Analysis of the story "Poor Lisa" by Karamzin: the essence, meaning, idea and thought of the story. Composition on the topic: Characters of the main characters

>Compositions based on the work of Poor Liza

Characters of the main characters. The main idea of ​​the story

Tale " Poor Lisa"Was written by N. M. Karamzin in late XVIII century and became one of the first sentimental works in Russian literature. The plot of the work is quite simple and understandable. In it, a weak-willed but kind-hearted nobleman falls in love with a poor peasant woman. Their love awaits a tragic ending. Erast, having lost, marries a rich widow, and Lisa, unable to bear her grief, throws herself into the waters of a deep pond and dies.

However, the most important thing in this story is not the plot, but the feelings that it awakens in the reader. special attention deserves the narrator himself. He conveys the story of a poor village girl with sadness and understanding. In Russian literature, the image of an empathetic narrator has become a discovery. At every dramatic turn of events, "his heart bleeds" and "tears roll down his cheeks" are heard.

The attitude of the writer to the protagonist is also new. He does not blame Erast himself for the death of Liza, but shows the social factors that served as an impetus. So, for example, Erast was influenced by the "big" city, which made him depraved. And Lisa was rustic and simple and naive. The author shows that not a single Lisa fell victim to circumstances, Erast is also deeply unhappy and carries a sense of guilt through her whole life.

For the first time in the history of Russian literature, the writer touches upon " living soul' in the representatives of the lower class. He notes that "Even peasant women know how to love." This phrase has long remained winged. We can say that Karamzin laid the foundation for the tradition of sympathy for the common man. Thus, his story became extremely popular in society. She, first of all, appeals to the humanity of a person and the ability to sympathize.

The story "Poor Liza" appeared just at the turn of the century and the change of styles. It reflects the transition from the civic theme, which was so popular during the Enlightenment, to the personal theme. It was the main focus of attention inner world person. Thus, the author introduced such a new trend as psychologism, which manifested itself in the ability to vividly convey the inner world of the characters along with their feelings.

The work of N. M. Karamzin is associated primarily with the appearance in Russian literature of such a direction as sentimentalism. Prior to that, it was dominated by classicism with its clear construction and didactic moralizing. Karamzin, on the other hand, opens the sensual world, filled with various emotions, personal experiences of the characters. He admitted that the special sensitivity of the heart - sentimentality - he considered necessary quality writer. Karamzin showed himself to be a brilliant writer, his works are still of genuine interest. Let's dwell on one of them - the story "Poor Lisa", which is currently included in the compulsory school curriculum.

It is believed that Karamzin decided on such a literary experiment, inspired by the stories of European literature, which he got acquainted with during his travels around Europe. But the writer understood: in order to arouse the interest and compassion of the Russian reader, it is necessary to find something that will resonate in his soul. Therefore, in addition to describing the feelings of the main characters, Karamzin describes nature in detail. As the main background, he uses the surroundings near the Simonov Monastery. Oak forests, bright rivers, a pond - the author tries to capture what brings him pleasure away from the bustle of the city, and fills the landscapes with a special meaning.

This approach makes the story feel very believable. Researcher V. N. Toporov noted:

"For the first time in Russian literature fiction created an image of authentic life that was perceived as stronger, sharper and more convincing than life itself.

Readers could visit the places described in the work and feel the atmosphere on their own. Not far from the monastery there was a pond - the same one where she tragically committed suicide main character. Subsequently, he received the name - "Lizin's pond."

Karamzin was not only a poet and prose writer, but also an excellent translator. Thanks to him, Russian readers got acquainted with the works of W. Shakespeare, G. Lessing and other prominent European literary figures. One of the most interesting creations of Karamzin is the "Letters of a Russian Traveler", written under the impression of a trip to Europe and published in 1791-1792. It is here that the author begins to introduce the features of sentimentalism, thanks to which he became a famous writer. The talent of the writer was revealed with each of his works. A landmark event in Russian prose was the publication of the story "Poor Lisa", followed by another work - "Natalya, the Boyar's Daughter".

