Blessed is he who was young from his youth,
Blessed is he who is ripe in time,
Who gradually life is cold
He knew how to endure meetings;
Who strange dreams didn't indulge
Who has not shunned the secular mob,
Who at twenty was a dandy or a smart guy,
And at thirty he is profitably married;
Who was freed at fifty
From private and other debts,
Who is fame, money and ranks
I got in line calmly,
About whom they have been repeating for a century:
N.N. wonderful person.
A. S. Pushkin
It's no secret that moral principles a person may well manifest itself in love. Revealing the image of the nihilist Bazarov, the main character of the novel, Turgenev describes tragic story his love for the provincial beauty Odintsova, and next to him, for contrast, the writer unfolds the story happy love Arkady Kirsanov (university friend of Bazarov) and Katya Lokteva (younger sister of Odintsova). Why did the first story end in a breakup, and the second in a wedding? Of all the possible reasons-explanations, three main ones should be highlighted: the financial situation of the heroes, their characters and beliefs.
Arkady Kirsanov is the grandson of a general, the heir of his father and uncle, a relative (though distant) of important St. Petersburg officials, the Kolyazins. Although Nikolai Petrovich constantly complains about economic problems, the Kirsanovs own a large steppe (black earth) estate, which, if properly managed, can generate quite a decent income. In a word, Arkady is a groom anywhere. Bazarov is the grandson of a sexton, the son of a regimental doctor, who received hereditary nobility for conscientious service and did not make any influential friends or patrons. Consequently, the young nihilist can only inherit from his parents a tiny estate of twenty-two peasant souls. In other words, from birth Arkady is freed from the harsh “struggle for life” and is free to choose any career for himself: public service, managing the family estate, calm family joys or wasting life, while the poor man Bazarov must, if he wishes, achieve everything in life himself.
The financial situation of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova and Katya Lokteva is also different, although they are sisters. Their father, a brilliant swindler and card player, squandered the entire family fortune in St. Petersburg and Moscow and died, leaving his daughters a small estate in one village. However, Anna Sergeevna, a twenty-year-old beauty with a brilliant metropolitan upbringing, belonging to a princely family on her mother’s side, married a rich forty-six-year-old
(XV) of the landowner Odintsov and after his death became a rich widow, still young and beautiful. From the very death of her father, Anna Sergeevna took upon herself to take care of her younger sister, and Katya did not need anything by the grace of Odintsova (XXV), but at the same time, Katya still owned only half of her father’s village, that is, she was a poor bride, almost without a dowry.
It should be noted that the young heroes of the novel are people of broad views; for them the poverty of a friend or loved one is not of paramount importance. The rich heir Arkady Kirsanov became friends with the poor student Bazarov, married Katya, without thinking about her dowry. Bazarov fell in love with the rich woman Odintsova, captivated by her beauty and intelligence, and she was carried away by him, and in her discussions about the “doctor” the thought of his poverty did not arise at all.
In both love stories, the characters' characters played a more serious role than material considerations. Arkady is good-natured, flexible, sensitive, moderately intelligent and observant - in a word, a young man, “pleasant in all respects.” Having danced a mazurka with Odintsova at a ball, he fell in love with the young widow with “graceful humility” (XIV), that is, he sighed languidly about her and did not dare to bother her with his courtship. Young Kirsanov naively succumbed to Bazarov’s cunning, who, in order to remove his young rival, upon arrival in Nikolskoye, immediately drew his attention to Katya: “... this dark-skinned one. It’s fresh, and untouched, and timid, and silent, and whatever you want” (XVI). Arkady easily gets confused in his affairs of the heart: he, “who finally decided with himself that he was in love with Odintsova, began to indulge in quiet despondency. However, this despondency did not prevent him from getting closer to Katya” (XVII). Perhaps, thanks to his soft, easy-going character, Katya liked young Kirsanov, and she helped him understand where his happiness lay.
