The life story of Pavel and Nikolai Kirsanov. We urgently need the life story of Pavel Petrovich from the novel Fathers and Sons

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is one of the main characters in the story “Fathers and Sons” with a unique life story. He is a worthy opponent of Bazarov, supporting liberal views and new principles of equality and freedom.

The man is a former officer who has retained aristocratic habits, despite moving to his brother in the village.

Pavel Petrovich is handsome, he has excellent posture, he knows how to control himself. The officer's hair is gray and cut short. He is polite, noble and honest.

Characteristics of the hero

Kirsanov began his career by studying in the page corps. Afterwards he became an officer and a regular at social events. Manners and self-control allowed young Pavel to enter aristocratic circles. He easily turned the heads of young ladies and started affairs, and became known as a socialite. The habits of dressing neatly, pretentiously and constantly wearing perfume from those times remained with him throughout his life.

Kirsanov was told successful career, but the hero failed to fully realize his potential. The obstacle was Pavel Petrovich’s love for Princess R., which absorbed young man entirely.

Initially, the lady reciprocated the officer’s feelings and immediately lost interest. On the part of the man, the emotions were the opposite, passion long years ate it. The reason for the all-consuming feeling was the quick refusal of the chosen one. His condition was aggravated by the news of the death of his beloved. Age prevented him from returning to his former life and he did not think about his family anymore. Nikolai Petrovich and his son actually replaced her.

As a result, Kirsanov quit his service and moved to his brother to help him with the housework. Despite living in the village, the men in Kirsanov did not recognize theirs. They did not understand his manners and self-control, and avoided Pavel Petrovich.

Kirsanov is endowed with good intelligence, he easily leads small talk, speaks freely and knowledgeably about life. Pavel Petrovich supports the ideas of individual freedom and at the same time puts patriarchal family structures and the values ​​of peasant communities at the top of his priorities.

In conversations with Bazarov, he reveals himself as an insightful person. This is a strong-willed man who easily makes decisions and remains faithful to them. He is fearless and without the slightest hesitation challenges Bazarov to a duel, thus defending his beliefs.

The image of the hero in the work

(Boris Khimichev as Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov from the film "Fathers and Sons", 1983)

Turgenev thought out the image of Kirsanov in detail. The writer enhances his aristocratic manners with an abundance of speeches foreign words that ordinary people do not understand. For all the described British stiffness and aristocratic manners, he demonstrates a deeply emotional person who knows how to hide his pain.

However, the officer’s self-control wanes when he enters into arguments with Bazarov, whom he doesn’t like, and clearly loses to his opponent. Cold arrogance and politeness are replaced by harsh reactions and rudeness.

All manners and emotions are outlined by the author in order to subtly ironize the views and ideals that representatives of the nobility carried within themselves at that time. The duel to which the hero challenged Bazarov is the denouement in which chivalry and arrogant politeness were exposed as empty, feigned and unnecessary ideals.

At the end of the work, Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov leaves his brother’s village for Germany, where he still remains lonely. With these events, the author demonstrated the futility of such an existence.

However, Turgenev not only ridiculed his hero, but also sympathized with him a little. “Dead Man” he calls him, suggesting how difficult it can be to drag out such a lonely life for many years.

Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” shows a difficult period when a brutal breakdown of centuries-old traditions took place. social relations. The foundations of life that are familiar to many are crumbling and changing to new ones. Everything happens quickly and spontaneously.

Pavel Kirsanov is the central character of the novel

Throughout the entire action, the center of the novel is the problem of the collision of old and new generations. In a bright way An established social class is the image of Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov. The author builds the entire narrative on constant clashes between him and the main character Bazarov.

The son of a military general who participated in the military campaign of 1812, Pavel dreamed of becoming a military man. By the age of 28, he had achieved a lot. The Corps of Pages as Kirsanov's education made it possible to do brilliant career military officer. He always went ahead, led a secular lifestyle, loved women and entertainment. Life played a cruel joke on him: failed love to the mysterious and most delightful woman, Princess R, shattered all dreams and hopes. He left the service, wandered abroad, returned, lived, doing nothing. So he spent 10 years, which made him lonely and melancholic.

Characteristics of Pavel Petrovich

Pavel Petrovich is an aristocrat who retained his prim aristocratic habits throughout his life. Kirsanov's origin distances him from common people. He passionate fan everything English, and Pavel Petrovich builds his life in the English manner: he reads English books, dresses like the English, living abroad, communicates more with them.

