Mother - first word,
The main word in every destiny.
Mom gave life
She gave the world to you and me.
Song from the film “Mama”
There is probably not a single country where Mother's Day is not celebrated.
In Russia, Mother's Day began to be celebrated relatively recently - since 1998.
Among the many holidays celebrated in our country, Mother's Day occupies a special place. This is a holiday to which no one can remain indifferent. On this day I would like to say words of gratitude to all Mothers who give their children love, kindness, tenderness and affection.
Every minute a miracle happens on the planet. This is a miracle - the birth of a child, the birth of a new person. When a little man is born, then, of course, he does not understand anything and knows practically nothing. Why practically? Yes, because the baby knows for sure that his mother must be somewhere nearby - the dearest and close person. Yes, yes, mother and child are inextricably linked with each other and this connection begins in the womb. "Mom" is the most holy word in the world. Love for a mother is inherent in nature itself. This feeling lives in a person until the end of his days. How can you not love your mother if you owe your birth to her? The place of a mother is always special, exceptional in our lives. The most important shrines of our life are named after our mother.
Throughout the history of mankind, the image has been glorified Mother of God. Artists and sculptors, poets and composers dedicate their creations to the Mother of God. The image of the mother has been so ancient and organically inherent in Russian literature that it seems possible to consider it as a special literary phenomenon that has deep roots and occupies an important place in both classical and modern literature. Taking its source from the very birth of Russian literature, the image of the mother consistently passes through all stages of its development, but even in the literature of the 20th century it retains its main features that were characteristic of it from the beginning. The Russian image of the mother is a national cultural symbol that has not lost its high meaning from ancient times to the present day. It is no coincidence that when speaking about the national Russian cosmos, Russian consciousness, the Russian model of the world, philosophers and cultural scientists spoke, first of all, about the “maternal” in the foundation of Russian. Mother Earth, Mother Russia, the Mother of God are the most important and highest aspects of this maternal. The image of the mother, already in oral folk art, acquired the captivating features of a keeper of the hearth, a hard-working and faithful wife, a protector of her own children and an invariable caretaker for all the disadvantaged, insulted and offended. These defining qualities of the maternal soul are reflected and sung in Russian folk tales and folk songs.
It is this holiday in Central City Library The exhibition is dedicated to The image of the mother in Russian literature."
The following books are presented at the exhibition: 
** Collection of poems “Mother”- a kind of anthology of Russian and Soviet poetry, dedicated to a topic dear and close to every person - the theme of the mother. The collection includes the best works of poets created over almost three centuries.
** Collection “Mom”, which contains works dedicated to the mother. You will feel the reverent love and boundless gratitude that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had for his mother; You will find out what a tender and courageous mother Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya was. The lines of Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky, Nikolai Nekrasov, the heartfelt words of Alexander Fadeev and Alexander Tvardovsky help us better understand and appreciate our mothers.
** Collection of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, in which the image of a woman - mother is clearly presented in many of his works: “The village suffering is in full swing”, “Orina, the soldier’s mother”, “Hearing the horrors of war”, the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”.
** Collection of the great Russian poet S. A. Yesenin, who created surprisingly sincere poems about his peasant mother.
** Poem "Requiem" by A.A. Akhmatova.
** Vasily Grossman's novel “Life and Fate”
** “Mother of Man” by Vitaly Zakrutkin- a heroic poem about the unparalleled courage, perseverance and humanity of a Russian woman - a mother.
At the exhibition, readers will be able to get acquainted with other works of Russian and Soviet writers and poets.
The exhibition is on display in the Central City Hospital's subscription hall until the end of November 2014.
Lesson objectives:
- trace how Russian literature, true to its humanistic traditions, depicts the image of a woman-mother
- to instill in students a respectful attitude towards women and mothers
- to educate a patriot and citizen aimed at improving the society in which he lives
- develop the spiritual and moral world of students, their national identity
During the classes
I. Teacher's opening speech
Russian literature is great and diverse. Its civil and social resonance and significance are undeniable. You can draw from this great sea constantly - and it will not become shallow forever. It is no coincidence that we publish books about camaraderie and friendship, love and nature, soldier’s courage and the Motherland... And any of these themes has received its full and worthy embodiment in the deep and original works of domestic masters.
But there is another holy page in our literature, dear and close to any unhardened heart - these are the works about mother.
We look with respect and gratitude at a man who reverently pronounces the name of his mother until his gray hair and respectfully protects her old age; and we will execute with contempt the one who, in her bitter old age, turned away from her, refused her a good memory, a piece of food or shelter.
People measure their attitude towards a person by the attitude of a person to his mother...
II. Determining the purpose of the lesson.
To trace how in Russian literature, true to its humanistic traditions, the image of a woman, a mother, is depicted.
III. The image of the mother in oral folk art
Teacher's word. The image of the mother, already in oral folk art, acquired the captivating features of a keeper of the hearth, a hard-working and faithful wife, a protector of her own children and an invariable caretaker for all the disadvantaged, insulted and offended. These defining qualities of the maternal soul are reflected and sung in Russian folk tales and folk songs.
Student performances (dramatization, singing) based on folk tales and folk songs.
IV. The image of the mother in printed literature
Teacher's word. In printed literature, which for well-known reasons was initially the preserve of only representatives of the upper classes, the image of the mother remained in the shadows for a long time. Perhaps the named object was not considered worthy of a high style, or perhaps the reason for this phenomenon is simpler and more natural: after all, then noble children, as a rule, were taken to raise not only tutors, but also wet nurses and children noble class unlike peasant children, they were artificially removed from their mother and fed with the milk of other women; therefore, there was a dulling of filial feelings, albeit not entirely conscious, which could not ultimately but affect the work of future poets and prose writers.
It is no coincidence that Pushkin did not write a single poem about his mother and so many lovely poetic dedications to his nanny Arina Rodionovna, whom, by the way, the poet often affectionately and carefully called “mummy.”
Mother in the works of the great Russian poet N.A. Nekrasova
Mother... The dearest and closest person. She gave us life, gave us happy childhood. A mother's heart, like the sun, shines always and everywhere, warming us with its warmth. She is ours best friend, wise advisor. Mother is our guardian angel.
That is why the image of the mother becomes one of the main ones in Russian literature already in the 19th century.
The theme of the mother truly and deeply sounded in the poetry of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. Closed and reserved by nature, Nekrasov literally could not find enough vivid words and strong expressions to appreciate the role of his mother in his life. Both young and old, Nekrasov always spoke about his mother with love and admiration. Such an attitude towards her, in addition to the usual sons of affection, undoubtedly stemmed from the consciousness of what he owed her:
And if I easily shake off the years
There are noxious traces from my soul
Having trampled everything reasonable with her feet,
Proud of the ignorance of the environment,
And if I filled my life with struggle
For the ideal of goodness and beauty,
And carries the song composed by me,
Living love has deep features -
Oh, my mother, I am inspired by you!
You saved the living soul in me!
(From the poem "Mother")
Question to the class:
How did his mother “save the poet’s soul”?
Student performances (reading and analysis of works).
Student 1 - First of all, being a highly educated woman, she introduced her children to intellectual, in particular literary, interests. In the poem “Mother,” Nekrasov recalls that as a child, thanks to his mother, he became acquainted with the images of Dante and Shakespeare. She taught him love and compassion for those “whose ideal is diminished grief,” that is, for the serfs.
Student 2 - The image of a woman - mother is clearly presented by Nekrasov in many of his works “Rural suffering is in full swing”, “Orina, the soldier’s mother”
Student 3 - Poem “Hearing the horrors of war”
Student 4 - Poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”...
Teacher's word.“Who will protect you?” - the poet addresses in one of his poems.
He understands that, besides him, there is no one else to say a word about the sufferer of the Russian land, whose feat is irreplaceable, but great!
Nekrasov traditions in the depiction of the bright image of the mother - a peasant woman in the lyrics of S.A. Yesenina
(During the teacher’s lecture, Yesenin’s poems about his mother are performed by students (by heart))
Nekrasov's traditions are reflected in the poetry of the great Russian poet S. A. Yesenin, who created surprisingly sincere poems about his mother, a peasant woman.
