Why Tatyana agreed to marry the general. Why did Tatyana Larina choose life with her unloved husband rather than with Evgeniy? (School essays)

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Let's consider an important, controversial question for readers and critics: how did Tatyana's relationship with her husband develop? To answer, let's turn to the expressive, bright non-verbal language of the heroine. Let’s appreciate Tatyana’s passage “through the hall” at a social reception.

But the crowd hesitated
A whisper ran through the hall...
The lady was approaching the hostess,
Behind her is an important general. (8, XIV)

The ladies moved closer to her;
The old women smiled at her;
The men bowed lower
They caught the gaze of her eyes;
The girls walked by more quietly
In front of her in the hall, and above everyone
And he raised his nose and shoulders
The general who came in with her. (8, ХV)

It is natural to assume that initially the high society of the capital met the rural girl Tatyana with hostility and unfriendly. Many families who had made plans to become related to an important general who was accepted at court were offended that the general chose this poor village upstart.
The world, of course, used all means, including slander and gossip, to discredit Tatyana and squeeze her out of their midst.
An unfriendly, hostile environment is lurking. Therefore, the general had to selflessly fight for his love. He was always next to Tatyana, always ready to come to her aid. (That is why all letters addressed to Tatyana were reviewed by him in order to protect her fragile inner world from “evil-looking ladies”).
Therefore, at a social reception, he walked behind Tatiana, as if covering her rear and closely observing the behavior of the guests, who were forced to bow to Tatiana when greeting the general.

Tatyana's entire appearance as she passed through the hall filled with important socialites testified that she was constantly aware of the presence behind her of her faithful, devoted and beloved friend, husband and protector, and felt completely safe: she was not alone in this hostile world , in this “pool”.

She was leisurely
Not cold, not talkative,
Without an insolent look for everyone,
Without pretensions to success,
Without these little antics,
No imitative ideas...
Everything was quiet, it was just in her,`
She seemed like a sure shot
Du comme il faut...(8, XIV)

Undoubtedly, Tatyana highly values ​​​​her husband for the fact that he really turned out to be her guardian angel, for breaking the hoop of social isolation, making her life meaningful, helping to overcome the fear of muteness, for unobtrusively, gradually overcoming her disbelief in love and restored trust in words, destroyed by Onegin, for removing the constraint from her mind, developing her speech, helping to demonstrate willpower and character, determination, perseverance and even courage in overcoming difficult personal psychological obstacles, to run in two years a development path equal to a decade .
To Onegin, Tatyana now seems like a “stately, careless legislator of the hall” and

Unapproachable goddess
Luxurious, royal Neva, (8, XXVII)

Although she is of little interest in “empty light”, “tinsel”, “rags of a masquerade” and her “successes in a whirlwind of light”.

Tatyana, in her thoughts and soul, no longer separates herself from her husband, a military general, repeatedly wounded “in battles,” proudly announcing to Onegin that she is not only “rich and noble,” but also that “us,” i.e. our family, “caresses the yard”, that family “honor” is not an empty word for her, and Onegin’s frank proposals for a petty love affair are offensive to her.
“What a little thing!” - Tatyana exclaims about Onegin’s “offensive passion.” In a language understandable to Onegin, she explains to him that

………………. my shame
now everyone would notice
and could bring in society
tempting honor to you. (8 , XLIV)

In Moscow, at a ball in the Noble Assembly, Tatyana attracted the attention of Prince N with her “brilliant absence”, then she surprised her with her reluctance to get acquainted with “this fat general”, then she amazed her with her sincerity, purity, defenselessness, hidden suffering, “living mind and will”, “heart fiery and tender” and ..... its inaccessibility.
Apparently, the general was tired in St. Petersburg of being harassed by a crowd of vulgar, mercantile, vulgar and annoying brides. That's why he appeared at the bride fair in Moscow.
The lonely general longed for true love and chose the “innocent maiden,” the “wild, sad, silent” rural girl. He had to make serious efforts to get Tatyana's consent to the marriage.

Why did Tatyana agree to marry the “fat general”? It is unlikely that an autistic rural girl would respond to her mother’s request and tears, or she could be attracted by some material or prestigious interests. Previously, she resolutely refused three suitors, not paying attention to her mother’s requests:

Everyone says exactly the same thing:
Neidu. (7, XXV)

The decisive role, in our opinion, could have been played by the deep faith of a naive rural girl, raised by a nanny, in omens.