Bottom line creative way Karamzin becomes the encyclopedic work "History of the Russian State", which describes the events of our country from antiquity to the beginning of the Time of Troubles. Much of what is written in these twelve volumes was found in the archives by the writer himself and published for the first time thanks to him.

Genre and direction

"Poor Liza" belongs to the genre of the story - prose work, which is based on a chain of logically and chronologically connected episodes. Some call "Poor Lisa" a story, which is not true, since usually one story is realized in a story. story line and it's not as big as this book.

Karamzin writes his story, departing from the canons of classicism and using the techniques of sentimentalism. Sentimentalism is such a trend in literature XVIII century, when the focus is not on reason, but on sensitivity. The hero of sentimentalism is more developed and individual, so he resonates in the soul of the reader. The poet P. A. Vyazemsky called this trend "an elegant depiction of the basic and everyday."

The main features of sentimentalism in the story "Poor Liza":

  • Emotionality: the reader understands how the characters feel through the description of emotions;
  • The role of nature: in addition, for a deeper study of the characters, Karamzin uses the world of nature (“Often a sad turtledove combined her plaintive voice with her moaning”);
  • Hyperbola: Lisa's suffering sometimes seems excessive, they are very exaggerated ("... Lisa, secluded in the density of the forest, could freely shed tears and moan about separation from her beloved");
  • Image of the author: the lyrical hero, who is presented in the story by the narrator in the first person, describes his emotions as small digressions(“a tear rolls down my face”, “my heart bleeds…”).

However, not everyone is close to nature. characters works, but only Lisa and the narrator himself. The author endows them with such an ability, focusing on the fact that they are capable of real feelings.

The meaning of the name

The name "Poor Lisa" can be interpreted in several ways. First of all, Karamzin, by adding an evaluative word to the title, makes us understand his attitude towards the heroine. He feels sorry for the girl, and he hopes that the reader will also sympathize with her.

But do not forget that "poor" can also mean "beggar", and Lisa's financial situation was the reason why Erast did not want to associate his future life with her.

essence

The plot, which at present seems rather primitive, at the end of the 18th century made a splash in the Russian public. The story depicts tragic fate poor Lisa.

Peasant girl Liza is forced to work hard to provide for herself and her mother after the death of her father, who was a "wealthy peasant". She collects lilies of the valley in the forests and sells them in Moscow. There she is noticed by a young handsome nobleman Erast, who falls in love with her, and these feelings seem to last forever.

They spend a lot of time together, but at some point Lisa stops being interested in the hero. At first, Erast saw in her an angel who was so strikingly different from the pompous young ladies of his circle; but after a girl gives herself to a young man, she loses her attractiveness for him. Erast begins to refuse to meet her, and then completely says that he needs to leave with the regiment going on a campaign. Lisa asks him to stay, but he replies that refusing the service means dishonor and disgrace to him. The girl understandingly agrees, and she has to come to terms with the inevitable separation. She is very sad, but tries to hold on so as not to disturb her mother once again.

Once Lisa went to Moscow for medicine and there she saw her lover. She was happy to meet him, but he said that he was now engaged and they could not be together. It turns out that instead of valiant service in the army, Erast got carried away playing cards there and lost all his fortune. He is unable to pay off his debts, so he decides to marry an elderly rich widow who has been in love with him for a long time. Lisa cannot survive his betrayal. After he put her out of the doorway, the girl asks her friend to give her mother an apology and money, and she herself rushes into the pond. They fail to save her. Erast was unhappy until the end of his life and blamed himself for the death of his beloved. The wise Litrecon sympathizes with this loss, and offers you summary stories for reader's diary and a review (here).

Conflict

The main conflict of the story "Poor Lisa" can be called psychological. It lies in the attitude of the characters towards love and money. Liza, who knows how to sincerely and strongly love, is strongly attached to Erast. She lives with her feeling, giving herself completely to him. Lisa is not interested in the financial situation of her lover, she does not take his money when he tries to pay for lilies of the valley an amount several times higher than the announced value. At the same time, Erast enjoys a temporary relationship with a girl who at first seemed interesting to him. But then she bored him, and he leaves. Having lost all the money, Erast makes a deal with his conscience - he woos a rich widow for the sake of her fortune, which he needs to pay off his debts.

