliation, the Herzens spend some time in Italy. The author's mother, as well as his little son Kolya, died in a shipwreck in 1851. Herwegh does not want to accept defeat. He pursues the family with complaints, threatens to kill the Herzens or commit suicide. In the end, he notifies mutual friends about what happened. Friends stand up for Herzen. Then there are unpleasant scenes with assault, recalling old debts, and publications in periodicals. Natalya Alexandrovna is unable to bear all this. After another birth, probably from consumption, she died in 1852.
The fifth part ends with essays about Russian emigrants, presented in the section “Russian Shadows”. Herzen communicated a lot with them at that time. His university friend N.I. Sazonov, who wandered around Europe, is the type of Russian person who wasted in vain the “abyss of strength” that was not in demand in his native country. Remembering his peers, the author here demands “justice” and “recognition” for these people who, because of their beliefs, sacrificed everything that traditional life could offer them. For Herzen, A. V. Engelson is a representative of the generation of Petrashevites with a “painful breakdown” characteristic of him, “immense pride”, which developed in him under the influence of “petty” and “trashy” people who made up the majority at that time.
Sixth part
It is called "England" and describes the years from 1852 to 1864. After the death of his wife, Herzen moved to England. Herwegh made his family drama public, and the author needed the court of European democracy to recognize that he was right. However, Herzen found peace not in this court, but in his work. He began writing “The Past and Thoughts”, and also began setting up a Russian printing house.
Herzen (his portrait is presented above) notes that the loneliness of London life had a beneficial effect on him. England at that time was filled with emigrants, who are mainly discussed in the sixth part. It was a motley audience: from the leaders of the national liberation and socialist movements of Europe, with whom the author was familiar, to spies and criminals who, under the guise of political exiles, beg for benefits.
Herzen, convinced that there is, devotes some essays to the emigration of various nationalities ("Germans in Emigration", "Polish Immigrants", etc.). The chapter "Germans in Emigration", in particular, gives an assessment of Marx and his supporters - the "brimstone gang". The author considers these people dishonest, ready to do anything to destroy their political rivals. Herzen is curious to observe how national characters manifest themselves in clashes with each other. For example, the chapter “Two Trials” gives a humorous description of the consideration of the case of French duelists in an English court.
Seventh part
This part of the work is dedicated to Russian emigration. In particular, individual essays are presented about V. Pecherin and M. Bakunin, about the history of the Bell and the free Russian printing house. The author begins by describing how he received an unexpected visit from a colonel. Apparently, he was an ignorant man and not at all liberal. However, he considered it his duty to come to Herzen as his superior. The first chapter, "Apogee and Perigee", describes the enormous influence and popularity of the Bell in Russia following the Moscow fires. It is also said that the author decided to support the Poles in print in 1862, during their uprising.
Eighth part
The summary of the work “The Past and Thoughts” moves on to the description of the 8th part. It represents the period from 1865 to 1868. It has no title and no general theme. It is no coincidence that the first chapter of this part is called “Without Communication.” Herzen describes the impressions that various European countries made on him in the late 60s. At the same time, the author still sees Europe as the kingdom of the dead. He speaks about this, in particular, in the chapter on Venice and the “prophets” denouncing imperial France. The chapter “From the Other World” of the 6th part is dedicated to old people who were once famous and successful people. Herzen believes that the only place in all of Europe suitable for living is Switzerland.
"Old Letters"
“Old Letters” completes the work “The Past and Thoughts,” a chapter-by-chapter summary of which is described in this article. These are the texts of letters to the author from Belinsky, N. Polevoy, Chaadaev, Granovsky, Carlyle, Proudhon. Herzen, in the preface to them, contrasts them with the book. The past in letters does not oppress with all its force, which cannot be said about the book. Their easy ease, their random content, and the everyday concerns of letters bring us closer to the authors.
Of course, it is impossible to describe in detail the work “Past and Thoughts” within the framework of one article. A very brief summary is only suitable for the first acquaintance with it. This work is worth studying as it gives a clear picture of the era. “The Past and Thoughts,” the summary of chapter 1 of which begins in 1812, and the memoirs end in 1868, covers a time rich in historical events.
This book begins with the memories of Herzen's nanny about the family's ordeals in 1812, when the French were in Moscow. The end occurs in 1865-1868. it describes impressions of Europe. We can say that memories are found only in the first five parts, the rest are essays and stories, some of them were conceived as independent works.
The first part describes moments of life in my father's house. There Herzen met his distant relative N. Ogarev, who later became his comrade-in-arms and like-minded person. They ran a Russian printing house together in London. In the second part, the reader is told about the exile in a fabricated case of lese majeste. Herzen meets A.L. Vitberg, who designs the temple on Sparrow Hills. The third part is the love story of Herzen and Natalya Alexandrovna, the illegitimate daughter of Uncle Herzen. The family is against this marriage, but they leave for Moscow, where they get married secretly. The fourth part is devoted to the intellectual atmosphere of Moscow society. Upon returning from exile, Herzen and his comrade-in-arms Ogarev became close to Stankevich’s circle. The year 1846 was marked by disagreements between Granovsky and Herzen. They did not share each other's views on the immortality of souls. One believed in him, the other did not. Herzen leaves Russia. The first years in Europe are described in the fifth part. Herzen talks about the national liberation movement in Rome, about the revolution in France in February 1848, about Polish emigrants in Paris, and about his flight to Switzerland. The sequence of events is interrupted by essays and stories by the author
Impressed by the regime of Napoleon III, Herzen talks about the death of Western civilization. The philistinism that destroyed Europe extols the cult of material wealth. The soul is lost in this. The creation of a social state can be a salvation. This becomes the main thread running through the author’s entire work. Herzen writes about Proudhon and his book “On Justice in the Church and in the Revolution.” He denies Proudhon's idea of sacrificing a person for a just state. Proudhon, as well as other ideologists like Bas-beuf, cause disagreement with Herzen. Herzen's angry condemnation of Proudhon's possessive attitude towards women causes obvious dissatisfaction, especially with the themes of jealousy and betrayal. Therefore, it becomes clear that this topic is close to Herzen. At the end of the fifth part is the story of the last years of Natalya Alexandrovna’s life. It was published many years after the death of its heroes.
In the sixth part, Herzen talks about moving to England and the trial with Herwegh, who made the family tragedy public. He describes his loneliness and life at that time. The seventh part is dedicated to Russian emigrants and the history of Russian printing. The eighth part is called “Without Connection” because it has no general theme. The work ends with the texts of letters written by Belinsky, Granovsky, Proudhon and others to Herzen. He contrasts the book with letters, believing that their content and concerns bring the reader closer to the author of the letters.
