Базаров и Рязанов: романтический архетип в русской литературе

The article examines the presentation of the protagonist as alienated radical activist in the novels “Ottsy i deti” (“Fathers and Sons”) and “Trudnoe vremia” (“Hard Times”). Both Ivan Turgenev and Vasily Sleptsov draw on ideological and social questions of the day, yet each also creates a protagonist situated within a literary context. The Romantic hero, particularly as defined by Byron, is the major paradigm for Turgenev’s Bazarov, while Sleptsov adopts a more skeptical approach in the portrayal of his Riazanov. Also examined is the relation of the protagonist to an anti-radical foil: the fading humanist Pavel Kirsanov, with his cultured “Westernizer” (zapadnik) values; and the ameliorist landowner Shchetinin, whose liberal plans are questioned by Riazanov. The article also compares the protagonists’ relations to the main female characters, Odinstova and Shchetinina. In this case Turgenev reverts to a Romantic mode of portrayal — that of a great love denied. Sleptsov, on the other hand, seems to anticipate a Chekhovian mode, with his nuanced dialogue between Riazanov and Shchetinina. With their discussion of social goals and ideals, personal passion is muted in favor of personal empathy and mutual respect.