Lavretsky (“The Noble Nest”): the image of a hero. AND

First mention of the novel « Noble Nest» found in a letter from I. S. Turgenev to the publisher I. I. Panaev in October 1856. Ivan Sergeevich planned to finish the work by the end of the year, but did not realize his plan. The writer was seriously ill all winter, and then destroyed the first drafts and began to invent new story. Perhaps the final text of the novel differs significantly from the original one. In December 1858, the author made the final edits to the manuscript. “The Noble Nest” was first published in the January issue of Sovremennik magazine in 1859.

The novel made a huge impression on Russian society. He immediately became so popular that not reading “The Noble Nest” was considered almost bad form. Even Turgenev admitted that the work had a very big success.

The novel is based on the writer's thoughts about the fate of the best representatives of the Russian nobility. The author himself belonged to this class and understood perfectly well that "noble nests" with their atmosphere of sublime experiences gradually degenerate. It is no coincidence that Turgenev cites the genealogies of the main characters in the novel. Using their example, the writer shows that in various historical periods significant changes occurred in the psychology of the nobility: from "wild nobility" to the point of admiration for everything foreign. The great-grandfather of Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky is a cruel tyrant, his grandfather is a careless and hospitable hater of Voltaire, his father is an Anglomaniac.

Nest like symbol of the motherland, abandoned by its inhabitants. The writer’s contemporaries prefer to spend time abroad, speak French, and thoughtlessly adopt other people’s traditions. Lavretsky’s elderly aunt, obsessed with the style of Louis XV, looks tragic and caricatured. The fate of Fedor himself is unfortunate, whose childhood was crippled by a foreign "education system". The generally accepted practice of entrusting children to nannies, governesses, or even giving them away to someone else’s family breaks the connection between generations and deprives them of roots. Those who manage to settle down in the old family "nest", most often lead a sleepy existence filled with gossip, playing music and cards.

So different attitude It is no coincidence that Liza and Lavretsky’s mothers visit their children. Marya Dmitrievna is indifferent to raising her daughters. Liza is closer to the nanny Agafya and the music teacher. It is these people who influence the formation of a girl’s personality. But the peasant woman Malasha (Fedor’s mother) "quietly fading away" after she is deprived of the opportunity to raise her son.

Compositionally The novel “The Noble Nest” is constructed in a straightforward manner. Its basis is the story of the unhappy love of Fyodor and Lisa. The collapse of their hopes and the impossibility of personal happiness echo the social collapse of the nobility as a whole.

Main character novel Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky has many similarities with Turgenev himself. He is honest, sincerely loves his homeland, and seeks rational use of his abilities. Raised by a power-hungry and cruel aunt, and then in a peculiar way "Spartan system" father, he acquired heroic health and a stern appearance, but a kind and shy character. Lavretsky finds it difficult to communicate. He himself feels the gaps in his upbringing and education, so he strives to correct them.

The calculating Varvara sees in Lavretsky only a stupid bumpkin whose wealth is easy to take possession of. The sincerity and purity of the hero's first real feeling is shattered by his wife's betrayal. As a result, Fedor stops trusting people, despises women, and considers himself unworthy true love. Having met Lisa Kalitina, he does not immediately decide to believe in the purity and nobility of the girl. But, having recognized her soul, he believed and fell in love with her for the rest of his life.

Lisa's character was formed under the influence of an Old Believers nanny. From childhood, the girl was sensitive to religion, “the image of the omnipresent, all-knowing God was pressed into her soul with some sweet power”. However, Lisa behaves too independently and openly for her time. In the nineteenth century, girls who wanted to get married successfully were much more docile than Turgenev’s heroine.

Before meeting Lavretsky, Lisa did not often think about her fate. The official groom Panshin did not cause any particular hostility in the girl. After all, the main thing, in her opinion, is to honestly fulfill one’s duty to family and society. This is the happiness of every person.

The climax of the novel is Lavretsky’s dispute with Panshin about the people and the subsequent scene of Lisa’s explanation with Fyodor. In the male conflict, Panshin expresses the opinion of an official with pro-Western views, and Lavretsky speaks from positions close to Slavophilism. It was during this argument that Lisa realizes how consonant her thoughts and judgments are with Lavretsky’s views, and realizes her love for him.

Among the “Turgenev girls” image of Lisa Kalitina– one of the brightest and most poetic. Her decision to become a nun is based not only on religiosity. Lisa cannot live contrary to her moral principles. In the current situation, for a woman of her circle and spiritual development there was simply no other way out. Lisa sacrifices her personal happiness and the happiness of her loved one because she cannot act "wrong".

In addition to the main characters, Turgenev created a gallery in the novel bright images, which reflect the noble environment in all its diversity. There is a lover of government money here retired general Korobin, the old gossip Gedeonovsky, the clever dandy Panshin and many other heroes of provincial society.

There are also representatives of the people in the novel. Unlike the gentlemen, serfs and poor people are depicted by Turgenev with sympathy and sympathy. The ruined destinies of Malasha and Agafya, Lemm’s talent that was never revealed due to poverty, and many other victims of the lord’s tyranny prove that history "noble nests" far from ideal. AND main reason the writer believes that the ongoing social collapse serfdom, which corrupts some and reduces others to the level of dumb creatures, but cripples everyone.

The state of the characters is very subtly conveyed through pictures of nature, speech intonations, glances, pauses in conversations. With these means Turgenev achieves amazing grace in his description emotional experiences, soft and moving lyricism. “I was shocked... by the light poetry spilled in every sound of this novel,” Saltykov-Shchedrin spoke of “The Noble Nest.”