His lifestyle is alien to the Russian people. He is so far from a simple peasant that he doesn’t even know how to talk to him. As Bazarov puts it, the man does not recognize him as a compatriot, he is simply afraid of him. And Kirsanov’s attitude towards the people, when he “wrinkles his face and sniffs cologne,” best shows his aristocratic habits.
Turgenev not only does not smooth out the hero’s foreign habits, on the contrary, he emphasizes them by introducing Kirsanov into his speech a large number of words incomprehensible to the “Russian peasant”. Even this shows his disdain for his traditions and customs.

The relationship between Pavel Kirsanov and Evgeny Bazarov

He hated his friend Arkady, a “polished aristocrat” (this is how Bazarov characterizes Kirsanov’s appearance) from the first meeting. The epithets with which he characterizes Bazarov, “charlatan”, “Mr. Nihilist”, “doctor”, clearly indicate his attitude towards the hero. He gets angry at every meeting and tries to hook Bazarov, to piss him off. There are constant clashes between them. In verbal skirmishes the reader clearly sees Political Views Kirsanov and his opponent.

Pavel Petrovich is a smart man, although he is a representative of the old generation. But in disputes with Evgeniy, he constantly suffers defeat. Even the appearance of the hero Kirsanov changes: his icy politeness and complete calm instantly turns into irritation. He doesn't understand how one can live without believing in anything. This destroys his idea of ​​the established system. But in the end, Kirsanov understands and admits his defeat.
But at the same time, the author draws the reader’s attention to such positive traits hero, as his impeccable honesty, generosity and intercession. Kirsanov, whose portrait Turgenev presents as a living dead man, was a real nobleman. He can be considered among the cream of aristocratic society. The duel scene very clearly shows readers the duality of his image.

The characterization of Pavel Kirsanov in the novel “Fathers and Sons” is a characteristic of an entire class that is becoming a thing of the past. Life for such people, according to Turgenev, is harder than they imagine. Reproach and condemnation are all they can get from others and this is all they have left from life.

This essay will be useful for 10th grade students when preparing an essay on the topic “Kirsanov Pavel Petrovich” or “Evgeny Bazarov and Pavel Kirsanov.”

Work test

Arkady tells the story of Kirsanov Sr. in response to Bazarov’s harsh statements with undisguised sympathy, as if wanting to instill in his mentor the same attitude towards Pavel Petrovich. It should be noted that, contrary to the expectations of Arkady and the reader, Bazarov’s reaction to what he heard was very restrained.

“The ring with a sphinx carved on a stone”, given by Pavel Petrovich to Princess R, after whom he trailed all over Europe, is a unique symbol, because the sphinx is a mysterious winged creature from ancient greek mythology with the body of a lion and the head and chest of a woman, making a wish difficult riddles at the entrance to paradise and throwing those who did not solve these riddles off the cliff. Apparently, Princess R was an unsolved mystery for Pavel Petrovich, powerfully and inexplicably attracting him. This is a truly Turgenev-like attraction that is not subject to reason.

But the denouement is also significant: the princess returns the ring to Kirsanov, on which the sphinx is now crossed out. Thus, the object of Pavel Petrovich’s blind adoration seems to put an end to the mystery, simplifying the life situation, removing the veneer of mystery and turning what seemed like an extraordinary romantic love story into a simple farce. “But there was no secret,” the princess seems to be saying to the hero. Obviously, Pavel Petrovich was wishful thinking, and after this story he became much more restrained with women, as evidenced further by his attitude towards Fenechka.

Pavel Petrovich's initial attitude towards Bazarov

This hostility is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, meeting the guest “by his clothes”, Pavel Petrovich, who, as an aristocrat, pays a lot of attention to his appearance, extremely annoyed by Bazarov’s carelessness; secondly, he is very concerned about the possible influence of the district doctor on his young, fledgling nephew; thirdly, intuition predicted that Kirsanov Sr. would have a future rivalry with Bazarov on all issues. In addition, as it turns out for Bazarov and the reader later, important role in the life of the Kirsanov brothers, Fenechka plays, and in Pavel Petrovich the craving for her, constantly accompanied by considerations of nobility and honor in relation to his younger brother, could at the time of Bazarov’s arrival be supplemented by unconscious fears for another potential rivalry. The further course of the plot (the episode with the kiss of Bazarov and Fenechka in the gazebo) showed the validity of such hidden fears of Kirsanov.

