the 1840s and 1850s were hard times for writers and artists in russia. the political system did not allow them to express themselves as they wanted to. many intelligent russians left the country and went to england, france and germany. in 1852 turgenev himself was put in prison for a month for praising nikolai gogol – a famous russian writer who had been criticised by the ruling powers in the country. in 1854, turgenev moved to western europe and started writing his novel "rudin", which complained about the russia of the 1840s and 1850s.