Artistic excellence and philosophical depth ensured Turgenev's first major work was an outstanding success for all time.

Turgenev conceived the novel “The Noble Nest” back in 1855. However, at that time the writer experienced doubts about the strength of his talent, and the imprint of personal unsettlement in life was also imposed. Turgenev resumed work on the novel only in 1858, upon his arrival from Paris. The novel appeared in the January book of Sovremennik for 1859. The author himself later noted that “The Noble Nest” was the greatest success that had ever befallen him.

Turgenev, who was distinguished by his ability to notice and depict something new and emerging, reflected modernity and the main moments of life in this novel noble intelligentsia that time. Lavretsky, Panshin, Liza are not abstract images created by the head, but living people - representatives of the generations of the 40s of the 19th century. Turgenev's novel contains not only poetry, but also a critical orientation. This work of the writer is a denunciation of autocratic-serf Russia, a departure song for the “nests of the nobility.”

Let's consider ideological content and the system of images of the “Noble Nest”. Turgenev placed representatives of the noble class at the center of the novel. Chronological framework novel - 40s. The action begins in 1842, and the epilogue tells about the events that took place 8 years later.

The writer decided to capture that period in the life of Russia when concern for the fate of themselves and their people grew among the best representatives of the noble intelligentsia. Turgenev decided on the plot and compositional plan of his work in an interesting way. He shows his heroes at their most intense turning points their lives.

After an eight-year stay abroad, Fyodor Lavretsky returns to his family estate. He experienced a great shock - the betrayal of his wife Varvara Pavlovna. Tired, but not broken by suffering, Fyodor Ivanovich came to the village to improve the life of his peasants. In a neighboring city in his house cousin Marya Dmitrievna Kalitina, he meets with her daughter, Lisa.

Lavretsky fell in love with her pure love, Lisa reciprocated his feelings. They were close to happiness; Lavretsky showed Lisa a French magazine, which reported the death of his wife Varvara Pavlovna. But when happiness was already so close, Varvara Pavlovna returns from France. And the devout Lisa asks Lavretsky to reconcile with his wife, and she decides to go to a monastery. Lavretsky cannot do anything to oppose Lisa’s demands and comes to terms with her decision. Their love and their lives were shattered. In the epilogue, Lisa turns out to be a humble nun; Lavretsky, who visited her, silently looked at her painfully; he admits that her life was lived uselessly, in vain.

Fyodor Lavretsky himself was a descendant of the gradually degenerating Lavretsky family, once strong, outstanding representatives of this family - Andrey (Fyodor's great-grandfather), Peter, then Ivan.

The commonality of the first Lavretskys is ignorance. In the papers of Pyotr Andreevich, the grandson found the only old book, in which he wrote either “Celebration in the city of St. Petersburg of the peace concluded with the Turkish Empire by His Excellency Prince Alexander Andreevich Prozorovsky,” then a recipe for breast decoction with a note; “this instruction was given to General Proskovya Fedorovna Saltykova from the protopresbyter of the church life-giving Trinity Fyodor Avksentievich”, etc.; Apart from calendars, a dream book and the work of Abmodik, the old man had no books. And on this occasion, Turgenev ironically remarked: “Reading was not his thing.” As if in passing, Turgenev points to the luxury of the eminent nobility. Thus, the death of Princess Kubenskaya is conveyed in the following colors: the princess “flushed, scented with ambergris a la Richelieu, surrounded by little black girls, thin-legged dogs and noisy parrots, died on a crooked silk sofa from the time of Louis XV, with an enamel snuffbox by Petitot in her hands.”

Kubenskaya, who bowed down to everything French, instilled the same tastes in Ivan Petrovich and gave him a French upbringing. The writer does not exaggerate the significance of the War of 1812 for nobles like the Lavretskys. They only temporarily “felt that Russian blood was flowing in their veins.” “Peter Andreevich dressed an entire regiment of warriors at his own expense.” But only. Fyodor Ivanovich's ancestors, especially his father, loved foreign things more than Russian ones. The European-educated Ivan Petrovich, returning from abroad, introduced a new livery to the servants, leaving everything as before, about which Turgenev writes, not without irony: “Everything remained the same, only the quitrent was increased in some places, and the corvee became heavier, yes the men were forbidden to address the master directly: the patriot really despised his fellow citizens.”

And Ivan Petrovich decided to raise his son using the foreign method. And this led to a separation from everything Russian, to a departure from the homeland. “An Anglomaniac played a bad joke on his son.” Separated from childhood native people, Fedor lost his support, his real cause. It is no coincidence that the writer led Ivan Petrovich to an inglorious death: the old man became an unbearable egoist, with his whims he did not allow everyone around him to live, a pathetic blind man, suspicious. His death was a deliverance for Fyodor Ivanovich. Life suddenly opened up before him. At the age of 23, he did not hesitate to sit on the student bench with the firm intention of mastering knowledge in order to apply it in life and benefit at least the peasants of his villages. Where does Fedor get from being so withdrawn and unsociable? These qualities were the result of a “Spartan upbringing.” Instead of introducing the young man into the thick of life, “they kept him in artificial solitude,” protecting him from life’s shocks.

The genealogy of the Lavretskys is intended to help the reader trace the gradual retreat of the landowners from the people, to explain how Fyodor Ivanovich “dislocated” from life; it is intended to prove that the social death of the nobility is inevitable. The opportunity to live at someone else's expense leads to the gradual degradation of a person.

