The story Poor Lisa as an example of Russian sentimentalism. Russian sentimentalism and N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin became the most prominent representative in Russian literature of a new literary movement - sentimentalism, popular in Western Europe at the end of the 18th century. The story “Poor Liza,” created in 1792, revealed the main features of this trend. Sentimentalism proclaimed primary attention to the private life of people, to their feelings, which were equally characteristic of people from all classes. Karamzin tells us the story of the unhappy love of a simple peasant girl, Liza, and a nobleman, Erast, in order to prove that “peasant women also know how to love.” Lisa is the ideal of the “natural person” advocated by the sentimentalists. She is not only “beautiful in soul and body,” but she is also capable of sincerely loving a person who is not entirely worthy of her love. Erast, although superior to his beloved in education, nobility and wealth, turns out to be spiritually smaller than her. He is unable to rise above class prejudices and marry Lisa. Erast has a “fair mind” and a “kind heart,” but at the same time he is “weak and flighty.” After losing at cards, he is forced to marry a rich widow and leave Lisa, which is why she commits suicide. However, sincere human feelings did not die in Erast and, as the author assures us, “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.”
For Karamzin, the village becomes a center of natural moral purity, and the city - a source of debauchery, a source of temptations that can destroy this purity. The writer's heroes, in full accordance with the precepts of sentimentalism, suffer almost all the time, constantly expressing their feelings with abundantly shed tears. As the author himself admitted: “I love those objects that make me shed tears of tender sorrow.” Karamzin is not ashamed of tears and encourages readers to do the same. As he describes in detail the experiences of Lisa, left behind by Erast, who had gone into the army: “From that hour, her days were days
melancholy and sorrow, which had to be hidden from the tender mother: all the more did her heart suffer! Then it only became easier when Lisa, secluded in the depths of the forest, could freely shed tears and moan about separation from her beloved. Often the sad dove combined her plaintive voice with her moaning.” Karamzin forces Liza to hide her suffering from her old mother, but at the same time he is deeply convinced that it is very important to give a person the opportunity to openly express his grief, to his heart’s content, in order to ease the soul. The author views the essentially social conflict of the story through a philosophical and ethical prism. Erast sincerely would like to overcome class barriers on the path of his idyllic love with Lisa. However, the heroine looks at the state of affairs much more soberly, realizing that Erast “cannot be her husband.” The narrator is already quite sincerely worried about his characters, worried in the sense that it is as if he lives with them. It is no coincidence that at the moment when Erast leaves Lisa, the author’s heartfelt confession follows: “My heart is bleeding at this very moment. I forget the man in Erast - I’m ready to curse him - but my tongue does not move - I look at the sky, and a tear rolls down my face.” Not only the author himself got along with Erast and Lisa, but also thousands of his contemporaries - readers of the story. This was facilitated by good recognition not only of the circumstances, but also of the place of action. Karamzin quite accurately depicted in “Poor Liza” the surroundings of the Moscow Simonov Monastery, and the name “Lizin’s Pond” was firmly attached to the pond located there. Moreover: some unfortunate young ladies even drowned themselves here, following the example of the main character of the story. Liza herself became a model that people sought to imitate in love, though not peasant women who had not read Karamzin’s story, but girls from the nobility and other wealthy classes. The hitherto rare name Erast became very popular among noble families. “Poor Liza” and sentimentalism were very much in keeping with the spirit of the times.
It is characteristic that in Karamzin’s works, Liza and her mother, although they are stated to be peasant women, speak the same language as the nobleman Erast and the author himself. The writer, like the Western European sentimentalists, did not yet know the speech distinction of heroes representing classes of society that were opposite in their conditions of existence. All the heroes of the story speak Russian literary language, close to the real spoken language of the circle of educated noble youth to which Karamzin belonged. Also, peasant life in the story is far from genuine folk life. Rather, it is inspired by the ideas about “natural man” characteristic of sentimentalist literature, whose symbols were shepherds and shepherdesses. Therefore, for example, the writer introduces an episode of Lisa’s meeting with a young shepherd who “was driving his flock along the river bank, playing the pipe.” This meeting makes the heroine dream that her beloved Erast would be “a simple peasant, a shepherd,” which would make their happy union possible. The writer, after all, was mainly concerned with truthfulness in the depiction of feelings, and not with the details of folk life that was unfamiliar to him.