One day Katya asked Arkady: “Don’t compare me with my sister... it’s too unfavorable for me” (XXV). However, she is clearly being modest: she is very similar to Anna Sergeevna in her prudence, restraint, and determination. She behaves so smartly with young Kirsanov that he, sighing about Odintsova, imperceptibly becomes attached to his younger sister: “Katya vaguely understood that he was looking for some kind of consolation in her company, and did not deny either him or herself the innocent pleasure of half-bashful , half-trusting friendship" (XVII). Saying goodbye to Arkady forever, Bazarov says: “...I hope for Katerina Sergeevna. Look how quickly she will console you” (XXVII). And Bazarov is right. “Tame” Arkady needs a loyal friend and leader. As soon as Bazarov leaves the life of young Kirsanov, Katya takes his place: already in the evening after the departure of his university friend, Arkady began to submit to his bride, “and Katya felt it and was not surprised” (XXVI).
It is Katya who chooses Arkady as her life partner, although he himself is sure of the opposite. It is she who explains to Arkady the difference between him and Bazarov: “... you are a stranger to him. (...) He is predatory, and you and I are tame” (XXV), but he does it very tactfully, because she herself takes Arkady’s side (“you and I”). At the same time, none other than Katya reminds her husband about Bazarov at the end of the novel during a gala dinner.
Bazarov’s character is the complete opposite of Arkady: stern, self-confident, decisive, remarkably smart and purposeful, at the same time honest and sincere. He did not, like his friend, “give in to the quiet despondency” (XVII) of love, did not become deceived about his feelings for Anna Sergeevna, which he declares to young Kirsanov: “Eh, yes, I see, Arkady Nikolaevich, you understand love, like all the new young people: chick, chick, chicken, and as soon as the chicken starts to approach, God bless your legs! I am not like that” (XXI). He got a little angry at himself for romantic love, which he had not believed in before, he resolutely confessed his feelings to Odintsova. His passion was so great that it captured and at the same time frightened Anna Sergeevna: “... passion beat in him, strong and heavy - a passion similar to anger and, perhaps, akin to it... Odintsova felt scared and sorry for him” ( XVIII). The young nihilist is distinguished by external restraint and internal pride (“satanic pride,” as Pavel Petrovich put it - X): Bazarov outwardly calmly accepted Anna Sergeevna’s refusal (XIX), but proudly refused her pity-mercy (XXVI).
While visiting his parents, he declares to Arkady: “When I meet a person who would not give up on the front line, (...) then I will change my opinion about myself” (XXI). However, the proud nihilist is disingenuous - he has already met such a person. This is Odintsova, and in terms of strength of character (“...her character was free and quite decisive” - XV) she is not inferior to Bazarov. Anna Sergeevna, while still a young woman, had already experienced and successfully overcome many difficulties: the ruin of her family, six years of living with a husband whom “she could barely stand” (XVI), the evil tongue of county gossips, responsibility for the fate of her younger sister, managing the estate. Intelligence and interest in life, gentleness and independence in thoughts (she “favored Bazarov, although she rarely agreed with him” - XVII), aversion to vulgarity and tolerance for other people’s shortcomings, beauty and self-esteem - such a combination of character qualities in Anna Sergeevna makes fair the initial assessment given to her at the ball by Bazarov: “What kind of figure is this? (...) She’s not like other women” (XIV). It is not surprising that Bazarov found only in Odintsova, and not in anyone else (including his parents), the only person in the novel with whom he could talk seriously and frankly on any topic, starting with the device Russian state, continuing with questions of medicine, botany, ending with problems of happiness, love, and one’s own future.
Finally, beliefs (principles) regarding love played a crucial role in the fate of the heroes of the novel. Arkady and Katya appreciate mutual love and want to have a family. Both agree to limit their lives to the “home circle” (A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”, 4, XIII), agree to submit to each other in order to avoid family quarrels: “...respect yourself and submit, I understand that; this is happiness...” (XXV), says Katya. They agree to sacrifice their independence (“What is it for?” - XXV) in order to live together. Arkady, a kind and compliant man, thinks so quite sincerely. Katya has more complex considerations.
For eight years, Katya has been able to watch her elderly aunt - the useless Princess Avdotya Stepanovna, a hanger-on in Odintsova’s house. So as not to repeat the sad fate of this old maid. Katya should marry young Kirsanov, just as eight years ago Anna Sergeevna should have married the rich man Odintsov. Odintsov was older than Anna Sergeevny for twenty-five years, but he was smart and lonely, so the young wife had to adapt only to his tastes and desires. Katya marries a young and rich man, but she must get along with his diverse relatives: the narrow-minded Nikolai Petrovich, the simple-minded Fenechka, the gloomy Pavel Petrovich, the lively Mitya. And Katya, as follows from the ending of the novel, knows how to get along with everyone. Thanks to her, Arkady received from life everything he dreamed of: calm love, a kind wife, and a year later, his son Kolya - in a word, he healed life to the fullest, as it should be for a positive person.