Fyodor Lavretsky was brought up in conditions of desecration of the human person. He saw how his mother, the former serf Malanya, was in an ambiguous position: on the one hand, she was officially considered the wife of Ivan Petrovich, transferred to half of the owners, on the other hand, she was treated with disdain, especially by her sister-in-law Glafira Petrovna. Pyotr Andreevich called Malanya “a raw noblewoman.” As a child, Fedya himself felt his special position; the feeling of humiliation oppressed him. Glafira reigned supreme over him; his mother was not allowed to see him. When Fedya was eight years old, his mother died. “The memory of her,” writes Turgenev, “of her quiet and pale face, of her dull glances and timid caresses, is forever imprinted in his heart.” In his childhood, Fedya had to think about the situation of the people, about serfdom. However, his teachers did everything possible to distance him from life. His will was suppressed by Glafira, but “... at times wild stubbornness came over him.” Fedya was raised by his father himself. He decided to make him a Spartan. Ivan Petrovich’s “system” “confused the boy, created confusion in his head, pressed it down.” Fedya was presented exact sciences and “heraldry to maintain chivalric feelings.” The father wanted to mold the young man’s soul to a foreign model, to instill in him a love for everything English. It was under the influence of such an upbringing that Fedor turned out to be a man cut off from life, from the people. The writer emphasizes the wealth of spiritual interests of his hero. Fedor is passionate fan Mochalov’s performances (“never missed a single performance”), he deeply feels music, the beauty of nature, in a word, everything aesthetically beautiful. Lavretsky cannot be denied his hard work. He studied very diligently at the university. Even after his marriage, which interrupted his studies for almost two years, Fyodor Ivanovich returned to independent studies. “It was strange to see,” writes Turgenev, “his powerful, broad-shouldered figure, always bent over his desk. He spent every morning at work." And after his wife’s betrayal, Fyodor pulled himself together and “could study, work,” although skepticism, prepared by life experiences and upbringing, finally crept into his soul. He became very indifferent to everything. This was a consequence of his isolation from the people, from his native soil. After all, Varvara Pavlovna tore him not only from his studies, his work, but also from his homeland, forcing him to wander around Western countries and forget about the duty to your peasants, to the people. True, from childhood he was not accustomed to systematic work, so at times he was in a state of inaction.

Lavretsky is very different from the heroes created by Turgenev before The Noble Nest. They went to him positive features Rudin (his loftiness, romantic aspiration) and Lezhnev (sobriety of views on things, practicality). He has a strong view of his role in life - to improve the life of the peasants, he does not limit himself to the framework of personal interests. Dobrolyubov wrote about Lavretsky: “... the drama of his situation no longer lies in the struggle with his own powerlessness, but in the collision with such concepts and morals, with which the struggle, indeed, should frighten even the energetic and brave man" And further the critic noted that the writer “knew how to stage Lavretsky in such a way that it would be awkward to ironize him.”

With great poetic feeling, Turgenev described the emergence of love in Lavretsky. Realizing that he loved deeply, Fyodor Ivanovich repeated Mikhalevich’s meaningful words:

And I burned everything that I worshiped; He bowed to everything that he burned... Love for Lisa is the moment of his spiritual rebirth, which occurred upon his return to Russia. Lisa is the opposite of Varvara Pavlovna. She could have helped Lavretsky’s abilities to develop and would not have prevented him from being a hard worker. Fyodor Ivanovich himself thought about this: “...she would not distract me from my studies; she herself would have inspired me to do honest, strict work, and we would both have gone forward towards a wonderful goal.” Lavretsky's dispute with Panshin reveals his boundless patriotism and faith in the bright future of his people. Fyodor Ivanovich “stood up for new people, for their beliefs and desires.”

Having lost his personal happiness for the second time, Lavretsky decides to fulfill his social duty (as he understands it) - improving the life of his peasants. “Lavretsky had the right to be satisfied,” writes Turgenev, “he became a really good owner, really learned to plow the land and worked not only for himself.” However, it was half-hearted; it did not fill his entire life. Arriving at the Kalitins’ house, he thinks about the “work” of his life and admits that it was useless.

The writer condemns Lavretsky for the sad outcome of his life. With all your cute ones, positive qualities main character The “Noble Nest” did not find his calling, did not benefit his people, and did not even achieve personal happiness.

At 45 years old, Lavretsky feels old, incapable of spiritual activity; the Lavretsky “nest” has virtually ceased to exist.

In the epilogue of the novel, the hero appears aged. Lavretsky is not ashamed of the past, he does not expect anything from the future. “Hello, lonely old age! Burn out, useless life! - he says.

Lavretsky (“The Noble Nest”) is a very complex character. His character strongly reflected the hereditary traits of his ancestors. Turgenev, in order to more clearly describe the image of Lavretsky in the novel “The Noble Nest,” talks in detail about his immediate ancestors. This family chronicle gave the author the idea to call his novel that. Lavretsky’s great-grandfather was distinguished by his cruelty: “he hung men by the ribs.” This hero's uncle also loved to shout and make noise. Lavretsky's father, Ivan Petrovich, was educated in the capital under the guidance of an abbot, a student of Rousseau. This abbot introduced Ivan Petrovich to the views of the encyclopedists and brought discord into his soul. Arriving in the village, Ivan Petrovich fell in love with the maid Malanya and, to the horror of his father, married her. From this marriage Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky was born.

