The female images of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" are unusually expressive: the proud and courageous Aksinya, the industrious and meek Natalya, the majestic and wise Ilyinichna, the spontaneous and young Dunyasha. This work, created by Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov, was published in parts from 1928 to 1940. The image of Aksinya in the novel "Quiet Don" will be considered in this article.
Briefly about Aksinya
Aksinya in the work was first a mistress, and then an illegal wife. She accompanies him throughout the novel. This girl is a native Cossack who was accustomed to hard peasant labor and was fully subject to the prejudices of her class. Aksinya is a whole, strong nature with an emotional, direct character. She is capable of decisive actions, cannot lie and be content with easy relationships. In her life, the main thing is the realization of her feminine essence. This is briefly Aksinya ("Quiet Flows the Don"). The characteristic can be supplemented with various details. Let's present it in more detail.
The appearance of the heroine and her inner essence
Describing the image of Aksinya in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don", one should certainly dwell on her appearance. This heroine is a woman of great charm, captivating inner and outer beauty. She has plump, greedy lips, plump shoulders, a swarthy chiseled neck. The girl is proud of her alluring, defiantly bright beauty. However, not the appearance, but the spiritualized, passionate and strong nature, the inner wealth of the heroine, the great power of her love, is poeticized in the work of Sholokhov.
Status in the Aksinya family
Aksinya has been unhappy since childhood. She knew very early the bitterness of the slavish position of a woman in a difficult pre-revolutionary time. Life with Stepan Astakhov, an unloved husband, was a continuation of such a bleak fate. Issued for beatings and abuse, hard labor and humiliation, the girl did not want to submit to the tyranny of her husband.
The beginning of an affair with Gregory
During the first meeting at the Don with Grigory, and then in the episode of fishing, the heroine removes the caresses of this man, she is afraid of the persistence with which Grigory Melekhov flirts with her. However, she soon discovers, to her horror, that she is drawn to this guy. Aksinya was frightened by a new feeling that filled her whole. She is unable to overcome him and therefore comes to Gregory herself. Since then, the girl seemed to be reborn. Love straightened her out. She now walks proudly, carrying her happy head high, not hiding and not ashamed of people.
Aksinya's great determination and determination are combined with integrity and subtlety of feelings, with human kindness and sensitivity. The image of Aksinya in the novel "Quiet Don" would be incomplete if not to mention how she takes care of children. She treats her little daughter with tenderness, deeply experiences her death. With maternal care and affection, Aksinya bribes Mishatka. She will truly replace the mother of Grigory's children after the death of Natalya.
Aksinya's speech
The image of Aksinya (the novel "Quiet Flows the Don") can be supplemented with a characterization of the speech of this heroine. In Aksinya's speech, warmth and immeasurable cordiality are felt. It is filled with diminutive words ("my friend", "my spikelet", "kids", "Mishatka"). The heroine's speech changes dramatically when she defends her lover, fights for Gregory. In a fit of anger, Aksinya in the novel "Quiet Don" does not skimp on rude expressions in which her inflexibility and perseverance are felt.
Aging Aksinya
Sholokhov speaks with gentle lyricism about the experiences of his heroine as she begins to age. The image of Aksinya in the novel "Quiet Don" at this time is changing. The writer compares the heroine with a withering lonely lily of the valley. Aksinya examines through her tears a dying flower, but suddenly bursting into flame under the sun. She inhales the smell of lily of the valley, sees that mortal decay has touched him. The heroine recalls her own youth, a long life poor in joys. Aksinya falls asleep, burying her tear-stained face in her hands.
The writer notices noticeable changes in the appearance of the heroine of the novel "Quiet Don". The image of Aksinya is complemented by new features. Before meeting Grigory, she looked excitedly at her aged, but still beautiful face. "Alluring beauty" remained, but the autumn of life had already thrown faded colors on her cheeks, turned yellow her eyelids, and spun gray cobwebs into them. Mournful fatigue looked out of his eyes, which Sholokhov notes ("Quiet Flows the Don"). Aksinya is no longer the blooming girl we meet at the beginning of the novel.
