Saltykov-Ščedrin et la religion

Abstract

Catherine Bielik, Saltykov-Shchedrin and religion. It is strange to note the lack of interest in Saltykov-Shchedrin and the reactions that he awakens: in most cases as hackneyed as the stereotyped personality ascribed to him. However, a careful perusal of his works reveals not only an extremely complex character but also and above all, the fact that while denouncing social wrongs, he was especially preoccupied with the connection between these wrongs and conventional ethics. He based himself solely on Christian principles which had been taught to him since childhood and in this light he attacked the state and social structure and fought ugliness borne of amorality and lack of ethics. To the end of his life, Saltykov-Shchedrin proclaimed the necessity of religious and therefore moral education and of faith ruling everyday life and not only expectation of the other world. In his opinion, it is such faith that would enable human beings to resist evil and attain complete humanity.