Despite words and tastes
And contrary to wishes
On us from the faded line
Suddenly there is an air of charm.
What a strange thing for these days,
It is by no means a secret for us.
But there is dignity in it too:
She's sentimental!
Lines from the first performance “ Poor Lisa»,
libretto by Yuri Ryashentsev
In the era of Byron, Schiller and Goethe, on the eve of the French Revolution, in the intensity of feelings characteristic of Europe in those years, but with the ceremoniality and pomp of the Baroque still remaining, the leading trends in literature were sensual and sensitive romanticism and sentimentalism. If the appearance of romanticism in Russia was due to translations of the works of these poets, and was later developed by Russia’s own works, then sentimentalism became popular thanks to the works of Russian writers, one of which is “Poor Liza” by Karamzin.
According to Karamzin himself, the story “Poor Liza” is “a very simple fairy tale.” The narrative about the fate of the heroine begins with a description of Moscow and the author’s confession that he often comes to the “deserted monastery” where Lisa is buried, and “listens to the dull groan of times, swallowed up by the abyss of the past.” With this technique, the author indicates his presence in the story, showing that any value judgment in the text is his personal opinion. The coexistence of the author and his hero in the same narrative space was not familiar to Russian literature before Karamzin. The title of the story is based on the connection own name heroine with an epithet characterizing the sympathetic attitude of the narrator towards her, who constantly repeats that he has no power to change the course of events (“Ah! Why am I writing not a novel, but a sad true story?”).
Lisa, forced to work hard to feed her old mother, one day comes to Moscow with lilies of the valley and meets her on the street young man, who expresses a desire to always buy lilies of the valley from Lisa and finds out where she lives. The next day, Lisa waits for a new acquaintance, Erast, to appear, without selling her lilies of the valley to anyone, but he only comes the next day to Lisa’s house. The next day, Erast tells Lisa that he loves her, but asks her to keep their feelings secret from her mother. For a long time, “their embraces were pure and immaculate,” and Erast “all the brilliant fun big world"seem "insignificant in comparison with the pleasures with which the passionate friendship of an innocent soul nourished his heart." However, soon the son of a rich peasant from a neighboring village wooes Lisa. Erast objects to their wedding and says that, despite the difference between them, for him in Lisa “the most important thing is the soul, the sensitive and innocent soul.” Their dates continue, but now Erast “could no longer be content with just innocent caresses.” “He wanted more, more, and finally, he couldn’t want anything... Platonic love gave way to feelings that he couldn’t be proud of and that were no longer new to him.” After some time, Erast informs Lisa that his regiment is setting off on a military campaign. He says goodbye and gives Lisa’s mother money. Two months later, Liza, having arrived in Moscow, sees Erast, follows his carriage to a huge mansion, where Erast, freeing himself from Lisa’s embrace, says that he still loves her, but the circumstances have changed: on the hike he lost almost all of his money at cards. estate, and is now forced to marry a rich widow. Erast gives Lisa a hundred rubles and asks the servant to escort the girl from the yard. Lisa, having reached the pond, under the shade of those oak trees that just “a few weeks before had witnessed her delight,” meets the neighbor’s daughter, gives her money and asks her to tell her mother with the words that she loved a man, and he cheated on her. After this he throws himself into the water. The neighbor's daughter calls for help, Lisa is pulled out, but it is too late. Lisa was buried near the pond, Lisa's mother died of grief. Until the end of his life, Erast “could not console himself and considered himself a murderer.” The author met him a year before his death, and learned the whole story from him.
The story made a complete revolution in the public consciousness of the 18th century. For the first time in the history of Russian prose, Karamzin turned to a heroine endowed with emphatically ordinary features. His words “even peasant women know how to love” became popular. It is not surprising that the story was very popular. Many Erasts appear at once in the lists of nobles - a name that was previously infrequent. The pond, located under the walls of the Simonov Monastery (a 14th-century monastery, preserved on the territory of the Dynamo plant on Leninskaya Sloboda Street, 26), was called the Fox Pond, but thanks to Karamzin’s story it was popularly renamed Lizin and became a place of constant pilgrimage. According to eyewitnesses, the bark of the trees around the pond was cut with inscriptions, both serious (“In these streams, poor Liza passed away her days; / If you are sensitive, passer-by, sigh”), and satirical, hostile to the heroine and the author (“Erastova died in these streams bride. / Drown yourself, girls, there’s plenty of room in the pond”).