Tatyana believed the legends
Of common folk antiquity,
And dreams, and card fortune-telling,
And the predictions of the moon.
She was worried about signs. (5 , V)

During the festive “Epiphany evenings” in the Larins’ house

Maids from all over the court
They wondered about their young ladies
And they were promised every year
Military men and the campaign. (5 , IV)

In addition, the third Christmas fortune-telling predicted Tanya the name of the future groom.

The night is frosty, the whole sky is clear;
Ancient choir of heavenly luminaries
It flows so quietly, so accordingly...
Tatiana in the wide yard
In an open dress comes out...

Chu... the snow crunches... a passerby; Virgo
Flying towards him on tiptoe,
And her voice sounds
More tender than a pipe tune:
What is your name? He looks
And he answers: Agathon. (5,IX)

The superstition of the simple-minded Tatiana could be one of the most important reasons for her decision to get married, if we assume that the general's name was Agathon.
Note that Onegin’s servants, the housekeeper and even his coachman had their own names, but for some reason Pushkin hid the general’s name and surname.
The most ancient and revered name Agathon was borne by the Pope, as well as the teacher of Euripides, a famous tragedian in Ancient Greece. Like the name of the main character of the novel, this euphonious Greek name was used mainly among the common people.
It can also be assumed that, in accordance with Pushkin’s principle of “gaiety” in a novel of “half-funny chapters,” the general, as Onegin’s paternal relatives, could bear the surname Onegin. Then all the Christmas predictions and Tatiana’s secret dream immediately came true: she became Tatiana Onegin, and not Princess N.
This cheerful version is supported by the prince’s surprisingly calm attitude towards Onegin’s defiant, obscene courtship of his wife in front of the unfriendly and envious high society:

But my Onegin is a whole evening
Tatyana was busy alone... (8, XXVII)

Without heeding the strict penalties,
To her porch, glass vestibule
He drives up every day;
He chases after her like a shadow. (8, XXX)

It is clear that Prince Agathon Onegin could not slam the door of his house and the doors of other capital houses in front of a close relative, so as not to give rise to gossip. And he was quite confident in his wife’s devotion and fidelity.

It remains to consider the important question of why Onegin, after a three-year journey, came to the capital, instead of heading to the village to save his ruined estate. It is natural to assume that during the three years of the owner’s absence the estate fell into complete disrepair. There could be no other outcome.
The Decembrist Bestuzhev reported to the Tsar: “The largest part of the best nobility, serving in the military service or in the capitals, entrusts their farms to mercenaries who rob the peasants, deceive the masters, and thus 90% of the estates in Russia are ruined and are in mortgage.”
Of course, after Onegin’s departure, the manager of the estate, together with neighboring landowners, offended by Onegin’s arrogance and unwilling to forgive him for the murder of young Lensky, seeing the economic helplessness of the “deep economist”, accustomed to “living in debt”, without denying themselves anything, sent the lion’s share of his income estates into their pockets, informing Onegin about drought, crop failures, loss of livestock, low prices for products and the need to go into debt to meet his needs for money.

Pushkin had previously noted the frivolity of Onegin, “the fun and luxury of a child,” and his father, which led to the loss of “inheritance”:

His father lived in debt
Gave three balls annually
And finally squandered it. (1, III)

Gathered in front of Onegin
Lenders are a greedy regiment.
…………………………
Evgeny, hating litigation,
Satisfied with my lot,
He gave them the inheritance
Not seeing a big loss... (1,LI)

Having inherited his uncle's rich estate,

... our Onegin, a villager,
Factories, waters, forests, lands
The owner is complete, and until now
Order is an enemy and wasteful, (1,LIII)

“out of boredom” he sharply reduced the income of his estate after

In his wilderness the desert sage,
He is the yoke of the ancient corvée
I replaced it with a light quitrent. (2,IV)

After his departure, the manager, of course, restored the old order on the estate for his benefit. Naturally, after three years of absence, Onegin, who had fallen into debt,

By the Almighty will of Zeus
Heir to all his relatives (1, II)

Appeared in the capital, hoping to find out the prospect of receiving a new inheritance from an unmarried man

