Asya's attitude towards people in Turgenev's story. The hero of the story

I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” tells how the acquaintance of the protagonist, Mr. N. N., with the Gagins develops into a love story, which turned out to be a source for the hero of both sweet romantic languor and bitter torment, which later, over the years, lost their sharpness, but doomed the hero to the fate of a bean.

Interesting is the fact that the author refused the name of the hero, and there is no portrait of him. There are different explanations for this, but one thing is certain: I. S. Turgenev transfers the emphasis from the external to the internal, immersing us in the emotional experiences of the hero. From the very beginning of the story, the writer evokes sympathy among readers and trust in the hero-narrator. We learn that this is a cheerful, healthy, rich young man who loves to travel, observe life, people. He recently experienced a love failure, but with the help of subtle irony, we understand that love was not real love, but only entertainment.

And here is the meeting with Gagin, in which he felt a kindred spirit, the proximity of interests to music, painting, literature. Communication with him and his sister Asya immediately set the hero in a sublime romantic mood.

On the second day of their acquaintance, he carefully observes Asya, who both attracts and causes him a feeling of annoyance and even hostility with inexplicable, free actions. The hero is not aware of what is happening to him. He feels some kind of vague unease, which grows into an incomprehensible anxiety; then a jealous suspicion that the Gagins are not relatives.

Two weeks of daily meetings have passed. N. N. is more and more upset by jealous suspicions, and although he was not fully aware of his love for Asa, she gradually took possession of his heart. He is overwhelmed during this period with persistent curiosity, some annoyance at the mysterious, inexplicable behavior of the girl, the desire to understand her inner world.

But the conversation between Asya and Ganin, overheard in the gazebo, makes N. N. finally realize that he has already been captured by a deep and disturbing feeling of love. It is from him that he leaves for the mountains, and when he returns, he goes to the Ganins, after reading a note from brother Asya. Having learned the truth about these people, he instantly regains his lost balance and defines his emotional state in this way: “I felt some kind of sweetness - it was sweetness in my heart: it was as if they secretly poured honey into me ...” The landscape sketch in chapter 10 helps to understand the psychological state of the hero in this significant day, becoming the "landscape" of the soul. It is at this moment of merging with nature that a new turn takes place in the inner world of the hero: what was vague, disturbing, suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with the personality of Asya. But the hero prefers to give himself thoughtlessly to incoming impressions: "I'm not only about the future, I didn't think about tomorrow, I felt very good." This indicates that at that moment N.N. was ready only to enjoy romantic contemplation, he did not feel in himself that it removes prudence and caution, while Asya had already “grown wings”, a deep feeling came to her and irresistible. Therefore, in the meeting scene, N.N. seems to be trying to hide behind reproaches and loud exclamations his unpreparedness for a reciprocal feeling, his inability to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.

Having parted with Asya after an unsuccessful explanation, N.N. still does not know what awaits him in the future "loneliness of a familyless bean", he hopes for "tomorrow's happiness", not knowing that "happiness has no tomorrow ... he has the present is not a day, but a moment. N.N.'s love for Asya, obeying a whimsical game of chance or a fatal predetermination of fate, will flare up later, when nothing can be corrected. The hero will be punished for not knowing love, for doubting it. “And happiness was so close, so possible…”

What a dramatic reflection lies initially on the story told in "Ace"! In order to fully experience this, it is necessary to understand what the dissimilarity between Asya and N.N. is revealed and what causes it. Mainly, by the fact that each of them lives in its own space and lives in its own time.

On the eve of the meeting with Asya, we see N. N. in the crowd of spectators, watching the feast of the student fraternity. The atmosphere of the holiday: "the faces of the students", "their hugs, exclamations", "burning glances, laughter" - in a word, "all this joyful boiling of life could not but touch and push the hero to the thought: "Shouldn't we go to them?" In the natural movement of the soul of N.N., to be together with young people like him, there is nothing that could alert the reader if it were not for the eternal craving of the hero Turgenev to be in the crowd.

The instinct of the crowd, the steady desire to be in it, and not alone with oneself, characteristic of N.N., stand out especially clearly against the background of the heroine's deep inner concentration and her tendency to self-contemplation. For example, it seems to him "strange" Asya's property to laugh not at what she heard, but at "thoughts that came into her head."