Lisa understood from the very beginning that she would not have a happy life with Erast. She said several times that he would never be her husband, because he was a nobleman. But this did not prevent the heroine from plunging deeper and deeper into these relationships. Erast, it seemed, was ready for anything for Lisa. But his feelings have not stood the test of time. The young man acts vilely, because he did not even tell his beloved that he had returned.

It turns out that the conflict of the work is based on such a technique as antithesis (opposition). The characters of the story cannot be divided into strictly positive and strictly negative, as is customary in classicism. In sentimentalism, the clash of views is realized through the inconsistency of the feelings and principles of one hero with the feelings and principles of another hero. A social conflict is also noticeable: Karamzin, obeying the democratic trends of Europe, takes the side of natural and sensitive peasants who are not spoiled by luxury, and condemns the nobles, spoiled by the environment. In other well-known examples of sentimental works (Schiller, Lessing), the truth is also on the side common man, and a noble gentleman shows meanness, but often repents of it.

Main characters and their characteristics

The images of the characters in the story "Poor Liza" contribute to the most complete disclosure of the social and love conflict:

  • Liza- the main character of the story. Due to the death of her father, she has to take charge of the family, now consisting only of her and her mother, and take care of the household. The girl takes on any job, she is very hardworking and flexible. Lisa is distinguished by sensitivity and kindness. She takes care of her mother, who, by the way, does nothing, only yearns for her dead husband. But the daughter supports her and never reproaches. For Lisa, the feelings that she experiences are at the head of her life. Strong love to Erast leads to tragedy - the heroine rushes into the pond and drowns. She even does this on emotions - immediately after a painful separation from her lover. But to the last, she does not forget about her mother and gives her friend money and a message to the old woman. Liza seems wise, she understands that there is no future for her and Erast. However, she gives herself to the young man without thinking about the consequences. In addition, love blinds her so much that she is not able to appreciate the changes in the chosen one, although she notices them.
  • At the beginning of the story Erast described as a wealthy and carefree nobleman. He is very spoiled and weak-willed, at the same time he seems to be a dreamer inspired by novels. He is not negative character Who knows, maybe he read the same European works on the basis of which Karamzin built the plot of the story, and therefore decided on such a love relationship. Windy and frivolous, Erast takes care of Liza and her mother to some extent. When they first parted, he left them enough money so that Lisa did not need to sell lilies of the valley. During the last meeting, he gives the girl a hundred rubles, which in those days was a very large amount. It seems as if the hero wants to pay off ex-lover However, Erast is sure that money is very necessary for a happy life. Of course, he treats poor Liza disgustingly, and, probably, nothing can justify him. Although Karamzin does not directly blame him and writes that he, too, was unhappy until the end of his days. It is Erast who tells the sad story to the narrator.
  • Lisa's mother was a kind woman. She could not cope with the loss of her husband and, in fact, relieved herself of responsibility for the future of her daughter, whom she still loves very much. And so she spends many years longing for her husband. This situation is very characteristic of sentimentalism. Perhaps Lisa completely indulges in relationships, seeing her mother as an example. She asks her mother for advice, introduces Erast to her and supports her lamentations. Upon learning of the death of her daughter, the widow immediately dies.
  • Nature also becomes one of the characters in the story. However, in "Poor Lisa" nature is passive: she watches the development of the relationship between the characters, reflecting their feelings in herself, but does not act in any way. For example, after the fall of the heroine, a thunderstorm begins, that is, “nature” portends trouble, but she did not interfere with it.