“Poor Liza” became one of the pinnacles of Russian sentimentality. It is here that the refined psychologism of Russian artistic prose, recognized throughout the world, originates. Important had Karamzin's artistic discovery - the creation of a special emotional atmosphere corresponding to the theme of the work. The picture of pure first love is painted very touchingly: “Now I think,” says Lisa to Erast, “that without you life is not life, but sadness and boredom. Without your eyes the bright month is dark; without your voice the nightingale singing is boring..." Sensuality - the highest value of sentimentalism - pushes the heroes into each other's arms, giving them a moment of happiness. The main characters are also drawn characteristically: chaste, naive, joyfully trusting of people, Lisa seems to be a beautiful shepherdess, less like a peasant woman, more like a sweet society young lady brought up on sentimental novels; Erast, despite his dishonorable act, reproaches himself for it until the end of his life.
In addition to sentimentalism, Karamzin gave Russia a new name. The name Elizabeth is translated as “who worships God.” In biblical texts, this is the name of the wife of the high priest Aaron and the mother of John the Baptist. Later, the literary heroine Heloise, Abelard's friend, appears. After her, the name is associatively associated with a love theme: the story of the “noble maiden” Julie d’Entage, who fell in love with her modest teacher Saint-Preux, is called by Jean-Jacques Rousseau “Julia, or the New Heloise” (1761). Until the early 80s of the XVIII century, the name "Liza" was almost never found in Russian literature. By choosing this name for his heroine, Karamzin broke the strict canon of European literature of the 17th-18th centuries, in which the image of Lisa, Lisette, was associated primarily with comedy and with the image of a maid-maid, which is usually quite frivolous and understands at a glance everything connected with a love affair. The gap between the name and its usual meaning meant going beyond the boundaries of classicism, weakening the connections between the name and its bearer in literary work. Instead of the “name - behavior” connection familiar to classicism, a new one appears: character - behavior, which became a significant achievement of Karamzin on the way to the “psychologism” of Russian prose.
Many readers were struck by the author's audacious style of presentation. One of the critics from Novikov’s circle, which once included Karamzin himself, wrote: “I don’t know whether Mr. Karamzin made an era in the history of the Russian language: but if he did, it’s very bad.” Further, the author of these lines writes that in “Poor Liza” “bad morals are called good manners”
The plot of “Poor Lisa” is as generalized and condensed as possible. Possible lines of development are only outlined; often the text is replaced with dots and dashes, which become its “significant minus”. The image of Lisa is also only outlined, each trait of her character is a theme for the story, but not yet the story itself.
Karamzin was one of the first to introduce the contrast between city and countryside into Russian literature. In world folklore and myth, heroes are often able to act actively only in the space allotted to them and are completely powerless outside of it. In accordance with this tradition, in Karamzin's story, a village man - a man of nature - finds himself defenseless when he finds himself in urban space, where laws different from the laws of nature apply. No wonder Lisa’s mother tells her: “My heart is always out of place when you go to town.”
The central feature of Lisa’s character is sensitivity - this is how the main advantage of Karamzin’s stories was defined, meaning by this the ability to sympathize, to discover the “tenderest feelings” in the “curves of the heart,” as well as the ability to enjoy the contemplation of one’s own emotions. Lisa trusts the movements of her heart and lives with “tender passions.” Ultimately, it is ardor and ardor that lead to her death, but it is morally justified. Karamzin’s consistent idea that for a mentally rich, sensitive person to commit good deeds Naturally, it removes the need for normative morality.
Many people perceive the novel as a confrontation between honesty and frivolity, kindness and negativity, poverty and wealth. In fact, everything is more complicated: this is a clash of characters: strong - and accustomed to going with the flow. The novel emphasizes that Erast is a young man “with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty.” It was Erast, who from the point of view of Lysia’s social stratum is the “darling of fate,” who was constantly bored and “complained about his fate.” Erast is presented as an egoist who seems to be ready to change for the sake of a new life, but as soon as he gets bored, he, without looking back, changes his life again, without thinking about the fate of those he abandoned. In other words, he thinks only about his own pleasure, and his desire to live, unencumbered by the rules of civilization, in the lap of nature, is caused only by reading idyllic novels and oversaturation with social life.
In this light, falling in love with Lisa is only a necessary addition to the idyllic picture being created - it is not for nothing that Erast calls her his shepherdess. Having read novels in which “all the people walked blithely along the rays, swam in clean springs, kissed like turtle doves, rested under roses and myrtles,” he decided that “he found in Lisa what his heart had been looking for for a long time.” That’s why he dreams that he will “live with Liza, like a brother and sister, I will not use her love for evil and I will always be happy!”, and when Liza gives herself to him, the satiated young man begins to cool in his feelings.
At the same time, Erast, being, as the author emphasizes, “kind by nature,” cannot just leave: he is trying to find a compromise with his conscience, and his decision comes down to paying off. The first time he gives money to Liza’s mother is when he doesn’t want to meet with Liza anymore and goes on a campaign with the regiment; the second time is when Lisa finds him in the city and he informs her about his upcoming marriage.
