Karamzin N. M. - “Poor Liza” - “the first national work”
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is a representative of the sentimental-romantic line of Russian literature of the 18th century. His work fully and vividly reveals the artistic possibilities of sentimentalism.
Sensitivity - this is how the main advantage of Karamzin’s stories was defined in the language of the late 18th century, because he focused his main attention on the psychology of the heroes, achieving high skill in this matter. Like none of the previous Russian writers, he knew how to show all the vicissitudes of love, convey the subtlest shades of feelings, and masterfully reveal the inner world of his heroes. Immersing readers in the intense emotional atmosphere of “tender passions,” he taught them to have compassion for people. Karamzin was called sensitive and gentle. In Russian literature, Karamzin was an innovator - in the field of interpretation of characters, themes and stylistic means, in the field of prosaic characters.
Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza,” written in 1792 and dedicated to a love theme, the story of two loving hearts, gained particular popularity among his contemporaries. His heroes seek happiness in love, but they are surrounded by a big and cruel world with its inhuman and terrible laws. This world deprives Karamzin’s heroes of happiness, makes them victims, brings them constant suffering and dooms them to death.
Lisa lived with her mother in the Moscow region, in a small house on the banks of the Moscow River, not far from the Simonov Monastery. Both the mother and the late father tried to instill in their daughter high moral qualities. Since childhood, she was taught that nothing in this life comes for free, you need to achieve everything yourself. They themselves adhered to the same principles: the father “loved work, plowed the land well and always led a sober life,” and the mother remained faithful to her husband’s memory and for many years continued to shed tears for him, “for even peasant women know how to love!” Liza, brought up in strictness, “worked day and night - weaving canvas, knitting stockings, picking flowers in the spring, and picking berries in the summer - and selling all this in Moscow.”
We see that the author’s ardent sympathies invariably accompany the heroine, and he is on her side in resolving the main conflict. A simple peasant girl with a selfless character (with all the respect and love for her mother, Liza never told her about her relationship with Erast) fell in love with a kind but spoiled gentleman who was not able to think about the consequences of his actions. Her feelings were unusually deep, constant, and most importantly, selfless. Lisa understood perfectly well that she could never become the wife of her loved one, because he was a “master,” but, despite this, she continued to selflessly love Erast, “completely surrendering to him, she only lived and breathed for him... and she placed her happiness in his pleasure, without thinking about myself at all.”
Karamzin described the relationship between Lisa and Erast in pastoral, idyllic tones, emphasizing that the tragic end of their relationship was the result of the prevailing circumstances and the frivolous nature of the protagonist, and the reason was not at all social inequality. Erast is a “rather rich nobleman” with a “kind by nature,” but a “weak and flighty heart.” “He led a distracted life, thinking only about his own pleasure.” At first, Erast thought only about “pure joys” and wanted to “live with Liza like brother and sister,” but he overestimated his strength. Then, as usual, fed up with the “bored” relationship, he wanted to free himself from it. For Lisa, the loss of Erast was tantamount to the loss of Life. Existence without Erast makes no sense for her, so she commits suicide.
Drama is not only with Lisa, but also with Erast. After all, condemning yourself to moral torment for the rest of your life is no less a punishment than being condemned by others. The words of the author himself speak about Erast’s spiritual drama: “Erast was unhappy until the end of his life. Having learned about Lizina’s fate, he could not console himself and considered himself a murderer.” Karamzin does not consider his hero typical: “People do a lot of evil - without a doubt - but there are few villains; delusion of the heart, recklessness, lack of enlightenment due to bad deeds..."
Karamzin’s innovation lies in the fact that he did not reduce the significance of the socio-ethical problem he put forward with a successful outcome. V.V. Sipovsky paid special attention to this circumstance. “Poor Liza,” he wrote in “Essays on the History of the Russian Novel,” “was received by the Russian public with such enthusiasm because in this work Karamzin was the first to express that “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, met for the first time in this story the bitter truth of life.”