The attitude of the heroine to the revolutionary events
In her own way, this heroine tried to find a way to a better life. Aksinya was far from participating in revolutionary events. However, her fate depended on their outcome. Aksinya longed for freedom. For her sake, she was ready to sacrifice at any time the economy, peace, to leave "fuck to the ends of the world" from her native places. However, the heroine we are interested in was blinded by love. This limitation of hers, born of the conditions in which the girl grew up, is reflected in the novel Quiet Flows the Don. The image of Aksinya is such that she lives outside the interests of society, does not know other ways to fight for her own happiness, for a fair attitude towards herself, except for consistency and sincerity in love for Grigory Melekhov, faith in him, selfless devotion to her beloved. For her, there was nothing but Gregory. When he was absent, the world died for her and was reborn when Gregory was near. Aksinya, not interested in what Melekhov is fighting for, follows him blindly, thinks only of him and loves him alone.
Devotion to Aksinya
Aksinya, with growing tension, was imbued with more and more anxiety for the person with whom she connected all her life, all the hopes of finding happiness. She shares with all adversity. Aksinya, in search of "her share," goes recklessly with him into the unknown, beckoning her with "illusory happiness." The heroine admits honestly that she was "twisted" by longing for her lover. Aksinya herself, not knowing what awaits her ahead, why and where she is going, admits that she is ready to go even to death with Grigory. She shed many tears during sleepless nights. However, the whole world again seemed bright and jubilant to her after Gregory returned.
The image of Aksinya is such that even love for a child is for her a continuation of her passion for Melekhov, and not a feeling that is rooted in patriarchal family relationships. The tragedy is aggravated by the death of a child and a lack of understanding of the social upheavals taking place in society. As a result, Aksinya finally loses the possibility of "rooting herself in the family" - that which is the main thing for women in her environment. Aksinya also believes this time that she will find "her share" with a loved one, and dies tragically with this belief on the way.
The meaning of the image of Aksinya
A sympathetic attitude towards Aksinya's passion has long been established in literary criticism. Her forbidden love in the 1930s was interpreted as a protest against the social norms of the old world, even as a hymn to free love. The image of Aksinya is among the heroines who love selflessly, but due to tragic circumstances, they are unable to connect with their beloved. Those who give their beloved a sense of the meaning of life and its fullness. Such is Aksinya ("Quiet Flows the Don"), whose characteristics were presented in this article.
Love in the life of Grigory Melekhov
Every person almost daily has to overcome trials of loyalty and betrayal, conscience and dishonor, justice, cowardice, friendship, responsibility. These trials no doubt force us to make our moral choices. One of the highest standards of humanity, morality is, of course, the test of love. There are many examples in fiction that convincingly prove the idea that sincere, honest, true love is the most important value in life. How can one not remember Evgeny Bazarov from I.S. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”, Evgeny Onegin and Tatyana Larina from A.S. Pushkin’s novel, Leo Tolstoy’s favorite heroes?! Mikhail Sholokhov, the author of the novel Quiet Flows the Don, also loves his main character, Grigory Melekhov.
Grigory Melekhov ... What does love mean to him? The greatest happiness or a heavy cross? What is his love - creative or destructive?
At the beginning of the novel, we have young Grigory in front of us: “half a head taller than Peter, at least six years younger, the same drooping vulture nose as Bati, blue tonsils of hot eyes in slightly oblique slits, sharp cheekbones covered with brown ruddy skin. Grigory stooped in the same way as his father, even in a smile both had something in common, animalistic. Gregory's appearance betrays a hot, quick-tempered character. Warmly, truly, he fell in love with his neighbor Aksinya, the beautiful wife of Stepan Astakhov. Unexpected meetings with Don awakened deep feelings in his soul, so he grows cold with fear when it seemed to him that Aksinya was drowning, desperately rushes to save her from the cold, black depths. After the Trinity, the Melekhovs go to the mowing and take Aksinya with them. And here “Aksinya was relentlessly in his thoughts; half-closing his eyes, he mentally kissed her, spoke to her from somewhere hot and affectionate words that came to her tongue. Aksinya, who married Stepan not for love, could not help but surrender to her feelings. M. Sholokhov, resorting to a vivid comparison, speaks of this as follows: “Not an azure scarlet color, but a dog’s fury, a drunken roadside woman’s love blooms.” Love for Gregory regenerates Aksinya, and nothing frightens her: neither the gossip of peasant women, nor the thought of her husband. “For the rest of my life I will love you bitterly!” - he shouts in anger to Panteley Prokofievich, who came to shame her.