The desire to belong to oneself dictated, apparently, Asin's choice of a house outside the city. In the text of the story, the choice of the place of residence by the heroine is read as a symbolic moment of the withdrawal of "Asia's space" beyond the burgher world, and if we further deepen the symbolism of the "exit", then as a kind of Asin's departure from earth to heaven: the house is "at the very top of the mountain". Later in the story, the motif of flight appears, the motif of the bird girl. In general, Turgenev will consistently develop the opposition of Asya and N. N. to each other according to the principle "top - bottom". So, we will see her sitting “on a ledge” of the wall of the old castle, picking up her legs “under her”, as if at the ready to soar into the sky, while N. N. and Gagin, “fitting” on a bench below, sip cold beer. In the same way - from top to bottom - she will look at them from the "lighted window on the third floor" of Frau Louise's house, unaware that at that moment she is talking to them as if from another world and time. In the girl, who jokingly invites Gagin to imagine her as the lady of her heart, one of the shadows of the lunar city seems to come to life, of which only a tower on a bare rock, mossy walls, gray loopholes and the collapsed vaults of an old castle remind. Is it because the thin figure of Asya so deftly, easily and confidently glides "on a pile of debris" right over the abyss, that everything here has long been familiar to her?

Reflecting on the dissimilarity of the heroes, it is also important to emphasize that against the background of N.N. But this dominant state of the heroine is revealed, mainly through her external behavior. First of all, N. N. draws attention to her amazing mobility: "Not for a single moment did she sit still." Asya is especially active in the scene on the ruins of the castle ("quickly ran across a pile of rubble ..."; "started to climb over the ruins ...").

Asya can be direct, playful and a little extravagant. This is evidenced by her actions at the first meeting with N.N. So, having decided to go to sleep, she unexpectedly caught up with the young people on the way to the river and, without answering Gagin's question ("Are you not sleeping?"), ran past.

How do you think, what can explain the numerous irregularities in Asya's behavior? Her inner imbalance, the cause of which lies in the passion of Asya's nature, self-doubt ("... And with your mind ..." - N. N. tells her. "Am I smart?" She asked ..."), in a strange upbringing, but most importantly, in the position of a heroine between two worlds: the daughter of a peasant and a landowner, who spent her childhood in a peasant hut, and her youth in a boarding school for noble maidens.

How can one explain the strangeness in Asya's behavior when she appears before N.N. either as a "decent, well-bred young lady", or "just a girl, almost a maid"? Perhaps the fact that she tends to live in a constant change of mood, to fool around, be sad, frolic. However, there is another possible answer. What if Asya thus tries on the masks imposed on her by life, demonstrates roles that reflect her ambiguous position as a half-peasant and half-lady? But it only really hurts her heart when she sits by the window in an old dress, sews in a hoop "and quietly sings" Mother, dove, "because at this time her bitter fate seems to stand behind the girl's back.

Turgenev, from the first acquaintance of readers with Asya, emphasizes that an angular teenager lives in her with a “straight” and “bold” look, which only children have, and at the same time awakening femininity, transforming her look into “deep” and “gentle”. She can play society girl and run and frolic in a completely childish way. But the main thing is that no matter what she does, her every movement, every moment of being is animated by a deep feeling of awakening love. And it is precisely in the ability to love that Ashino's superiority over the hero lies.

One can pay attention to the affinity of Turgenev's heroine with Pushkin's Tatyana in relation to the depth of their feelings. In addition, Asya directly says to N.N.: "And I would like to be Tatyana ...". Turgenev built this parallel deliberately. Moreover, in the draft manuscript, the comparison of the love story of the heroes of "Asia" and "Eugene Onegin" looked more prominent than in the final version. In the draft, for example, we read about Asa that "she is able to get sick, leave, write a letter." In the end, the heroine of Turgenev only made an appointment with N.N. But this girl, like Tatyana, shocks with the strength, selflessness of her feelings.

Asya never says the word "love". And in a farewell note to N.P., having written that she expected “only one word” from him, she again does not admit that this word is “love”. Although the heroine, being alone with N.N., cannot but talk about love itself.

How do the characters talk about love? They are talking about mountains that are higher than clouds, about the blue of the sky, about wings, birds, flying up. The dream of wings, the desire to feel the delight of flight is a metaphor for love in Turgenev's story.