Having established sentimentalism in Russian literature with his story, Karamzin took a significant step in terms of its democratization, abandoning the strict, but far from living life, schemes of classicism. The author of “Poor Liza” not only strove to write “as they say,” freeing the literary language from Church Slavonic archaisms and boldly introducing into it new words borrowed from European languages. For the first time, he abandoned the division of heroes into purely positive and purely negative, showing a complex combination of good and bad traits in Erast’s character. Thus, Karamzin took a step in the direction in which realism, which replaced sentimentalism and romanticism, moved the development of literature in the mid-19th century.
At the end of the 18th century, the leading literary movement in Russia was sentimentalism, as was classicism, which came to us from Europe. N. M. Karamzin can rightfully be considered the head and promoter of the sentimental trend in Russian literature. His “Letters of a Russian Traveler” and stories are an example of sentimentalism. Thus, the story “Poor Liza” (1792) is constructed in accordance with the basic laws of this direction. However, the writer moved away from some of the canons of European sentimentalism.
In the works of classicism, kings, nobles, and generals, that is, people who performed an important state mission, were worthy of depiction. Sentimentalism preached the value of the individual, even if insignificant on a national scale. Therefore, Karamzin made the main character of the story the poor peasant woman Lisa, who was left early without a breadwinner father and lives with her mother in a hut. According to sentimentalists, both people of the upper class and low origin have the ability to deeply feel and perceive the world around them with kindness, “for even peasant women know how to love.”
The sentimentalist writer did not have the goal of accurately depicting reality. Lizin's income from the sale of flowers and knitting, on which peasant women live, could not provide for them. But Karamzin depicts life without trying to convey everything realistically. Its goal is to awaken compassion in the reader. For the first time in Russian literature, this story made the reader feel the tragedy of life in his heart.
Already contemporaries noted the novelty of the hero of “Poor Lisa” - Erast. In the 1790s, the principle of a strict division of heroes into positive and negative was observed. Erast, who killed Lisa, contrary to this principle, was not perceived as a villain. A frivolous but dreamy young man does not deceive the girl. At first he has sincere tender feelings for the naive villager. Without thinking about the future, he believes that he will not harm Lisa, will always be by her side, like brother and sister, and they will be happy together.
The language in works of sentimentalism also changed. The speech of the heroes was “freed” from a large number of Old Slavonicisms and became simpler, closer to colloquial. At the same time, it became full of beautiful epithets, rhetorical turns, and exclamations. The speech of Lisa and her mother is florid, philosophical (“Ah, Lisa!” she said. “How good everything is with the Lord God!.. Ah, Lisa! Who would want to die if sometimes we didn’t have grief!”; ““Think about the pleasant moment in which we will see each other again." - “I will, I will think about her! Oh, if only she would come sooner! Dear, dear Erast! Remember, remember your poor Liza, who loves you more than herself!” ).
The purpose of such language is to influence the reader’s soul, to awaken humane feelings in it. Thus, in the speech of the narrator of “Poor Lisa” we hear an abundance of interjections, diminutive forms, exclamations, and rhetorical appeals: “Ah! I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!”; “Beautiful poor Liza with her old lady”; “But what did she feel then when Erast, hugging her for the last time, pressing her to his heart for the last time, said: “Forgive me, Lisa!” What a touching picture!”
Sentimentalists paid great attention to the depiction of nature. Events often unfolded against the backdrop of picturesque landscapes: in the forest, on the bank of a river, in a field. Sensitive natures, the heroes of sentimentalist works, keenly perceived the beauty of nature. In European sentimentalism, it was assumed that a “natural” person close to nature possesses only pure feelings; that nature is capable of elevating the human soul. But Karamzin tried to challenge the point of view of Western thinkers.
“Poor Liza” begins with a description of the Simonov Monastery and its surroundings. So the author connected the present and past of Moscow with the history of an ordinary person. Events unfold in Moscow and in nature. “Natura”, that is, nature, following the narrator, closely “observes” the love story of Lisa and Erast. But she remains deaf and blind to the heroine’s experiences.