Aksinya is disinterested, selfless in love, and Grigory begins to listen to the opinions of others, obeys the will of his father, he is to some extent indifferent to the fate of Aksinya, at certain moments in him male egoism takes precedence over love. Aksinya asks him about the future, about how Stepan will react to their connection, and in response - “how do I know”, “I shouldn’t be afraid of him, you are a wife, you are afraid.” Aksinya is ready to follow her beloved even to the ends of the world, calling him to leave the farm for the mines. But Gregory is too attached to the house, the farm, the land, and therefore flatly refuses: “Well, where will I go from the farm? .. I won’t touch the land anywhere.”
The first love in Grigory's life became his great love for life, and he, still young, inexperienced, frivolous, did not at first realize his happiness. Maybe that's why the hero easily, without resisting, fulfills the will of his father, hopes to forget Aksinya and marries Natalya Korshunova, who was also captivated by the Cossack prowess, hardworking character, Grishka's external beauty.
Devotion, sincerity, purity of Natalia do not find a response in the heart of Gregory. Marriage did not cool his feelings for Aksinya, he understands: nothing will make him forget Aksinya, break their shameless, criminal, according to others, connection: “Three weeks later, with fear and anger, he realized in his soul that he had not completely something like a thorn in the heart…”.
The hero does not cheat, does not deceive, he directly, openly admits to Natalya that he does not love her. The conversation takes place at night in the steppe. Using the language of nature, M. Sholokhov conveys the mental anguish of Natalia - lonely, yearning, suffering from indifference. We see “an inaccessible starry place”, “a shady ghostly cover of a floating ... cloud”, herbs that smell “dreary, deadly”.
Grigory, in search of happiness, leaves his home, leaves the farm with Aksinya. The relationship between the characters is very complicated. Upon learning of Aksinya's pregnancy, Grigory begins to doubt his paternity, and she withdraws into herself, they move away from each other. Gregory soon leaves for the war. The coldness of Gregory, the death of his daughter finally broke Aksinya, and she, trying to get rid of unbearable loneliness, mental pain, "unspent longing", decided on a sinful relationship with Yevgeny Listnitsky. So distrust and indifference again become a serious test of the love of Grigory and Aksinya. The hero returns to Natalya. She becomes the mother of his children, affectionate and selfless. The birth of a son and daughter, it would seem, binds Grigory to the house, awakens paternal feelings in him, but some time passes, and he again leaves for Aksinya.
Gregory's mental turmoil emphasizes his contradictory, passionate nature. Natalya sees that Grigory sincerely wants to tear the feeling for Aksinya out of his soul, but little by little she becomes convinced that this is impossible. Aksinya desperately fights for Grigory's love, and Natalya has to fight not only with this fatal love, but also with fate itself. It cannot be said that Grigory does not love Natalya. It is impossible not to love her, because it is on women like her that the house, family, and the whole world rest. Natalya is very faithful, devoted, and she strikes Gregory with "some kind of pure inner beauty."
The fatal love triangle is broken by life itself. At the end of the novel, we see Aksinya, no longer a rival, no longer a lover with the magical power of her beauty. The heroine prays for Gregory, caresses his orphaned children. But the war destroys both Aksinya and love itself: Grigory, “dead with horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened.” He digs her grave with his own hands. A feeling of terrible loneliness and complete indifference to the world covers him. “He said goodbye to her, firmly believing that they would part for a short time ...”, writes M. Sholokhov.
Gregory's love is sublime and earthly, bright and sad, joyful and tragic. For Aksinya, Natalya and the hero himself, their feelings are both the greatest happiness, and a heavy cross, a tragedy. The life of Gregory, sometimes indifferent and selfish, sometimes unable to forgive, understand, was illuminated by the passionate, disinterested, selfless love of Aksinya and the pure, devoted love of Natalya. Who knows, maybe he will be able to surround his son Mishatka with this love: “It was all that remained in his life, which still made him related to the earth and to all this huge world shining under the cold sun.”