Bazarov and his nihilism

Bazarov's biography is not described in its entirety anywhere in the novel, but is scattered in fragments throughout the novel, not only because the hero is still young. Probably even in this there is a certain author's position. Turgenev, who increasingly respects Bazarov throughout the narrative, nevertheless wants to emphasize that the Bazarov type itself has not yet developed as a historical one, it does not have a coherent history, there is no biography, it is to some extent premature, devoid of historical regularity. It is no coincidence that Bazarov is so lonely in the novel; next to him there are not only real like-minded people, but even those who simply understand or sympathize.

Bazarov’s nihilism is a fashionable hobby of the progressive youth of the time, based on the merciless denial of everyone social phenomena and all the idealistic foundations of human life, among which the nihilists included love, art, and faith, in the name of establishing a materialistic approach to reality, natural science knowledge as the only criterion of truth.

The novel, read to the end, more precisely clarifies the essence of Bazarov’s nihilism. This is both a painful, extreme reaction to the triumph of the calm and motionless aristocracy of the Kirsanovs, and a kind of masquerade costume of a cynical naturalist, hiding his true face and true feelings. Calling himself “self-deluded,” Bazarov admits not to duplicity or duality, but to a characteristic characteristic of any ascetic - the struggle with his own nature. This painful, essentially mortal struggle of Bazarov with his own nature is the most interesting thing in the novel for the modern reader.

The Kirsanov brothers represent the generation of “fathers” in Turgenev’s novel. In their person, the author created images of two representatives of the ruling class in order to show the characteristics inherent in it.

The brothers are similar in some ways. Both are middle aged - one is 45, the other is 44 years old. Both are smart and kind people.

Nikolai Petrovich, who had previously served as a civil official in the Ministry of Appanages, had a nondescript appearance and did not pay much attention to a lot of attention clothes. He was a widower and had an adult son, Arkady. Nikolai Petrovich is a rural resident in his manners, preferring to stay on his estate. He is a good farmer who devotes a lot of time to improving his estate.

However, Pavel Petrovich is a retired guards officer, he was handsome and dressed with grace. He was a confirmed bachelor with the manners of a man of the world, who lived a stormy life. He doesn't study practical activities, preferring to live on income from estates.

These differences show the two main ways of life of the nobles of that time, each of them determines the behavior towards the radical nihilist Bazarov, who seeks to destroy their world.

Nikolai Petrovich, as a result of a calm and measured life, does not have a strong character; those around him consider him cowardly. When confronted with Bazarov, he is prone to compromises and concessions. Even his own son, under the ideological influence of a nihilist, tries to teach him. The love of dreams helps him go into his own illusory world and put off unpleasant decisions. Such opponents, encountered by the bazaars on the way, strengthened their belief that old world It is fragile and easy to destroy with little effort.

However, Pavel Petrovich is a military man, therefore he is more harsh, proud and inclined to fight with enemies rather than seek agreement with them. Even though in the novel the clash occurs in an intelligent form, through theoretical disputes at the table, it is clear that the retired guardsman is ready to defend his interests. He does not look for who is right, but attacks Bazarov himself.

However, Pavel Petrovich, unlike his brother, is practical and not prone to romance. These traits allow him to immediately sense the danger posed by the new ideology of denial that has spread among young people.

Two types Russian nobility, shown by Turgenev, are not just lifestyles determined external reasons. This is the personification of an active and passive attitude to life, the predominance of one of which destroyed old Russia.

Option 2

The Kirsanovs are one of the central characters famous work Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. In this discussion we will compare two brothers and try to identify their similarities and differences.

Pavel Petrovich is the eldest brother in the family. He is approximately forty-five years old. Nikolai Petrovich is a year younger - he turned forty-four.

Senior - very handsome man. He looks great for his age - there is not a trace of wrinkles on his face. The face of this man, although touched by the yellowness of old age, was unusually pure. His brother had thin gray hair, small eyes, and also walked with a slight limp.

The older brother dresses smartly, while the younger brother wears modest clothes, such as a dusty coat.

The eldest of the brothers used to serve, now he is a retired officer. His brother used to work as an official.

The eldest is a confirmed bachelor who, in his old age, regrets the unmarried fate that befell him. Nikolai Petrovich was once married, but his wife died, leaving him with a son, whom the character is raising alone.

In his youth, Pavel Petrovich moved in the highest circles of St. Petersburg, and his brother lived almost his entire life in the village, in the wilderness.

Both brothers are pretty smart men. In addition to an extraordinary mind, they have a kind heart.

Pavel Petrovich's friends considered a brave man. The brother was not only not seen in brave deeds, but on the contrary, he was known as a coward.

Pavel is a practical person. He doesn't like to dream and you can't call him a romantic either. His brother, Nikolai Petrovich, on the contrary, is a great dreamer and romantic, and, moreover, absolutely impractical, which is why he is sometimes deceived.