If Arkady and Katya see love and family as a worthy goal in life, then Bazarov and Odintsova think differently. Bazarov, as it turns out, can fall passionately in love with a woman, but at the same time considers love to be best case scenario a pleasant addition to serious activities, scientific or social. That's why he so decisively rejects life experience Pavel Petrovich: “...a man who put his whole life on the line female love and when this card was killed for him, he became limp and sank to the point that he was not capable of anything, this kind of person is not a man, not a male” (VII). From Bazarov’s point of view, the real business requires complete dedication, which means that one must be prepared for a “free life” (XXVI), that is, lonely, without a family, but it is the real business that is of interest to a real person. And love and family are the lot of ordinary mortals who only know how to follow natural instincts. It was not for nothing that when parting, Bazarov pointed out to Arkady “a couple of jackdaws sitting side by side on the roof of the stable”: after all, “a jackdaw is the most venerable family bird"(XXVI).
Anna Sergeevna, having lived to the age of twenty-eight without love, simultaneously wants and is afraid to fall in love. Having married Odintsov eight years ago out of convenience because of extreme poverty, she fully experienced what it means to live as a suspicious, painful, “sour” person, although kind person(XV). Now, being free and independent, she can choose the subject for her romantic feelings, that is, she can calmly consider her response to Bazarov’s confession. She admitted to herself that she liked the nihilist very much, but she already realized that for this ambitious man, love would not become the main thing in life. But Anna Sergeevna has her own idea of true love: “A life for a life. You took mine, give me yours, and then without regret and without return. Otherwise it’s better not to” (XVII). An affair with Bazarov could only give Odintsova love: the nihilist could not give his chosen one wealth, weight in society, or secular success, and his love would have been short-lived. No matter how passionately he was in love, he would quickly remember his business. So, Anna Sergeevna, having soberly weighed the circumstances, refused Bazarov, preferring peace and comfort to unreliable feelings: “No, (...) God knows where this would lead, you can’t joke about this, calmness is still better than anything in the world” (XVIII ).
To summarize, we note that contrast is one of the favorite artistic techniques Turgenev. The character of the main character is best revealed through a paired comparison of images (Bazarov - Pavel Petrovich, Bazarov - Arkady, Bazarov - caricatured nihilists, Bazarov - parents) or in similar situations (the love story of Arkady and Katya Lokteva - the love story of Bazarov and Odintsova). It must be admitted that the intended contrast with the two love stories turned out to be very convincing.
It is easy for an ordinary (in other words, ordinary) Arkady to find his place in the world - follow the example of your “fathers” and you will be happy like them. And if a person is “strange” (in other words, unusual), if it’s not enough for Bazarov to “sleep, eat gingerbread and worry about not stopping world history"(Dostoevsky), what then? “Breaking” it and forcibly trimming it down to ordinary people? Turgenev quite clearly expresses his idea in the novel: let everyone get theirs (Suum cuique - XX).
Arkady and Katya strove for family happiness and achieved it. Out of ardent love, Arkady is ready to submit to his wife, and such submission is not offensive to him. Katya finds worthy use for her strong character, helping her husband in everything, raising her son. Anna Sergeevna, having married a second time not out of convenience, but “out of conviction” to a future outstanding figure (XXVIII), also fulfilled her dream of peace and dignity. It’s only strange that Bazarov, as some literary scholars claim, is dying of love (!): after all, he dreamed of a high career for the benefit of Russia, and considered love (even after the story with Odintsova) to be an addition to the main cause. The proof can be his last conversation with Arkady (XXVI).