Rudskikh Anzhelika, 11th grade A
The epic novel "Quiet Don" touches on many topical issues, one of which is the theme of love. Love dictates its own rules of life, the fate of a person often depends on it. Relations between people are not always built easily and painlessly, often a person has to make difficult decisions, choose. It is in this situation that the hero of the novel by M. Sholokhov, Grigory Melekhov, finds himself, the events of his personal life develop in such a way that for several years he has been faced with a choice: Natalya or Aksinya?
Love in Grigory's life begins with a youthful infatuation with Aksinya Astakhova, a married woman. At that time, he still did not take his feelings seriously, so he chose the way of life familiar to a Cossack and, obeying the will of his father, married Natalya, a truly Russian woman. She fell in love with Grigory at first sight: “I love Grishka, but I won’t marry anyone else.”
But Natalia's love was not reciprocated, the main character does not love his wife, he admits that "there is nothing in my heart ... Empty." Living with Natalya, Melekhov reproaches her unfairly, as she is faithful to her duty as a wife and mother, and, despite her husband's dislike, tries to save her family. Gradually, Grigory's attitude towards his wife changes: he becomes more tolerant, more affectionate. Natalya for him is the personification of the family hearth, a caring mother, her loyalty and devotion could not evoke a spiritual response from Gregory. But, despite this, the family life of the Melekhovs does not develop happily: Aksinya always quietly exists between Grigory and Natalya, whom he loves throughout his life.
However, despite the passionate feelings, Grigory's relationship with Aksinya is also not flawless. Both heroes are rebels by nature, they throw down a kind of challenge to the usual way of life of the Cossacks, traditions and customs, leaving their families behind. Their relationship is extremely complex: they constantly experience severe separations, quarrels, misunderstandings, thereby turning their love into an insurmountable torment. Grigory at some point tries to overcome his passion for Aksinya, but cannot do it.
In the love triangle described by M. Sholokhov, no one becomes truly happy. Love for all three is suffering, an ordeal that cannot be overcome. Gregory for a long time doubted the choice between the two women. Fate decided everything for him, and very cruelly: death took both of them, and at the most difficult moment of his life, the protagonist remains alone. He realizes that he himself is indirectly guilty of the death of both, and this aggravates his life drama. He takes Aksinya's death especially hard: "He buried his Aksinya in the bright morning light ... He said goodbye to her, firmly believing that they would not part for long."
Love relationships occupy an important place in the life of heroes. The reader does not doubt for a moment the sincerity of the feelings of the characters, but it was they who became fatal for them: destinies were broken, happiness was destroyed. M. Sholokhov in his novel accurately reflected one of the most urgent problems of the time - the problem of human relationships, requiring everyone to be able to make decisions in difficult situations, to deal with life circumstances. Often, fate cruelly controls destinies, taking away from people the most important and priceless, but you need to find the strength in yourself to live on, try to correct those mistakes that prevented you from building a happy life.
Images of female Cossacks in the novel by M. A. Sholokhov "Quiet Flows the Don"
From the novel by M. Sholokhov "Quiet Flows the Flows of the Flows the Don" we learn about the most difficult time in the life of Russia, which brought enormous social and moral upheavals, when habitual ways of life collapsed, destinies were distorted and broken, human life was devalued. Sholokhov himself characterized his work as "an epic novel about a national tragedy." There is not a single character in the novel who has not been touched by the grief and horrors of war. The special burden of this time fell on the shoulders of female Cossacks.
The figure of the Cossack mother Ilyinichna, a simple elderly woman, is monumental. In her youth, she was beautiful and stately, but she grew old prematurely from hard work and because of the sharp temper of her husband, Panteley Prokofievich, "who reached unconsciousness in anger." The strong, wise Ilyinichna constantly fusses, worries and takes care of all the household members, tries in every possible way to protect them from troubles, adversities, from rash acts; stands between her husband, who is uncontrollable in anger, and proud, temperamental sons, for which he receives blows from her husband, who, feeling the advantage of his wife in everything, thus asserts himself.
She loves and knows how to dress beautifully, unlike her husband; she keeps the house in strict order, economical, prudent. She does not approve of Grigory’s connection with Aksinya: “How long should I take such a fear in my old age?” She treats Aksinya coldly, but during the war, worries about her loved one and waiting for news from him brought them closer.