The story “Rich Liza” opens the theme of the “little man” in Russian literature, although the social aspect in relation to Liza and Erast is somewhat muted.
The story caused many outright imitations: 1801. A.E. Izmailov “Poor Masha”, I. Svechinsky “Seduced Henrietta”, 1803. "Unhappy Margarita." At the same time, the theme of “Poor Lisa” can be traced in many works of high artistic value, and plays a variety of roles in them. Thus, Pushkin, moving to realism in his prose works and wanting to emphasize both his rejection of sentimentalism and its irrelevance for contemporary Russia, took the plot of “Poor Lisa” and turned the “sad story” into a story with a happy ending “The Young Lady - a Peasant Woman” . Nevertheless, in the same Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades,” the line of the future life of Karamzin’s Liza is visible: the fate that would have awaited her if she had not committed suicide. An echo of the theme of the sentimental work is also heard in the novel “Sunday” written in the spirit of realism by L.T. Tolstoy. Seduced by Nekhlyudov, Katyusha Maslova decides to throw herself under the train.
Thus, the plot, which existed in literature before and became popular after, was transferred to Russian soil, acquiring a special national flavor and becoming the basis for the development of Russian sentimentalism. Russian psychological, portrait prose and contributed to the gradual retreat of Russian literature from the norms of classicism to more modern literary movements.
Karamzin’s best story is rightly recognized as “Poor Liza” (1792), which is based on the educational thought about the extra-class value of the human personality. The problems of the story are of a social and moral nature: the peasant woman Liza is opposed to the nobleman Erast. The characters are revealed in the heroes' attitude to love. Lisa’s feelings are distinguished by their depth, constancy, and selflessness: she understands perfectly well that she is not destined to be Erast’s wife. Twice throughout the story she talks about this. Lisa loves Erast selflessly, without thinking about the consequences of her passion. No selfish calculations can interfere with this feeling. During one of the dates, Lisa tells Erast that the son of a rich peasant from a neighboring village is wooing her and that her mother really wants this marriage.
Erast is not portrayed in the story as a treacherous deceiver-seducer. This decision social problem it would be too rude and straightforward. He was, according to Karamzin, “a fairly rich nobleman” with a “naturally kind” heart, “but weak and flighty... He led an absent-minded life, thinking only about his own pleasure...”. Thus, the integral, selfless character of the peasant woman is contrasted with the character of a kind, but spoiled by an idle life master, unable to think about the consequences of his actions. The intention to seduce a gullible girl was not part of his plans. At first he thought about “pure joys” and intended to “live with Liza like brother and sister.” But Erast did not know his own character well and overestimated his moral strength. Soon, according to Karamzin, he “could no longer be satisfied with being... just pure hugs. He wanted more, more, and finally he couldn’t want anything.” Satiety sets in and a desire to free oneself from a boring connection sets in.
It should be noted that the image of Erast is accompanied by a very prosaic leitmotif - money, which has always evoked a condemnatory attitude in sentimental literature. True, sincere help is expressed by sentimentalist writers in selfless actions. Let us remember how Radishchev’s Anyuta resolutely rejects the hundred rubles offered to her. The blind singer behaves in exactly the same way in the chapter “The Wedge,” refusing the “ruble note” and accepting only a neckerchief from the traveler.
At the very first meeting with Liza, Erast strives to amaze her with his generosity, offering a whole ruble for lilies of the valley instead of five kopecks. Lisa resolutely refuses this money, which is completely approved by her mother. Erast, wanting to win over the girl’s mother, asks only him to sell her products and always strives to pay ten times more, but “the old lady never took too much.” Lisa, loving Erast, refuses the wealthy peasant who wooed her. Erast, for the sake of money, marries a rich elderly widow. At the last meeting with Lisa, Erast tries to pay her off with “ten imperials.” This scene is perceived as blasphemy, as an outrage against Lisa’s love: on one side of the scale - all life, thoughts, hopes, on the other - “ten imperials”. A hundred years later, Leo Tolstoy would repeat it in his novel “Resurrection.”
For Lisa, the loss of Erast is tantamount to the loss of life. Further existence becomes meaningless, and she commits suicide. The tragic ending of the story testified to the creative courage of Karamzin, who did not want to reduce the significance of the socio-ethical problem he put forward with a successful ending. Where a great, strong feeling came into conflict with the foundations of the feudal world, there could be no idyll.
In order to maximize verisimilitude, Karamzin connected the plot of his story with specific places in the then Moscow region. Lisa's house is located on the banks of the Moscow River, not far from the Simonov Monastery. Lisa and Erast's dates take place near Simonov's Pond, which after the release of the story received the name "Liza's Pond." All these realities made a stunning impression on readers. The vicinity of the Simonov Monastery became a place of pilgrimage for numerous fans of the writer.