Lavretsky's upbringing was most abnormal. IN early childhood he was almost not allowed to see his dearly beloved mother. It is clear that the child was sad and tormented. In his eighth year, Lavretsky ("The Noble Nest") lost his mother and came under the supervision of a callous aunt, who aroused fear and disgust in him. When the hero was 12 years old, his father came from abroad, strongly imbued with Anglomanism. Ivan Petrovich immediately set to work raising his son and wanted to make him “a man and a Spartan.” The boy had to study international law, natural sciences, carpentry, mathematics and heraldry. At the same time, his father began to develop in him contempt for women.

This training system created confusion in Lavretsky's head. When this hero was 24 years old, Ivan Petrovich died, and Lavretsky hurried to enter the university. He set to work diligently to re-educate himself. Lavretsky (“The Noble Nest”) was not afraid of the ridicule of his comrades; “He seemed to them to be some kind of sophisticated pedant, they did not need him and did not look for him.” Thanks to this, our hero avoided the influence of the “circles” that had influence on Rudin and Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky district. Neither vanity nor sentimentality were developed in Lavretsky.

He, however, did not have to graduate from university. He married Varvara Pavlovna and lived abroad for several years. Having separated from his wife, Lavretsky suffered greatly, but this suffering did not tear him apart. He managed to protect himself from the apathy into which people deceived by life often fall. However, life sometimes became heavy on his shoulders - heavy because it was empty. This awareness of the emptiness of life differs significantly from Lavretsky from Rudin, who was not aware of it for a long time. Misfortune was useful to our hero. It softened his soul, he became extremely kind. The honest plebeian blood that flowed in his veins made him love everything native. Turgenev himself calls him a Slavophile. Indeed, in a dispute with Panshin, Lavretsky expresses views that are reminiscent of Slavophil teaching.

Getting closer to Lisa had a beneficial effect on our hero; he became more religious. Children's beliefs lived in Lavretsky's soul, but European enlightenment suppressed them, so that Lisa considered him an unbeliever. “Lisa secretly hoped to lead him to God,” says Turgenev. Lavretsky’s disbelief was due to mental fatigue and was not the fruit of moral decay. Under favorable living conditions, his religious feeling awakened again.

Lavretsky's love for Lisa was pure and chaste. Having parted with her, the hero did not stop loving her; the image of Lisa remained forever in his soul. Thus, in Lavretsky we find another feature that was characteristic of the generation of the 1840s, against which Bazarov subsequently armed himself so much - this is the cult love feeling, recognition of its primacy in life. Love plays a decisive role in his destiny. Lavretsky himself (“The Noble Nest”) understands very well fatal role for himself this feeling when he says: “My best years", referring to his unhappy marriage with Varvara Pavlovna. New love, when he gets close to Lisa, revives his entire being, but as soon as he fails here too, he considers his life broken and reads himself a waste at the end of the novel.

Towards the end of his life, Lavretsky finally found a business that gave him some peace of mind: he became a good owner and provided for the life of his peasants. But this one new activity did not revive his entire being. “Hello lonely old age! Burn out, useless life,” these are last words Lavretsky about the end of the novel; It is clear from them that he recognizes himself as unfit for the struggle of life and is giving way to the younger generation.

Hello, hello, my dear cousin! - she exclaimed in a drawn-out and almost tearful voice, “how glad I am to see you!”

“Hello, my good cousin,” Lavretsky objected and shook her outstretched hand in a friendly manner. - How does God have mercy on you?

Sit down, sit down, my dear Fyodor Ivanovich. Oh, how glad I am! Let me, first of all, introduce you to my daughter Lisa...

Monsieur Panshin... Sergei Petrovich Gedeonovsky... Sit down! I look at you and, really, I can’t even believe my eyes. How is your health?

As you can see: I am thriving. And you, cousin, no matter how I jinx you, have not lost weight in these eight years.

Just think how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other,” Marya Dmitrievna said dreamily. - Where are you from now? Where did you leave... that is, I wanted to say,” she hastily picked up, “I wanted to say, how long will you be staying with us?”

“I have now come from Berlin,” Lavretsky objected, “and tomorrow I’m going to the village - probably for a long time.”

Of course, you will live in Lavriki?

No, not in Lavriki; and I have a village, about twenty-five versts from here; so I'm going there.

This is the village that you got from Glafira Petrovna?

The same one.

Have mercy, Fyodor Ivanovich! You have such a wonderful house in Lavriki!

Lavretsky frowned slightly.

Yes... but in that village there is an outbuilding; and I don’t need anything else for now. This place is the most convenient for me now.

Marya Dmitrievna again became so confused that she even straightened up and spread her arms. Panshin came to her aid and entered into a conversation with Lavretsky. Marya Dmitrievna calmed down, sat back in her chair and only occasionally inserted a word; but at the same time she looked so pitifully at her guest, sighed so significantly and shook her head so sadly that he finally could not stand it and rather sharply asked her: is she healthy?

Thank God,” objected Marya Dmitrievna, “but what?”

So, it seemed to me that you were not at ease.

Marya Dmitrievna assumed a dignified and somewhat offended look. “If that’s the case,” she thought, “I don’t care at all; it’s clear to you, my father, that everything is like water off a duck’s back; Another would have died of grief, but you were still blown away.” Marya Dmitrievna did not stand on ceremony with herself; out loud she spoke more gracefully.