The bright image of the poet’s mother runs through Yesenin’s work. Endowed with individual features, it grows into a generalized image of a Russian woman, appearing even in the poet’s youthful poems, as a fairy-tale image of one who not only gave the whole world, but also made her happy with the gift of song. This image also takes on the concrete, earthly appearance of a peasant woman busy with everyday affairs: “The mother cannot cope with the grips, she bends low...”
Loyalty, constancy of feeling, heartfelt devotion, inexhaustible patience are generalized and poeticized by Yesenin in the image of his mother. "Oh, my patient mother!" - this exclamation came out of him not by chance: a son brings a lot of worries, but his mother’s heart forgives everything. This is how Yesenin’s frequent motive of his son’s guilt arises. On his trips, he constantly remembers his native village: it is dear to the memory of his youth, but most of all he is drawn there by his mother, who yearns for her son.
The “sweet, kind, old, gentle” mother is seen by the poet “at the parental dinner.” The mother is worried - her son has not been home for a long time. How is he there, in the distance? The son tries to reassure her in letters: “The time will come, dear, dear!” In the meantime, “evening untold light” flows over the mother’s hut. The son, “still just as gentle,” “dreams only about returning to our low house as soon as possible out of rebellious melancholy.” In “Letter to a Mother,” filial feelings are expressed with piercing artistic force: “You alone are my help and joy, you alone are my unspeakable light.”
Yesenin was 19 years old when, with amazing insight, he sang in the poem “Rus” the sadness of maternal expectation - “waiting for gray-haired mothers.”
The sons became soldiers, the tsarist service took them to the bloody fields of the world war. Rarely, rarely do they come from “scribbles, drawn with such difficulty,” but “frail huts”, warmed by a mother’s heart, are still waiting for them. Yesenin can be placed next to Nekrasov, who sang “the tears of poor mothers.”
They will not forget their children,
Those who died in the bloody field,
How not to pick up a weeping willow
Of its drooping branches.
Poem "Requiem" by A.A. Akhmatova.
These lines from the distant 19th century remind us of the bitter cry of the mother, which we hear in Anna Andreevna Akhmatova’s poem “Requiem”. Here it is, the immortality of true poetry, here it is, the enviable length of its existence in time!
Akhmatova spent 17 months (1938 - 1939) in prison lines in connection with the arrest of her son, Lev Gumilyov: he was arrested three times: in 1935, 1938 and 1949.
(Excerpts from the poem are performed by masters of artistic expression. Phonochrestomathy. 11th grade)
I've been screaming for seventeen months,
I'm calling you home...
Everything's messed up forever
And I can't make it out
Now, who is the beast, who is the man,
And how long will it be to wait for execution?
But this is not the fate of only one mother. And the fate of many mothers in Russia, who stood day after day in front of prisons in numerous queues with parcels for children arrested by the bearers of the regime, the Stalinist regime, the regime of brutal repression.
Mountains bend before this grief,
Doesn't leak great river,
But the prison gates are strong,
And behind them are “convict holes”
And mortal melancholy.
Mother goes through the circles of hell.
Chapter X of the poem is the culmination - a direct appeal to the gospel issues. The appearance of religious imagery is prepared not only by the mention of saving appeals to prayer, but also by the whole atmosphere of a suffering mother giving up her son to the inevitable, inevitable death. The suffering of the mother is associated with the state of the Virgin Mary; the suffering of a son with the agony of Christ crucified on the cross. The image of “The heavens melted in fire” appears. This is a sign of the greatest catastrophe, a world-historical tragedy.
Magdalene fought and cried,
The beloved student turned to stone,
And where Mother stood silently,
So no one dared to look.
A mother’s grief is boundless and inexpressible, her loss is irreplaceable, because it is hers. The only son and because this son is God, the only savior for all times. The crucifixion in “Requiem” is a universal verdict on an inhuman system that dooms a mother to immeasurable and inconsolable suffering, and her only beloved, her son, to oblivion.
The tragedy of the image of the mother in works about the Great Patriotic War.
Teacher's word
The image of the mother has always carried the features of drama. And he began to look even more tragic against the backdrop of the great and terrible in its cruelty of the past war. Who suffered more than a mother at this time? About this are the books of mothers E. Kosheva “The Tale of a Son”, Kosmodemyanskaya “The Tale of Zoya and Shura”...
Can you really tell me about this?
What years did you live in?
What an immeasurable burden
It fell on women's shoulders!
(M, Isakovsky).
Student performances
- based on “The Tale of a Son” by E. Kosheva
- based on the novel by A.A. Fadeev “Young Guard” (viewing excerpts from the film “Young Guard”)
- based on “The Tale of Zoya and Shura” by Kosmodemyanskaya
A student reads an excerpt from a poem by Y. Smelyakov
Mothers protect us with their breasts, even at the cost of their own existence, from all evil.
But mothers cannot protect their children from war, and, perhaps, wars are most directed against mothers.
Our mothers not only lost their sons, survived the occupation, worked until exhaustion helping the front, but they themselves died in fascist concentration camps, they were tortured, burned in crematorium ovens.
Question for the class
Why are people, to whom the woman-mother gave life, so cruel to her?
(Answers-speeches, student reflections)
Vasily Grossman's novel “Life and Fate”
In Vasily Grossman’s novel “Life and Fate,” violence appears in different types, and writer creates bright, piercing pictures of the threat it poses to life.
A student reads a letter from the mother of physicist Anna Semyonovna Shtrum, written by her on the eve of the death of the inhabitants of the Jewish ghetto.
Students’ impressions of what they heard (sample answers)
Student 1 - You can’t read it without shuddering and tears. Horror and a feeling of fear overwhelm me. How could people endure these inhuman trials that befell them? And it’s especially scary and uneasy when the mother, the most sacred creature on earth, feels bad.
Student 2 - And the mother is a martyr, a sufferer, she always thinks about the children, even in last minutes life: “How can I finish my letter? Where can I get strength, son? Are there human words that can express my love for you? I kiss you, your eyes, your forehead, your hair.
Remember that on days of happiness and on days of sorrow, mother’s love is always with you; no one can kill it.
Live, live, live forever!
Student 3 - A mother is capable of any sacrifice for the sake of her children! Great is the power of mother's love!
Teacher's word
Vasily Grossman's mother died in 1942 at the hands of fascist executioners.
In 1961, 19 years after his mother's death, his son wrote her a letter. It was preserved in the archives of the writer’s widow.
“When I die, you will live in the book that I dedicated to you and whose fate is similar to your fate” (V. Grossman)
And that hot tear shed by the writer for his old mother and for the Jewish people burns our hearts and leaves a scar of memory on them.
“Mother of Man” by Vitaly Zakrutkin is a heroic poem about the unparalleled courage, perseverance and humanity of a Russian woman - a mother.
The story about everyday life, the inhuman hardships and hardships of a young woman deep in the German rear grows into a story about mother and motherhood as the embodiment of the holiest thing in the human race, about endurance, perseverance, long-suffering, faith in the inevitable victory of good over evil.
V. Zakrutkin described an exceptional situation, but in it the author saw and was able to convey the manifestation of the typical character traits of a woman-mother. Talking about the misadventures and experiences of the heroine, the writer constantly strives to reveal the public in the private. Maria understood that “her grief was only a drop invisible to the world in that terrible, wide river of human grief, black, illuminated by fires in the river, which, flooding, destroying the banks, spread wider and wider and faster and faster rushed there, to the east, moving away from Maria is what she lived in this world for all her short twenty-nine years...
The last scene of the story is when the regiment commander of the advancing Soviet army, having learned the heroine’s story, in front of the entire squadron, “knelt down in front of Maria and silently pressed his cheek to her limply lowered small, hard hand...” - gives almost symbolic meaning the fate and feat of the heroine.
Generalization is achieved by introducing into the work a symbolic image of motherhood - the image of the Madonna with a baby in her arms, embodied in marble by an unknown artist.
“I peered into her face,” writes V. Zakrutkin, “remembering the story of a simple Russian woman Maria and thought: “We have a great many people like Maria on earth, and the time will come when people will give them their due...
