At the end of the 18th century, the leading literary movement in Russia was sentimentalism, as was classicism, which came to us from Europe. N. M. Karamzin can rightfully be considered the head and promoter of the sentimental trend in Russian literature. His “Letters of a Russian Traveler” and stories are an example of sentimentalism. So, the story " Poor Lisa"(1792) was built in accordance with the basic laws of this direction. However, the writer moved away from some of the canons of European sentimentalism.
In the works of classicism, kings, nobles, and generals, that is, people who performed an important state mission, were worthy of depiction. Sentimentalism preached the value of the individual, even if insignificant on a national scale. Therefore, Karamzin made the main character of the story the poor peasant woman Lisa, who was left early without a breadwinner father and lives with her mother in a hut. According to sentimentalists, the ability to deeply feel, to perceive favorably the world possess both people of the upper class and low origin, “for even peasant women know how to love.”
The sentimentalist writer did not have the goal of accurately depicting reality. Lizin's income from the sale of flowers and knitting, on which peasant women live, could not provide for them. But Karamzin depicts life without trying to convey everything realistically. Its goal is to awaken compassion in the reader. For the first time in Russian literature, this story made the reader feel the tragedy of life in his heart.
Already contemporaries noted the novelty of the hero of “Poor Lisa” - Erast. In the 1790s, the principle of a strict division of heroes into positive and negative was observed. Erast, who killed Lisa, contrary to this principle, was not perceived as a villain. A frivolous but dreamy young man does not deceive the girl. At first he has sincere tender feelings for the naive villager. Without thinking about the future, he believes that he will not harm Lisa, will always be by her side, like brother and sister, and they will be happy together.
The language in works of sentimentalism also changed. The speech of the heroes was “freed” from large quantity Old Slavonicisms, became simpler, closer to colloquial. At the same time, it became full of beautiful epithets, rhetorical turns, and exclamations. The speech of Lisa and her mother is florid, philosophical (“Ah, Lisa!” she said. “How good everything is with the Lord God!.. Ah, Lisa! Who would want to die if sometimes we didn’t have grief!”; ““Think about the pleasant moment in which we will see each other again." - “I will, I will think about her! Dear, dear Erast! Remember, remember your poor Liza, who loves you more than herself!” ).
The purpose of such language is to influence the reader’s soul, to awaken humane feelings in it. Thus, in the speech of the narrator of “Poor Lisa” we hear an abundance of interjections, diminutive forms, exclamations, and rhetorical appeals: “Ah! I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!”; “Beautiful poor Liza with her old lady”; “But what did she feel then when Erast, hugging her last time, pressing it to his heart for the last time, said: “Sorry, Lisa!” What a touching picture!”
Much attention Sentimentalists paid attention to the depiction of nature. Events often unfolded against the background picturesque landscapes: in the forest, on the river bank, in the field. Sensitive natures, the heroes of sentimentalist works, keenly perceived the beauty of nature. IN European sentimentalism it was assumed that a “natural” person close to nature possesses only pure feelings; that nature is capable of elevating the human soul. But Karamzin tried to challenge the point of view of Western thinkers.
“Poor Liza” begins with a description of the Simonov Monastery and its surroundings. This is how the author connected the present and past of Moscow with history ordinary person. Events unfold in Moscow and in nature. “Natura”, that is, nature, following the narrator, closely “observes” the love story of Lisa and Erast. But she remains deaf and blind to the heroine’s experiences.
Nature does not stop the passions of the young man and girl at the fateful moment: “not a single star shone in the sky - no ray could illuminate the delusions.” On the contrary, “the darkness of the evening nourished desires.” Something incomprehensible is happening to Lisa’s soul: “It seemed to me that I was dying, that my soul... No, I don’t know how to say it!” Lisa’s closeness to nature does not help her in saving her soul: it is as if she is giving her soul to Erast. The thunderstorm breaks out only after - “it seemed that all nature was lamenting about Liza’s lost innocence.” Lisa is afraid of thunder, “like a criminal.” She perceives thunder as punishment, but nature did not tell her anything earlier.