Lavretsky really did not look like a victim of fate. His red-cheeked, purely Russian face, with a large white forehead, a slightly thick nose and wide, regular lips, exuded steppe health, strong, durable strength. He was beautifully built, and his blond hair curled on his head like a young man’s. In his eyes alone, blue, bulging and somewhat motionless, one could notice either thoughtfulness or fatigue, and his voice sounded somehow too even.

Panshin, meanwhile, continued to carry on the conversation. He brought up the benefits of sugar production, about which he had recently read two French brochures, and with calm modesty began to expound their contents, without, however, mentioning them in a single word.

But this is Fedya! - Marfa Timofeevna’s voice suddenly rang out in the next room behind the half-open door, “Fedya, exactly!” - And the old woman quickly entered the living room. Lavretsky had not yet risen from his chair when she hugged him. “Show yourself, show yourself,” she said, moving away from his face. - Eh! Yes, how nice you are. He has aged, but has not deteriorated at all, really. Why are you kissing my hands - you are kissing me, if my wrinkled cheeks are not disgusting to you. Probably, he didn’t ask about me: what, they say, is my aunt alive? But you were born in my arms, such an arrow! Well, it’s all the same; where were you supposed to remember me? Only you are smart for coming. “And what, my mother,” she added, turning to Marya Dmitrievna, “did you treat him to something?”

“I don’t need anything,” Lavretsky said hastily.

Well, at least drink some tea, my father. Oh my God! He came from God knows where, and they won’t give him a cup of tea. Lisa, go and do something quickly. I remember when he was little he was a terrible glutton, and even now he must love to eat.

“My respect, Marfa Timofeevna,” said Panshin, approaching the departing old woman from the side and bowing low.

Excuse me, my lord,” objected Marfa Timofeevna, “I didn’t notice you in my joy.” “You have become like your mother, like a little darling,” she continued, turning again to Lavretsky, “only your nose was your father’s, and it remains your father’s.” Well, how long will you stay with us?

I'm leaving tomorrow, auntie.

To my place, in Vasilyevskoye.

Well, if tomorrow, then tomorrow. God bless you, you know better. Just look, come and say goodbye. - The old woman patted him on the cheek. - I didn’t think to wait for you; and it’s not like I was going to die; no - I’ll probably be enough for another ten years: all of us, the Pestovs, are tenacious; your late grandfather used to call us two-core; but God knows how long you would have spent time abroad. Well, well done, well done; tea, are you still lifting ten pounds with one hand? Your deceased father, I’m sorry, he was so absurd for what he was doing, but he did a good job of hiring a Swiss for you; Do you remember, you fought with him on fists; Is this what they call gymnastics? But, however, it was me who cackled so much; only she prevented Mr. Panshin (she never called him, as she should have, Panshin) from reasoning. But anyway, let’s start better tea drink; Yes, let’s go to the terrace, father, to drink it; Our cream of the crop is glorious - not like in your London and Paris. Let's go, let's go, and you, Fedyusha, give me your hand. ABOUT! Yes, how fat she is! I bet you won't fall.

Everyone got up and went to the terrace, with the exception of Gedeonovsky, who quietly left. During the entire continuation of Lavretsky’s conversation with the mistress of the house, Panshin and Marfa Timofeevna, he sat in the corner, blinking attentively and stretching out his lips with childish curiosity: he was now in a hurry to spread the news of the new guest throughout the city.

On the same day, at eleven o’clock in the evening, this is what happened in Mrs. Kalitina’s house. Downstairs, on the threshold of the living room, seizing a convenient moment, Vladimir Nikolaich said goodbye to Liza and said to her, holding her hand: “You know who attracts me here; you know why I constantly go to your house; Why are there words when everything is already clear?” Lisa did not answer him and, without smiling, slightly raising her eyebrows and blushing, looked at the floor, but did not take her hand away; and upstairs, in Marfa Timofeevna’s room, by the light of a lamp hanging in front of dim ancient images, Lavretsky was sitting on an armchair, leaning on his knees and resting his face in his hands; The old woman, standing in front of him, occasionally and silently stroked his hair. He spent more than an hour with her, saying goodbye to the mistress of the house; he said almost nothing to his good old friend, and she didn’t question him... And why was there any need to talk, what to ask about? She already understood everything, she already sympathized with everything that filled his heart.