In the story “Poor Liza” Karamzin showed himself to be a great psychologist. He managed to masterfully reveal the inner world of his characters, primarily their love experiences. Before Karamzin, the experiences of the heroes were declared in the monologues of the heroes. The latter applies primarily to epistolary works. Karamzin found more subtle, more complex artistic means that help the reader, as it were, guess what feelings his characters are experiencing through their external manifestations. The lyrical content of the story is reflected in its style. In a number of cases, Karamzin’s prose becomes rhythmic and approaches poetic speech. This is exactly what Lisa’s love confessions to Erast sound like: “Without your eyes the bright month is dark, // without your voice the singing nightingale is boring; // without your breath the breeze is not pleasant to me.”
Written in 1792.
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Poor LISA. Nikolay Karamzin
Poor Lisa. Teleplay based on the story of the same name by N. Karamzin (1967)
Karamzin. "Poor Lisa" - the first Russian bestseller
Subtitles
History of creation and publication
The story was written and published in 1792 in the Moscow Journal, the editor of which was N.M. Karamzin himself. In 1796, “Poor Liza” was published in a separate book.
Plot
After the death of her father, a “prosperous villager,” young Lisa is forced to work tirelessly to feed herself and her mother. In the spring, she sells lilies of the valley in Moscow and there she meets the young nobleman Erast, who falls in love with her and is even ready to leave the world for the sake of his love. The lovers spend all their evenings together. However, with the loss of her innocence, Lisa lost her attractiveness for Erast. One day he reports that he must go on a campaign with the regiment, and they will have to part. A few days later, Erast leaves.
Several months pass. Liza, once in Moscow, accidentally sees Erast in a magnificent carriage and finds out that he is engaged (During the war, he lost his estate at cards and now, having returned, he is forced to marry a rich widow). In despair, Lisa throws herself into the pond near which they were walking.
Artistic originality
The plot of this story was borrowed by Karamzin from European love literature, but transferred to “Russian” soil. The author hints that he is personally acquainted with Erast (“I met him a year before his death. He himself told me this story and led me to Lisa’s grave”) and emphasizes that the action takes place in Moscow and its environs, describes, for example , Simonov and Danilov monasteries, Vorobyovy Gory, creating the illusion of authenticity. This was an innovation for Russian literature of that time: usually the action of works took place “in one city.” The first readers of the story perceived Liza's story as a real tragedy of a contemporary woman - it is no coincidence that the pond under the walls of the Simonov Monastery was named Liza's Pond, and the fate of Karamzin's heroine received a lot of imitations. The oak trees growing around the pond were covered with inscriptions - touching ( “In these streams, poor Lisa passed away her days; If you are sensitive, passer-by, sigh!”) and caustic ( “Here Erast’s bride threw herself into the water. Drown yourself, girls, there’s enough room for everyone in the pond!”) .
However, despite the apparent plausibility, the world depicted in the story is idyllic: the peasant woman Liza and her mother have sophistication of feelings and perceptions, their speech is literate, literary and no different from the speech of the nobleman Erast. The life of poor villagers resembles a pastoral:
Meanwhile, a young shepherd was driving his flock along the river bank, playing the pipe. Lisa fixed her gaze on him and thought: “If the one who now occupies my thoughts was born a simple peasant, a shepherd, - and if he were now driving his flock past me: ah! I would bow to him with a smile and say affably: “Hello, dear shepherd!” Where are you driving your flock? And it grows here green grass for your sheep, and here there are red flowers from which you can weave a wreath for your hat.” He would look at me with an affectionate look - maybe he would take my hand... A dream! A shepherd, playing the flute, passed by and disappeared with his motley flock behind a nearby hill.
The story became an example of Russian sentimental literature. In contrast to classicism with its cult of reason, Karamzin affirmed the cult of feelings, sensitivity, compassion: “Ah! I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!” :
“Poor Liza” was received by the Russian public with such enthusiasm because in this work Karamzin was the first to express the “new word” that Goethe said to the Germans in his “Werther.” The heroine’s suicide was such a “new word” in the story. The Russian public, accustomed in old novels to consoling endings in the form of weddings, who believed that virtue is always rewarded and vice is punished, for the first time in this story met the bitter truth of life.
History of creation and publication
The story was written and published in 1792 in the Moscow Journal, the editor of which was N.M. Karamzin himself. In 1796, “Poor Liza” was published in a separate book.
Plot
After the death of her father, a “prosperous villager,” young Lisa is forced to work tirelessly to feed herself and her mother. In the spring, she sells lilies of the valley in Moscow and there she meets the young nobleman Erast, who falls in love with her and is even ready to leave the world for the sake of his love. The lovers spend all their evenings together. However, with the loss of her innocence, Lisa lost her attractiveness for Erast. One day he reports that he must go on a campaign with the regiment, and they will have to part. A few days later, Erast leaves.