At the moment of Lisa’s farewell to Erast, nature is still beautiful, majestic, but indifferent to the heroes: “The morning dawn, like a scarlet sea, spread across the eastern sky. Erast stood under the branches of a tall oak tree... the whole nature was in silence.” The “silence” of nature in the tragic moment of separation for Lisa is emphasized in the story. Here too, nature doesn’t tell the girl anything, doesn’t save her from disappointment.
The heyday of Russian sentimentalism occurred in the 1790s. A recognized propagandist of this trend, Karamzin developed in his works main idea: you need to enlighten the soul, make it heartfelt, responsive to other people’s pain, other people’s suffering and other people’s worries.
1. Literary movement “sentimentalism”.
2. Features of the plot of the work.
3. Image main character.
4. The image of the “villain” Erast.
In literature the second half of the XVIII — early XIX For centuries, the literary movement “sentimentalism” has been very popular. The name came from French word“sentiment”, which means “feeling, sensitivity”. Sentimentalism called for paying attention to a person’s feelings, experiences, emotions, that is, it acquired particular importance inner world. The story by N. M. Karamzin “Poor Liza” is shining example sentimental work. The plot of the story is very simple. By the will of fate, a spoiled nobleman and a young naive peasant girl meet. She falls in love with him and becomes a victim of her feelings.
The image of the main character Lisa is striking in its purity and sincerity. The peasant girl is more like a fairy-tale heroine. There is nothing ordinary, everyday, vulgar about her. Lisa’s nature is sublime and beautiful, despite the fact that the girl’s life cannot be called fairy-tale. Lisa lost her father early and lives with her old mother. The girl has to work a lot. But she does not complain about fate. Lisa is shown by the author as an ideal, devoid of any shortcomings. She is not characterized by a desire for profit; material values do not have any meaning for her. Lisa is more like a sensitive young lady who grew up in an atmosphere of idleness, surrounded by care and attention from childhood. A similar trend was typical for sentimental works. The main character cannot be perceived by the reader as rude, down-to-earth, or pragmatic. She must be divorced from the world of vulgarity, dirt, hypocrisy, and must be an example of sublimity, purity, and poetry.
In Karamzin's story, Lisa becomes a toy in the hands of her lover. Erast is a typical young rake, accustomed to getting what he sees fit. The young man is spoiled and selfish. The lack of a moral principle leads to the fact that he does not understand the ardent and passionate nature Lisa. Erast's feelings are in doubt. He is used to living, thinking only about himself and his desires. Erast was not given the opportunity to see the beauty of the girl’s inner world, because Lisa is smart and kind. But the virtues of a peasant woman are worthless in the eyes of a jaded nobleman.
Erast, unlike Lisa, never knew hardship. He did not need to worry about his daily bread; his whole life was a continuous holiday. And he initially considers love a game that can brighten up several days of life. Erast cannot be faithful; his attachment to Lisa is just an illusion.
And Lisa deeply experiences the tragedy. It is significant that when the young nobleman seduced the girl, thunder struck and lightning flashed. A sign of nature portends trouble. And Lisa feels that she will have to pay the most terrible price for what she has done. The girl was not mistaken. Very little time passed, and Erast lost interest in Lisa. Now he has forgotten about her. This was a terrible blow for the girl.
Karamzin's story "Poor Liza" was very loved by readers not only because of the entertaining plot, which told about beautiful story love. Readers highly appreciated the skill of the writer, who was able to truthfully and vividly show the inner world of a girl in love. The feelings, experiences, and emotions of the main character cannot leave you indifferent.