Fyodor Ivanovich Lavretsky (we must ask the reader for permission to interrupt the thread of our story for a while) came from an old noble tribe. The ancestor of the Lavretskys left Prussia for the reign of Vasily the Dark and was granted two hundred quarters of land in the Bezhetsky region. Many of his descendants were listed in various services, sat under princes and eminent people in distant provinces, but not one of them rose above the steward and acquired significant property. Richer and more remarkable than all the Lavretskys was Fyodor Ivanovich’s great-grandfather, Andrei, a cruel, impudent, intelligent and crafty man. To this day, rumors about his arbitrariness, his furious temper, insane generosity and insatiable greed have not ceased. He was very fat and tall, with a dark complexion and no beard, he lisped and seemed sleepy; but the quieter he spoke, the more everyone around him trembled. He got a wife to match himself. Goggle-eyed, with a hawk nose, with a round yellow face, a gypsy by birth, hot-tempered and vindictive, she was in no way inferior to her husband, who almost killed her and whom she did not survive, although she was always squabbling with him. Andrei's son, Peter, Fedorov's grandfather, was not like his father; he was a simple steppe gentleman, rather eccentric, loud and loud, rude, but not evil, hospitable and a canine hunter. He was over thirty years old when he inherited two thousand souls from his father in excellent order, but he soon dissolved them, sold part of his estate, and spoiled the servants. Like cockroaches, familiar and unfamiliar little people crawled from all sides into his vast, warm and unkempt mansions; all of this ate whatever they could, but to their fill, got drunk and carried away whatever they could, glorifying and magnifying the affectionate owner; and the owner, when he was out of sorts, also called his guests parasites and scoundrels, and was bored without them. Pyotr Andreich's wife was a humble woman; he took her from a neighboring family, by his father's choice and order; her name was Anna Pavlovna. She did not interfere in anything, welcomed guests cordially and willingly went out herself, although powdering herself, in her words, was death for her. They will put a felt cap on your head, she would tell you in her old age, your hair will be combed all up, smeared with lard, sprinkled with flour, stuck with iron pins - you won’t be able to wash it off afterwards; But you can’t go on a visit without powder - they’ll be offended - it’s flour! She loved to ride trotters, was ready to play cards from morning to evening, and always used to cover the penny winnings written to her with her hand when her husband approached the gambling table; and she gave all her dowry, all her money, to him at his unrequited disposal. She brought with him two children: a son, Ivan, Fedorov’s father, and a daughter, Glafira. Ivan was not brought up at home, but with a rich old aunt, Princess Kubenskaya: she appointed him as her heir (without this, his father would not have let him go); she dressed him like a doll, hired him all kinds of teachers, assigned him a tutor, a Frenchman, a former abbot, a student of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a certain M. Courtin de Vaucelles, a clever and subtle slicker - the very, as she put it, fine fleur of emigration, - and ended up marrying this fine-fleur at almost seventy years old; transferred her entire fortune to his name and soon afterwards, flushed, scented with amber á la Richelieu, surrounded by little little arapes, thin-legged dogs and noisy parrots, she died on a crooked silk sofa from the times of Louis XV, with an enamel snuffbox by Petitot in her hands - and died, abandoned husband: the insinuating Mr. Courten chose to retire to Paris with her money. Ivan was only twenty years old when this unexpected blow (we are talking about the princess’s marriage, not her death) struck him; he did not want to stay in his aunt’s house, where he suddenly turned from a rich heir into a hanger-on; in St. Petersburg, the society in which he grew up closed in front of him; he felt disgust for service from low ranks, difficult and dark (all this happened at the very beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander); He had to inevitably return to the village, to his father. His birthplace seemed dirty, poor, and trashy to him; the wilderness and soot of steppe life insulted him at every step; boredom gnawed at him; but everyone in the house, except his mother, looked at him unfriendly. Father did not like his metropolitan habits, his tailcoats, frills, books, his flute, his neatness, in which it was not for nothing that he sensed disgust; He complained and grumbled about his son every now and then. “Everything here is not like him,” he used to say, “he’s picky at the table, doesn’t eat, can’t stand the smell of people, the stuffiness, the sight of drunk people upsets him, don’t you dare fight in front of him either, doesn’t want to serve: he’s weak, you see, in his health; wow, you such a sissy! And all because Walter is in my head.” The old man especially did not like Voltaire and even the “fanatic” Diderot, although he did not read a single line of their works: reading was not his thing. Pyotr Andreich was not mistaken: precisely, Diderot and Voltaire sat in his son’s head, and not they alone - Rousseau, and Raynal, and Helvetius, and many other writers like them sat in his head - but in only one head . Former mentor Ivan Petrovich, a retired abbot and encyclopedist, was content to completely pour all the wisdom of the 18th century into his pupil, and he walked around filled with it; she remained in him without mixing with his blood, without penetrating his soul, without expressing herself as a strong conviction... And was it possible to demand convictions from a young fellow fifty years ago, when we had not yet grown up to them? Ivan Petrovich also embarrassed visitors to his father’s house; he abhorred them, they were afraid of him, and he did not get along with his sister Glafira, who was twelve years older than him, at all. This Glafira was a strange creature: ugly, hunchbacked, thin, with wide-open stern eyes and a compressed thin mouth; her face, voice, and angular, quick movements resembled her grandmother, a gypsy, Andrei’s wife. Persistent, power-hungry, she didn’t even want to hear about marriage. The return of Ivan Petrovich was not to her liking; While Princess Kubenskaya kept him with her, she hoped to receive at least half of her father’s estate: and due to her stinginess, she became a grandmother. Moreover, Glafira was jealous of her brother; he was so educated, spoke French so well, with a Parisian accent, and she barely knew how to say “bonjour” and “coman vou porte vou?” . True, her parents didn’t understand French at all, but that didn’t make it any easier for her. Ivan Petrovich did not know where to escape from melancholy and boredom; He spent an incredible year in the village, and even that seemed like ten years to him. Only with his mother did he unwind and sit for hours in her low chambers, listening to simple chatter. kind woman and gorging on jam. It so happened that among Anna Pavlovna’s maids there was one very pretty girl, with clear, gentle eyes and subtle features person named Malanya, smart and shy. Ivan Petrovich liked her from the first time; and he fell in love with her: he loved her timid gait, bashful answers, quiet voice, quiet smile; every day she seemed dearer to him. And she became attached to Ivan Petrovich with all the strength of her soul, as only Russian girls know how to become attached, and she gave herself up to him. In the landowner's village house no secret can be kept for long: soon everyone learned about the young master’s connection with Malanya; news of this connection finally reached Pyotr Andreich himself. At another time he probably would not have paid attention to such an unimportant matter; but he had long been angry with his son and rejoiced at the opportunity to shame the St. Petersburg sage and dandy. There was a hubbub, shouting and uproar: Malanya was locked in a closet; Ivan Petrovich was demanded to see his parent. Anna Pavlovna also came running in response to the noise. She tried to tame her husband, but Pyotr Andreich was no longer listening to anything. He attacked his son like a hawk, reproaching him for immorality, atheism, and pretense; By the way, he took out all his simmering frustration against Princess Kubenskaya on him and showered him with offensive words. At first Ivan Petrovich was silent and strengthened himself, but when his father decided to threaten him with shameful punishment, he could not stand it. “The fanatic Diderot is on stage again,” he thought, “so I’ll let him into action, wait a minute; I will surprise you all." And then, in a calm, even voice, although with an inner trembling in all his limbs, Ivan Petrovich announced to his father that he was in vain reproaching him for immorality; that although he does not intend to justify his guilt, he is ready to correct it, and all the more willingly because he feels above all prejudices, namely, he is ready to marry Malanya. Having uttered these words, Ivan Petrovich undoubtedly achieved his goal: he amazed Pyotr Andreich so much that his eyes widened and he was speechless for a moment; but he immediately came to his senses and, as he was wearing a sheepskin coat with squirrel fur and boots on his bare feet, he rushed with his fists at Ivan Petrovich, who, as if on purpose, that day combed his hair á la Titus and put on a new English blue tailcoat and boots with tassels and smart tight leggings trousers. Anna Pavlovna screamed obscenities and covered her face with her hands, and her son ran through the whole house, jumped out into the yard, rushed into the vegetable garden, into the garden, flew through the garden onto the road and kept running without looking back, until, finally, he stopped hearing the heavy stomping behind him. father's steps and his amplified, intermittent screams... “Stop, you swindler! - he yelled, - stop! I’ll curse you!” Ivan Petrovich hid with a neighboring nobleman, and Pyotr Andreich returned home, all exhausted and sweating, announced, barely taking a breath, that he was depriving his son of his blessing and inheritance, ordered all his stupid books to be burned, and the girl Malanya to be immediately exiled to a distant village. Found good people, found Ivan Petrovich, informed him about everything. Ashamed and enraged, he vowed to take revenge on his father and that same night, lying in wait for a peasant cart on which Malanya was being transported, he recaptured it by force, rode with her to the nearest city and married her. He was provided with money by his neighbor, an always drunk and kind retired sailor, a terrible hunter of anything, as he put it, noble history. The next day, Ivan Petrovich wrote a sarcastically cold and courteous letter to Pyotr Andreich, and he himself went to the village where his second cousin Dmitry Pestov lived with his sister, already familiar to readers, Marfa Timofeevna. He told them everything, announced that he intended to go to St. Petersburg to look for places, and begged them to shelter his wife at least for a while. At the word “wife,” he wept bitterly and, despite his metropolitan education and philosophy, humbly, like a poor little man, bowed to his relatives’ feet and even hit his forehead on the floor. The Pestovs, compassionate and kind people, willingly agreed to his request; he lived with them for three weeks, secretly waiting for an answer from his father; but no answer came - and could not come. Pyotr Andreich, having learned about his son’s wedding, went to bed and forbade mentioning the name of Ivan Petrovich to himself; only the mother, quietly from her husband, borrowed from the dean and sent five hundred rubles in banknotes and an icon to his wife; She was afraid to write, but she ordered to tell Ivan Petrovich through the sent gaunt peasant, who knew how to walk sixty miles a day, so that he would not be too upset, that, God willing, everything would work out and his father would transfer his anger to mercy; that another daughter-in-law would have been more desirable for her, but that, apparently, God wanted it that way, and that she sends Malanya Sergeevna her parental blessing. The lean peasant received a ruble, asked permission to see the new lady, whose godfather he was, kissed her hand and ran home.

