Sunday at the Flaubert House

Flaubert

About the author: Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) ), a 19th-century French critical realist writer, was born into a family of doctors for generations and studied law. He has been living in his hometown of Rouen and engaged in creation.

Flaubert lived during the July Monarchy and the Second Empire, when French capitalist society gradually turned from a rising stage to a decadent stage. He was disgusted and disappointed with the ugly reality of capitalism, so he exposed the reality mercilessly, but he also showed pessimism. The masterpiece "Madame Bovary" (1856) reflects the cruel exploitation of peasants under the cover of "economic prosperity" during the July Dynasty and the Second Empire, as well as the mediocre, despicable, corrupt and degenerate social atmosphere. Another important work, "Emotional Education" (1869), reflected the darkness of reality through the cowardice and decadence of the petty bourgeois youth during the 1848 revolution. What Flaubert criticized most was the decline of bourgeois spiritual morality.

Flaubert inherited the tradition of realism and was famous for his meticulous and ruthless portrayal of the characters' mental states. When he dissected characters and reality, he tried not to reveal his emotions. Flaubert is also a linguistic master of French literature, and his writing has always been regarded as a model of French language. He advocated "using a few words to express the distinctive characteristics of a person or thing." In order to refine his sentences, he always worked hard to ensure they were refined and appropriate.

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818～1883)

Russian critical realist writer in the 19th century, born in a hereditary noble family in 1833 He entered the Department of Literature of Moscow State University, and one year later transferred to the Department of Philosophy of Petersburg University, majoring in Chinese. After graduation, he went to the University of Berlin in Germany to study philosophy, history, and Greek and Latin.

In the spring of 1843, Turgenev published a long narrative poem "Balasha" which was well received by Belinsky, and the two established a deep friendship.

From 1847 to 1851, he published his famous work "Hunter's Notes" in the progressive magazine "Modern Man". Appearing in the form of essays written by a hunter while hunting, it includes 25 short stories. While describing the rural landscape, living customs, and portraying the image of farmers, the book profoundly exposes the seemingly civilized and benevolent landlords, but is actually ugly and brutal. It is full of sympathy for the bullied working people, and writes about their intelligence and good moral character. The work's anti-serfdom tendencies offended the authorities, who arrested and exiled Turgenev on the grounds that he violated censorship regulations by publishing an article commemorating Gogol. While in detention, he wrote the famous anti-serfdom short story "Mumu".

The period from the 1850s to the 1870s was the peak period of Turgenev's creation. He successively published novels: "Roting" (1856), "A Noble House" (1859), and "The Night Before" (1860), "Fathers and Sons" (1862), "Smoke" (1867), "Virgin Land" (1859). Among them, "Luo Ting" is his first novel, which created another "superfluous person" image after Onegin and Piccolin. The difference is that Luo Ting died in a Paris street fight in June 1848. middle. "Fathers and Sons" is Turgenev's masterpiece. It reflects the relationship between "father and son" representing the power of different social classes, describes the "old age" of Kirsanov, the representative of the pro-British liberal aristocracy, and shapes the representative of a new generation - the civilian intellectual Bazarov. But Bazarov is also full of contradictions. He is a rebel of the old system, a "nihilist" who denies all old traditions and ideas. He claims to fight, but takes no action. After the novel came out, it caused fierce controversy in the literary world.

Since the 1960s, Turgenev spent most of his time in Western Europe and made friends with many famous writers and artists, such as Zola, Maupassant, Daudet, Goncourt, etc. Participated in the "International Literary Congress" held in Paris and was elected vice president (the chairman was Victor Hugo). Turgenev played a bridge role in the communication between Russian literature and European literature.

Turgenev is a writer with a unique artistic style. He is good at both delicate psychological description and lyricism. The novel has a strict structure, compact plot, and vivid characters. He is especially good at carefully carving the artistic image of women, and his description of the beautiful nature is also full of poetic and picturesque flavor.

Zola was an important critical realist writer in France in the second half of the 19th century and the main advocate of naturalistic literary theory. He wrote dozens of novels throughout his life, the representative of which is "Grudge".

Zola's creations and worldview are full of contradictions: on the one hand, he carries out destructive criticism of the existing system, and on the other hand, he has unrealistic illusions about capitalist society. His creations have their own characteristics from theory to practice. His early works, the short story collection "The Story of Ninon" (1864) and the novel "Claude's Confessions" (1865), are inseparable from the imitation of romantic writers. Later, he gradually became interested in realism and naturalism. Under the influence of Taine's environmental determinism and Claude Bernard's genetic theory, he formed his naturalistic theory: he advocated writing with scientific experimental methods and analyzing characters' physiology and anatomy; writers should be indifferent when writing Record the facts in real life without mixing subjective emotions. But in Zola, both naturalism and realism tendencies are present.

Inspired by Balzac's "Human Comedy", he created a set of 6 million words and a masterpiece "Rougon - The Macquard Family", which is composed of 20 novels and reflects the second generation of France. All aspects of society in the imperial era. The most important ones are "Greed", which describes the strike struggle, and "Collapse", which reflects the Franco-Prussian War, the collapse of the Second Empire, and the uprising of the Paris Commune. He also wrote the trilogy Three Cities, Lourdes (1894), Rome (1896), Paris (1898), and the first three of the Four Gospels: The Procreation (1899) , "Labor" (1901), "Truth" (published in 1903 after the author's death), and the fourth volume "Justice" has not yet been completed. Zola died of gas poisoning on September 29, 1902. His "Little Hotel", "Nana", "Money" and "Women's Paradise" are also very famous.

