The Village of Stepanchikovo
The Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants (Russian Село Степанчиково и его обитатели ) is a 1858 short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky incurred, which first appeared in November and December 1859 in the journal " The Annals of the Fatherland " ( Otetschestwennye Sapiski ).
Action
The main character of the novel is about the 40 -year-old, was widowed Colonel Yegor Rostanew. He lives on the estate inherited by him Stepanchikovo together with his two children and his widowed mother also. Also on Rostanews estate lives a certain Foma Opiskin, formerly a minor official, later Secretary of the deceased husband of Rostanews mother, now a completely untalented writer, but his work and his own, completely void personality in a narcissistic way, attaches very much importance. The uneducated, stupid mother Rostanews revered Foma, who may live in Stepanchikovo as boarders and there everywhere enjoys respect, even if he strikes again by pseudo-intellectual condescension and despotism against the servants. Your son, at his expense, she lives, not like Rostanews mother, however, since he married his time, without obtaining their blessing for this. As the secret love Rostanews to the much younger governess Nastenka is more or less obviously, wants his mother, who can be influenced by old-fashioned moral views Fomas, prevent the possible marriage of the two and insists that her son instead, the aging heiress Tatiana Ivanovna married. The characterless and good-natured Rostanew, for his mother's will seems to be holy, writes on their existence to his nephew Sergei, a living in St. Petersburg students, he may come to Stepanchikovo and ask the pretty but penniless Nastenka for her hand. Sergei, who portrays in the novel as narrator the story from the perspective of an eyewitness, travels there soon thereafter. The obvious hypocrisy Fomas and the ruling to this cult of personality disgust him, but he can not do anything at first against the supposed superiority of Rostanews mother and Foma. As Foma Rostanew spied on and caught him in the garden with a secret tryst with Nastenka ( which also Sergei is clear that Nastenka only Rostanew loves and that his letter was probably written reluctantly ), he puts the two on the following day before all the residents of the building only. Rostanew throws him into a fit of rage out of the house, but must yield to his mother, who begs him weeping, retrieve Foma again. After he has done that, to Foma is generous and gives Rostanew and Nastenka his blessing, making it part of the inhabitants of Stepanchikovo learns more respect that Rostanew also pays tribute to him. After Foma died a few years later ( about the reader learns in the summary description of the final chapter ) and Rostanew and Sergei take the remaining manuscripts in inspection, the nullity Fomas as a writer and artist is finally clear ( " they [the manuscript ] is all presented as the wretched trash out ").
Background
The short novel was published after its completion in 1859 in the journal Otetschestwennyje Sapiski and 1860 first printed as a book. At the time the book was met with criticism mainly on a cool echo, after Dostoevsky's death in particular the description of the figure of the sanctimonious hypocrite Foma Opiskin became exceedingly popular. Chance saw literary critic in this figure bonds in Moliere 's Tartuffe or the writer Nikolai Gogol. Some other characters of the book interact with their unconditional nod to Foma very funny; mention is about the servant Widopljassow who tries repeatedly unsuccessful as a poet ( his verses he titled himself as Widopljassows lamentations (Russian Вопли Видоплясова ); under this name was called in 1987 the Ukrainian rock band Vopli Vidopliassova ).