The novel “Fathers and Sons” by I.S. Turgenev was written in 1961. This is a time of conflict between the liberal noble intelligentsia and the nihilistic commoners. The sixty-first year is approaching - the abolition of serfdom, and changes are already felt in the country, passions are running high, everyone is waiting for something to happen. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in his novel managed to highlight not only the social antagonism of aristocrats and commoners, but also to show the usual conflict between “fathers” and “children”, and to identify age-related problems of generations. He managed to do this through a feeling that awakens in the heart of any person, regardless of his beliefs and social status. This feeling is love, and it's in different time visited both “fathers” (the Kirsanov brothers) and “children” (Arkady Kirsanov and Evgeny Bazarov), leaving in each of them their own special, unique mark.
In the novel we see four couples, four love stories: this is the love of Nikolai Kirsanov and Fenichka, Pavel Kirsanov and Princess G., Arkady and Katya, Bazarov and Odintsova. In the life of Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov, love has always been a support and driving force. At first - an endless, touching, tender and deep feeling for his wife Masha, with whom they almost never parted: “ten years passed like a dream.” But the happiness ended, Nikolai Petrovich’s wife died. “He barely survived the blow, turned gray in a few weeks,” and began to learn to live again. Together, with his son Arkady, in the village of Maryino, named after his wife. Ten years passed before Nikolai Petrovich’s heart, reaching out to family life, was able to accommodate another love, not equal either in age or social status. Fenichka, the mother of Kirsanov’s second son, the daughter of his former housekeeper, managed to illuminate life and fill the house with joy. The fate of Kirsanov’s second brother, Pavel Petrovich, was completely different. Young and energetic, women liked him in his youth, but his heart was given at one moment to Princess R. - married woman, an empty and frivolous coquette. The intelligent and active Pavel Petrovich was unable to cope with his feelings and subsequently ruined not only his brilliant career as an officer, but also his entire subsequent life because of unhappy love. This love could never be satisfied; it deprived Kirsanov of his business, took away rich opportunities, and brought torment and despair. Arkady Kirsanov grew up with a living example of the tender and deep love of his parents before his eyes. That is why he was so indignant when his friend, the nihilist Bazarov, ridiculed human feelings, the mystery of the relationship between a man and a woman, and the “mystery” of a woman’s gaze. As soon as he moved away from Evgeny, the need for a close and loving person became the leading one, and Katya entered his life as a long-awaited light. In the relationship between Arkady and Katya Odintsova, I.S. Turgenev exposes Arkady’s nihilistic views. Katya declares that she will remake it and puts her words into action. Kirsanov abandons his past ideology. In essence, Arkady's love for Katya is the result of the subordination of a weak nature to a stronger one. Most bright story love happened in Yevgeny Bazarov's novel. Smart, reasonable, living with his head and not his heart, he left no room for feelings in his life, because he considered them nonsense, fiction, and an inability to follow his convictions. This is why love took him by surprise, crushed him, and led him to despair. How could he, Bazarov, fall for this bait if he always laughed at this feeling, which he simply did not give the right to exist! But it came and made the image of Bazarov tragic, because, having elevated him, it not only made him doubt his attitudes and beliefs, but also made him more humane. In Odintsova’s company he is harsh and mocking, but when alone with himself he discovers the romance in himself. He is irritated by his own feelings. And when they finally pour out, they only bring suffering. The chosen one rejected Bazarov, frightened by his animal passion and lack of culture of feelings. She cannot sacrifice her order, she needs calm love. Turgenev teaches a cruel lesson to his hero. But love did not destroy Bazarov, due to his character he did not give up, life did not end there.
Love is an eternal feeling, it comes without asking and goes away without warning. The pages of the novel are literally permeated with the spirit of love. And it is during the test of love that the character of people is most fully revealed, as shown in the wonderful novel by I. S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons.”
Blessed is he who was young from his youth,
Blessed is he who is ripe in time,
Who gradually life is cold
He knew how to endure meetings;
Who hasn't indulged in strange dreams,
Who has not shunned the secular mob,
Who at twenty was a dandy or a smart guy,
And at thirty he is profitably married;
Who was freed at fifty
From private and other debts,
Who is fame, money and ranks
I got in line calmly,
About whom they have been repeating for a century:
N.N. wonderful person.
A. S. Pushkin
It is no secret that a person’s moral principles may well manifest themselves in love. Revealing the image of the nihilist Bazarov, the main character of the novel, Turgenev describes the tragic story of his love for the provincial beauty Odintsova, and next to him, for contrast, the writer unfolds the story of the happy love of Arkady Kirsanov (Bazarov’s university friend) and Katya Lokteva (Odintsova’s younger sister). Why did the first story end in a breakup, and the second in a wedding? Of all the possible reasons-explanations, three main ones should be highlighted: the financial situation of the heroes, their characters and beliefs.