Nature does not stop the passions of the young man and girl at the fateful moment: “not a single star shone in the sky - no ray could illuminate the delusions.” On the contrary, “the darkness of the evening nourished desires.” Something incomprehensible is happening to Lisa’s soul: “It seemed to me that I was dying, that my soul... No, I don’t know how to say it!” Lisa’s closeness to nature does not help her in saving her soul: it is as if she is giving her soul to Erast. The thunderstorm breaks out only after - “it seemed that all nature was lamenting about Liza’s lost innocence.” Lisa is afraid of thunder, “like a criminal.” She perceives thunder as punishment, but nature did not tell her anything earlier.
At the moment of Lisa’s farewell to Erast, nature is still beautiful, majestic, but indifferent to the heroes: “The morning dawn, like a scarlet sea, spread across the eastern sky. Erast stood under the branches of a tall oak tree... the whole nature was in silence.” The “silence” of nature in the tragic moment of separation for Lisa is emphasized in the story. Here too, nature doesn’t tell the girl anything, doesn’t save her from disappointment.
The heyday of Russian sentimentalism occurred in the 1790s. A recognized propagandist of this trend, Karamzin developed the main idea in his works: the soul must be enlightened, made heartfelt, responsive to other people's pain, other people's suffering and other people's concerns.
Checking homework
Report about N.M. Karamzin: Karamzin the poet, Karamzin the publicist, Karamzin the historian
A teacher's word on sentimentalism
In the second half of the 18th century, a new literary movement, “sentimentalism,” emerged. Translated from English. means “sensitive”, “touching”. Its leader in Russia is considered to be N.M. Karamzin, and the direction itself is often defined as Russian “noble” sentimentalism. However, some researchers oppose the “democratic” sentimentalism led by Radishchev to the Karamzinist movement. Sentimentalism arose in the West during the period of decomposition of feudal-serf relations. Historical background dictates the emergence of certain principles in the aesthetics of sentimentalism. Let's remember what was the main task of art for the classicists? (for classicists the main task of art was to glorify the state)
And the focus of sentimentalism is a person, and not a person in general, but this specific person, in all the uniqueness of his individual personality. Its value is determined not by belonging to the upper classes, but by personal merit. The positive heroes of most sentimental works are representatives of the middle and lower classes. Usually at the center of the works is a disappointed hero who laments his fate and sheds a sea of tears. The writer's task is to evoke compassion for him. The daily life of a person is depicted. The setting is small towns and villages. The heroes' favorite meeting places are quiet, secluded places (ruins, cemeteries).
The inner world of a person, his psychology, shades of mood are the dominant themes of most works.
New content entails the emergence of new forms: the leading genres are the family psychological novel, diary, confession, and travel notes. Prose is replacing poetry and drama. The syllable becomes sensitive, melodious, emotional. “Tearful” drama and comic opera were developed.
In works of sentimentalism, the voice of the narrator is very important. In the article “What does an author need?”, which became a manifesto of Russian sentimentalism, N.M. Karamzin wrote: “You want to be an author: read the history of the misfortunes of the human race - and if your heart does not bleed, put up a pen, or it will depict cold gloom for us your soul."
Representatives of sentimentalism:
England: Laurence Sterne “A Sentimental Journey”, the novel “Tristam Shandy”, Richardson “Clarissa Garlow”;
Germany: Goethe “The Sorrows of Young Werther”;
France: Jean-Jacques Rousseau “Julia, or New Heloise”;
Russia: N.M. Karamzin, A.N. Radishchev, N.A. Lvov, M.N. Muravyov, young V.A. Zhukovsky
The emergence of Russian sentimentalism in the 60s is explained by the fact that people of the “third rank” began to play an important role in public life.
Analysis of the story “Poor Lisa”
- One of the most striking works of sentimentalism is N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” (1792).
Let us turn to the words of E. Osetrova “B.L.” - this is an exemplary work, dedicated not to external events, but to the “sensitive” soul.”
You read the story at home and probably thought about the problems that the author poses in his work. Let's find out what the main theme and idea of this work is. Let's see how the images of the main characters of the story are presented. Let's try to explain the actions of the main characters (when answering questions, be sure to use the text).