The work of N. M. Karamzin played an outstanding role in the history of Russian literature. “The pure, high glory of Karamzin belongs to Russia, and not a single writer with true talent, not a single learned person, even those who were his opponents, refused him a tribute of deep respect and gratitude,” wrote A. S. Pushkin. And according to Belinsky, Karamzin “created an educated literary language in Rus',” managing to “encourage” the Russian public to read Russian books. Assessing Karamzin’s achievements in the development of Russian prose, the critic emphasized: “Karamzin was the first in Rus' to write stories that interested society... stories in which people acted, the life of the heart and passions was depicted in the midst of ordinary everyday life,” stories in which “how in the mirror, the life of the heart is truly reflected... as it existed for the people of that time.” Send a request indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of receiving a consultation.
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 had been wanting something like this for a long time. 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. At an early age, she lost her father and was forced to become a breadwinner for her family, accepting 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 a negative hero, because he admits his guilt. He read and was inspired by novels, was dreamy, looking at the world with rose-colored 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 to rural areas; it is there that natural, sincere and kind people who do not know temptation are formed. But in big cities they acquire vices: envy, greed, selfishness. For Erast, his position in society was more valuable than love; he was fed up with it, because he was not capable of experiencing 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 with their virtue. 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. The big city influenced the young man, destroying his moral principles and making him corrupt. 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 the betrayal of a loved one. Analyzing Karamzin's story, we gain important life lessons, 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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Title: Poor Lisa (collection)
About the book “Poor Liza (collection)” Nikolai Karamzin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766–1826) - writer, historian and educator, creator of one of the most significant works in Russian historiography - “History of the Russian State”, founder of Russian sentimentalism.
The book includes the stories “Poor Lisa,” “Bornholm Island,” and “Sierra Morena,” as well as a collection of essays, “Letters from a Russian Traveler.”
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Quotes from the book “Poor Liza (collection)” Nikolai Karamzin
She threw herself into his arms - and now her integrity had to perish! - Erast felt an extraordinary excitement in his blood - Liza had never seemed so charming to him - never had her caresses touched him so much - never had her kisses been so fiery - she knew nothing, suspected nothing, was afraid of nothing - the darkness of the evening nourished desires - not a single star shone in the sky - no ray could illuminate delusions. - Erast feels awe in himself - Lisa also, not knowing why - not knowing what is happening to her... Ah, Lisa, Lisa! Where is your guardian angel? Where is your innocence?
Lizin's father was a fairly prosperous villager, because he loved work, plowed the land well and always led a sober life.
“You must, young man,” he said, “you must inform me about the events of the world that I left behind, but have not yet completely forgotten. I have been living in solitude for a long time; I have not heard anything about the fate of people for a long time. Tell me, does love reign on the globe? Is incense burned on the altars of virtue? Are the peoples prosperous in the countries you have seen? “The light of science,” I answered, “is spreading more and more, but human blood is still flowing on earth—the tears of the unfortunate are shed—they praise the name of virtue and argue about its essence.” – The elder sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
In order to vividly feel all the audacity of the human spirit, one must be on the open sea, where one thin plank, as Wieland says, separates us from wet death, but where a skilled swimmer, spreading his sails, flies and in his thoughts already sees the glitter of gold, which in another parts of the world will be rewarded for his bold enterprise. “Nil mortalibus arduum est” - “Nothing is impossible for mortals,” I thought with Horace, lost in the infinity of Neptune’s kingdom.
The poet preaches the philosophy of “painful joy”, calls melancholy a sweet feeling, which is “the most gentle overflow from sorrow and melancholy to the joys of pleasure.”
Karamzin’s heroes are like shipwrecked people, thrown onto a harsh and wild shore, alone in a deserted land.
Belinsky wrote: “Karamzin was the first in Rus' to write stories that interested society... stories in which people acted, the life of the heart and passions was depicted in the midst of ordinary everyday life.”
Karamzin is deeply convinced that humanity is moving along the path of progress, that it was the 18th century. Thanks to the activities of great educators - scientists, philosophers and writers - he brought people closer to the truth. Misconceptions do exist, but they, like “alien growths, will sooner or later disappear,” for a person will definitely come “to the pleasant goddess-truth.” Having mastered the educational philosophy of his time, Karamzin believes that “enlightenment is the palladium of good morals.” Enlightenment is beneficial for people of all conditions.
