The images of priests in the epic poems 'Who Is Happy in Russia?' by Nikolay Nekrasov and 'The Land of the Fathers' by Sergey Gusev-Orenburgsky

The article analyses the symbolic correspondences between the image of the priest in the epic poems “Who Is Happy in Russia?” by Nikolay Nekrasov and “The Land of the Fathers” by Sergey Gusev-Orenburgsky. The author of the work turns to the process of creating the image of the priest by Nikolay Nekrasov and shows the duality of this figure, which arose due to the fact that at first the poet used to take a dislike to the priest, but gradually Nikolay Nekrasov approached the assessment of the environment precisely from the position of religious consciousness in his best works. In the final text, the poet, as it were, combined two views: the impression of the priest’s well-fed and contented life, expressed by Luka the peasant, and the peculiar ideal of the life of a priest as the spiritual father of the people. Creatively mastering many of Nikolay Nekrasov's finds and achievements, his images of fighters and truth-lovers, at the turn of the 19th century, Sergey Gusev-Orenburgsky created an example of an autobiographical hero breaking with his environment, embodying in the artistic world of the story, but this time in relation to different heroes, the dual assessment of Nikolay Nekrasov’s priests. Following Nikolay Nekrasov, Sergey Gusev-Orenburgsky looked for real figures among the people who acted in accordance with Christian ethics, who could not isolate themselves from the world and who thought about the happiness of the people.