He put Lavretsky out. This is a typical Russian person, not stupid and kind, who has vegetated for a long time without benefit to his neighbors, dissatisfied with himself and life - one of those “superfluous” people whom Turgenev so willingly portrayed. Only in the second half of his life does he find something to do.

He received the wildest upbringing: his extravagant father, under the influence of ideas about “equality” he had grasped on the fly, and against his father’s will, married his serf. He soon became bored with her, and he moved abroad. The poor woman, torn from her native environment, withered away in the mansions of the masters, without love and heartfelt sympathy. The child grew up in the arms of an old aunt, an extravagant old woman who raised him with nothing but fear. The father returned from abroad with different ideals - “Anglomaniacs”, and “fervently set about re-educating” his son: a sleek, spoiled boy, accustomed to living in the secluded world of his childhood dreams, he suddenly began to train, temper, develop his body, leaving his soul unattended. Spiritually alone in his aunt’s house, he remained so with his father. No one was interested in his soul - everyone tried to subjugate him to their will.

Turgenev. Noble Nest. Audiobook

Such an upbringing only “dislocated” him and did not prepare him for life. As a naive, trusting child, with the body of a man, he began independent life, entering the university. “Many scattered ideas wandered around in his head - in some issues he was as knowledgeable as any specialist, but, at the same time, he did not call for many things that are known to every high school student.” However, smart by nature, he studied seriously at the university - he did not turn out to be such a “supervisor” as his parent. Lavretsky was even able to discern “the discord between his father’s words and deeds, between his broad liberal theories and callous, petty despotism.” Lavretsky withdrew into himself and, “dislocated,” went into life “at random,” without plans or goals. He had a hard time getting along with his university comrades; one enthusiastic idealist, Mikhalevich, managed to get close to him, or at least managed to make him a listener to his enthusiastic speeches.