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is a very proud man. Many acquaintances and friends quite rightly and not unreasonably considered him a real proud man. Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov in this matter is the complete opposite of his older brother - he is not only not a proud person, but also a self-critical person.

Pavel Petrovich is a very cold and reserved person, while his younger brother- a gentle and affectionate man. He himself says about himself that he is a soft and weak person.

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, although he spent his entire life as an unmarried man, was once passionately in love with a princess, however, this love could not be called happy. Nikolai Petrovich was very happy with his beloved. They lived well and quietly, loved each other with a calm love.

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It sometimes happens that the closest people are very different in appearance, character and temperament from their closest relatives. Sometimes it seems that they should belong to another family, because among their relatives they look like black sheep. Many such examples can be found both in the literature and in real life. One of these characters are the Kirsanov brothers - Pavel and Nikolai

Childhood and youth of Pavel Kirsanov

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov is the older brother of Nikolai Kirsanov. He received his primary education at home, just like his younger brother. Details of it early childhood remain a mystery to the reader, and in fact, until his adolescence we know little about his life.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with summary works of Ivan Turgenev.

His father was a military officer. He took part in the war with Napoleon. Kirsanov's father graduated from his military career with the rank of major general. And he went to the estate, where he was respected “by virtue of his rank.” The author says that he was “a semi-literate, rude, but not evil Russian man.”

Mother, Agathoklea Kuzminishna, lived for her own pleasure. Her everyday life often consisted of ostentatious traditional actions, “she belonged to the number of “mother commanders.”

The sons grew up under the influence of their father's authority. His position in society was favorably different - the reason for this was his military rank. This factor, instigated by authority military career existing in society, became the reason that, after receiving primary education preference was given to continuing education in the field of a military career.

The eldest son, Pavel, had a predisposition to this. He continued his studies in the Corps of Pages. Kirsanov quite easily got used to new role and made career successes one after another. His popularity grew as rapidly as his titles. Soon his name became widely known in all aristocratic circles. His beautiful appearance, athletic physique becomes a reason for the envy of many young people. The women were crazy about him, but the prophecies about her further brilliant future suddenly came to naught. Falling in love with Countess R. became fatal for him - his beloved rejected Kirsanov, causing him a lot of bitterness and pain. For a long time, Pavel Petrovich traveled “for her abroad,” in the hope that the attitude towards him would change, but, without achieving significant changes, he returned to his homeland. The unexpected news of the death of the countess completely unsettles him - Pavel Petrovich returns to the village to his brother. Where he lives without changing his habits. After Nikolai Petrovich’s marriage, Pavel Kirsanov leaves for Dresden.

Appearance of Pavel Kirsanov

At the time of the story, Kirsanov is 45-50 years old. The author does not provide precise data on this matter, which is why the age difference is so great. Turgenev contradictorily notes that Pavel Petrovich looks like “a man about fifty years old,” but after some time he notes that he “looked about forty-five years old.”

It can be assumed that Kirsanov looked younger than his real age. The fact that Pavel Petrovich was very scrupulous about his appearance, and his everyday life was deprived of hard physical labor or an unstable daily routine, the evidence for this becomes irrefutable. But we cannot say this with absolute certainty. It is possible that Turgenev did not care about the specific age of his character - an approximate date was enough for him to describe his belonging to a particular generation of people.

At the moment of unfolding of the main events of the novel. Kirsanov looks like this: he has average height, and now “short-haired White hair", similar to silver. Kirsanov does not shave his mustache, he periodically sprays it with cologne and that is why it “smells fragrant.” The rest of his face is carefully shaved, “bilious, but without wrinkles, unusually regular and clean, as if drawn with a thin and light incisor.” His charming image is added by his snow-white teeth and dark “oblong eyes”; he has a pleasant timbre of his voice. Despite his considerable age, Kirsanov is still slim and fit, he has a “flexible frame.”

As you can see, there are no unusual external signs Pavel Petrovich does not. Both complexion and external features his faces have comely characteristics. His movements, despite his age, have youthful grace and plasticity.

He always took care of his appearance. Neither the fact that now Pavel Petrovich is no longer a socialite, nor the fact that he lives in the village, changes his habits: he always looks immaculate and neat. This immediately catches the eye against the general background of desolation and restrictions on basic hygiene rules. Pavel Kirsanov's hands are always in perfect condition. They surprise with their whiteness. Bazarov, who saw Pavel Petrovich for the first time, noted in surprise: “Nails, nails, at least send them to the exhibition!” Pavel Petrovich loves good fashionable clothes: “he was wearing an elegant morning suit, in English style; there was a small fez on his head”, “dressed in a light checkered jacket and trousers as white as snow,” “put on a thin cambric shirt and a smart morning jacket.” During the day, he periodically changes his suit; he does this not because she is dirty, but because etiquette demands it. Kirsanov’s wardrobe always contains a sufficient quantity of immaculately white, perfectly starched collars.