“relatives and friends” (8, ХVIII)

Prince N, or at least borrow money from him to save the mortgaged estate.
Here lies the answer to another question: why did Onegin, at the reception among the “flickering faces” similar to “ghosts,” even pay attention to some modest lady walking through the hall, when he, “silent and foggy,” stood quietly "in the chosen crowd":

He seems foreign to everyone
Faces flash before him
Like a series of annoying ghosts. (8,VII)

He, of course, was waiting for the arrival of Prince N. And so the prince, raising “both his nose and shoulders,” carefully looking around, appeared, but for some reason he walked behind the modest lady, whom Onegin began to carefully examine, since her “appearance vaguely reminded his forgotten traits.”
That is why he began his conversation with the general with a question about this mysterious lady. And then two unexpected, backhand blows fell on Onegin:

“Tell me, prince, don’t you know
Who's there in the crimson beret?
Does he speak Spanish to the ambassador?
The prince looks at Onegin.
– Yeah! You haven't been in the world for a long time.
Wait, I'll introduce you. –
“Who is she?” - My wife. –
“So you're married! I didn’t know before!
How long ago?” - About two years. –
"On whom?" - On Larina. - “Tatyana!” (8, ХVII - ХVIII)

The shocked Onegin “did not know before” that his hopes for a new inheritance were illusory, untenable, ephemeral. They melted instantly, and this circumstance, of course, shocked him. It was all the more offensive that the approaches to the inheritance were blocked by his acquaintance, “poor Tanya,” from “the wilderness of a forgotten village.”
And the very next day After the meeting, Onegin, “invalid in love” and “extinguished ashes,” “fell in love” with the princess, who was clearly indifferent to him:

There is no doubt: alas! Eugene
I am in love with Tatyana like a child. (8, XXX)

Pushkin offered several explanations for Onegin’s sudden love for Princess Tatiana: her inaccessibility, annoyance, vanity, or “youthful concern” - love.

O people! you all look alike
To the ancestor Eva:
What is given to you does not entail
The serpent is constantly calling you
To yourself, to the mysterious tree;
Give me the forbidden fruit:
And without that, heaven is not heaven for you... (8, XXVII)

What about him? what a strange dream he is in!
What moved in the depths
A cold and lazy soul?
Annoyance? vanity? or again
The concern of youth is love? (8, XX I)

Other versions are possible. In particular, Onegin’s black envy of other people’s successes, joys, as the flip side of his feeling of superiority over others, and the desire to destroy other people’s well-being, other people’s happiness at all costs, as he did earlier with Lensky and Olga. After all, Onegin himself

Having killed a friend in a duel,
Having lived without a goal, without work
Until twenty-six years old,
Languishing in idle leisure
Without work, without wife, without business,
I didn't know how to do anything. (8, XII)

Onegin's feeling of his own inferiority and inferiority aroused in him feelings of envy, hatred and revenge. Tatyana explains Onegin’s persecution of her precisely by the desire to receive in society the “seductive honor” of conquering the “impregnable goddess.”
A professional, unprincipled womanizer, who learned in his early youth

…………… to be a hypocrite,
To harbor hope, to be jealous,
To dissuade, to make believe,
Seem gloomy, languish, (1, X)

He skillfully plays out his love feelings in front of Tanya, remembering that he just recently “excited her heart.”
What else can you expect from the “creature of hell”, the “gloomy demon”, who, having killed his young friend, perhaps the failed new Byron, with a “merciless hand”, with hypocritical regret reports this “misfortune” to Tatyana in a letter:

One more thing separated us...
Lensky fell an unfortunate victim...
From everything that is dear to the heart,
Then I tore my heart out. (8)

It is also possible that, in order to solve his material problems, the newly impoverished Onegin, always ready

…………… for the sake of money,
For sighs, boredom and deception, (1,LII)

Could have made an attempt to play the love card of the now rich “humble girl” who had previously dreamed

…………..… with him someday
Complete the humble path of life! (8, XXVIII)

And therefore, the plan to travel to his estate in order to save it from bankruptcy was postponed. Instead, he, having lost the remnants of his mind, begins to “pursue” Tatyana.
Tatyana's last monologue put an end to their relationship. She left, and the humiliated Onegin, burned by the fire of pity of the generous Tatiana, heard the steps of her husband approaching.