Topics and issues

In the story "Poor Liza" we have a rich theme:

  • Perception of the world through the prism of feelings. The author describes in detail the feelings of the heroine, making her more alive and understandable to the reader. Lisa's mood often coincides with the weather and the world around her. When she is happy, she notices how good it is around. When she feels lost, then the environment in which she is located corresponds to her condition. The landscape in sentimentalism plays an independent role, like a choir in an ancient theater.
  • Love is the main theme of the work. The romantic plot line is the main one in this work. Using the love drama as an example, Karamzin reveals characters and problems. Love, as the strongest feeling, becomes both a blessing and a Calvary for Lisa.
  • Social inequality. Liza, being a poor peasant woman, falls in love with a wealthy nobleman. They cannot be together because they are from different walks of life, which is not ready to accept such a union. Therefore, Lisa does not build castles in the air regarding their joint future, although she dreams about it. She even imagined what would happen if Erast was a peasant like her.
  • City - village. This opposition is often found in art. In this work, the city - Moscow - becomes a haven of temptation that drags Erast away. The countryside is filled with purity and beauty, where you can find peace. And the people there are different - more sincere and innocent. That is why the young nobleman pays attention to Lisa. He is fed up with the bustle of the city and is ready to enjoy the marvelous natural landscapes. In the city, nature is not realized as a reflection of feelings, in contrast to the village, where each landscape meant some kind of emotion for the characters.

Problems in the story "Poor Lisa":

  • Conscience. Erast, until the end of his days, could not forgive himself for the death of Lisa and suffered until his death. So, his irresponsible actions and cruel words turned into grief in the first place for him.
  • Moral. The unequivocally young nobleman is condemned by the narrator, who wonders if something can justify Erast? The actions of Lisa's chosen one throughout the work are frivolous and prosaic. But the main character is also not sinless: she gives herself to a man with whom, as she herself admits, she has no future. Both Erast and Liza ruin their lives without giving themselves a full account of their actions.
  • Inner world. Heroines such as Lisa and her mother build their entire world around one person. Usually such people are not very educated and developed, which is not surprising for peasant women. And therefore, Liza devotes all her experiences and sensual nature to Erast, real and unreal, near and far.
  • Social inequality. Could Erast take Lisa as his wife? No, but he didn't count. He, like Lisa, understood that this was impossible in the society in which they lived, so he said that he wanted to live with her as with a sister. Erast becomes a hostage to the way in which he was born and raised, to some extent he is also a victim. But the young man is weak-willed and weak-willed, he seems to go with the flow. Liza, even if she does not have an education and a fortune, spiritually turns out to be higher than her lover.
  • Poverty. The lack of means to survive makes a young girl work tirelessly. Erast, who at the beginning of the work was a wealthy nobleman, quickly loses money and gets into debt. The beggarly position of a young man forces him to propose to an elderly but rich widow. Erast has nowhere and no one to wait for help, and he has to survive in such an ignoble way.

the main idea

Innovative in Russian literature was the idea, the essence of which was that the lower classes, just like the higher ones, can feel. Peasants can show emotions like nobles, if not more. The phrase "Even peasant women know how to love" became the key for the audience, which read the story with delight. Karamzin calls to be more humane towards each other, regardless of class affiliation. Erast's egoism ruined both Lisa and her mother, and himself.

The meaning of the story is a call to humanism, because people are equal, none of them is to blame for being born without a silver spoon in their mouth. Meanwhile, it is the silver spoon that becomes the measure of the value of the individual. If Lisa were noble and rich, they would have a happy married life with Erast, but the way society is fixated on titles and money turns love into a tragedy. Karamzin's contemporaries so enthusiastically accepted the story of feelings, because there were no feelings in their lives, since all marriages were dictated by financial necessity or senile lust, but by no means love.

Language

Karamzin takes the first steps in the transformation of the literary Russian language. He removes Old Slavonicisms and church vocabulary from the speech of the heroes, makes the conversations of the heroes simpler and more understandable. However, the writer misses one point: the speech of a provincial peasant woman and a nobleman from a large city is the same. That is, in literature there were still no strong differences between the peasant dialect and aristocratic conversations, although they were felt in life.