Ilyinichna takes Natalya, the younger daughter-in-law, like her own daughter, pities her, trying to take on some of the worries or shift them to the lazy Daria, as she remembers "her hunchbacked life in work." She is hurt that Grigory is cheating on his wife and brings Natalya to a suicide attempt; Ilyinichna feels guilty and responsible for this. The death of her beloved, dear "Natalyushka" shocked the old woman.
Ilyinichna is madly in love with her grandchildren, seeing them as her bloodlines. All her life she, not sparing her health, worked, making good bit by bit. And when the situation forces her to drop everything and leave the farm, she declares: "Let them kill you at the threshold - everything is easier than dying under someone else's wattle fence!" This is not greed, but the fear of losing one's nest, roots, without which a person loses the meaning of life. She understands this with a feminine, maternal instinct, and it is impossible to convince her otherwise.
She did not accept the Reds, she called them antichrists and felt that they brought destruction, a threat to the established life, the end of the measured Cossack life. However, she is also critical of the Cossacks, noticing excesses on both sides.
She appreciates in people honesty, decency, purity; afraid that the cruelty surrounding them will affect the soul and consciousness of the grandson of Mishatka. She resigned herself to the idea that the murderer of her son Peter became a member of their family by marrying Dunyashka; the old mother does not want to go against the feelings of her daughter, and besides, man's strength is needed in the household.
Most of all, Ilyinichna was afraid of the death of Grigory, because during the year she buried her eldest son, husband, daughter-in-law. He was the last thread holding her in this world; she even became cold to her grandchildren. She fell ill, and did not get up again; recalling the past years, Ilyinichna was surprised, "how short and poor this life turned out to be, and how much hard and sadness was in it, which I did not want to remember."
The life of Ilyinichna is tragic, because there is nothing more painful than the grief of a mother losing her children, and there is nothing stronger than her hope, there is no courage greater than the courage of a mother.
The novel reveals the image of Aksinya - a proud Don Cossack woman who has endured a lot on her difficult life path. Beautiful, stately, perceiving life very emotionally and impulsively, she, like any woman, wanted happiness, but troubles fell on her head early: at the age of sixteen, her father raped her, a year later Aksinya was married to the unloved Stepan Astakhov, who beat her with a mortal combat; the early death of a child, exhausting housework alone, since the husband was lazy, he liked to take a walk: "having combed his forelock", he disappeared from the house at night.
Her heart wanted love, her soul was torn to freedom, so Aksinya responded to the courtship of Grigory Melekhov. A huge, all-consuming love flared up, burning in its fire the fear of her husband and his beatings, the shame of fellow villagers. Grigory's marriage to Natalya makes Aksinya suffer; after a long separation, when she saw him near the river, she felt "how the yoke turned cold under her hands and the blood of whiskey showered with heat", tears covered her eyes. Aksinya realized that it was impossible and useless to fight this feeling. Upon learning that they are again furtively meeting, the father kicks Gregory out of the house. Aksinya, without hesitation, follows her beloved.
Their life as workers at the landowner Listnitsky was difficult and dramatic: the birth of a child, Grigory's suspicions, his departure for the service, the death of his daughter, despair, loneliness and grief of Aksinya, the master's son, "comforter", turned up at an unkind hour. Returning from the service, Grigory learns about Aksinya's betrayal and, offended, returns to his wife. Aksinya remains alone, but not for long, because "not an azure scarlet color - a drunken roadside blooms a late woman's love." Life repeatedly separates them and again throws them into each other's arms.
Regardless of wars, revolutions, all the humiliations, the ambiguity of his position, Aksinya desperately seeks Grigory wherever he calls. Once it almost cost her her life, but the severe, debilitating illness receded. The return to life was so joyful that everything around evoked an unreasonable feeling of happiness, fullness and unity with spring and nature: “She wanted to touch the currant bush blackened from dampness, press her cheek against the branch of an apple tree covered with a bluish velvety bloom ... and go there, where ... a winter field was fabulously green, merging with the foggy distance ... " Aksinya organically fits into nature; whatever she does, she does it naturally, harmoniously: whether she cooks dinner for Gregory, whether she carries water, whether she works in the field. She always patiently waits for Gregory, loves, pities his children left without a mother, takes care of them. However, Gregory's throwing between different political camps does not bring happiness and peace to anyone, but leads to Aksinya's senseless death.