Several months pass. Liza, once in Moscow, accidentally sees Erast in a magnificent carriage and finds out that he is engaged (During the war, he lost his estate at cards and now, having returned, he is forced to marry a rich widow). In despair, Lisa throws herself into the pond near which they were walking.
Artistic originality
The plot of this story was borrowed by Karamzin from European love literature, but transferred to “Russian” soil. The author hints that he is personally acquainted with Erast (“I met him a year before his death. He himself told me this story and led me to Lisa’s grave”) and emphasizes that the action takes place in Moscow and its environs, describes, for example , Simonov and Danilov monasteries, Vorobyovy Gory, creating the illusion of authenticity. This was an innovation for Russian literature of that time: usually the action of works took place “in one city.” The first readers of the story perceived Lisa's story as a real tragedy of a contemporary - it is no coincidence that the pond under the walls of the Simonov Monastery was named Liza's Pond, and the fate of Karamzin's heroine received a lot of imitations. The oak trees growing around the pond were covered with inscriptions - touching ( “In these streams, poor Lisa passed away her days; If you are sensitive, passer-by, sigh!”) and caustic ( “Here Erast’s bride threw herself into the water. Drown yourself, girls, there’s enough room for everyone in the pond!”) .
However, despite the apparent plausibility, the world depicted in the story is idyllic: the peasant woman Liza and her mother have sophistication of feelings and perceptions, their speech is literate, literary and no different from the speech of the nobleman Erast. The life of poor villagers resembles a pastoral:
Meanwhile, a young shepherd was driving his flock along the river bank, playing the pipe. Lisa fixed her gaze on him and thought: “If the one who now occupies my thoughts was born a simple peasant, a shepherd, - and if he were now driving his flock past me: ah! I would bow to him with a smile and say affably: “Hello, dear shepherd!” Where are you driving your flock? And here green grass grows for your sheep, and here flowers grow red, from which you can weave a wreath for your hat.” He would look at me with an affectionate look - maybe he would take my hand... A dream! A shepherd, playing the flute, passed by and disappeared with his motley flock behind a nearby hill.
The story became an example of Russian sentimental literature. In contrast to classicism with its cult of reason, Karamzin affirmed the cult of feelings, sensitivity, compassion: “Ah! I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!” . Heroes are important first of all for their ability to love and surrender to feelings. There is no class conflict in the story: Karamzin sympathizes equally with both Erast and Lisa. In addition, unlike the works of classicism, “Poor Liza” is devoid of morality, didacticism, and edification: the author does not teach, but tries to evoke empathy for the characters in the reader.
The story is also distinguished by its “smooth” language: Karamzin abandoned Old Slavonicisms and pomposity, which made the work easy to read.
Criticism about the story
“Poor Liza” was received by the Russian public with such enthusiasm because in this work Karamzin was the first to express the “new word” that Goethe said to the Germans in his “Werther.” The heroine’s suicide was such a “new word” in the story. The Russian public, accustomed in old novels to consoling endings in the form of weddings, who believed that virtue is always rewarded and vice is punished, for the first time in this story met the bitter truth of life.
"Poor Lisa" in art
In painting
Literary reminiscences
Dramatizations
Film adaptations
- 1967 - “Poor Liza” (television play), directed by Natalya Barinova, David Livnev, starring: Anastasia Voznesenskaya, Andrei Myagkov.
- - “Poor Lisa”, director Idea Garanina, composer Alexey Rybnikov
- - “Poor Lisa”, directed by Slava Tsukerman, starring Irina Kupchenko, Mikhail Ulyanov.
Write a review about the article "Poor Lisa"
Literature
- Toporov V. N. 1 // “Poor Liza” by Karamzin: Reading experience: To the bicentenary of its publication = Liza. - Moscow: Russian State University for the Humanities, 1995.
Notes
Links
Excerpt characterizing Poor Lisa
– In the mosaic briefcase that he keeps under his pillow. “Now I know,” said the princess without answering. “Yes, if there is a sin behind me, a great sin, then it is hatred of this scoundrel,” the princess almost shouted, completely changed. - And why is she rubbing herself in here? But I will tell her everything, everything. The time will come!While such conversations took place in the reception room and in the princess's rooms, the carriage with Pierre (who was sent for) and with Anna Mikhailovna (who found it necessary to go with him) drove into the courtyard of Count Bezukhy. When the wheels of the carriage sounded softly on the straw spread under the windows, Anna Mikhailovna, turning to her companion with comforting words, was convinced that he was sleeping in the corner of the carriage, and woke him up. Having woken up, Pierre followed Anna Mikhailovna out of the carriage and then only thought about the meeting with his dying father that awaited him. He noticed that they drove up not to the front entrance, but to the back entrance. While he was getting off the step, two people in bourgeois clothes hurriedly ran away from the entrance into the shadow of the wall. Pausing, Pierre saw several more similar people in the shadows of the house on both sides. But neither Anna Mikhailovna, nor the footman, nor the coachman, who could not help but see these people, paid no attention to them. Therefore, this is so necessary, Pierre decided to himself and followed Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna walked with hasty steps up the dimly lit narrow stone staircase, calling to Pierre, who was lagging behind her, who, although he did not understand why he had to go to the count at all, and even less why he had to go up the back stairs, but , judging by the confidence and haste of Anna Mikhailovna, he decided to himself that this was necessary. Halfway up the stairs, they were almost knocked down by some people with buckets, who, clattering with their boots, ran towards them. These people pressed against the wall to let Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna through, and did not show the slightest surprise at the sight of them.