Paradoxically, the young nobleman Erast is not fully perceived as a negative hero. After Lisa's suicide, Erast is crushed by grief, considers himself a murderer and yearns for her all his life. Erast did not become unhappy; he suffered severe punishment for his action. The writer treats his hero objectively. He admits that the young nobleman has kind hearted and reason. But, alas, this does not give the right to consider Erast a good man. Karamzin says: “Now the reader should know that this young man, this Erast, was a rather rich nobleman, with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty. He led an absent-minded life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements, but often did not find it: he was bored and complained about his fate.” No wonder that with such an attitude towards life, love did not become young man something worthy of attention. Erast is dreamy. “He read novels, idylls, had a fairly vivid imagination and often moved mentally to those times (former or not), in which, according to the poets, all people carelessly walked through the meadows, bathed in clean springs, kissed like turtledoves, rested They spent all their days under roses and myrtles and in happy idleness. It seemed to him that he had found in Lisa what his heart had been looking for for a long time.” What can be said about Erast if we analyze Karamzin’s characteristics? Erast is in the clouds. Fictional stories more important to him than real life. That's why he quickly got bored with everything, even love so beautiful girl. After all, real life always seems to the dreamer less bright and interesting than life imagined.
Erast decides to go on a military campaign. He believes that this event will give meaning to his life, that he will feel important. But, alas, the weak-willed nobleman only lost his entire fortune at cards during a military campaign. Dreams collided with cruel reality. The frivolous Erast is not capable of serious actions; entertainment is most important to him. He decides to marry profitably in order to regain what he wants material well-being. At the same time, Erast does not think at all about Lisa’s feelings. Why does he need a poor peasant woman if he is faced with the question of material benefit?
Lisa throws herself into the pond, suicide becomes the only possible way out for her. The suffering of love has exhausted the girl so much that she does not want to live anymore.
For us, modern readers, Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” seems like a fairy tale. After all, there is nothing in it similar to real life, except, perhaps, for the feelings of the main character. But sentimentalism as a literary movement turned out to be very important for Russian literature. After all, writers working in line with sentimentalism showed the subtlest shades of human experiences. And this trend further developed. Based on sentimental works, others appeared, more realistic and believable.
Examination homework
Report about N.M. Karamzin: Karamzin the poet, Karamzin the publicist, Karamzin the historian
A teacher's word on sentimentalism
In the second half of the 18th century, a new literary movement, “sentimentalism,” emerged. Translated from English. means “sensitive”, “touching”. Its leader in Russia is considered to be N.M. Karamzin, and the direction itself is often defined as Russian “noble” sentimentalism. However, some researchers oppose the “democratic” sentimentalism led by Radishchev to the Karamzinist movement. Sentimentalism arose in the West during the period of decomposition of feudal-serf relations. Historical background dictates the emergence of certain principles in the aesthetics of sentimentalism. Let's remember what happened main task art for classicists? (for classicists the main task of art was to glorify the state)
And the focus of sentimentalism is a person, and not a person in general, but this particular person, in all his originality individual personality. Its value is not due to belonging to upper classes, but by personal merits. Positive heroes Most sentimental works are representatives of the middle and lower classes. Usually at the center of the works is a disappointed hero who laments his fate and sheds a sea of tears. The writer's task is to evoke compassion for him. Depicted everyday life person. The setting is small towns and villages. The heroes' favorite meeting places are quiet, secluded places (ruins, cemeteries).
The inner world of a person, his psychology, shades of mood are the dominant themes of most works.
New content entails the emergence of new forms: the leading genres are family psychological novel, diary, confession, travel notes. Prose is replacing poetry and drama. The syllable becomes sensitive, melodious, emotional. “Tearful” drama and comic opera were developed.
In works of sentimentalism, the voice of the narrator is very important. In the article “What does an author need?”, which became a manifesto of Russian sentimentalism, N.M. Karamzin wrote: “You want to be an author: read the history of the misfortunes of the human race - and if your heart does not bleed, put up a pen, or it will depict cold gloom for us your soul."