In the story "Poor Lisa" Karamzin uses the following means of expression:

  • Comparison (“her cheeks burned like the dawn on a clear summer evening”).
  • Metaphors (“a new guest of her soul”, “angel of purity”).
  • Epithets (“white mists”, “green cover”, “life-giving rays”, “motley herd”, “gloomy oak”, “terrible death”, “pale, languid, sorrowful friend”, “scarlet sea”, “touching picture” , "eastern sky").
  • The composition is to some extent circular, because the story begins and ends with a description of oak trees and a pond.
  • Antithesis and hyperbole - they ideologically permeate the entire work.
  • Personification (“groves, bushes revived”, “flowers raised their heads”, “the wind howls”, “darkness fed desires”).
  • Phraseologisms (“the heart bleeds”, “concealed love”, “the blood has cooled from horror”, “came to its senses”, “inflame the imagination”).
  • Adjectives in the superlative degree (“the most terrible”, “the most dangerous”, “the greatest”, “the most tender”).
  • Anaphora (“Erast felt an extraordinary excitement in his blood ... Erast feels a thrill in himself ...”, “Where is your guardian angel? Where is your innocence?”).
  • Lexical repetition (“God forbid! God forbid! Every day, every hour I will pray about it”, “Before you were happier, before we were calmer and happier, and before I was not so afraid of losing your love!”).
  • Polyunion ("They said goodbye, kissed for the last time and promised to see each other every evening either on the river bank, or in a birch grove, or somewhere near Liza's hut, only surely, by all means to see each other").
  • Rhetorical question (“What happened to you?”, “Where is your guardian angel? Where is your innocence?”).
  • Rhetorical appeal ("Ah, Lisa, Lisa!").
  • Gradation ("He languishes, withers, dries - and the dull ringing of the bell announces to me his untimely death").

Criticism

Not only the audience reacted with great favor to the story "Poor Lisa". Most of the critics talked about Karamzin's innovation and emphasized the peculiarity of "Poor Lisa". They noted not only sensitivity, sentimentality, new for the Russian reader, but also the sad end that the heroine chose for herself - suicide. Writer V. V. Sipovsky wrote that the Russian public for the first time met with the “bitter truth of life”, and not with a happy ending, as it was before.

Critic V. N. Toporov called Karamzin's work the "root" from which the "tree of Russian classical prose" grew. He believed that many works of A. S. Pushkin (“ Queen of Spades”,“ Young peasant woman ”,“ Captain's daughter”) were written precisely thanks to “learning the lessons of the Karamzin story”.

However, the Soviet literary critic G. A. Gukovsky wrote that if anti-feudal thought prevailed in such European plots, where the consequences of class inequality are shown, then Karamzin seemed to say that one can be happy in serfdom.

“The humanity of democratic sentimentalism, which demanded freedom for every person, turned into his formula “and peasant women know how to love”,” the researcher wrote.

This is a fair remark, since Karamzin really did not want the abolition of serfdom. He believed that it was necessary to regulate the arbitrariness of the landowners and monitor their actions in relation to the peasants.

However, the personal views of the author in no way detract from his merits. Karamzin urged the aristocracy to be more humane and responsive. It is difficult to overestimate his contribution to Russian culture. The writer's works are still of interest from researchers and the general public, because he really showed life in its diversity.

The story "Poor Lisa", which became an example of sentimental prose, was published by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin in 1792 in the publication "Moscow Journal". It is worth noting Karamzin as an honored reformer of the Russian language and one of the most highly educated Russians of his time - this is an important aspect that allows us to evaluate the success of the story in the future. Firstly, the development of Russian literature had a "catching up" character, since it lagged behind European literature by about 90-100 years. While in the West sentimental novels were being written and read with might and main, clumsy classical odes and dramas were still being composed in Russia. Karamzin's progressiveness as a writer consisted in "bringing" sentimental genres from Europe to his homeland and developing a style and language for further writing such works.

Secondly, the assimilation of literature of the late 18th century by the public was such that at first they wrote for society how to live, and then society began to live according to what was written. That is, before the sentimental story, people read mostly hagiographic or church literature, where there were no living characters or lively speech, and the heroes of the sentimental story - such as Lisa - gave secular young ladies a real scenario of life, a guide of feelings.