Arkady Kirsanov is the grandson of a general, the heir of his father and uncle, a relative (though distant) of important St. Petersburg officials, the Kolyazins. Although Nikolai Petrovich constantly complains about economic problems, the Kirsanovs own a large steppe (black earth) estate, which, if properly managed, can generate quite a decent income. In a word, Arkady is a groom anywhere. Bazarov is the grandson of a sexton, the son of a regimental doctor, who received hereditary nobility for conscientious service and did not make any influential friends or patrons. Consequently, the young nihilist can only inherit from his parents a tiny estate of twenty-two peasant souls. In other words, from birth Arkady is freed from the harsh “struggle for life” and is free to choose any career for himself: public service, managing a family estate, quiet family joys or living life, while the poor man Bazarov must, if he wishes, achieve everything himself life.
The financial situation of Anna Sergeevna Odintsova and Katya Lokteva is also different, although they are sisters. Their father, a brilliant swindler and card player, squandered the entire family fortune in St. Petersburg and Moscow and died, leaving his daughters a small estate in one village. However, Anna Sergeevna, a twenty-year-old beauty with a brilliant metropolitan upbringing, belonging to a princely family on her mother’s side, married a rich forty-six-year-old
(XV) of the landowner Odintsov and after his death became a rich widow, still young and beautiful. From the very death of her father, Anna Sergeevna took upon herself to take care of her younger sister, and Katya did not need anything by the grace of Odintsova (XXV), but at the same time, Katya still owned only half of her father’s village, that is, she was a poor bride, almost without a dowry.
It should be noted that the young heroes of the novel are people of broad views; for them the poverty of a friend or loved one is not of paramount importance. The rich heir Arkady Kirsanov became friends with the poor student Bazarov, married Katya, without thinking about her dowry. Bazarov fell in love with the rich woman Odintsova, captivated by her beauty and intelligence, and she was carried away by him, and in her discussions about the “doctor” the thought of his poverty did not arise at all.
In both love stories, the characters' characters played a more serious role than material considerations. Arkady is good-natured, flexible, sensitive, moderately intelligent and observant - in a word, a young man, “pleasant in all respects.” Having danced a mazurka with Odintsova at a ball, he fell in love with the young widow with “graceful humility” (XIV), that is, he sighed languidly about her and did not dare to bother her with his courtship. Young Kirsanov naively succumbed to Bazarov’s cunning, who, in order to remove his young rival, upon arrival in Nikolskoye, immediately drew his attention to Katya: “... this dark-skinned one. It’s fresh, and untouched, and timid, and silent, and whatever you want” (XVI). Arkady easily gets confused in his affairs of the heart: he, “who finally decided with himself that he was in love with Odintsova, began to indulge in quiet despondency. However, this despondency did not prevent him from getting closer to Katya” (XVII). Perhaps, thanks to his soft, easy-going character, Katya liked young Kirsanov, and she helped him understand where his happiness lay.
One day Katya asked Arkady: “Don’t compare me with my sister... it’s too unfavorable for me” (XXV). However, she is clearly being modest: she is very similar to Anna Sergeevna in her prudence, restraint, and determination. She behaves so smartly with young Kirsanov that he, sighing about Odintsova, imperceptibly becomes attached to his younger sister: “Katya vaguely understood that he was looking for some kind of consolation in her company, and did not deny either him or herself the innocent pleasure of half-bashful , half-trusting friendship" (XVII). Saying goodbye to Arkady forever, Bazarov says: “...I hope for Katerina Sergeevna. Look how quickly she will console you” (XXVII). And Bazarov is right. “Tame” Arkady needs a loyal friend and leader. As soon as Bazarov leaves the life of young Kirsanov, Katya takes his place: already in the evening after the departure of his university friend, Arkady began to submit to his bride, “and Katya felt it and was not surprised” (XXVI).