How would you define the theme of this story? (the theme of the search for personal happiness). This topic was new for the literature of that time. We have already said that sentimentalist writers place the private, individual person at the center of attention.
Who are the heroes of this story? (young girl Lisa, her mother, young man Erast)
What is Lisa’s life with her mother like before meeting Erast? (Lisa “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”)
What is the dignity of the personality of Lisa and her parents? (father - “loved work, plowed the land well and always led a sober life”; mother is faithful to her husband’s memory, raises her daughter in strict moral concepts, in particular, instills in her the rule: “feed on your labors and take nothing for nothing”, Lisa is pure , open, faithful in love, caring daughter, virtuous)
What epithets and for what purpose does Karamzin endow his heroine? (poor, beautiful, kind, gentle, helpful, timid, unhappy).
What is Erast's life like? (“Erast was quitea rich nobleman, with considerable intelligence and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty. He led an absent-minded life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements, but often did not find it: he was bored and complained about his fate; he read novels, idylls, had a fairly vivid imagination and often moved mentally to those times (former or not), in which, according to the poets, all people carelessly walked through meadows, bathed in clean springs, kissed like turtle doves, rested under roses and myrtles and spent all their days in happy idleness")
The plot of the story is based on the love story of Lisa and Erast. How does YaKaramzin show the development of feelings between young people? (at first their love was platonic, pure, immaculate, but then Erast is no longer content with pure embraces, and Lisa sees her happiness in Erast’s contentment)
What did the flaring up feeling mean for Lisa and for Erast, who had already tasted social fun? (For Liza, this feeling was the whole meaning of her life, and for Erast, simplicity was just another fun. Liza believed Erast. From now on, she submits to his will, even when her good heart and common sense tell her to behave in the opposite way: she hides her dates with Erast and her fall from grace from her mother , and after Erast’s departure - the strength of his melancholy)
Is love possible between a peasant woman and a gentleman? (seems impossible. At the very beginning of meeting Erast, Liza does not allow the thought of its possibility: the mother, seeing Erast, says to her daughter: “If only your groom were like that!” Liza’s whole heart trembled..."Mother! Mother! How can this happen? He is a gentleman, and among the peasants... - Liza did not finish her speech." After Erast visited Liza's house, she thinks: “If only the one who now occupies my thoughts was born a simple peasant, a shepherd... A dream!" In a conversation with Erast after his promises to take Lisa to him after the death of her mother, the girl objects: “However, you cannot be my husband.”
- “Why?”
- “I am a peasant woman”)
How do you understand the title of the story? (poor - unhappy)
The feelings of the characters and their state are closely connected with nature. Prove that descriptions of nature “prepare” heroes and readers, “set up” for certain events (the description of the Simonov Monastery at the beginning of the story sets up for the tragic ending of the story; Lisa on the banks of the Moscow River in the early morning before meeting Erast; description of a thunderstorm when Lisa thinks herself a criminal because she lost her innocence, purity)
The author loves Lisa, admires her, deeply experiences her fall from grace, tries to explain the reasons for it and soften the severity of the condemnation, is even ready to justify and forgive her, but he repeatedly calls Erast cruel in Lisa’s words, and this is justified, although Lisa puts a slightly different meaning into this epithet . He gives his own assessments of everything that happens, which are objective)
Did you like the story? How?
D.z.:
1. A message about sentimentalism
2. Why is “Poor Liza” a work of sentimentalism? (written response)
Reflection
I knew, I found out, I want to know (ZUH)
In the story by N.M. Karamzin’s “Poor Liza” tells the story of a peasant girl who knows how to love deeply and selflessly. Why did the writer portray such a heroine in his work? This is explained by Karamzin’s belonging to sentimentalism, a literary movement then popular in Europe. In the literature of sentimentalists, it was argued that it is not nobility and wealth, but spiritual qualities, the ability to deep feeling, that are the main human virtues. Therefore, first of all, sentimentalist writers paid attention to the inner world of a person, his innermost experiences.