V. Final words from the teacher. Summarizing.
Yes, such a time will come. Wars will disappear on earth... people will become human brothers... they will find joy, happiness and peace.
It will be so. “And maybe then the most beautiful, most majestic monument will not be erected by grateful people to the fictional Madonna, but to her, the woman worker of the earth. White, black and yellow brother people will collect all the gold of the world, all gems, all the gifts of the seas, oceans and bowels of the earth, and, created by the genius of new unknown creators, the image of the Mother of Man, our incorruptible faith, our hope, our eternal love, will shine over the earth.”
People! My brothers! Take care of your mothers. A person is only given a true mother once!
VI. Homework (differentiated):
- prepare an expressive reading (by heart) of a poem or prose about a mother
- essay “I want to tell you about my mother...”
- essay - essay “Is it easy to be a mother?”
- monologue "Mother"
- film script "The Ballad of Mother"
Research work.
“The image of the mother in the lyrics of classical and modern poets”
teacher primary classes MBOU
Lyceum No. 13, Rostov-on-Don
…Mom, I carry your name through life like a shrine.
The years will go by. Apples will fall into the grass.
The sun will rise.
Rivers will burst into the desert.
Ships will sail into the whiteness of the Martian seas.
Life will rage.
Every atom. Each vein.
People! My brothers! Take care of your mothers!
A real mother is given to a person once!
Sergey Ostovoy.
Who teaches a child to take his first steps? Who sings the first lullaby in his life? Who's telling the tale? Who teaches to speak native language? And what word is most often spoken first by a child? Of course, MOM!
Yes, it is MOM who opens the door to the baby's Big world, she is relentlessly with him, the first to rise to his cry... He hears his mother’s kind words, feels her warmth and protection. How his little hands reach out to MOM! And even when people become adults and move away from their home, their connection with their mother does not break. And in moments of trouble, danger, despair, we still call for help, first of all, MOTHER...
The modern world is cruel, it is ruled by power, money, and patronage. But what about the power of maternal love, all-consuming love, all-forgiving love? Maybe, by turning to the beginning, to the source of life, society will be able to restore peace, tranquility, and prosperity? With Mother's milk, every person absorbs the most precious, tender, sincere feelings. Why, over time, does such a child, and then an adult, develop cruelty, a desire to humiliate, even destroy someone like himself?
These questions have worried poets and writers since biblical times. The image of the Mother is one of the most revered and beloved in Russian literature.
Mother's heart
A mother’s heart is the most merciful judge, the most sympathetic friend, it is the sun of love, the light of which warms us all our lives.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin
“The Sun of Russian Poetry” - a world-famous classic - A.S. Pushkin was deprived of maternal love as a child. Nadezhda Osipovna had an uneven character, with sharp changes in mood: she would either be angry, or fall into black melancholy, or suddenly become affectionate and lively again. Alexander most often irritated her and was usually called upon for reprisals after another prank. The mother was irritated by everything: the boy’s stubbornness, his difference from other children, his incomprehensible complexity.
But still, there were two women in the Pushkin house who gave Alexander the maternal love and affection he so lacked. The nanny is Arina Rodionovna, a serf peasant woman who was set free, but who did not want to leave her masters, who nursed their children and then their grandchildren. Grandmother - Maria Alexandrovna Hannibal, who, according to the poet’s sister, Olga Sergeevna, “had a bright mind and was educated in her time, spoke and wrote in beautiful Russian ...” They told him fairy tales, legends, and introduced him to the world of folk fiction.
Oh! Shall I keep silent about my mother?
About the charm of mysterious nights,
When in a cap, in an ancient robe,
Will baptize me with zeal
And he will tell me in a whisper
About the dead, about the exploits of Bova...
I don’t move from horror, it happened,
Barely breathing, I snuggle under the blanket,
Without feeling either my legs or my head.
1816
With great love and tenderness, the poet often spoke about his nanny, Arina Rodionovna. She was constantly there not only when the poet was a child, but also as a famous poet, friend and colleague of the participants Decembrist movement. She accompanied him both in exile and in isolation on their family estate in the village of Mikhailovsky.
Nanny
Friend of my harsh days,
My decrepit dove!
Alone in the wilderness of pine forests
You've been waiting for me for a long, long time.
You are under the window of your little room
You're grieving like you're on a clock,
And the knitting needles hesitate every minute
In your wrinkled hands.
You look through the forgotten gates
On the black distant path:
Longing, premonitions, worries
They squeeze your chest all the time.
Madonna - in Catholicism means the Mother of God, the “mother” of the divine creation, the son of God. The embodiment of the ideal of motherhood was the wife of Alexander Sergeevich, Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova.
Madonna
Not many paintings by ancient masters
I always wanted to decorate my abode,
So that the visitor might superstitiously marvel at them,
Heeding the important judgment of experts.
In my simple corner, amidst slow labors,
I wanted to be forever a spectator of one picture,
One: so that from the canvas, like from the clouds,
Most Pure One and our divine savior -
She with greatness, he with reason in his eyes -
They looked, meek, in glory and in the rays,
Alone, without angels, under the palm of Zion.
My wishes came true. Creator
Sent you to me, you, my Madonna,
The purest example of pure beauty.
The image of the Mother in the works of A.S. Pushkin went through all stages of poetic evolutionary development: from hostility towards one’s own mother, through kind, tender feelings towards the nanny and grandmother, to the highest worship of the Holy Mother of God.
Mikhail Yurjevich Lermontov.
M.Yu. Lermontov’s mother, Maria Mikhailovna, was a very kind person, she treated serfs and helped the poor. She often took little Misha on her lap, played the piano and sang.
"When I was a boy of three years old , - Lermontov recalled, -that was the song that made me cry... My late mother sang it to me..." Tenderness for his mother and longing for her are reflected in many of the poet’s works.
Angel
An angel flew across the midnight sky
And he sang a quiet song;
And the month, and the stars, and the clouds in a crowd
Listen to that holy song.
He sang about the bliss of sinless spirits
Under the bushes of the Gardens of Eden;
He sang about the great God, and praise
His was unfeigned.
He carried young souls in his arms
For a world of sadness and tears,
And the sound of his song is young in the soul,
He remained - without words, but alive.
And for a long time she languished in the world,
Full of wonderful desires;
And the sounds of heaven could not be replaced
She finds the songs of the earth boring.
1831
Maria Mikhailovna died of consumption in February 1817 at the age of 21 years 11 months 7 days. The theme of loneliness and sadness, which accompanied the poet from early childhood, ran like a red thread through all the work of M.Yu. Lermontov.
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet.
A.A. Fet's childhood was not entirely happy. But you can’t call him sad either: “... everything with him was like that of many landowners’ sons, living mainly on the land and by the land. There was village life, ordinary rural life, and all around was Central Russian nature.”- this is how his daughter later recalled the poet.
The poet’s mother’s image is associated with German roots (his mother was born Charlotte-Elizabeth Feth); the future poet was brought up in a German school until the age of 14. Then - the Oryol province with its boundless fields, plains and completely different memories of that time, about a close and dear person - about the mother. In the poems associated with that time, we find closely intertwined folklore:
Lullaby to the heart
Heart - you are little!
Take it easy...
Just for a moment of sanity
I'm glad to accept with my soul
All your illness!
Sleep, the Lord is with you,
Baiushki bye!..
1843
Serenade
Quietly the evening is burning down,
Mountains of gold;
The sultry air is getting colder, -
Sleep, my child.
The nightingales have been singing for a long time,
Heralding darkness;
The strings rang timidly, -
Sleep, my child.
Angel eyes are watching,
Tremblingly shining;
The breath of the night is so light, -
Sleep, my child.
1845
In the later period of his work, the poet turns his attention to the image of his mother as the Virgin Mary. This is due to internal disagreement in the poetic field, and misunderstanding on the part of loved ones, whose love A. Fet was deprived of in childhood. And the poems turn into a prayer:
AVE MARIA
AVE MARIA - the lamp is quiet,
Four verses are ready in the heart:
Pure maiden, mourning mother,
Your grace has penetrated my soul.
