The development of N. A. Nekrasov's religious consciousness

The problem of N. A. Nekrasov's religiosity, especially its biographical aspect, has not been studied well. As for the sources of information about the dogma of Orthodoxy, in his poetic texts Nekrasov shows considerable awareness of spiritual issues, as they are addressed by the church and the Holy Fathers of the Church. The poet is interested in Orthodox hagiography. His source of information could be, first of all, the so-called popular Orthodoxy. The question remains open about the formation of Nekrasov's religiosity at an early age, about the nature of his spiritual disposition. This article attempts, on the one hand, to present a complete picture of the religious life of the Nekrasov family, which is currently available to us from isolated fragments, and, on the other, to understand the role of his mother, Elena Alexandrovna, as well as the accompanying factors that influenced the primary organization of his religious aspirations. The author suggests that the religious and general romantic mood of the poet’s worldview, inherited from his mother are inseparable. There is no doubt that the high civic pathos of Nekrasov's poetry, developed under the influence of the poet's revolutionary democratic environment, was formed on the childhood basis of a «holy», romantic religious outlook and the perception of life as care for the weak and disadvantaged – in which the main role was played by Nekrasov's mother. The protest pathos of Nekrasov's poetry acquires an unconventional meaning because subjectively, in the poet's own mind, it grows directly out of the ideals of the Gospel.