Cologne, a bath and perfectly clean clothes are its components appearance. This was the case during his youth, and the same trend remains in the future. “I don’t despise myself, I respect the person in me,” this is how Kirsanov explains his passion for fashion and cleanliness. In his opinion, an aristocrat should always look excellent, no matter where he lives or what he does.

Socio-political views

At his core, Pavel Petrovich is a liberal; Slavophile ideas are not alien to him. Pavel Petrovich believes that a self-respecting aristocrat should never give up his rights, impeccably fulfill all his duties and demand from others that they fulfill their duties towards him, no matter what. He describes himself as a person who “loves progress.” But, at the same time, he is not ready to immaculately accept all newfangled trends. For example, he very sharply contradicts Bazarov’s nihilistic views: “The young people were happy, before they were just idiots, but now they suddenly became nihilists.”

Pavel Petrovich sees in the activities of nihilists only a desire to destroy everything, but at the same time not to build anything new. What will take the place of the old order? - this is what interests Kirsanov, but since he cannot find a concrete answer (other than “devastation”), such a nihilistic position infuriates him. “Either I’m stupid, or this is all nonsense,” Pavel Petrovich sums up his thoughts on this matter.

For Kirsanov, a person’s personality is important; he believes that without the absence of personality, without acute developed sense self-esteem “there is no solid foundation for a public building.”

Pavel Petrovich has a specific attitude towards representatives masses. He is ready to defend their rights, often stands up for them, but at the same time, the serfs’ disregard for hygiene standards depresses him and disgusts him, “when talking to them, he frowns and sniffs cologne.” Based on this position, Kirsanov’s life credo follows: “in our time, only immoral or empty people can live without principles.” He believes that “it is impossible to take a step or breathe without principles taken for granted.”

Personal qualities

Pavel Kirsanov tried to look as attractive as possible, so all the details of his behavior and manner of speaking were always at their best, impeccable and refined.

In his youth, he was unusually handsome, combined with the ability to behave in society and competently carry on a conversation, this was the peak of perfection. “Women went crazy about him, men called him a fop and secretly envied him.”

Pavel Petrovich tries to behave politely, however, due to his hot-tempered nature, he does not always manage to achieve this. So, for example, in conversations with Bazarov, Kirsanov sometimes breaks down and their conversation turns into an argument.

The personality of Pavel Kirsanov evokes respect and some fear among ordinary people. On the one hand, he was “respected for his impeccable honesty,” “he is happy to help everyone and, by the way, always stands up for the peasants,” but his manner of conversation and his penetrating gaze are frightening and alarming. Kirsanov has a good understanding of people; his brother notes that Pavel has an “eagle eye.” In general, Pavel Petrovich is a kind and sincere person, but sometimes he positive emotions remain unexpressed, so it seems that he is callous.

Kirsanov had the talent to comprehend various sciences and languages ​​- he preferred to read newspapers in English, he always knew how to maintain a conversation at the proper level and not fall in the face by exposing his lack of knowledge of this or that information. Pavel Petrovich has developed intuition; he knows what to do in any situation. His brother often turns to him for advice, either about relationships with women, or about running a household.

Pavel Kirsanov does not have his own personal family, and he does not seek to get married and have children, although he himself sparkles that he loves children very much. He happily amuses his little nephew Mitya. The unpleasant situation with Countess R. forever discouraged him from tying the knot.

Pavel Petrovich himself is a person who does not like conflicts. This is clearly shown in the situation when Pavel Petrovich sees the kiss of Feni (his brother’s beloved) and Yevgeny Bazarov. Realizing that the publication of information will most likely lead to disastrous consequences for everyone: the brother will be disappointed in the mother of his six-month-old son, the nephew will find himself in a difficult situation, as he will be forced to either interrupt communication with his friend or with his father, Pavel Petrovich does not tell anyone about this , what did you see. He assigns a duel to Bazarov, hiding the main reason for the duel from everyone. Evgeny himself understands that the reason was the kiss, and not differences in ideological terms. Kirsanov is a man of honor, he realizes that age and for a long time lack of practice does not play in his favor and he may die, but he cannot allow anyone to discredit the honor of his family and beloved brother.