Queen of the sky, not the brilliance of the rays,
In a quiet dream, appear to her!
AVE MARIA - the lamp is quiet,
Four verses are ready in the heart.
1842
The poet represented the purpose of a woman as motherhood, and glorified the woman herself as the Madonna, carrying her son to people in the name of salvation.
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov.
N.A. Nekrasov spent his childhood in the village of Greshnevo, which is located on the banks of the great Russian Volga River in a family of wealthy landowners. There was little pleasant in the life around him; the future poet had to experience enough sad moments. The poem “Motherland” is a biographical saga about his native land, where he spent his childhood, memories of tragic moments from his childhood. His mother, Elena Andreevna, was a kind, gentle woman who resigned herself to fate, lived with a man who tyrannized not only serfs and servants, but also all household members.
…Whose face flashes in the distant alley
Flashes between the branches, painfully - sad?
I know why you cry, my mother!
Forever given to the gloomy ignoramus,
You didn’t indulge in unrealistic hope -
The thought of rebelling against fate scared you,
You bore your lot in silence, slave...
But I know: your soul was not dispassionate;
She was proud, stubborn and beautiful,
And everything that you had the strength to endure,
Forgave your dying whisper to the destroyer?..
Bitterness, pain, melancholy can be heard in other poems - memories of family and friends:
…See me, darling!
Appear as a light shadow for a moment!
You've lived your whole life unloved,
You lived your whole life for others,
With a head open to the storms of life,
All my life under an angry thunderstorm
You stood - with your chest
Protected my beloved children...
("Knight for an Hour")
The poet of “revenge and sadness” in his works often touched on the tragic fate of the Russian woman, the woman-mother. This is the poem “Russian Women”, and the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, “Frost, Red Nose” and many others.
The village suffering is in full swing...
Share you! – Russian female dolushka,
Hardly any more difficult to find.
No wonder you wither before your time,
All-bearing Russian tribe
Long-suffering mother!
And again there are lines from a prayer addressed to the Mother of God, for protection and forgiveness, for mercy:
Day after day my sad girl,
At night - a night pilgrim,
My dry food is centuries old...
("Orina, soldier's mother")
Not a single poet before N.A. Nekrasov sang with such force the image of a woman, a woman-mother. How amazing the ideal images the master creates. How beautiful are the images created by Nekrasov, who are in constant labor, the joys and sorrows of motherhood and the struggle for the family.
Poetry of the 20th century. New wave
The twentieth century burst into literature and, in particular, into poetry, with the novelty of forms, versification, size, and lexical phrases. A lot of different movements have emerged with their own ideological views and new themes. But the topic of motherhood not only remained one of the most important, but also began to new strength. A. Blok, I. Severyanin, O. Mandelstam, M. Tsvetaeva, B. Akhmadulina, E. Yevtushenko and many others have addressed this topic more than once.
Sergey Yesenin
But, perhaps, the most capacious, expressive, popular image of a mother belongs to Sergei Yesenin. In the Russian consciousness, the image of the mother has always been given a special role: she is the giver of life, and the nurse, and the protector, and the mourner for the misfortunes of children, she is also the personification native land, she is “mother green oak tree”, and “Mother Volga”, and “Motherland”, and finally, “mother is damp earth” - last resort and the refuge of every person.
There is hardly a person who does not know Yesenin’s lines from “Letters to Mother.” And even the most hardened heart in life’s storms shrinks at the memory of his mother while reading his poems or singing songs, albeit someone else’s, but so similar to his in their love, anxiety, and patience.
Are you still alive, my old lady?
I'm alive too. Hello, hello!
Let it flow over your hut
That evening unspeakable light...<…>
Nothing, dear! Calm down.
This is just a painful nonsense.
I'm not such a bitter drunkard,
So that I can die without seeing you.<…>
I'm still as gentle
And I only dream about
So that rather from rebellious melancholy
Return to our low house.<…>
And don’t teach me to pray. No need!
There is no going back to the old ways anymore.
You alone are my help and joy,
You alone are an unspeakable light to me<… >
1924
S. Yesenin’s friend Ivan Evdokimov recalls reading the letter by the poet:“... it squeezed my throat tightly, secretly and hiding, I cried, in the depths of the huge ridiculous chair on which I sat in the darkened partition between the windows.”
The poet formed such a piercingly moving image of his mother only at the end life path. Mother in Yesenin’s poems is a symbol of childhood, home, hearth, native land, Motherland. She becomes like all the mothers of the Russian land, patiently waiting for the return of their sons and grieving over their troubles and failures.
The words in the poet's poems are often intertwined with the words of many prayers addressed toMother of God:
“Our Lady of the Virgin, do not despise me, a sinner, requiring Your help and your intercession, for my soul trusts in You, and have mercy on me...”
Yesenin, dedicating poems to his mother, prayed his son’s prayer for the Mother. And his prayer reached his heart, burst into memory forever and became a folk song.
Anna Akhmatova
The stubborn and wayward girl had an evenly cold relationship with her mother, and therefore we do not find any warm words dedicated to her carefree childhood. However, the theme of motherhood in A. Akhmatova can be traced from her early work. And through all the verses - the image of the Martyr Mother, intercessor, Mother of God.
The mother's share is pure torture,
I wasn't worthy of her.
The gate has dissolved into a white paradise,
Magdalena took her son.
Every day is fun, good,
I got lost in the long spring,
Only the hands yearn for the burden,
I only hear him crying in my dreams.
1914
The tragic fate of Akhmatova repeated thousands of women's shares that fell on the shoulders of the mothers of the repressed. The pain of all mothers merged into one dark, all-consuming pain and resulted in the poem “Requiem”
Mountains bend before this grief,
The great river does not flow
But the prison gates are strong,
And behind them are “convict holes”
And mortal melancholy.
For someone the wind is blowing fresh,
For someone the sunset is basking -
We don't know, we're the same everywhere
We only hear the hateful grinding of keys
Yes, the soldiers' steps are heavy.
We rose as if for early mass.
They walked through the wild capital,
There we met, more lifeless dead,
The sun is lower and the Neva is foggy,
And hope still sings in the distance.
The verdict... And immediately tears will flow,
Already separated from everyone,
As if with pain the life was taken out of the heart,
As if rudely knocked over,
But she walks... She staggers... Alone...
Where are the involuntary friends now?
My two maddened years?..<…>
The quiet Don flows quietly,
The yellow moon enters the house.
He walks in with his hat askew -
Sees the yellow moon shadow.
This woman is sick
This woman is alone
Husband in the grave, son in prison,
Pray for me.<…>
And again the name of the Mother of God sounds, the name of the sufferer, the great martyr - the name of the Mother.
Crucifixion
"Don't cry to me, Mati,
they will see in the grave."
1
The choir of angels praised the great hour,
And the skies melted in fire.
He said to his father: “Why did you leave me?”
And to the Mother: “Oh, don’t cry for Me...”
2
Magdalene fought and cried,
The beloved student turned to stone,
And where Mother stood silently,
So no one dared to look.
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva
The poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva is a stream of stormy memories of a distant, carefree childhood, where her mother, Maria Aleksandrovna Main, loved to play the piano, instilling a love of music and art in her daughters.
…
We, like you, welcome sunsets
Reveling in the nearness of the end.
Everything in best evening we are rich
You put it in our hearts.
Tirelessly leaning towards children's dreams
(I only looked at them for a month without you!),
You led your little ones past
A bitter life of thoughts and deeds.
WITH early years we are close to those who are sad,
Laughter is boring and home is alien...
Our ship has not set sail in a good moment
And floats according to the will of all winds!
The azure island is becoming paler - childhood,
We are alone on the deck.
Apparently, sadness left a legacy
You, oh mother, to your girls!
1908
In the cycle “In the first poems about mother” we see and feel all the tenderness and touching of Tsvetaeva towards loved ones, especially her mother.
Subsequently, after many years of wanderings, troubles, rejection, separation, in her lyrics we see an appeal to God, poems and prayers.
For the Youth - for the Dove - for the Son,
For Tsarevich Young Alexy
Pray, church Russia!