– Are there half princesses here? – Anna Mikhailovna asked one of them...
“Here,” the footman answered in a bold, loud voice, as if now everything was possible, “the door is on the left, mother.”
“Maybe the count didn’t call me,” Pierre said as he walked out onto the platform, “I would have gone to my place.”
Anna Mikhailovna stopped to catch up with Pierre.
- Ah, mon ami! - she said with the same gesture as in the morning with her son, touching his hand: - croyez, que je souffre autant, que vous, mais soyez homme. [Believe me, I suffer no less than you, but be a man.]
- Right, I'll go? - asked Pierre, looking affectionately through his glasses at Anna Mikhailovna.
- Ah, mon ami, oubliez les torts qu"on a pu avoir envers vous, pensez que c"est votre pere... peut etre a l"agonie. - She sighed. - Je vous ai tout de suite aime comme mon fils. Fiez vous a moi, Pierre. Je n"oublirai pas vos interets. [Forget, my friend, what was wronged against you. Remember that this is your father... Maybe in agony. I immediately loved you like a son. Trust me, Pierre. I will not forget your interests.]
Pierre did not understand anything; again it seemed to him even more strongly that all this should be so, and he obediently followed Anna Mikhailovna, who was already opening the door.
The door opened into the front and back. An old servant of the princesses sat in the corner and knitted a stocking. Pierre had never been to this half, did not even imagine the existence of such chambers. Anna Mikhailovna asked the girl who was ahead of them, with a decanter on a tray (calling her dear and darling) about the health of the princesses and dragged Pierre further along the stone corridor. From the corridor, the first door on the left led to living rooms princesses The maid, with the decanter, in a hurry (as everything was done in a hurry at that moment in this house) did not close the door, and Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna, passing by, involuntarily looked into the room where the eldest princess and Prince Vasily. Seeing those passing by, Prince Vasily made an impatient movement and leaned back; The princess jumped up and with a desperate gesture slammed the door with all her might, closing it.
This gesture was so unlike the princess’s usual calmness, the fear expressed on Prince Vasily’s face was so uncharacteristic of his importance that Pierre stopped, questioningly, through his glasses, looked at his leader.
Anna Mikhailovna did not express surprise, she only smiled slightly and sighed, as if showing that she had expected all this.
“Soyez homme, mon ami, c"est moi qui veillerai a vos interets, [Be a man, my friend, I will look after your interests.] - she said in response to his gaze and walked even faster down the corridor.
Pierre did not understand what the matter was, and even less what veiller a vos interets meant, [to look after your interests,] but he understood that all this should be so. They walked through the corridor into a dimly lit hall adjacent to the count's reception room. It was one of those cold and luxurious rooms that Pierre knew from the front porch. But even in this room, in the middle, there was an empty bathtub and water was spilled on the carpet. A servant and a clerk with a censer came out to meet them on tiptoe, not paying attention to them. They entered a reception room familiar to Pierre with two Italian windows leading out into winter Garden, with a large bust and a full-length portrait of Catherine. All the same people, in almost the same positions, sat whispering in the waiting room. Everyone fell silent and looked back at Anna Mikhailovna who had entered, with her tear-stained, pale face, and at the fat, big Pierre, who, with his head down, obediently followed her.
Anna Mikhailovna's face expressed the consciousness that the decisive moment had arrived; She, with the manner of a businesslike St. Petersburg lady, entered the room, not letting Pierre go, even bolder than in the morning. She felt that since she was leading the one whom the dying man wanted to see, her reception was guaranteed. Having quickly glanced at everyone who was in the room, and noticing the count's confessor, she, not only bending over, but suddenly becoming smaller in stature, swam up to the confessor with a shallow amble and respectfully accepted the blessing of one, then another clergyman.
“Thank God we made it,” she said to the clergyman, “all of us, my family, were so afraid.” This young man is the count’s son,” she added more quietly. - A terrible moment!
Having uttered these words, she approached the doctor.