Also tragic is the fate of another Cossack woman, Natalya, Grigory's wife. Beautiful, unrequitedly loving her unlucky husband all her life, she never (even in her thoughts) cheated on him. Nature is maximalistly direct, she makes an attempt at suicide. Left crippled, Natalya still loves her husband and hopes for his return to the family. To complete dedication, forgetting herself, she loves children, in every line of them noticing the resemblance to her beloved husband.
All the Melekhovs love her; even the stern Pantelei Prokofievich, who does not give anyone a descent, regrets and stands up for her, as for her own daughter. Natalia is hardworking, responsive, kind, patient; she repeatedly forgives Gregory's betrayals, but finally she can't stand it and decides to leave him. Everything ends tragically: in the prime of life, Natalya dies from a large loss of blood, leaving her children orphans, but until her last breath she thinks and talks about her husband, forgives him all the bad words and deeds.
Natalya's death made Grigory take a different look at her: "... memory persistently resurrected ... insignificant episodes of life together, conversations ... a living, smiling Natalya stood up before his eyes. He recalled her figure, gait, manner of straightening her hair, her smile, the intonation of her voice ... "Having killed Natalya, Grigory doomed himself to eternal torment of conscience.
The image of Daria, the wife of Peter Melekhov, appears before us completely different in its moral qualities. She is also beautiful, but with some kind of vicious, snake-like beauty, slender, flexible, with a wobbling gait, lazy to work, but a great lover of gatherings and feasts. She does not know how to suffer and worry for a long time; after the murder of her husband, she recovered very quickly, "at first she was sad, turned yellow with grief, and even seemed to grow old. But as soon as the spring breeze blew, the sun warmed up, and Darya's longing left along with the melting snow."
And Daria set off in all serious ways, not burdening herself with the limits of decency, entering into casual relationships with men. Daria gets sick. Knowing what awaits her, she decided, under the guise of repentance, to confess to Natalya, which contributed to the secret meeting between Grigory and Aksinya. However, the insightful Natalya understands: "... it was not out of pity that you confessed how you pandered, but so that it would be hard for me ..." Daria replies to this: "That's right! .. Judge for yourself, shouldn't I suffer alone?" pity and compassion for anyone, she didn’t really love anyone: “But I didn’t happen to love a single one. I loved like a dog, somehow, as I had to ... and I would be different? But life is lived, and Daria, without waiting for her shameful end, drowns herself.
We met Dunyasha, the youngest of the Melekhovs, when she was still a long-armed, big-eyed teenager with thin pigtails. Growing up, Dunyasha turns into a black-browed, slender and proud Cossack woman with an obstinate and persistent Melekhovsky character. Having fallen in love with Mishka Koshevoy, she does not want to think about anyone else, despite the threats of her father, mother, brother. All the tragedies with the household are played out before her eyes. The death of his brother, Daria, Natalya, father, mother, niece takes Dunyasha very close to his heart. But, despite all the losses, you need to live on.
M. Sholokhov in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" with amazing skill painted images of ordinary Cossack women. Their fate cannot but excite the reader: you become infected with their humor, laugh at their colorful jokes, rejoice at their happiness, feel sad with them, cry when their life ends so absurdly and senselessly, in which, unfortunately, there were more difficulties, sorrows, loss than joy and happiness.
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(374 words) Love line in M.A. Sholokhov "Quiet Don" is represented by two characters: Aksinya and Natalya. These women have a huge impact on Grigory Melekhov as the story progresses. Throwing the protagonist between them occupy one of the most important places in the entire work. Two women who sincerely love Gregory express radically opposite systems of views.
Aksinya lived a really hard life. She was raped by her own father, overwhelmed by her husband, and her life was filled with constant work and worries. She is trying with all her might to find her happiness, and at the very beginning of the novel she finds it in Grishka. The heroine gives herself entirely to love, and in her passion she is relentless and selfish. To destroy the family, to humiliate Natalya, to disgrace her husband - she is ready to do anything, if only Gregory would stay with her. Aksinya symbolizes the passionate beginning of love, it was her emotionality, sensuality and thirst for freedom, contrary to the patriarchal mores of the Cossacks, that attracted the chosen one to her. But, living solely on emotions, she, having received false information about the death of her beloved, cheats on him with the young nobleman Listnitsky.