Wipe the eyes of the angels,
Remember how you fell on the slabs
Uglitsky pigeon - Dimitri.
You are affectionate, Russia, mother!
Oh, don't you have enough?
On him - loving grace? ...
The suffering of a mother who gives her child to people, eternal patience, love, expectation, hope - the feelings that permeate Marina Tsvetaeva’s poems, glorifying the difficult mother’s lot.
Modernity and poems about mother
Love for a mother is one of the most sacred themes not only in Russian, but also world poetry.
Mom... this is the purest spring from which every person draws strength. This is our hope, our support, our protection, our love.
In poems about the Great Patriotic War, we see the all-forgiving heart of mothers who accompany their sons to war - to defend the Motherland.
The first bullet in any war
They strike the mother's heart.
Whoever wins last Stand,
And a mother’s heart suffers!..
(K. Kuliev)
And again, prayers in the verses of contemporaries sound with renewed vigor.
Oh, why are you, red sun,
You keep leaving without saying goodbye?
Oh, why from the joyless war,
Son, aren't you coming back?
I will help you out of trouble,
I’ll fly like a quick eagle...
Answer me, my little blood!
Small, the only one...
White light is not nice.
I got sick.
Come back, my hope!
My grain
My Zoryushka,
My dear, -
Where are you?
“Requiem” by R. Rozhdestvensky
Modern poetry continues the traditions of the classics, glorifying the image of the mother - a simple peasant woman, mother of the Motherland, mother of a soldier who gave her sons to war, mother -The Mother of God, bringing to the world a part of herself, her soul, her life - her child.
The theme of separations, meetings, farewells is heard more often...
Our native lands await us like piers...
And, scorched by the winds of the paths,
You, returning to your father's house as if for the first time,
You will see your mother's hands...
That all that is good and holy has merged in them,
And the light of the window, and the trembling of the ripe fields,
That they, the sleepless ones, would have more peace,
And you don’t give them any peace!
I. Volobueva.
The mother is metaphorically and figuratively represented in the work written in blank verse by the German poet Zbigniew Herbert “Mother”:
He fell from her lap like a ball of wool.
He developed hastily and ran away blindly.
She held beginning of life,
O twisting around your finger,
Like a thin ring. I wanted to save it.
And he rolled down the steep slope and climbed up the mountain.
And he came to her, confused, and was silent.
Will never return to sweets
the throne of her lap.
Outstretched arms shine in the darkness
like an old city.
Mom is the closest and dearest person on earth. Next to her, whether we are five, twenty or fifty years old, we are always children, and we have, as S. Yesenin said, “help and joy” in the person of our mothers. Understanding this does not come immediately, but the older we get, the more acutely we feel the tragedy of the inevitable loss and our guilt for not always being grateful, attentive, and tender enough. You can't bring back the past, so you have to protect the present.
List of used literature.
Akhmatova A.A. Poems. Poems. Tsvetaeva M.I. Poems. Poem. Dramaturgy. Essay. – M.: Olimp; LLC “Firm “Publishing House AST”, 1998.
Nekrasov N.N. Poems. Poems. Articles. – M.: Olimp; AST Publishing House, 1996.
Poetry of the Silver Age at school: A book for teachers / author.-comp. E.M. Boldyreva, A.V. Ledenev. – M.: Bustard, 2001.
Silver Age. Poetry. (School of Classics) - M.: AST, Olympus, 1996.
A.A.Fet.. Leningrad, Soviet writer, 1959.
Goal: to introduce literary works that glorify the image of a woman-mother, to cultivate feelings of love and kindness, compassion and mercy. Form of delivery: literary hour.
Mom... This is the first word that a baby's mouth utters. And no wonder. There is nothing holier and more selfless than a mother’s love. From the first day of birth of a child, the mother lives by his breath, his tears and smiles. Love for a child is as natural to her as the blossoming of gardens in spring. Just as the sun sends out its rays, warming all living things, so does a mother’s love warm.
Script for a literary hour dedicated to Mother's Day
"Woman with a child in her arms"
Purpose: to introduce literary works, which glorify the image of a woman-mother, cultivate feelings of love and kindness, compassion and mercy.
Form of delivery: literary hour.
Parable of the Mother
The day before his birth, the child asked God:
- They say that tomorrow I will be sent to Earth. How will I live there, because I am so small and defenseless?
God replied:
- I will give you an angel who will wait for you and take care of you.
The child thought for a moment, then said again:
“Here in Heaven I only sing and laugh, that’s enough for me to be happy.”
God replied:
- Your angel will sing and smile for you, you will feel his love and be happy.
- ABOUT! But how can I understand him, since I don’t know his language? - asked the child, looking intently at God. - What should I do if I want to contact you?
God gently touched the child's head and said:
“Your angel will put your hands together and teach you to pray.”
Then the child asked:
“I heard that there is evil on Earth.” Who will protect me?
“Your angel will protect you, even at the risk of his own life.”
- I will be sad because I won’t be able to see you anymore...
“Your angel will tell you everything about me and show you the way to return to me.” So I will always be by your side.
The image of the mother in Russian poetry
Leading: Mom... This is the first word that a baby's mouth utters. And no wonder. There is nothing holier and more selfless than a mother’s love. From the first day of birth of a child, the mother lives by his breath, his tears and smiles. Love for a child is as natural to her as the blossoming of gardens in spring. Just as the sun sends out its rays, warming all living things, so a mother’s love warms the life of a child.
Leading: Do you often think about your mother? About the mother who gave you the great right to life, who fed you with her milk. Happy is the one who has known mother's affection since childhood and grew up under the caring warmth of a mother and the light of a mother's gaze.
Mother child from her breast
He won't give it up without a fight!
Will cover you in the midst of all worries,
With all my soul
Life is a wonderful light,
What is insulated by it!
(A. Maikov).
Leading: There is a holy page in our poetry, dear and close to anyone who has not hardened the heart, to anyone who has not been lost, who has not forgotten or abandoned its origins - these are poems about mothers.
Leading: Poets of all times have knelt before the holiness of maternal duty, before the mother’s patience, her devotion, her tenderness, caring, and warmth of heart. No one has expressed the role of a mother in a person’s life more powerfully and sincerely than Russian poets.
Leading: The image of the mother in Russian poetry has become the standard of female virtues.
There is a holy and prophetic sign in nature,
Vividly marked in centuries:
The most beautiful of women
Woman holding a child
Conjuring from any misfortune
She really doesn't have any good things to do
No, not the Mother of God, but the earthly one,
Proud, sublime mother
The light of love has been bequeathed to her since ancient times,
And since then she has lived for centuries,
The most beautiful of women
Woman holding a child
Everything in the world is measured by footprints,
No matter how many paths you walk
The apple tree is decorated with fruits,
A woman decides the fate of her children
May the sun applaud her forever!
So she will live for centuries
The most beautiful of women,
Woman holding a child
Leading: The image of the mother in Russian poetry is continuously connected with folklore tradition. Already in folklore works the image of a mother appears. In spiritual verses, this image appears through the image of the Mother of God, especially revered in Rus'.
Leading: The theme of the mother truly and deeply sounded in the poetry of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. Closed and reserved by nature, Nekrasov literally could not find enough vivid words and strong expressions to appreciate the role of his mother in his life. Both young men and old Nekrasov always spoke about mothers with love and admiration.
Excerpt from the poem "Mother"
In our mocking and impudent century
Great, holy word: "mother"
Does not awaken feelings in a person.
But I'm used to despising the custom.
I'm not afraid of fashionable ridicule.
Fate gave me this muse:
She sings on a free whim
Or is silent, like a proud slave,
I have been among labor and laziness for many years
He ran away with shameful cowardice
Captivating, long-suffering shadow,
For sacred memory... The hour has come!
Perhaps I'm acting criminally
Is your sleep disturbing, my mother? sorry!
But all my life I have suffered for a woman.
The path to freedom is denied her;
Shameful captivity, all the horror of a woman’s lot,
Left her little strength to fight,
But you will give her a lesson in iron will...
Bless me, dear: the hour has struck!