“Cher docteur,” she told him, “ce jeune homme est le fils du comte... y a t il de l"espoir? [This young man is the son of a count... Is there hope?]
The doctor silently, with a quick movement, raised his eyes and shoulders upward. Anna Mikhailovna raised her shoulders and eyes with exactly the same movement, almost closing them, sighed and walked away from the doctor to Pierre. She turned especially respectfully and tenderly sadly to Pierre.
“Ayez confiance en Sa misericorde, [Trust in His mercy,”] she told him, showing him a sofa to sit down to wait for her, she silently walked towards the door that everyone was looking at, and following the barely audible sound of this door, disappeared behind it.
Pierre, having decided to obey his leader in everything, went to the sofa that she showed him. As soon as Anna Mikhailovna disappeared, he noticed that the glances of everyone in the room turned to him with more than curiosity and sympathy. He noticed that everyone was whispering, pointing at him with their eyes, as if with fear and even servility. He was shown respect that had never been shown before: a lady unknown to him, who was speaking with the clergy, stood up from her seat and invited him to sit down, the adjutant picked up the glove that Pierre had dropped and handed it to him; the doctors fell silent respectfully as he passed them, and stood aside to give him room. Pierre wanted to sit in another place first, so as not to embarrass the lady; he wanted to lift his glove himself and go around the doctors, who were not standing in the road at all; but he suddenly felt that this would be indecent, he felt that this night he was a person who was obliged to perform some terrible ritual expected by everyone, and that therefore he had to accept services from everyone. He silently accepted the glove from the adjutant, sat down in the lady's place, putting his big hands on his symmetrically extended knees, in the naive pose of an Egyptian statue, and decided to himself that all this should be exactly like this and that this evening, in order not to get lost and not do anything stupid, he should not act according to his own considerations, but should be left to himself completely at the will of those who led him.
The 18th century, which glorified many wonderful people, including the writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. Towards the end of this century, he published his most famous creation - the story “Poor Lisa”. It was this that brought him great fame and enormous popularity among readers. The book is based on two characters: the poor girl Lisa and the nobleman Erast, who appear during the course of the plot in their attitude to love.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin made a huge contribution to the cultural development of the fatherland at the end of the 18th century. After numerous trips to Germany, England, France and Switzerland, the prose writer returns to Russia, and while relaxing at the dacha of the famous traveler Pyotr Ivanovich Beketov, in the 1790s he undertakes a new literary experiment. The local surroundings near the Simonov Monastery greatly influenced the idea of the work “Poor Liza,” which he nurtured during his travels. Nature was of great importance to Karamzin; he truly loved it and often exchanged the bustle of the city for forests and fields, where he read his favorite books and immersed himself in thought.
Genre and direction
“Poor Liza” is the first Russian psychological story that contains the moral disagreement of people of different classes. Lisa’s feelings are clear and understandable to the reader: for a simple bourgeois woman, happiness is love, so she loves blindly and naively. Erast’s feelings, on the contrary, are more confused, because he himself cannot understand them. At first, the young man simply wants to fall in love, just like in the novels he read, but it soon becomes clear that he is not capable of living with love. City life, full of luxury and passions, had a huge impact on the hero, and he discovers carnal attraction, which completely destroys spiritual love.
Karamzin is an innovator; he can rightfully be called the founder of Russian sentimentalism. Readers received the work with admiration, since society has already for a long time wanted something like this. The public was exhausted by the moral teachings of the classicist trend, the basis of which is the worship of reason and duty. Sentimentalism demonstrates the emotional experiences, feelings and emotions of the characters.
About what?
According to the writer, this story is “a very simple fairy tale.” Indeed, the plot of the work is simple to the point of genius. It begins and ends with a sketch of the area of the Simonov Monastery, which evokes in the narrator’s memory thoughts about the tragic turn in the fate of poor Lisa. This is a love story between a poor provincial woman and a wealthy young man from a privileged class. The lovers' acquaintance began with the fact that Lisa was selling lilies of the valley collected in the forest, and Erast, wanting to start a conversation with the girl he liked, decided to buy flowers from her. He was captivated by Lisa's natural beauty and kindness, and they began dating. However, the young man soon became fed up with the charm of his passion and found a more profitable match. The heroine, unable to withstand the blow, drowned herself. Her lover regretted this all his life.
Their images are ambiguous; first of all, the world of a simple natural person, unspoiled by city bustle and greed, is revealed. Karamzin described everything in such detail and picturesquely that readers believed in this story and fell in love with his heroine.
The main characters and their characteristics
- The main character of the story is Lisa, a poor village girl. IN early age she lost her father and was forced to become a breadwinner for her family, agreeing to any job. The hardworking provincial woman is very naive and sensitive, she sees only good traits in people and lives by her emotions, following her heart. She looks after her mother day and night. And even when the heroine decides to take a fatal act, she still does not forget about her family and leaves her money. Lisa’s main talent is the gift of love, because for the sake of her loved ones she is ready to do anything.