Ramzin began a new era of Russian literature,” Belinsky asserted. This era was primarily characterized by the fact that literature acquired influence on society; it became a “textbook of life” for readers, that is, what the glory of Russian literature of the 19th century is based on. The significance of Karamzin’s activities for Russian literature is great. Karamzin’s word echoes Pushkin and Lermontov. The greatest influence on subsequent literature was exerted by Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” “Poor Liza” (1729) - the most popular and best story of this writer. Its plot, presented to the reader as a “sad story,” is extremely simple, but full of dramatic tension.
Talking about the love of the poor peasant girl Lisa for the aristocrat Erast, who deceived her into committing suicide, the author does not emphasize the class opposition between the hero and heroine. He clearly sees this opposite, but does not want to admit that it was precisely this that caused the death of “poor Liza.” Throughout the story, the lives of the heroes are portrayed through the secular and the veil of sentimental idealization. The images of the story are embellished. Lisa's deceased father was an exemplary family man, because he loved work, plowed the land well and was quite prosperous, everyone loved him. Liza’s mother, “a sensitive, kind old woman,” is weakening from incessant tears for her husband, or even peasant women know how to feel. She touchingly loves her daughter and admires nature with religious tenderness. Neither Lisa’s mother nor the heroine herself resembles genuine peasant women. The heroine of the story is most idealized - “a beautiful villager in body and soul,” “tender and sensitive Lisa.”
Loving her parents dearly, she cannot forget about her father, but hides her sadness and tears so as not to disturb her mother. She took tender care of her mother, got her medicine, worked day and night (“weaved canvas, knitted stockings, picked flowers in the spring, and in the summer she took berries and sold them in Moscow”) The author is sure that such activities fully provide for the life of the old woman and her daughters. According to his plan, Lisa is completely unfamiliar with the book, but after meeting Erast, she dreams of how good it would be if her beloved “was born as a simple peasant shepherd...” these words are completely in the spirit of Lisa. Liza not only speaks like a book, but also thinks. However, the psychology of Lisa, who fell in love with a girl for the first time, is revealed in detail and in a natural sequence. The following moments are psychological and interesting: the desire to see Erast the next day after meeting and “some kind of sadness” when this desire did not come true, joyful fear and excitement at the unexpected appearance of Erast under the window of her hut, the author depicts this same feeling with the help of details in at the beginning of the story, wonder how she could live before without knowing Erast; anxiety at the thought that Erastu the master cannot be the husband of a simple peasant woman; the fear of losing a loved one and the hope of his return, finally, hopeless despair after Erast sent her out of the office. Before throwing herself into the pond, Lisa remembered her mother, she took care of the old woman as best she could, left her money, but this time the thought of her was no longer able to keep Lisa from taking a decisive step.
As a result, the character of the heroine is idealized, but internally integral. The author in the story raises not only the theme of the “little man” and social inequality, but also such topics as fate and circumstances, nature and man, love-sorrow and love-happiness. Erast, his character is much different from Lisa’s character. Erast is depicted in greater accordance with the social environment that raised him than Lisa. This is a “rather rich nobleman” who led an absent-minded life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements, but often did not find it, was bored and complained about his fate,” endowed with “a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty”, “he read novels. In the image of Erast, the type of disappointed Russian aristocrat is outlined for the first time. Lisa is a child of nature, her soul and character are close to the people. Erast recklessly falls in love with Lisa, breaking the rule that she is not a girl of his circle. Lisa is naive and she does not understand that at the time in which she lives, she is considered a small person and is not given the right to love. Having learned that Erast loves her, Lisa surrenders to her love selflessly without thinking about anything. At first, Erast acts in the same way, but then a turning point comes, the hero does not withstand the test of love, low feelings win.
Wednesday prevents the hero's soul from resurrecting and forces him to lie to Lisa. Only circumstances allow the heroine to discover the deception. In a minute, Lisa begins to see clearly; fate acts as a punishment for sin. Lisa is punished for her love. Erast is punished for not keeping his oath. The author's position in the story is that of a humanist. Before us is Karamzin the artist and Karamzin the philosopher. He sang the beauty of love, described love as a feeling that can transform a person. The writer teaches that a moment of love is beautiful, but only reason gives long life and strength.
Karamzin laid the foundation for a huge cycle of literature about “little people” and took the first step into this previously unknown topic. It was he who opened the way for such classics of the future as Gogol, Dostoevsky and others.