Sobbing sounds boil in my chest,
It's time, it's time to entrust my thought to them!
Your love, your holy torment,
Your struggle is an ascetic, I sing!..
Leading: The poem “Hearing the horrors of war...”, dedicated to the Crimean War of 1853 - 1856. This small poem, just 17 lines, succinctly and deeply conveys the meaninglessness of a bloody and merciless war, and still remains relevant:
Listening to the horrors of war,
With every new casualty of the battle
I feel sorry for not my friend, not my wife,
I'm sorry not for the hero himself...
Alas! the wife will be comforted,
And the best friend will forget the friend;
But somewhere there is one soul -
She will remember it to the grave!
Among our hypocritical deeds
And all sorts of vulgarity and prose
Some of them I looked into the world
Holy, sincere tears -
Those are the tears of poor mothers!
They will not forget their children,
Those who died in the bloody field,
How not to pick up a weeping willow
Of its drooping branches....
Leading: Nekrasov's traditions are reflected in the poetry of the great Russian poet S. A. Yesenin, who created surprisingly sincere poems about his mother, a peasant woman. The bright image of the poet’s mother runs through Yesenin’s work.
Leading: Endowed with individual traits, it grows into a generalized image of a Russian woman, appearing even in the poet’s youthful poems, as a fairy-tale image of one who not only gave the whole world.
Lettermothers
Are you still alive, my old lady?
I'm alive too. Hello, hello!
Let it flow over your hut
That evening unspeakable light.
They write to me that you, harboring anxiety,
She was very sad about me,
That you often go on the road
In an old-fashioned, shabby shushun.
And to you in the evening blue darkness
We often see the same thing:
It's like someone is in a tavern fight with me
I stabbed a Finnish knife under my heart.
Nothing, dear! Calm down.
This is just a painful nonsense.
I'm not such a bitter drunkard,
So that I can die without seeing you.
I'm still as gentle
And I only dream about
So that rather from rebellious melancholy
Return to our low house.
I'll be back when the branches spread out
Our white garden looks like spring.
Only you have me already at dawn
Don't be like eight years ago.
Don't wake up what was dreamed of
Don't worry about what didn't come true—
Too early loss and fatigue
I have had the opportunity to experience this in my life.
And don’t teach me to pray. No need!
There is no going back to the old ways anymore.
You alone are my help and joy,
You alone are an unspeakable light to me.
So forget about your worries,
Don't be so sad about me.
Don't go on the road so often
In an old-fashioned, shabby shushun.
<1924>
Leading: The 20th century is the century of a great and cruel war, the century of the Great Feat. The Second World War divided the life of the entire Russian people into “before” and “after”. The Mother suffered along with her sons.
Leading: The theme of the mother is present throughout the entire work of A. T. Tvardovsky. For example, in such poems from different years. Very often, the image of the mother in the poet’s works goes beyond the dedication to one specific person - his own mother - and becomes the image of the Motherland.
Mother and son
For my own son
The mother watches silently.
What would she care about
Wish it for your son?
I would like to wish you happiness -
But he's happy.
Wish you good health -
Young and strong.
Ask for longer
Stayed in the house -
Military man
He has no time.
Just ask
I didn’t forget my mother,
But he wrote her letters
I wrote from the pole.
So as not to catch a cold,
Give him some advice?
Yes, and it hurts so much
He is dressed warmly.
Specify the bride -
Where else! He will find it himself.
No matter what you say -
Clear in advance.
For my own son
The mother watches silently.
There seems to be nothing
To wish, to say.
Believes - not in vain
My son has learned to fly.
How should he take care -
He knows better.
It's easier,
Not a match for him.
Mothers, so that
Don't know this!
But with the enemy you will have to
Meet in battle -
He won't give it away for nothing
Your head.
Mothers - so that
Don't know this...
For my own son
The mother watches silently.
Leading: The mother lost her sons at the front, she survived the occupation and was left with small children in her arms without bread and shelter, she worked until exhaustion in the workshops and fields and, helping the Fatherland with all her might to survive, shared the last piece with the front. She endured and overcame everything, and therefore in our minds the concepts of “Motherland” and “Mother” have long merged together:
Mother
Aliyev phase
Mother! Dear, beloved! Listen!
Forgive me, mother, for the bitter torment,
Sorry for your tired black hands,
For taking away your sleep in the morning,
Because I was sick a lot as a child...
I take your hands in deep wrinkles,
I take your warm eyes into my lips.
And the transparent lines roll and flow,
And word after word fell to the pen.
Wounded by eternal suffering
Their all-maternal mind
Challenges
to humanity:
"My son is still alive
everyone alive!”
Don't forget them
those naive
And forever young sons,
How not to raise
weeping willow
Its tear-stained branches.
Not poor old women
Tears feed evil sadness,
rising from ruin,
Living mother -
Holy Rus'!
Leading: The world is once again restless, “hot spots” appear in different parts of the planet, fires flare up, terrorists destroy all living things, children’s cries are heard again and again. And above all this chaos the proud and unshakable image of the Mother rises
Everyone stand up and listen while standing
Preserved in all its glory
This word is ancient, holy!
Straighten up! Get up!..
Stand up everyone!
As the forests rise with the new dawn,
Like blades of grass rushing upward towards the sun,
Stand up, everyone, when you hear this word,
Because in this word there is life.
This word is a call and a spell,
In this word is the soul of existence,
This is the first spark of consciousness,
Baby's first smile.
May this word always remain
And, breaking through any traffic jam,
Even in a heart of stone it will awaken
A reproach to a muted conscience.
This word will never deceive you,
There is a life hidden in it,
It is the source of everything. There is no end to it.
Get up!..
I pronounce it: “Mom!”
My work is dedicated to, in my opinion, current topic of our time - the topic of mothers and motherhood. In this work, I would like to analyze the current situation in Russia through the prism of myths, tales, literary monuments and works of art, which in one way or another touch on the problems of motherhood. I will try to evaluate the changes that have occurred over the centuries in relation to motherhood. After all, it’s no longer news to anyone that now even the very concept of “motherhood” is treated completely differently than, say, in the 19th century or even in the 50s of the 20th century. The change in priorities is so rapid that it becomes scary, what will happen next? That’s why I chose this topic among many, many other interesting and deep topics.
The Image of the Mother in Orthodoxy. Icons.
The image of a woman-mother is glorified in numerous works of literature and art, reverently embodied in wondrous icons. I would like to dwell on the latter in more detail, since for me this topic is closer than all the others. The history of Orthodoxy and Christianity goes back more than two thousand years, so it is not surprising that it cultural heritage so rich. One could list monuments of literature, architecture and icon painting for a very long time, but this is not necessary now.
Based on the specifics of the work, I immediately identified a specific area of research for myself – the icons of the Mother of God. Believers know how huge the number of images of the Mother of God is, in some of them She is alone, but in most icons she is holding the Child Christ in her arms. Orthodox Christians know such icons as the Sovereign, Iveron, Inexhaustible Chalice, Pochaev, Joy of All Who Sorrow, Tikhvin, Kazan and many, many others, miraculous, with their own history and list of miracles. For example, we can recall Catholic images of the Virgin Mary. These are the Sistine Madonna, Raphael's Madonna and other masterpieces of the great masters of the Middle Ages. There is one significant similarity between para-Orthodox icons and Catholic paintings - in all of them the Virgin Mary is depicted with her Son.
Thus, the Mother of God becomes one of the most sacred symbols for believers - a symbol of high, sacrificial motherhood. After all, all mothers know how difficult and painful it is to learn about any failure or illness of their children. But few people know how difficult it is to live with the knowledge of the entire future terrible fate of their child. And the Mother of God knew the whole fate of her Son from his very birth. Therefore, perhaps, the very image of a mother is so sacred for all people that since ancient times her work in raising children has been equated with a feat.
The image of the Mother in the mythology of the Slavs and other peoples.
All peoples of the world have always had a place for female deities in the religious picture of the world, and they have always stood separately from male gods. The patron goddesses of the hearth, land, and fertility were greatly respected by all ancient peoples.