Natalya, on the other hand, represents exactly the same centuries-old Cossack way of life that Aksinya and Grigory so hate. She sincerely loves her husband, although she was married to him under an agreement between the parents of the families. Unfortunately, Grishka cannot answer her in kind. Tender, but cold and sparse in emotions, Natalya does not attract him. The heroine tries to steadfastly survive her husband's escape, but in the end she goes to Aksinya, begging her to return the man, and then completely unsuccessfully tries to kill herself.
It would seem that Aksinya won a decisive victory, but after her betrayal, Grigory, deeply disappointed, returns to his lawful wife, who accepts and forgives him. It was during this period that Natalia reveals her true beauty. She is the epitome of family in the novel, and even though she cannot be compared to Aksinya, Grigory and Natalya form a strong family, have children and live a truly happy life.
However, this happiness is short-lived. The empire collapses, civil war begins. In these difficult times, familiar values, like family or brotherhood, are crumbling and forgotten. Grigory, hourly risking his life on the front line, again cheats on his wife with Aksinya. Natalya cannot stand the repeated betrayal, curses her husband, has an abortion and soon dies.
Aksinya and Natalya represent two opposite concepts of love - breathtaking irresistible passion and modest, quiet family happiness. Characteristically, Melekhov ends up losing both Natalya and Aksinya, which reminds us of the trials people go through during the turning points of history.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!The relationship between the Don Cossack Grigory Melekhov and his beloved, the Cossack woman Aksinya Astakhova, is one of the main plot lines of Mikhail Sholokhov's epic novel The Quiet Don. The very nature of this love was already very difficult from the very beginning, but the situation was further complicated by the fact that the heroes had a difficult fate - to live in a terrible time for our country, during the First World War and the Civil War.
The novel of heroes begins to develop rapidly even when relative peace and tranquility reign on the Tatarsky farm. The ardent and persistent Grigory with a "bestial" look and similar habits begins to actively court the married woman Aksinya, tempting her with his "persistent and waiting" love. A young Cossack woman realizes with horror that “she is drawn to a black affectionate guy”, she resists her feeling for a long time, but living with her husband Stepan and silently enduring all the beatings and other bullying on his part is unbearable for her, so she decides to open up to her love.
From this moment on, the life of the heroes changes dramatically: the seductive forbidden relationship makes young people very happy and incredibly unhappy at the same time. The relationship between Grigory and Aksinya is destined to endure many trials: parting and separation, hatred and jealousy of the legal spouses of each of the heroes, war, the death of a common child and treason. But, despite this, the love of young people is only growing stronger every day, and both of them realize that they “have no urine” to live without each other.
At the same time, the connection between Grigory and Aksinya breaks the fate of other people. First of all, the fate of Natalya Korshunova. Aksinya cannot come to terms with the fact that Grigory is married to this “happy, neither sorrow nor joy of love who has not seen” girl and therefore decides “on a new dishonor, on the former shame” and takes her Grishka away from Natalya. But Gregory himself is not averse to being in such a position, so he constantly rushes between his two women, until, finally, Natalya dies, trying to get rid of their child together with Gregory.
Aksinya also becomes a victim of her own love: a woman is killed by the Red Army while she, along with Grigory, is trying to leave for the Kuban. The true tragedy of this situation lies in the fact that Aksinya dies precisely when, finally, after all the suffering that has befallen her, the heroine is reunited with her lover again, and the unknown beckons her with “illusory happiness”.
We see how a "quiet smile" does not leave Aksinya's lips all the time, how joyfully her eyes "swollen from tears" shine. The woman is sure that at last she and Grigory will find "their share", but cruel fate deprives them of this chance. She takes away the beloved from the man, forcing the hero to "dead" from horror, holding the dying Aksinya in her arms.
Now Grigory's life is becoming black, "like the steppe scorched by fires," because all the dearest things that he had are leaving it, and only children remain. It is to them, or rather, to the only surviving son, Mishatka, that Gregory eventually returns, since only this can now betray at least some sense of his “broken” life and make the hero “cling to the ground”.