We believe that Pushkin’s “cheerful” novel with “half-funny chapters” should have a happy ending. The general could have told Onegin that they had recently learned from Praskovya’s letter that she had acquired the Onegin estate put up for sale for debts, became its sovereign mistress, and, happy, moved Olga and her family there, selling her village, and Tatyana is now “shedding tears like a river.” "due to childhood nostalgic experiences.

How to get out of a difficult situation with honor? I think that every person faces this question during his life. Human life is complex, full of trials, obstacles, contradictions: a person often has to make a moral choice, how to act correctly, how not to lose his own honor in difficult moments of life. Let's first understand what honor is. Honor, in my opinion, is a way of life based on conscience, nobility, truthfulness and courage. Let us also recall the words of the great Russian critic V. G. Belinsky about honor: “Honor is the cornerstone of human wisdom.” Usually a person who finds himself in a difficult situation has a rather difficult time. I think that in any situation, each of us should listen to our inner judge - conscience, which will not allow us to act unworthily, because what could be worse if a person is gnawing at a merciless conscience.

It’s not for nothing that popular wisdom says: don’t treat people the way you don’t want them to treat you. At all times, people have valued nobility. Nobility is kindness, selflessness, the ability to put the interests of others above personal ones. Many writers have reflected on how difficult it is for a person to get out of a difficult situation, for example, A. S. Pushkin in the novels “The Captain’s Daughter”, “Eugene Onegin”, M. Yu. Lermontov in “The Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, the Young Oprichnik and the daring merchant Kalashnikov" and others. I would like to consider the actions of people in critical situations using the example of A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”.

The writer tells us that Tatyana Larina, a romantic nature who grew up reading French novels, fell in love with Eugene Onegin as soon as she saw him.

Her soul thirsted for love, the heroine wanted to love and be loved. Although Onegin liked Tatyana, he rejected her feelings. Evgeny Onegin was convinced that family life is the lot of ordinary people. He considered himself not like everyone else, he put himself above others. Family life seemed boring to him; he thought that he was not created for a family. Rejected by Onegin, Tatyana suffers and suffers for a long time. The poor girl, not of her own free will, but at the insistence of her mother, marries an unloved person. Years later, both heroes meet again. When meeting Onegin, whom she still loves, Tatyana did not move a single muscle. Onegin confesses his love for her. Everything that Tatyana dreamed of has finally come true: now she is loved by Onegin, he cannot imagine life without her. It would seem that Tatyana will step towards her long-awaited happiness. But Tatyana remained faithful to her husband. How difficult and difficult it must have been for her to make this choice! On the one hand, there was her feminine happiness, a natural desire to be happy, and on the other, her own honor and that of her husband, but life with an unloved person. I believe that Tatyana chose the path of honor. First of all, she thinks about others and puts her own interests in the background. We can say that she sacrifices her happiness for the honor of her husband, whom she respects. I think that Pushkin’s heroine acted nobly and came out of a difficult situation with honor.

Thus, no matter what difficult and difficult situation a person finds himself in, he must act according to the duty of his conscience, not do what he does not want to receive from others. I am sure that each of us is obliged to act..., because kindness is the most important quality of a person.

Find out whether Tatyana changed in the finale of the novel Eugene Onegin, whether Tatyana changed in chapter 8, after breaking up with Onegin, whether Tatyana could respond to Onegin’s love, whether Tatyana should be called unhappy. Advice and expert opinions.

Answer:

Tatyana Larina is the heroine of Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” This sensual and vulnerable nature is the complete opposite of her sister. She is silent and loves solitude. And then one day, just one meeting with Eugene completely changed her life.

Throughout the entire work, we see her experiences and worries. Evgeny Onegin disrupted the calm, measured order of her life by appearing in their village. At the beginning of the work, she appears to readers as a naive girl in love. Next - a married, serious woman.

Has Tatyana changed after breaking up with Onegin? - No. Despite the fact that at the end of the novel the heroine rejects his love, this does not mean that she does not experience passionate feelings. Without a doubt, Tatyana has matured and become more serious, but at heart she is still the same loving girl, so it makes no sense to talk about whether Tatyana has changed during Onegin’s absence. Her feelings still overcome her soul, but common sense takes over. The heroine has already been rejected by him and is now not ready to give up everything for the sake of his imaginary love.