The original archetype of birth, the beginning of life, the creation of Nature subconsciously led to the worship of Mother Earth, who gives everything for people’s lives. Therefore, the ancient Slavs identified not one god - Heaven, as one might think, but two - Heaven and Earth. They generally considered Earth and Heaven to be two living beings, and even more so, a married couple, whose love gave birth to all life on earth. The God of heaven, the Father of all things, is called Svarog. What did the Slavs call the great Goddess of the Earth? Some scientists believe that her name is Makosh. Others, no less authoritative, argue with them. But I will proceed from the fact that the name of the Earth goddess is still Makosh. The interpretation of the name Makosh itself is very interesting. And if “ma” is clear to everyone - mom, mother, then what is “cat”? It’s not entirely clear, if you don’t remember some words, this is, for example, a wallet where wealth is stored, a shed where the living wealth of the peasant is driven - sheep, the leader of the Cossacks is called koshev, fate, lot were also called kosh, and also a large basket for vegetables and fruit. And if you add all these meanings into a semantic chain, then it turns out: Makosh is the Mistress of Life, the Giver of the Harvest, the Universal Mother. In one word – Earth.
We still call the Earth Mother. Only we treat her not nearly as respectfully as good children should. The pagans treated her with the greatest love, and all the legends say that the Earth paid them the same. It is not for nothing that both the Slavs and the Greeks have a myth about a hero who cannot be defeated, since the Earth itself helps him. On the tenth of May they celebrated the “name day of the Earth”: on this day it could not be disturbed - plowing, digging. The earth witnessed the solemn oaths; at the same time, they touched it with the palm of their hand, or they took out a piece of turf and placed it on their head, mystically making a lie impossible: it was believed that the Earth would not bear a deceiver. In Rus' they said: “Don’t lie - the Earth hears,” “Love as the Earth loves.” And now sometimes, when we take an oath, we demand: “Eat the earth!” And what is the custom of taking a handful of native land to a foreign land worth!
By the Upper Paleolithic era - 40-50 thousand years BC. e. include the first archaeological finds in the form of stone figurines of female deities. During the Neolithic period - 10-12 thousand years BC. e. Numerous images of the Mother Goddess are already appearing as a reflection various forces nature. Among the ancient Sumerians, this is the goddess of love Ishtar, associated with the morning star Venus, who has many epithets - the Lady of the Gods, the Queen of Kings, who was worshiped throughout the Mediterranean, was also considered the Mother of the Gods, the keeper of secret knowledge. The Egyptian goddess Isis was endowed with the same qualities. The ancient Persians, who accepted the teachings of Zoroaster, worshiped the Goddess of purity and purity, Anahita.
Slavic and Indian mythology have common Indo-Aryan roots, and this is especially noticeable in the culture national costume, where images of the goddess with palms outstretched forward are often found - a gesture of protection. It is not for nothing that in Ukraine one of the names of the goddess is Bereginya. On costumes this image is found in the form of stylized embroidery patterns and is called “Mokosh”. The goddess Mokosh among the Slavs is a spinner who spins endless yarn - the all-pervading energy of the universe. Archetypal ideas about the Goddess-spinner were preserved among the Sami, Finns, Lithuanians, and other peoples of the North.
One of the earliest images of the World Tree in Rus' from the time of Hyperborea is a petroglyph Lake Onega. The drawing combines two universal symbols - the World Tree and the Swan sitting on it. The swan is an ancient symbol of the Goddess giving birth to the Cosmic Egg - the third cosmic symbol. Let us recall Russian folk tales or Pushkin’s tales “On the sea-ocean, on the island of Buyan, a green oak grows”, “At Lukomorye there is a green oak”, the Swan Princess, the egg where Koshchei’s source of life is kept, etc.
All the mysterious Eleusinian mysteries among the Athenians were associated with the cult of the Earth, collecting fruits, storing seeds, the art of agriculture and growing crops. This merged into a single sacred sacrament, personified by the Mother in Birth, who gives continuation to the family and preserves it. The Slavs also had gods responsible for the prosperity and offspring of all living things in nature and the multiplication of the human race. These are Rod and Rozhanitsy, mentioned in ancient Russian literature. The clan sent the souls of people to Earth from heaven when children were born. They usually talk about the Mother Goddesses in plural. Ancient manuscripts speak briefly about them, only mentioning bread, honey and “cheese” (previously this word meant cottage cheese), which were sacrificed to them. Due to the paucity of this information, some researchers of past years were accustomed to seeing in Rozhanitsy numerous, faceless female Deities who helped in various women’s concerns and work, as well as in the birth of children. However, modern scientists, having processed a large amount of archaeological, ethnographic, linguistic material, turning to information concerning neighboring peoples, came to the conclusion that there were two Rozhanits: Mother and Daughter.
The Slavs associated the Mother in Childbirth with the period of summer fertility, when the harvest ripens, becomes heavier, and becomes full. This is fully consistent with the image of mature motherhood: artists usually depict the fruitful Autumn as a middle-aged woman, kind and plump. This is a respectable mistress of the house, the mother of a large family. The ancient Slavs gave her the name Lada, which has many meanings. They all have to do with establishing order: “Getting along,” “getting along,” and so on. The order in this case was thought of primarily as a family one: “LADA”, “LADO” - an affectionate address to a beloved spouse, husband or wife. "LADINS" - wedding conspiracy. But Lada’s sphere of activity is by no means limited to the home. Some researchers recognize the Great Lada as the mother of the twelve months into which the year is divided. But the months, as we know, are associated with the twelve constellations of the Zodiac, which, according to astrological science, influence human destiny! Thus, for example, Scorpio and Sagittarius are the property of not only foreign (non-Slavic) culture, as we are accustomed to believe. And Lada appears before us not just as the Goddess of summer, home comfort and motherhood, she is also connected with the universal cosmic law! So the Slavic religious cult was not so primitive.
Lada also had a daughter, a Goddess named Lelya, the youngest Rozhanitsa. Let’s think about it: it’s not for nothing that a child’s cradle is often called a “cradle”; a tender, caring attitude towards a child is conveyed by the word “cherish.” A stork that supposedly brings children is called “leleka” in Ukrainian. And the child himself is sometimes affectionately called “lilya” even now. This is how the Slavic Lelya was born - the Goddess of tremulous spring sprouts, the first flowers, and young femininity. The Slavs believed that it was Lelya who took care of the barely hatched seedlings - the future harvest. Lelya-Vesna was solemnly “called out” - they invited her to visit, they went out to meet her with gifts and refreshments. And before that, they asked Lada’s Mother for permission: would she let her daughter go?
The holiday of Rozhanitsa was celebrated in the spring - April 22-23. On this day, sacrifices were made with vegetable and dairy products, which were solemnly, with prayers, eaten at a sacred feast, and then bonfires were burned all night long: a huge one, in honor of Lada, and around it twelve smaller ones - according to the number of months of the year. According to tradition, it was a women's and girls' holiday. Guys, men looked at him from afar. So, having examined the pagan cults of some peoples, I concluded that the very concept of Woman - Mother was present among all peoples, moreover, in very similar forms and images, which also speaks of the common roots of all beliefs and myths in general.
Domostroy. Attitude towards a woman-mother in the Middle Ages.
Gender relations in Russia were, of course, greatly influenced by the ideology of Christianity. A kind of regulatory basis for the relationship between a man and a woman was “Domostroy,” which ordered a woman to obey her husband (father, brother) in everything. “Domostroy” lists in detail the responsibilities of women, which are based on tireless work in the family, and obedience to the husband, father, owner, and the responsibility of mothers for their children and housekeeping. But along with this, there is also a chapter that instructs the husband to honor his wife, instruct her and love her.
“If God gives a good wife, better than a precious stone; such a benefit will not leave, always good life will arrange for her husband. If a husband is blessed with a good wife, the number of days of his life will double, a good wife will delight her husband and fill his years with peace; let a good wife be a reward for those who fear God, for a wife makes her husband more virtuous: first, by fulfilling God's commandment, to be blessed by God, and secondly, to be glorified by people. A kind wife, and hardworking, and silent - a crown to her husband, if the husband has found his good wife - she only takes good things out of his house; blessed is the husband of such a wife and they will live their years in good peace. For a good wife, praise and honor to the husband.”