Representatives of sentimentalism:
England: Laurence Sterne “A Sentimental Journey”, the novel “Tristam Shandy”, Richardson “Clarissa Garlow”;
Germany: Goethe “The Sorrows of Young Werther”;
France: Jean-Jacques Rousseau “Julia, or New Heloise”;
Russia: N.M. Karamzin, A.N. Radishchev, N.A. Lvov, M.N. Muravyov, young V.A. Zhukovsky
The emergence of Russian sentimentalism in the 60s is explained by the fact that in public life people of the “third rank” begin to play an important role.
Analysis of the story “Poor Lisa”
- One of the most striking works of sentimentalism is N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” (1792).
Let us turn to the words of E. Osetrova “B.L.” - this is an exemplary work dedicated to not external events, but a “sensitive” soul.”
You read the story at home and probably thought about the problems that the author poses in his work. Let's find out what the main theme and idea of this work is. Let's see how the images of the main characters of the story are presented. Let's try to explain the actions of the main characters (when answering questions, be sure to use the text).
How would you define the theme of this story? (the theme of the search for personal happiness). This topic was new for the literature of that time. We have already said that sentimentalist writers place the private, individual person at the center of attention.
Who are the heroes of this story? (young girl Lisa, her mother, young man Erast)
What is Lisa’s life with her mother like before meeting Erast? (Lisa “worked day and night - weaving canvas, knitting stockings, picking flowers in the spring, and picking berries in the summer - and selling all this in Moscow”)
What is the dignity of the personality of Lisa and her parents? (father - “loved work, plowed the land well and always led sober life"; the mother is faithful to the memory of her husband, raises her daughter in strict moral concepts, in particular, instills in her the rule: “to feed yourself by your labors and not to take anything for nothing.” Lisa is pure, open, faithful in love, a caring daughter, virtuous)
What epithets and for what purpose does Karamzin endow his heroine? (poor, beautiful, kind, gentle, helpful, timid, unhappy).
What is Erast's life like? (“Erast was quitea rich nobleman, with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty. He led an absent-minded life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements, but often did not find it: he was bored and complained about his fate; he read novels, idylls, had a fairly vivid imagination and often moved mentally to those times (former or not), in which, according to the poets, all people carelessly walked through meadows, bathed in clean springs, kissed like turtle doves, rested under roses and myrtles and spent all their days in happy idleness")
The plot of the story is based on the love story of Lisa and Erast. How does YaKaramzin show the development of feelings between young people? (at first their love was platonic, pure, immaculate, but then Erast is no longer content with pure embraces, and Lisa sees her happiness in Erast’s contentment)
What did the flaring up feeling mean for Lisa and for Erast, who had already tasted social fun? (For Liza, this feeling was the whole meaning of her life, and for Erast, simplicity was just another fun. Liza believed Erast. From now on, she submits to his will, even when her good heart and common sense tell her to behave in the opposite way: she hides her dates with Erast and her fall from grace from her mother , and after Erast’s departure - the strength of his melancholy)
Is love possible between a peasant woman and a gentleman? (seems impossible. At the very beginning of meeting Erast, Liza does not allow the thought of its possibility: the mother, seeing Erast, says to her daughter: “If only your groom were like that!” Liza’s whole heart trembled..."Mother! Mother! How can this happen? He is a gentleman, and among the peasants... - Liza did not finish her speech. After Erast visited Liza’s house, she thinks: “If only the one who now occupies my thoughts was born a simple peasant, a shepherd... A dream!” In a conversation with Erast after his promises to take Lisa to him after the death of her mother, the girl objects: “However, you cannot be my husband.”
- “Why?”