Many people believe that Tatyana changed in Chapter 8. But her behavior can be explained as an attempt to maintain her self-esteem. She, as before, loves Onegin with all her soul, and at the same time shows herself as a person with a strong character, ruling out all the possibilities of any relationship with him.

Could Tatiana respond to Onegin's love? No, I couldn't. Her upbringing would not have allowed her to do this. At the end of the novel, Tatyana changed her attitude towards life. Now she was a married woman, and had no right to act so rashly. Divorce in those days was a shame, so she made it clear to him that he was late.

Should we call Tatyana unhappy after everything that happened to her? Most will answer yes. Since after parting with Onegin, readers see Tatyana suffering from internal anxieties. But without looking inside the problem, you cannot be so sure. Tatyana would not be happy with Evgeniy, because he did not have feelings for her when she was an ordinary girl. This means that it is impossible to consider his feelings genuine with firm certainty. At the end of the novel “Eugene Onegin,” Tatyana got married, matured, and chose a calm, measured life over passions and experiences. She was unhappy in love, but in her family life, which she largely chose herself, there was a share of happiness.

Do you know how old the characters in Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin" are? This article presents materials about the ages of Evgeny Onegin, Tatyana Larina, Vladimir Lensky and Olga Larina. The information in the article is based on the scientific works of the famous writer Yuri Lotman (see article by Yu. M. Lotman “Internal chronology of “Eugene Onegin””). PLUS DEBRIEFING FROM CARING READERS...
AND ONEGIN WAS RIGHT IN REFUSING THE YOUNG CHILDREN...

See: All materials on “Eugene Onegin” How old are Eugene Onegin, Tatyana Larina, Lensky and Olga in the novel “Eugene Onegin”? (age of heroes)
1. Evgeny Onegin At the time of the duel with Lensky, Evgeny Onegin was 26 years old. At the beginning of the novel, Pushkin also describes a period in Onegin’s life when he was 18 years old: “...Having killed a friend in a duel, / Having lived without a goal, without labor, / Until he was twenty-six years old...”
2. Vladimir Lensky Vladimir Lensky is only 18 years old when he dies in a duel with Onegin: “...let the poet / Fool; at eighteen years old...”
3. Tatyana Larina Tatyana Larina is 17 years old when she writes a letter to Evgeny Onegin. The fact is that the novel does not say anything specific about Tatyana’s age. But Pushkin indicates Tatyana’s age in a letter to P. A. Vyazemsky: “...I’m amazed how Tanya’s letter ended up in your possession [...] if, however, the meaning is not entirely accurate, then all the more there is truth in the letter; a letter from a woman, besides, 17 years old, and in love!..." (Pushkin to Vyazemsky, November 29, 1824)
4. Olga Larina Olga Larina was about 16 years old at the time of the duel between Onegin and Lensky. According to researcher Yu. M. Lotman, Olga was at least 15 years old when she became Lensky’s bride: according to the rules of that time, Olga could not be less than 15 years old. Therefore, Olga was about 16 years old because she is younger than her sister Tatyana, who is 17 years old.

But in the next chapter, after Tatyana’s letter, it is clearly written: “Destroy prejudices, which the girl did not have and does not have at the age of thirteen!” That is, at the time of writing the letter, Tatyana was 13 or even 12 years old... But not 17...

Pushkin did not intend for readers to read letters either to Vyazemsky or to anyone else. Throughout the novel, Tatiana's age is indicated; 13 years old when he writes a letter, and soon his name day is 14 years old. The number 13 is mentioned 2 times (in Pushkin there is nothing random). Question to opponents: are these lines really written about the 17th girl? Or is there something wrong with Pushkin? “But even in these years Tatyana did not pick up dolls; She did not have conversations with her about city news or fashion. And children’s pranks were alien to her.”

And that's it, Tanya! THIS SUMMER
We haven't heard about love;
Otherwise I would have driven you away from the world
My deceased mother-in-law.

IN THIS (that is, Tanya) SUMMER, the nanny has already walked down the aisle. And let me remind you, she was 13 years old.
Onegin, returning from the ball, where he saw the general’s wife, a society lady, for the first time, asks himself:

Is it really the same Tatyana?
That GIRL... Or is this a dream?
That GIRL he
neglected in humble fate?
It wasn't news to you
Humble GIRL love?