It is Katya who chooses Arkady as her life partner, although he himself is sure of the opposite. It is she who explains to Arkady the difference between him and Bazarov: “... you are a stranger to him. (...) He is predatory, and you and I are tame” (XXV), but he does it very tactfully, because she herself takes Arkady’s side (“you and I”). At the same time, none other than Katya reminds her husband about Bazarov at the end of the novel during a gala dinner.
Bazarov’s character is the complete opposite of Arkady: stern, self-confident, decisive, remarkably smart and purposeful, at the same time honest and sincere. He did not, like his friend, “give in to the quiet despondency” (XVII) of love, did not become deceived about his feelings for Anna Sergeevna, which he declares to young Kirsanov: “Eh, yes, I see, Arkady Nikolaevich, you understand love, like all the new young people: chick, chick, chicken, and as soon as the chicken starts to approach, God bless your legs! I’m not like that” (XXI). He, a little angry with himself for romantic love, which he had not believed in before, decisively confessed his feelings to Odintsova. His passion was so great that it captured and at the same time frightened Anna Sergeevna: “... passion beat in him, strong and heavy - a passion similar to anger and, perhaps, akin to it... Odintsova felt scared and sorry for him” ( XVIII). The young nihilist is distinguished by external restraint and internal pride (“satanic pride,” as Pavel Petrovich put it - X): Bazarov outwardly calmly accepted Anna Sergeevna’s refusal (XIX), but proudly refused her pity-mercy (XXVI).
While visiting his parents, he declares to Arkady: “When I meet a person who would not give up on the front line, (...) then I will change my opinion about myself” (XXI). However, the proud nihilist is disingenuous - he has already met such a person. This is Odintsova, and in terms of strength of character (“... her character was free and quite decisive” - XV) she is not inferior to Bazarov. Anna Sergeevna, while still a young woman, had already experienced and successfully overcome many difficulties: the ruin of her family, six years of living with a husband whom “she could barely stand” (XVI), the evil tongue of county gossips, responsibility for the fate of her younger sister, managing the estate. Intelligence and interest in life, gentleness and independence in thoughts (she “favored Bazarov, although she rarely agreed with him” - XVII), aversion to vulgarity and tolerance for other people’s shortcomings, beauty and self-esteem - such a combination of character qualities in Anna Sergeevna makes fair the initial assessment given to her at the ball by Bazarov: “What kind of figure is this? (...) She’s not like other women” (XIV). It is not surprising that Bazarov found only in Odintsova, and in no one else (including his parents), the only person in the novel with whom he could speak seriously and frankly on any topic, starting with the structure of the Russian state, continuing with questions of medicine, botany, ending with problems of happiness , love, your own future.
Finally, beliefs (principles) regarding love played a crucial role in the fate of the heroes of the novel. Arkady and Katya value mutual love and want to have a family. Both agree to limit their lives to the “home circle” (A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”, 4, XIII), agree to submit to each other in order to avoid family quarrels: “... respect yourself and submit, I understand that; this is happiness...” (XXV), says Katya. They agree to sacrifice their independence (“What is it for?” - XXV) in order to live together. Arkady, a kind and compliant man, thinks so quite sincerely. Katya has more complex considerations.
For eight years, Katya has been able to watch her elderly aunt - the useless Princess Avdotya Stepanovna, a hanger-on in Odintsova’s house. So as not to repeat the sad fate of this old maid. Katya should marry young Kirsanov, just as eight years ago Anna Sergeevna should have married the rich man Odintsov. Odintsov was twenty-five years older than Anna Sergeevna, but he was smart and lonely, so the young wife had to adapt only to his tastes and desires. Katya marries a young and rich man, but she must get along with his diverse relatives: the narrow-minded Nikolai Petrovich, the simple-minded Fenechka, the gloomy Pavel Petrovich, the lively Mitya. And Katya, as follows from the ending of the novel, knows how to get along with everyone. Thanks to her, Arkady received from life everything he dreamed of: calm love, a kind wife, and a year later his son Kolya - in a word, he lived a full life, as befits a positive person.