History of the creation of the story

Karamzin brought a story about poor Lisa from his many trips - from 1789 to 1790 he visited Germany, England, France, Switzerland (England is considered the birthplace of sentimentalism), and upon his return he published a new revolutionary story in his own journal.

“Poor Liza” is not an original work, since Karamzin adapted its plot for Russian soil, taking it from European literature. We are not talking about a specific work and plagiarism - there were many such European stories. In addition, the author created an atmosphere of amazing authenticity by drawing himself as one of the heroes of the story and masterfully describing the situation of events.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, shortly after returning from a trip, the writer lived in a dacha not far from the Simonov Monastery, in a picturesque, calm place. The situation described by the author is real - the readers recognized both the surroundings of the monastery and the “lizine pond”, and this contributed to the fact that the plot was perceived as reliable, and the characters as real people.

Analysis of the work

The plot of the story

The plot of the story is love and, according to the author, utterly simple. The peasant girl Liza (her father was a prosperous peasant, but after his death the economy is in decline and the girl has to earn money by selling needlework and flowers) lives in the bosom of nature with her old mother. In a city that seems huge and alien to her, she meets a young nobleman, Erast. Young people fall in love - Erast out of boredom, inspired by pleasures and a noble lifestyle, and Liza - for the first time, with all the simple, ardor and naturalness " natural man". Erast takes advantage of the girl's gullibility and takes possession of her, after which, naturally, he begins to be weary of the girl's company. The nobleman leaves for the war, where he loses his entire fortune in cards. The way out is to marry a rich widow. Lisa finds out about this and commits suicide by throwing herself into a pond, not far from the Simonov Monastery. The author who has been told this story cannot remember poor Liza without holy tears of regret.

For the first time among Russian writers, Karamzin unleashed the conflict of a work by the death of the heroine - as, most likely, it would have been in reality.

Of course, despite the progressiveness of Karamzin's story, his characters differ significantly from real people, they are idealized and embellished. This is especially true of the peasants - Lisa does not look like a peasant woman. It is unlikely that hard work would have contributed to the fact that she remained “sensitive and kind”, it is unlikely that she would conduct internal dialogues with herself in an elegant style, and she could hardly keep up a conversation with a nobleman. Nevertheless, this is the first thesis of the story - "and peasant women know how to love."

main characters

Liza

The central heroine of the story, Liza, is the embodiment of sensitivity, ardor and ardor. Her mind, kindness and tenderness, the author emphasizes, are from nature. Having met Erast, she begins to dream not that he, like a handsome prince, will take her to his world, but that he should be a simple peasant or shepherd - this would equalize them and allow them to be together.

Erast differs from Lisa not only in social sign but also in character. Perhaps, the author says, he was spoiled by the world - he leads a typical lifestyle for an officer and a nobleman - he seeks pleasures and, having found them, cools to life. Erast is both smart and kind, but weak, incapable of action - such a hero also appears in Russian literature for the first time, a type of "disappointed aristocrat's life." At first, Erast is sincere in his love impulse - he does not lie when he tells Lisa about love, and it turns out that he is also a victim of circumstances. He does not stand the test of love, does not resolve the situation "like a man", but feels sincere torment after what happened. After all, it was he who allegedly told the author the story of poor Lisa and led him to Liza's grave.

Erast predetermined the appearance in Russian literature of a number of heroes of the type " extra people- weak and incapable of key decisions.

Karamzin uses " talking names". In the case of Liza, the choice of the name turned out to be "double-sided." The fact is that classic literature provided for typing techniques, and the name Lisa was supposed to mean a playful, flirtatious, frivolous character. Such a name could have a laughing maid - a cunning comedy character prone to love adventures by no means innocent. Having chosen such a name for his heroine, Karamzin destroyed the classical typification and created a new one. He built a new relationship between the name, character and actions of the hero and outlined the path to psychologism in literature.