- Lisa's mother is a kind and wise old woman. She experienced the death of her husband Ivan very hard, as she loved him devotedly and lived happily with him for many years. The only joy was her daughter, whom she sought to marry to a worthy and wealthy man. The character of the heroine is internally whole, but a little bookish and idealized.
- Erast is a rich nobleman. He leads a riotous lifestyle, thinking only about fun. He is smart, but very fickle, spoiled and weak-willed. Without thinking that Lisa is from a different class, he fell in love with her, but still he is unable to overcome all the difficulties of this unequal love. Erast cannot be called negative hero, because he admits his guilt. He read and was inspired by novels, was dreamy, looking at the world in pink glasses. Therefore, his real love did not withstand such a test.
Subjects
- The main theme in sentimental literature is the sincere feelings of a person in a collision with the indifference of the real world. Karamzin was one of the first to decide to write about the spiritual happiness and suffering of ordinary people. He reflected in his work the transition from a civil theme, which was common during the Enlightenment, to a personal one, in which the main subject of interest is the spiritual world of the individual. Thus, the author, having described in depth the inner world of the characters together with their feelings and experiences, began to develop such a literary device as psychologism.
- Theme of love. Love in “Poor Liza” is a test that tests the characters’ strength and loyalty to their word. Lisa completely surrendered to this feeling; the author exalts and idealizes her for this ability. She is the embodiment of the feminine ideal, the one who completely dissolves in the adoration of her beloved and is faithful to him until her last breath. But Erast did not pass the test and turned out to be a cowardly and pathetic person, incapable of self-sacrifice in the name of something more important than material wealth.
- Contrast between city and countryside. The author gives preference rural areas, it is there that natural, sincere and good people who know no temptation. But in big cities they acquire vices: envy, greed, selfishness. Erast's position in society was more expensive than love, he was fed up with her, because he was not able to experience a strong and deep feeling. Lisa could not live after this betrayal: if love died, she follows her, because she cannot imagine her future without her.
Problem
Karamzin in his work “Poor Liza” touches on various problems: social and moral. The problems of the story are based on opposition. The main characters vary both in quality of life and in character. Lisa is a pure, honest and naive girl from the lower class, and Erast is a spoiled, weak-willed, thinking only about his own pleasures, young man belonging to the nobility. Lisa, having fallen in love with him, cannot go a day without thinking about him, Erast, on the contrary, began to move away as soon as he received what he wanted from her.
The result of such fleeting moments of happiness for Lisa and Erast is the death of the girl, after which the young man cannot stop blaming himself for this tragedy and remains unhappy for the rest of his life. The author showed how class inequality led to an unhappy ending and served as a reason for tragedy, as well as what responsibility a person bears for those who trusted him.
the main idea
The plot is not the most important thing in this story. The emotions and feelings that awaken during reading deserve more attention. The narrator himself plays a huge role, because he talks with sadness and compassion about the life of a poor rural girl. For Russian literature, the image of an empathic narrator who can empathize with the emotional state of the heroes turned out to be a revelation. Any dramatic moment makes his heart bleed and also sincerely shed tears. Thus, the main idea of the story “Poor Liza” is that one must not be afraid of one’s feelings, love, worry, and sympathize fully. Only then will a person be able to overcome immorality, cruelty and selfishness. The author starts with himself, because he, a nobleman, describes the sins of his own class, and gives sympathy to a simple village girl, calling on people of his position to become more humane. The inhabitants of poor huts sometimes outshine the gentlemen from ancient estates. This is Karamzin’s main idea.
The author's attitude towards the main character of the story also became an innovation in Russian literature. So Karamzin does not blame Erast when Lisa dies; he demonstrates the social conditions that caused the tragic event. Big city influenced the young man, destroying his moral principles and making him depraved. Lisa grew up in the village, her naivety and simplicity played a cruel joke on her. The writer also demonstrates that not only Lisa, but also Erast was subjected to the hardships of fate, becoming a victim of sad circumstances. The hero experiences feelings of guilt throughout his life, never becoming truly happy.
What does it teach?
The reader has the opportunity to learn something from the mistakes of others. The clash of love and selfishness is a hot topic, since everyone has experienced unrequited feelings at least once in their life, or experienced betrayal loved one. Analyzing Karamzin's story, we gain important life lessons, we become more humane and more responsive to each other. The creations of the era of sentimentalism have a single property: they help people to enrich themselves mentally, and also cultivate in us the best humane and moral qualities.
The story “Poor Lisa” gained popularity among readers. This work teaches a person to be more responsive towards other people, as well as the ability to be compassionate.
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