- “I am a peasant woman”)
How do you understand the title of the story? (poor - unhappy)
The feelings of the characters and their state are closely connected with nature. Prove that descriptions of nature “prepare” heroes and readers, “set them up” for certain events (the description of the Simonov Monastery at the beginning of the story sets them up for tragic ending stories; Lisa on the banks of the Moscow River early in the morning before meeting Erast; description of a thunderstorm when Lisa considers herself a criminal because she has lost her innocence, purity)
The author loves Lisa, admires her, deeply experiences her fall from grace, tries to explain the reasons for it and soften the severity of the condemnation, is even ready to justify and forgive her, but he repeatedly calls Erast cruel in Lisa’s words, and this is justified, although Lisa puts a slightly different meaning into this epithet . He gives his own assessments of everything that happens, which are objective)
Did you like the story? How?
D.z.:
1. A message about sentimentalism
2. Why is “Poor Liza” a work of sentimentalism? (written response)
Reflection
I knew, I found out, I want to know (ZUH)
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin became the most prominent representative in Russian literature of the new literary direction- sentimentalism, popular in Western Europe at the end of the 18th century. The story “Poor Liza,” created in 1792, revealed the main features of this trend. Sentimentalism proclaimed primary attention to the private life of people, to their feelings, which were equally characteristic of people from all classes. Karamzin tells us the story of the unhappy love of a simple peasant girl Liza and a nobleman Erast, in order to prove that “peasant women also know how to love.” Lisa is the ideal of the “natural person” advocated by the sentimentalists. She is not only “beautiful in soul and body,” but she is also capable of sincerely loving a person who is not entirely worthy of her love. Erast, although superior to his beloved in education, nobility and wealth, turns out to be spiritually smaller than her. He is unable to rise above class prejudices and marry Lisa. Erast has a “fair mind” and a “kind heart,” but at the same time he is “weak and flighty.” After losing at cards, he is forced to marry a rich widow and leave Lisa, which is why she commits suicide. However, sincere human feelings did not die in Erast and, as the author assures us, “Erast was unhappy until the end of his life. Having learned about Lizina’s fate, he could not console himself and considered himself a murderer.”
For Karamzin, the village becomes a center of natural moral purity, and the city - a source of debauchery, a source of temptations that can destroy this purity. The writer's heroes, in full accordance with the precepts of sentimentalism, suffer almost all the time, constantly expressing their feelings with abundantly shed tears. As the author himself admitted: “I love those objects that make me shed tears of tender sorrow.” Karamzin is not ashamed of tears and encourages readers to do the same. As he describes in detail the experiences of Lisa, left behind by Erast, who had gone into the army: “From that hour, her days were days
melancholy and sorrow, which had to be hidden from the tender mother: all the more did her heart suffer! Then it only became easier when Lisa, secluded in the depths of the forest, could freely shed tears and moan about separation from her beloved. Often the sad dove combined her plaintive voice with her moaning.” Karamzin forces Liza to hide her suffering from her old mother, but at the same time he is deeply convinced that it is very important to give a person the opportunity to openly express his grief, to his heart’s content, in order to ease the soul. The author examines the essentially social conflict of the story through a philosophical and ethical prism. Erast sincerely would like to overcome class barriers on the path of his idyllic love with Lisa. However, the heroine takes a much more sober look at the state of things, realizing that Erast “cannot be her husband.” The narrator is already quite sincerely worried about his characters, worried in the sense that it is as if he lives with them. It is no coincidence that at the moment when Erast leaves Lisa, the author’s heartfelt confession follows: “My heart is bleeding at this very moment. I forget the man in Erast - I’m ready to curse him - but my tongue does not move - I look at the sky, and a tear rolls down my face.” Not only the author himself got along with Erast and Lisa, but also thousands of his contemporaries - readers of the story. This was facilitated by good recognition not only of the circumstances, but also of the place of action. Karamzin quite accurately depicted in “Poor Liza” the surroundings of the Moscow Simonov Monastery, and the name “Lizin’s Pond” was firmly attached to the pond located there. Moreover: some unfortunate young ladies even drowned themselves here, following the example of the main character of the story. Liza herself became a model that people sought to imitate in love, though not peasant women who had not read Karamzin’s story, but girls from the nobility and other wealthy classes. The hitherto rare name Erast became very popular among noble families. “Poor Liza” and sentimentalism were very much in keeping with the spirit of the times.