In 1908, the French Republic government gave Zola a state funeral for his outstanding contribution to French literature during his lifetime and entered him into the Great Hall.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) was the most important writer in Germany and Europe from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century. His life spanned two centuries, at a time when European society was undergoing great social turmoil and great changes. era. The gradual collapse of the feudal system and the continuous rise of revolutionary forces prompted Goethe to continue to accept the influence of advanced ideological trends, thereby deepening his understanding of society and creating the best contemporary works.

Goethe’s works are full of the rebellious spirit of the Sturm und Drang movement, and he has made high achievements in poetry, drama, prose, etc. His main works include the script "Gertz von Burisingen", The novella "The Sorrows of Young Werther", the unfinished poetic drama "Prometheus" and the prototype of the poetic drama "Faust" "Original Faust", in addition to many lyric poems and critical articles.

"Gertz von Burisingen" is Germany's first realist historical drama. Gezi was a fallen knight in Germany in the 16th century. He once participated in a peasant uprising and later betrayed the peasants. As a knight and a representative of a dying class, Gezi rose up against the existing system. It was a tragic confrontation of the knight class against the emperor and feudal lords. However, in Goethe's writings, Goetz was written as a hero who opposed feudal tyranny and fought for freedom and unity. He deeply sympathized with the suffering of the people and rebuked the princes who fought for rights and harmed the country and the people, so he was loved by the people. The play's condemnation of the dark society at that time, its passionate yearning for freedom and unity, and its praise of heroes of personal resistance all reflected the spirit of the Sturm und Drang movement. Artistically, the play adopts the method of Shakespeare's drama creation.

"The Sorrows of Young Werther" is an epistolary novel. The protagonist Werther is a young man born in the city. He longs for a free and equal life and hopes to engage in useful practical work.

However, the society surrounding him is full of caste prejudice and despicable habits. The conservative and corrupt officialdom, the vulgar and submissive citizens, and the arrogant nobles caused constant conflicts between him and the reality around him. He himself fell into a hopeless love and finally embarked on the road of suicide. The conflict between Werther and society has anti-feudal significance. Through Werther's tragedy, the novel exposed and criticized many unreasonable realities in German society at that time, and expressed the revolutionary sentiments of the awakened German youth generation. Therefore, it caused a stir as soon as it was published. The strong response formed a wave of Werther fever, and it soon spread to various European countries, becoming the first literary work from various countries to have a major international impact.

"Prometheus" is a poetic drama by Goethe based on ancient Greek mythology. Although the script has not been completed, the fragments that have been handed down have expressed Goethe's strong anti-feudal spirit in his youth. Prometheus in the play denies Zeus's rights, opposes Zeus's tyranny, and wants to create new humans who share his contempt for Zeus. The tenacity of character that Werther lacked was embodied in this mythical figure.

In the first ten years of Goethe's stay in Weimar, Goethe was immersed in his affairs and rarely created anything. After arriving in Italy, he successively completed some of the works he had begun, writing works such as "Iphigenia in Tauris" and "Egmont", as well as "Tasso" and "Faust" Some chapters.

The script "Egmont" is based on the history of the Dutch people's struggle against Spain in the 16th century. Egmont was a wavering aristocratic opposition in history. Goethe wrote him as a hero who fought for the freedom and unity of the nation and was loved by the people. However, he lacked positive actions and advocated taking mild measures, and was eventually executed. The show still retains the revolutionary sentiment of Sturm und Drang , but the characters' rebellious spirit has been reduced.

"Iphigenia in Tauris" is based on Greek mythology. The protagonist Iphigenia is in a foreign country, but she can impress the king with her perfect conduct and philanthropic heart and change the barbaric culture there. customs and establish norms of humanity and justice.

Goethe’s creations in his later years were extremely rich, such as the autobiographical works "Poetry and Truth", "Travel in Italy", the novel "Affinity" and "The Wandering Times of Wilhelm Meister", a collection of lyric poems "A Collection of West and East", and shortly before his death, he completed the second part of "Faust". These works reflect Goethe's emphasis on practice and his affirmation of working for human happiness, indicating that the positive factors in his thoughts have increased compared with the previous period.

Although "William Meister's Age of Wandering" is not as attractive as "William Meister's Age of Learning", it is centered on exploring the ideal social system and believes that people can only work for the collective. Only through welfare and active labor can we gain the meaning of life, and our minds should be more open-minded and positive. Many of Goethe's lyric poems in his later years shone with the light of materialism and optimism, and they were unique in the German literary world at that time when passive romantic literature was popular. The completion of the second part of "Faust" particularly prominently reflects Goethe's new ideological and artistic development in his later years.

Goethe died of illness on March 22, 1832. Goethe is the most outstanding representative of German national literature. His creations raised German literature to the advanced level of Europe and made great contributions to the development of European literature.

There is another one that cannot be found in Gaul