But the idealism of German philosophy did not capture Lavretsky much: the blood of a simple Russian woman flowed in him; He also reacted critically to the superficial “Europeanism” of his father and many of his contemporaries - and as a result, he developed unique nationalistic, almost “Slavophile” views on the history of Russia; in a dispute with Panshin, he, generally taciturn and modest, with inspiration and strength developed his cherished thoughts about the harm for Russia of blindly following in its development the “help” of the West, about the need for independent national development. Caught after the gyre European life to a quiet Russian village, he experienced a rush of “deep and strong feeling homeland." But this “lull” in Russian life did not seem to him “ dead asleep“- he believed that the Russian village was strong and mighty, and the people living in it were full of secret forces - he believed in “the youth and independence of Russia”; he proved “the impossibility of leaps and arrogant alterations that are not justified by knowledge native land, nor real faith in the ideal." He cited his own upbringing as an example, demanding, first of all, recognition of the people's truth and humility before it - that humility before it, "without which courage against lies is impossible." He preaches “reconciliation with life” and advises everyone to work modestly for the benefit of their homeland and their neighbors, without setting out particularly broad and brilliant plans. “Plow the land and try to plow it as best as possible,” that’s what he recommends instead of chasing after great exploits, after the “crackling glory of a hero”... And he realized his thoughts: “really, he became a good owner, - really , learned to plow the land, and worked not only for himself - he, as far as he could, provided and strengthened the life of his peasants.”

In his life great importance had Lisa Kalitina. Exhausted, embittered, he returned to his “calm”... If life in his homeland soon calmed him down and helped him develop that theory of reconciliation and humility, which was mentioned above, then this theory did not grow into his soul - it was socially -its historical point of view; he foresaw how public figure; in the depths of his soul there was emptiness - he was indifferent to God, he did not yet know reconciliation with the real reality (of his relationship with his wife). Only Laza helped him establish the integrity of his worldview. She brought him to her “Russian” God; she spoke to him about pity and compassion, she managed to free his heart from anger. “You must forgive if you want to be forgiven!” she told him. “We must submit, we must humble ourselves before the will of God,” she repeated. And these words fell on ready soil - after all, Lavretsky himself praised the “Russian man” for this ability to endure, reconcile and love - after all, the bright image of his suffering mother flashed before him; Before him stood the image of Lisa herself... And he himself was akin to them. That is why, although he did not go to the monastery, he became Lisa’s brother “in spirit.” He forgave his wife, he renounced personal happiness, recognizing that the meaning of life lies only in working for the common good. This is the clarification of the great moral duty happened in Lavretsky’s soul after a series of mistakes, suffering, hesitations... He, with the help of Lisa, threw off the husk of selfishness, the dust of alien views inspired from the outside and approached the ideals of his native people, as they seemed to the Slavophiles of the 40s. Among the people of his generation, Lavretsky himself had to conquer these worldviews, pave the way for them... At the cost of personal happiness, he gained the consciousness of this happiness - that is why the final words of the novel sound so sad, in which Lavretsky expressed his thoughts, addressing the coming generation:

“Play, have fun, grow, young strength,” he thought, and there was no bitterness in his thoughts; life is ahead of you, and it will be easier for you to live; you won’t have to, like us, find your way, struggle, fall and rise in the darkness; we were trying to figure out how to survive, and how many of us didn’t survive! but you need to do something, work - and the blessing of our brother, the old man, will be with you.”

He realizes that he got on the path late and has lost too much strength to bring significant benefit.

“He,” says Turgenev, “has calmed down and aged not only in face and body, but in soul.” “Hello, lonely old age! Burn out, useless life! - Lavretsky’s last words.

He was raised by a Frenchman, an admirer of the philosophy of the encyclopedists, who tried to “pour all the wisdom of the 18th century entirely into his pupil... He (the hero’s father) walked around filled with it; she remained in him without mixing with his blood, without penetrating his soul, without expressing a strong conviction.”

“He goes to university at the age of 25, and in his first happy years Married life again takes up self-education and spends half the day sitting at books and notebooks. Turgenev, unfortunately, did not tell us what kind of books they were, and we cannot say under what influences Lavretsky’s worldview was created, but some of its features were definitely noted by the author and could not be more characteristic of “superfluous people.” He is completely imbued with noble impulses and moods; He even went ahead, compared to Rudin, because he is constantly busy with thoughts about living activities: in Paris, for example, attending lectures and translating a scientific work, he keeps thinking about how he will soon return to Russia and get down to business. The same thoughts visit him upon returning to his homeland. But it is not for nothing that Turgenev notes that Lavretsky was hardly aware of what the matter actually consisted of, thereby indicating the fog and uncertainty of his views, if only the matter concerned practical application them to life. His soul, like Rudin’s, is filled with noble impulses, but he does not have a strictly thought-out, developed on the basis of close acquaintance with native life plan of action - he has dreams, but not thoughts.” (Alexandrovsky).

“Russia,” said Panshin, “has fallen behind Europe; we need to adjust it... We have no ingenuity. Consequently, we must inevitably borrow from others... We are sick because we have only become half Europeans; what hurt us is how we should be treated... All peoples are essentially the same, just enter good institutions– and that’s the end of it.”