It is characteristic that in Karamzin’s works, Liza and her mother, although they are stated to be peasant women, speak the same language as the nobleman Erast and the author himself. The writer, like the Western European sentimentalists, did not yet know the speech distinction of heroes representing classes of society that were opposite in their conditions of existence. All the characters in the story speak Russian literary language, close to the real one. spoken language that circle of educated noble youth to which Karamzin belonged. Also peasant life in the story is far from genuine folk life. Rather, it is inspired by the ideas about “natural man” characteristic of sentimentalist literature, whose symbols were shepherds and shepherdesses. Therefore, for example, the writer introduces an episode of Lisa’s meeting with a young shepherd who “was driving his flock along the river bank, playing the pipe.” This meeting makes the heroine dream that her beloved Erast would be “a simple peasant, a shepherd,” which would make their happy union possible. The writer, after all, was mainly concerned with truthfulness in the depiction of feelings, and not with the details of folk life that was unfamiliar to him.
Having established sentimentalism in Russian literature with his story, Karamzin took a significant step in terms of its democratization, abandoning the strict, but far from living life, schemes of classicism. The author of “Poor Liza” not only sought to write “as they say,” freeing literary language from Church Slavonic archaisms and boldly introducing into it new words borrowed from European languages. For the first time, he abandoned the division of heroes into purely positive and purely negative, showing a complex combination of good and bad traits in the character of Erast. Thus, Karamzin took a step in the direction in which he moved the development of literature in mid-19th century realism, which replaced sentimentalism and romanticism.
“For even peasant women know how to love...”
N.M. Karamzin
Sentimentalism - direction literature XVIII century. It contradicts the strict norms of classicism and, first of all, describes the inner world of a person and his feelings. Now the unity of place, time and action does not matter, the main thing is the person and his state of mind. N.M. Karamzin is probably the most famous and talented writer who actively worked in this direction. His story “Poor Liza” reveals to the reader the tender feelings of two lovers.
Features of sentimentalism are found in N. Karamzin’s story in every line. The lyrical narrative is conducted smoothly, calmly, although the work feels the intensity of passion and the power of emotions. The characters experience a new feeling of love for both of them - tender and touching. They suffer, cry, part: “Lisa was sobbing - Erast was crying...” The author describes in great detail the state of mind of the unfortunate Lisa when she accompanied Erast to the war: “... abandoned, poor, lost feelings and memory.”
The entire work is permeated lyrical digressions. The author constantly reminds of himself, he is present in the work and comments on everything that happens to his characters. “I often come to this place and almost always meet spring there...”, the author says about the place near the Si...nova monastery, where Lisa and her mother’s hut was located. “But I throw down the brush...”, “my heart bleeds...”, “a tear rolls down my face,” - this is how the author describes his emotional state when he looks at his heroes. He feels sorry for Lisa, she is very dear to him. He knows that his “beautiful Lisa” is worthy best love, honest relationships, sincere feelings. And Erast... The author does not reject him, because “dear Erast” is a very kind, but by nature or upbringing a flighty young man. And Lisa's death made him unhappy for the rest of his life. N. M. Karamzin hears and understands his heroes.
A large place in the story is given landscape sketches. The beginning of the work describes the place “near the Si..nova monastery”, the outskirts of Moscow. Nature is fragrant: a “magnificent picture” is revealed to the reader, and he finds himself in that time and also wanders through the ruins of the monastery. Together with the “quiet moon” we watch the lovers meet and, sitting “under the shade of an old oak tree,” we look into the “blue sky.”
The name “Poor Liza” itself is symbolic, where in one word both social status, and the state of the human soul. The story by N. M. Karamzin will not leave any reader indifferent, it will touch thin strings souls, and this can be called sentimentality.