Tatyana herself reprimands the hero.

Let's continue reading the fourth chapter, where a 13-year-old girl appeared.

...having received Tanya's message,
Onegin was deeply touched...
Perhaps the feeling is an ancient ardor
He took possession of it for a minute;
But he didn't want to deceive
The gullibility of an innocent soul.

It turns out that Evgeny did not want, like an old depraved monkey, to destroy an innocent girl. And that’s why he refused. Tactfully taking all the blame on himself so as not to injure Tatyana. And at the end of the date he gave the girl good advice:

Learn to control yourself;
Not everyone will understand you like I do;
Inexperience leads to trouble.

I read Alexander Sergeevich carefully and suddenly realized what stupidity we were forced to do at school, tormented over essays about the relationship between Evgeny and Tatyana! Pushkin explained everything himself and himself assessed the actions of his hero.

You will agree, my reader,
What a very nice thing to do
Our friend is with sad Tanya.

***
How old was Olga then, whom 17-year-old Lensky was going to marry? Maximum 12. Where is this written?
In this case, Pushkin only indicated that Olya was the younger sister of 13-year-old Tatyana. A little boy (about 8 years old according to Dahl), Lensky was a touched witness of her INFANT amusement. (Infant - up to 3 years old. From 3 to 7 - child).

We consider: if he was 8 years old, then she was 2-3 years old. By the time of the duel, he was almost 18, she was 12. Do you remember how indignant Lensky was when Olya danced with Onegin?

Just out of diapers,
Coquette, flighty child!
She knows the trick,
I've learned to change!

Of course you are shocked. At that age - and get married?! Don't forget what time it was. Here is what Belinsky wrote in an article about Onegin:

“A Russian girl is not a woman in the European sense of the word, not a person: she is something else, like a bride... She is barely twelve years old, and her mother, reproaching her for laziness, for her inability to behave..., tells her: “Don't be ashamed.” Do you care, madam: you’re already a bride!”

And at 18, according to Belinsky,“she is no longer the daughter of her parents, no longer the beloved child of their hearts, but a burdensome burden, goods ready to languish, excess furniture, which, just behold, will fall off the price and will not get away with it.”

This attitude towards girls and early marriages are explained not by the savagery of customs, but by common sense, says sexologist Kotrovsky. - Families then, as a rule, had large families - the church prohibited abortion, and there were no reliable contraceptives.

The parents tried to quickly marry the girl (“an extra mouth”) into someone else’s family, while she looked young. And the dowry required for her was less than for a withered maiden. (The age-old girl is like an autumn fly!)

In the case of the Larins, the situation was even more acute. The girls' father died, the brides had to be arranged urgently! Yuri Lotman, a famous literary critic, wrote in his comments to the novel:

“Young noblewomen married early in the 19th century. True, the frequent marriages of 14-15-year-old girls in the 18th century began to go out of common practice, and 17-19 years became the normal age for marriage.
Early marriages, which were the norm in peasant life, were not uncommon at the end of the 18th century for provincial noble life not affected by Europeanization. A. Labzina, an acquaintance of the poet Kheraskov, was married off when she was barely 13 years old.

Gogol's mother was married at 14. However, the young novel reader's first hobbies began much earlier. And the surrounding men looked at the young noblewoman as a woman already at that age at which subsequent generations would have seen in her only a child.

The 23-year-old poet Zhukovsky fell in love with Masha Protasova when she was 12. The hero of “Woe from Wit” Chatsky fell in love with Sophia when she was 12-14 years old.”

**

In Russian literature there is only one heroine who, in the love of readers, comes close to Tatyana Larina. Natasha from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

Also a noblewoman. We meet the girl for the first time on her name day. In love with officer Drubetsky, she caught Boris in a secluded place and kissed him on the lips. Embarrassed Boris also confessed his love to the girl, but asked not to kiss her again for 4 years. “Then I will ask for your hand.”

Natasha began to count with her thin fingers: “Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.” She was 13.
The situation is exactly like in Eugene Onegin. But it does not cause controversy. And at this time, her father, Count Rostov, recalls in small talk that their mothers got married at the age of 12 - 13. "