If Arkady and Katya see love and family as a worthy goal in life, then Bazarov and Odintsova think differently. Bazarov, as it turns out, can fall passionately in love with a woman, but at the same time considers love, at best, a pleasant addition to serious activity, scientific or social. That’s why he so decisively rejects the life experience of Pavel Petrovich: “... a man who put his whole life on the card of female love and, when this card was killed for him, became limp and sank to the point that he was not capable of anything, this kind of man— not a man, not a male” (VII). From Bazarov’s point of view, the real business requires complete dedication, which means that one must be prepared for a “free life” (XXVI), that is, lonely, without a family, but it is the real business that is of interest to a real person. And love and family are the lot of ordinary mortals who only know how to follow natural instincts. It is not without reason that when parting, Bazarov pointed out to Arkady “a couple of jackdaws sitting side by side on the roof of the stable”: after all, “the jackdaw is the most respectable family bird” (XXVI).
Anna Sergeevna, having lived to the age of twenty-eight without love, simultaneously wants and is afraid to fall in love. Having married Odintsov eight years ago out of convenience due to extreme poverty, she fully experienced what it means to live as a suspicious, sick, “sour”, albeit kind person (XV). Now, being free and independent, she can choose the subject for her romantic feelings, that is, she can calmly consider her response to Bazarov’s confession. She admitted to herself that she liked the nihilist very much, but she already realized that for this ambitious man, love would not become the main thing in life. But Anna Sergeevna has her own idea of true love: “Life for life. You took mine, give me yours, and then without regret and without return. Otherwise it’s better not to” (XVII). An affair with Bazarov could only give Odintsova love: the nihilist could not give his chosen one wealth, weight in society, or secular success, and his love would have been short-lived. No matter how passionately he was in love, he would quickly remember his business. So, Anna Sergeevna, having soberly weighed the circumstances, refused Bazarov, preferring peace and comfort to unreliable feelings: “No, (...) God knows where this would lead, you can’t joke about this, calmness is still better than anything in the world” (XVIII ).
To summarize, we note that opposition is one of Turgenev’s favorite artistic techniques. The character of the main character is best revealed through a paired comparison of images (Bazarov - Pavel Petrovich, Bazarov - Arkady, Bazarov - caricatured nihilists, Bazarov - parents) or in similar situations (the love story of Arkady and Katya Lokteva - the love story of Bazarov and Odintsova). It must be admitted that the intended contrast with the two love stories turned out to be very convincing.
It is easy for an ordinary (in other words, ordinary) Arkady to find his place in the world - follow the example of your “fathers” and you will be happy like them. And if a person is “strange” (in other words, extraordinary), if it’s not enough for Bazarov to “sleep, eat gingerbread and worry about the continuation of world history” (Dostoevsky), what then? “Break” him and force him to be like ordinary people? Turgenev quite clearly expresses his idea in the novel: let everyone get theirs (Suum cuique - XX).
Arkady and Katya strove for family happiness and achieved it. Out of ardent love, Arkady is ready to submit to his wife, and such submission is not offensive to him. Katya finds worthy use of her strong character, helping her husband in everything and raising her son. Anna Sergeevna, having married a second time not out of convenience, but “out of conviction” to a future outstanding figure (XXVIII), also fulfilled her dream of peace and dignity. It’s only strange that Bazarov, as some literary scholars claim, is dying of love (!): after all, he dreamed of a high career for the benefit of Russia, and considered love (even after the story with Odintsova) to be an addition to the main cause. The proof can be his last conversation with Arkady (XXVI).
The legendary work of all times by Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" covers many topics and problems. But the main problem that visited each hero of the work is the problem of love. Love plays a very important role in the lives of the heroes in the novel "Fathers and Sons". But each character experiences the feeling in his own way, not like everyone else. So, let's look at the heroes separately.
First, let's talk about the main character Evgeny Bazarov.
Love for Odintsova is very difficult. All his life he despised this feeling, but when faced with it, he cannot help himself. Love in his life turned everything upside down. All his previous views turned out to be wrong. This is what destroyed him.
As for Arkady’s relationship with Katya, their love changes the hero, and his life becomes much better. After all, it is with Katya that Arkady can become who he is and stop pretending, as he did in his friendship with Bazarov.
Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov is a rather tragic personality. After the death of his wife, it was extremely difficult for him. And he found that love, tenderness and beauty that he so lacked in life in young Fenechka.
Pavel Kirsanov is an even more tragic person.
Attention!
Thank you for your attention.
If you notice an error or typo, highlight the text and click Ctrl+Enter.
By doing so, you will provide invaluable benefits to the project and other readers.