The hero of sentimentalism does not strive for exploits. He believes that all people living in the world are connected by an invisible thread and there are no barriers to a loving heart. Such is Erast, a young man of the noble class who became Lisa’s heartfelt chosen one. Erast “it seemed that he had found in Liza what his heart had been looking for for a long time.” It didn’t bother him that Lisa was a simple peasant girl. He assured her that for him “the most important thing is the soul, the innocent soul.” Erast sincerely believed that over time he would make Lisa happy, “he would take her to him and live with her inseparably, in the village and in the dense forests, as in paradise.”
However, reality cruelly destroys the illusions of lovers. Barriers still exist. Burdened with debts, Erast is forced to marry an elderly rich widow. Having learned about Lisa’s suicide, “he could not be consoled and considered himself a murderer.”
Karamzin created a touching work about insulted innocence and trampled justice, about how in a world where people’s relationships are based on self-interest, natural individual rights are violated. After all, the right to love and be loved was given to a person from the very beginning.
In Lisa’s character, resignation and defenselessness attract attention. In my opinion, her passing can be regarded as a quiet protest against the inhumanity of our world. At the same time, Karamzin’s “Poor Liza” is a surprisingly bright story about love, imbued with a soft, gentle, meek sadness that turns into tenderness: “When we see each other there, in a new life, I will recognize you, gentle Liza!”
“And peasant women know how to love!” - with this statement Karamzin forced society to think about the moral foundations of life, called for sensitivity and condescension towards people who remain defenseless before fate.
The impact of “Poor Liza” on the reader was so great that the name of Karamzin’s heroine became a household name and acquired the meaning of a symbol. The ingenuous story of a girl, seduced involuntarily and deceived against her will, is a motif that forms the basis of many plots in 19th-century literature. The theme started by Karamzin was subsequently addressed by major Russian realist writers. The problems of the “little man” are reflected in the poem “The Bronze Horseman” and the story “The Station Warden” by A.S. Pushkin, in the story “The Overcoat” by N.V. Gogol, in many works by F.M. Dostoevsky.
Two centuries after writing the story by N.M. Karamzin’s “Poor Liza” remains a work that primarily touches us not with its sentimental plot, but with its humanistic orientation.
Sentimentalism in the story by Karamzin N.M. "Poor Lisa."
The touching love of a simple peasant girl Lisa and a Moscow nobleman Erast deeply shocked the souls of the writer’s contemporaries. Everything in this story: from the plot and recognizable landscape sketches of the Moscow region to the sincere feelings of the characters - was unusual for readers of the late 18th century.
The story was first published in 1792 in the Moscow Journal, the editor of which was Karamzin himself. The plot is quite simple: after the death of her father, 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. The young man falls in love with her and is even ready to leave the world for the sake of his love. The lovers spend evenings together, until one day Erast announces 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. One day Lisa accidentally sees Erast in a magnificent carriage and finds out that he is engaged. Erast lost his estate at cards and, in order to improve his shaky financial situation, marries a rich widow for convenience. In despair, Lisa throws herself into the pond.
Artistic originality.
Karamzin borrowed the plot of the story from European romance literature. All events were transferred to “Russian” soil. The author emphasizes that the action takes place in Moscow and its environs, describes the Simonov and Danilov monasteries, Sparrow Hills, creating the illusion of authenticity. For Russian literature and readers of that time, this was an innovation. Having become accustomed to happy endings in old novels, they met the truth of life in Karamzin’s work. The writer’s main goal - to achieve compassion - was achieved. The Russian public read, sympathized, sympathized. The first readers of the story perceived Lisa's story as a real contemporary tragedy. The pond under the walls of the Simonov Monastery was named Lizina Pond.
Disadvantages of sentimentalism.
The plausibility in the story is only apparent. The world of heroes that the author depicts is idyllic and invented. The peasant woman Lisa and her mother have refined feelings, their speech is literate, literary and no different from the speech of Erast, who was a nobleman. 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.” Such descriptions and reasoning are far from realism.
The story became an example of Russian sentimental literature. In contrast to classicism with its cult of reason, Karamzin argued for the cult of feelings, sensitivity, and compassion: heroes are important for their ability to love, feel, and experience. 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 “smooth” language: Karamzin abandoned pomp, which made the work easy to read.