Domostroy drew a sharper line between men and women, and, accordingly, the attitude towards mothers changed. But one cannot think that it has sharply worsened: it has become a little different, requiring more strict adherence to certain Christian norms and rules. Mother and wife had to treat their husband with respect and their children with severity, raising them in piety. Some people think that with the advent of Christianity, the position of women worsened compared to the era of paganism. I don’t think so: there have always been domestic tyrants, no rules stopped them, so with the advent of the “Domostroy” era, such husbands simply found, so to speak, a compelling justification for their behavior. And yet, a woman has always been the mistress of the house, the keeper of the hearth and virtue in the family, a faithful helper and friend to her husband.
This attitude towards women has left its mark in Russian folklore: “God help the single man, and the mistress will help the married man,” “The family is at war, the lonely man grieves,” “Husband and wife are one soul.” There was a strict division of the roles of men and women, which developed over centuries. This is especially evident in work. The wife's activities do not extend beyond the family. The husband’s activities, on the contrary, are not limited to the family: he - public figure, and through him the family participates in the life of society. The woman was in charge, as they say, of the keys to the whole house, keeping records of hay, straw, and flour. All livestock and all domestic animals, except horses, were under the supervision of a woman. Under her vigilant supervision was everything related to feeding the family, taking care of linen and clothing repairs, weaving, baths, etc.
The owner, the head of the house and family, was, first of all, a mediator in the relations of the farmstead and land society, in the relations of the family with the authorities. He was in charge of the main agricultural work, plowing, sowing, as well as construction, logging and firewood. Together with his adult sons, he bore the entire physical burden of peasant labor on his shoulders.
Only when there was great need did a woman, usually a widow, take up an ax, and a man (also most often a widower) sat down with a milk pan under the cow.
From childhood, boys were taught male wisdom, and girls - female wisdom. There was no patriarchal pedantry in the relationships between boys and girls. From adolescence, acquaintances and hobbies changed, young people seemed to “get used to” each other, looking for a mate according to their soul and character. Evidence of spiritual freedom and mental looseness in the relationships of young people is the many love songs and ditties in which women's side does not look passive and dependent at all. Parents and elders were not strict with the behavior of young people, but only before the wedding. But even before marriage, freedom of relationships did not at all mean sexual freedom. There were very clear boundaries of what was permitted, and they were violated very rarely. Both sides, male and female, tried to maintain chastity.
But still, a woman was perceived as an “addition” to a man, and not as an independent, full-fledged person. The existing family was strictly patriarchal.
The image of a woman-mother in Russian literature of the 19th century.
After the 17th century, attitudes towards women and mothers in society gradually changed, with other values and priorities coming to the fore. This can be seen in the number and themes of works by writers of that time. Very few write about mothers, praising their hard work; most of those who write talk about the severity and complexity of a mother’s life, about her difficult fate. This is, for example, Nekrasov. The images of Arina, the soldier’s mother, Matryona Timofeevna from the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” glorify the difficult fate of the Russian peasant woman. Sergei Yesenin dedicated touching lines of poetry to his mother. In Maxim Gorky’s novel “Mother,” Pelageya Nilovna becomes an assistant to her Bolshevik son, and consciousness awakens in her.
But Leo Tolstoy thought about this topic most of all in his novel War and Peace. His Natasha Rostova is the image of motherhood that has been absent from Russian literature for so long. Natasha passionately dreams of a husband and children. Even in her early youth, she felt how unequal the rights and opportunities of women in her circle were compared to the opportunities and rights of men, how narrowly a woman’s life was squeezed. Only in the family, taking part in her husband’s activities, raising children, can she find an application for her strengths. This is her calling, in this she sees her life’s duty, a feat, and with all her soul she strives to fulfill it.
In the person of Pierre Bezukhov, fate gave her the person who was the only one who could understand and appreciate her. At the end of the novel, fate gives her what she always considered herself destined for - a husband, family, children. This is happiness, and it, like love for Pierre, absorbs her completely. It couldn't be any other way. It always seems strange to me when, after reading War and Peace, someone says that Natasha in the epilogue of the novel, immersed in caring for children, in diapers and feeding, jealous of her husband, giving up singing, is a completely different Natasha. But in fact, Natasha was always the same, or rather, her essence was the same - tender, honest, thirsty for the feat of love. We part with our beloved heroine in 1820 on the eve of Nikolai's day, the name day of Nikolai Rostov. The whole family is assembled, everyone is alive, healthy, happy and relatively young. All is well that ends well? But nothing ends even for these people - and, most importantly, the contradiction of life, its struggle, does not end with these characters. The contradiction and struggle are resolved not by the outcome (each of which is always only partial and temporary), not by the plot ending, not by the denouement of the novel. Although in the epilogue there are marriages and families, Tolstoy was still right when he declared that he was unable to set certain “boundaries” to the development of action and his “fictional persons” with this classic literary denouement. Marriages in the finale of “War and Peace”, if there is a definite result of the relationship between individuals, then this result is inconclusive and conditional; it did not destroy the “interest of the narrative” in Tolstoy’s book. This emphasizes the relativity of the outcome itself in the process of life and the idea of the outcome as an attitude to life, a point of view on it. The epilogue rounds off and immediately refutes any kind of rounding of life - individual person or even more so the life of everyone.
The current state of affairs.
Significant changes in the status of women occurred in many countries of the world already in the 20th century, largely under the influence of the Great October revolution. Among the first decrees of the Soviet government were those issued in December 1917: the Decree on civil marriage, children and keeping books, as well as the Decree on divorce. These decrees abolished the laws in force before the revolution that placed women in an unequal position with men in the family, in relation to children, in rights to property, in divorce, and even in choosing a place of residence. After the October Revolution, women in Russia for the first time acquired the right to freely choose a profession and receive an education. Equality of women with men in political, civil rights was enshrined in the first Soviet constitution. And now, when the participation of women in the socio-political life of developed countries has become a common phenomenon, it is worth remembering that Soviet Russia found itself in the top five countries in the world that granted women the right to vote and be elected to the country's representative bodies. On different stages development of the Country of Soviets, specific issues related to the participation of women in government and public life, protection of motherhood and childhood, labor activity women, increasing their general educational and professional level, and others were solved primarily as state tasks.
By 1920 Soviet authority faced complex socio-demographic and socio-medical problems (disorganization of family and marital relations, an increase in the number unwanted pregnancies and abortions, the spread of prostitution, etc.). Unable to cope with them in a civilized way, the authorities turned to repressive measures (recriminalization of homosexuality, restriction of freedom of divorce, ban on abortion). The ideological justification for this policy was Bolshevik sexophobia (“we don’t have sex”). But the goal - strengthening the family and increasing the birth rate - was not achieved. The constitutional establishment of equal rights for women and men was a social achievement of socialism. Unfortunately, in this area, as in other areas of social, political and social life, between the human rights proclaimed in the Constitution of the USSR and their implementation, between word and deed, there was a very significant gap that grew over time. As for the issue of equal rights for men and women, stagnation and lack of progress have actually even led to a certain rollback.
Gender relations found themselves, like other areas of human life, under the control of the state.
The sexual revolution occurred in Russia much later than in other countries - in the early 1990s. In the 90s, and even today in Russia, there was a “striking inequality of chances for women”, a “clear imbalance” in the social positions and opportunities of men and women. It is impossible not to notice that in the late 90s, just as in the late 80s, it was considered “bad form” to talk about the social needs of women, about their political needs and career aspirations. But, as we see, women are moving further and further in “conquering living space.” Thus, the further development of relations between men and women presupposes recognition by society of their equality, equivalence and equal rights.
Although one cannot help but see how low the Mother’s authority has fallen, how people feel about the very thought of a second, not to mention a third, child. I, like many caring people, hope that with changes in demographic policy, the very attitude towards mothers will change. A shift is already noticeable, very weak, but a shift. I think with great hope of a time when people will respect mothers no less than, say, the president or famous actors.
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