The name Erast was also not chosen by chance. It means "beautiful" in Greek. His fatal charm, the need for novelty of impressions lured and ruined the unfortunate girl. But Erast will reproach himself for the rest of his life.

Constantly reminding the reader of his reaction to what is happening (“I remember with sadness ...”, “tears are rolling down my face, reader ....”), the author organizes the narrative in such a way that it acquires lyricism and sensitivity.

Quotes

"Mother! Mother! How can this be? He is a gentleman, and among the peasants ...". Liza.

"Nature calls me into its arms, to its pure joys," he thought, and decided - at least for a while - to leave the great light..

“I can’t live,” thought Liza, “it’s impossible!.. Oh, if only the sky would fall on me! If only the earth would swallow up the poor woman! Liza.

"Now, maybe they've already reconciled!" author

Theme, conflict of the story

Karamzin's story touches on several themes:

  • The theme of the idealization of the peasant environment, the ideality of life in nature. The main character is a child of nature, and therefore, by default, she cannot be evil, immoral, insensitive. The girl embodies simplicity and innocence due to the fact that she comes from a peasant family, where eternal moral values ​​are kept.
  • The theme of love and betrayal. The author sings of the beauty of sincere feelings and sadly talks about the doom of love, not supported by reason.
  • The theme of the opposition of the village and the city. The city turns out to be evil, a great evil force capable of breaking a pure creature from nature (Lisa's mother intuitively feels this evil force and prays for her daughter every time she goes to the city to sell flowers or berries).
  • Topic " little man". Social inequality, the author is sure (and this is an obvious glimpse of realism) does not lead to the happiness of lovers from different backgrounds. Such love is doomed.

The main conflict of the story is social, because it is precisely because of the gap between wealth and poverty that the love of the heroes dies, and then the heroine. The author exalts sensitivity as the highest value of a person, affirms the cult of feelings as opposed to the cult of reason.

"Poor Lisa"- a sentimental story by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, written in 1792. What is the main idea behind the story of Poor Lisa?

Main Thought Poor Lisa

Main Thought "Poor Lisa"- an unspoiled, pure person who, following the lead of his feelings, which is the only right option for him, is faced with the tragedy of the real world. But do not forget that the work is, first of all, entertaining in nature, and the world in which Liza lives, her mother and Erast is idyllic and it is impossible to apply the parameters of real, objective reality to it.

main theme in the works of sentimentalist writers was the theme of death. And in this story, Lisa, having learned about Erast's betrayal, committed suicide. The feelings of a simple peasant woman turned out to be stronger than the feelings of a nobleman. Liza does not think about her mother, for whom the death of her daughter is tantamount to her own death; that suicide is a great sin. She is disgraced and cannot imagine life without her lover.

Poor Lisa summary

After the death of her father, a "wealthy peasant", young Liza is forced to work tirelessly to feed herself and her mother. In the spring, she sells lilies of the valley in Moscow and there she meets the young nobleman Erast, who falls in love with her and is ready even for the sake of his love to leave the world. Lovers spend all evenings together, share a bed. However, with the loss of innocence, Liza lost her attractiveness for Erast. One day, he reports that he must go on a campaign with the regiment and they will have to part. A few days later, Erast leaves.

Several months pass. Lisa, once in Moscow, accidentally sees Erast in a magnificent carriage and finds out that he is engaged (he lost his estate in cards and is now forced to marry a rich widow). In desperation, Liza throws herself into the pond.

Karamzin's story "Poor Liza", was published by the author in 1792, this story became an example of sentimentalism. Also, for the first time, the heroine's suicide was introduced into literature. The author borrowed the idea for creating “Poor Liza” from works of foreign literature, skillfully inscribing the atmosphere of a picturesque place where he was relaxing in his country house. Such an author's move gave credibility to the plot, and the characters were perceived as real people. We offer an analysis of the work "Poor Lisa" according to the plan. Material for 8th grade students.

Brief analysis

Year of writing– 1792

History of creation– The progressive views of Karamzin as a writer who decided to introduce the genre of sentimentalism into Russian literature helped him to study European literature and find the plot of the story.

Topic- In "Poor Liza" the writer touched on many topics, these are social inequality, the theme of the "little man", the theme of love, betrayal.

Composition- The events of the story last three months, ending with a tragic denouement.

Direction- Sentimentalism.

History of creation

Karamzin traveled around Europe in 1789 - 1790, written after the trip “Letters from a Russian traveler brought fame to the writer. After settling in Moscow, Karamzin began his professional writing career and became the publisher of the Moscow Journal.

The year of writing "Poor Lisa" was 1792, in the same year, the story was published in his journal. The writer introduced the genre of sentimentalism into Russian literature, from which the story of the creation of "Poor Lisa" began.

Karamzin introduced the death of the main character into the plot of the story, which fundamentally distinguished this short story from traditional Russian works with a happy ending, and the story gained immense popularity among readers.

Topic

Analyzing the work in Poor Lisa, we can single out several main topics that the author touches on. In describing the life of the peasants, the writer idealizes the peasant life and the life of the peasants in close contact with nature. According to Karamzin, the main character of the story, who grew up in nature, in fact, cannot be a negative character, she is pure and highly moral, possessing all the virtues of a girl who grew up on the sacred traditions of a peasant family.

Main idea The story is about the love of an innocent peasant girl for a rich nobleman. Forgetting about the existing social inequalities, the young girl plunged headlong into the pool of her feelings, falling in love with the nobleman. But the betrayal of a loved one awaited Lisa, and the girl, having learned about Erast's treachery, threw herself into the lake in despair.

multifaceted issues The work also includes the opposition of life in the city and in the countryside. The images of the village and the city are comparable to the images of the main characters. The city is a terrible force, a colossus capable of enslaving and destroying, and so does Erast with Lisa. As the city grinds everything that comes in its millstones, throwing aside the used and waste material, so the nobleman uses an innocent girl as a toy, and after playing enough, he throws it away. It's all the same little man theme: petty, uneducated person from the lower class, cannot wait in his love further development, the generally accepted norms of representatives of different social strata are too strong. The conclusion suggests itself that such relationships are doomed from the outset: just as Erast could not feel comfortable in a peasant environment, so Lisa would not have been accepted in his society, this is an obvious fact.

the main problem Lisa is that she succumbed to her feelings, not her mind. Most likely, Lisa assumed that they could not have a joint future, she simply closed her eyes to the realities of life and gave vent to her feelings. When she lost Erast, she also lost the meaning of life.

Composition

The narrator recounts events that took place thirty years ago and lasted three months. The author begins the story with a description of the landscape near the Simonov Monastery. After that, the plot develops, in which the reader gets acquainted with the main characters of the story. The plot of this unpretentious story is quite ordinary: a young a poor girl falls in love with a rich man. The feelings of young people are rapidly developing, but between them there is an insurmountable barrier - social inequality, and it is impossible for Erast and Lisa to be together. The young man, having experienced new sensations, leaves the girl, without thinking about her moral experiences. No one is surprised that a young man marries an elderly lady - such are the mores of a noble society, and such a step is a common thing. main role in high society money and position play, sincere feelings are relegated to the background.

But this is not how a peasant girl behaves. She knows how to truly love. Bright Feature composition of the work is that Karamzin ends the life of a girl by suicide. A colorful description of a real place, the Simonov Monastery, a pond - a description of these landscapes and a true characterization of the heroes, create the impression of the authenticity and reality of the events taking place.

The special composition of the work of each reader leads to his own perception of the characters, each in his own way determines what this sentimental and tragic story teaches.

main characters

genre

Before Karamzin appeared in the writing field, multi-volume novels were in use. The founder of short stories was the author of "Poor Lisa", who created psychological story.

The criticism of this work was different, some of Karamzin's contemporaries found implausibility in the characters' characters, but in general, the psychological work, at the center of which lies a moral conflict, was received kindly and aroused great public interest.

The sentimental direction of the story with a tragic denouement became a role model for many writers, and opened a new page in Russian literature.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 1087.