The feeling of flight relentlessly leads the heroine along. Even then, we involuntarily feel a bird in her when we see Asya sitting “immovably, with her legs tucked under her,” on the castle wall. It seemed that if she had pushed off the wall, she would immediately have soared into the air ... However, N.N. looks at the girl "with a hostile feeling." He is annoyed by Ashina's eccentricity, so at the moment he sees only something "not quite natural" in her. But the moment will come when N.N. will see in Asa a bird girl.

What caused the "other" view of the hero? The feeling of happiness spilled in the world, which Asya experiences to the same extent as the hero. An equal feeling of happiness, fullness of life makes the heroes feel like they are off the ground. Moreover, it is N.N. who takes the girl into flight ("But we are not birds." - "But we can grow wings, - I objected ..."), which for him will be beyond his strength. Not under the force of his sleepy soul.

I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” tells how the acquaintance of the protagonist, Mr. N. N., with the Gagins develops into a love story, which turned out to be a source for the hero of both sweet romantic languor and bitter torment, which later, over the years, lost their sharpness, but doomed the hero to the fate of a bean.

Interesting is the fact that the author refused the name of the hero, and there is no portrait of him. There are different explanations for this, but one thing is certain: I. S. Turgenev transfers the emphasis from the external to the internal, immersing us in the emotional experiences of the hero. From the very beginning of the story, the writer evokes sympathy among readers and trust in the hero-narrator. We learn that this is a cheerful, healthy, rich young man who loves to travel, observe life, people. He recently experienced a love failure, but with the help of subtle irony, we understand that love was not real love, but only entertainment.

And here is the meeting with Gagin, in which he felt a kindred spirit, the proximity of interests to music, painting, literature. Communication with him and his sister Asya immediately set the hero in a sublime romantic mood.

On the second day of their acquaintance, he carefully observes Asya, who both attracts and causes him a feeling of annoyance and even hostility with inexplicable, free actions. The hero is not aware of what is happening to him. He feels some kind of vague unease, which grows into an incomprehensible anxiety; then a jealous suspicion that the Gagins are not relatives.

Two weeks of daily meetings have passed. N. N. is more and more upset by jealous suspicions, and although he was not fully aware of his love for Asa, she gradually took possession of his heart. He is overwhelmed during this period with persistent curiosity, some annoyance at the mysterious, inexplicable behavior of the girl, the desire to understand her inner world.

But the conversation between Asya and Ganin, overheard in the gazebo, makes N. N. finally realize that he has already been captured by a deep and disturbing feeling of love. It is from him that he leaves for the mountains, and when he returns, he goes to the Ganins, after reading a note from brother Asya. Having learned the truth about these people, he instantly regains his lost balance and defines his emotional state in this way: “I felt some kind of sweetness - it was sweetness in my heart: it was as if they secretly poured honey into me ...” The landscape sketch in chapter 10 helps to understand the psychological state of the hero in this significant day, becoming the "landscape" of the soul. It is at this moment of merging with nature that a new turn takes place in the inner world of the hero: what was vague, disturbing, suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with the personality of Asya. But the hero prefers to give himself thoughtlessly to incoming impressions: "I'm not only about the future, I didn't think about tomorrow, I felt very good." This indicates that at that moment N.N. was ready only to enjoy romantic contemplation, he did not feel in himself that it removes prudence and caution, while Asya had already “grown wings”, a deep feeling came to her and irresistible. Therefore, in the meeting scene, N.N. seems to be trying to hide behind reproaches and loud exclamations his unpreparedness for a reciprocal feeling, his inability to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.

Having parted with Asya after an unsuccessful explanation, N.N. still does not know what awaits him in the future "loneliness of a familyless bean", he hopes for "tomorrow's happiness", not knowing that "happiness has no tomorrow ... he has the present is not a day, but a moment. N.N.'s love for Asya, obeying a whimsical game of chance or a fatal predetermination of fate, will flare up later, when nothing can be corrected. The hero will be punished for not knowing love, for doubting it. “And happiness was so close, so possible…”

29. “Russian man on rendez vous” (The hero of the story “Asya” by I. S. Turgenev in the assessment of N. G. Chernyshevsky)

N. G. Chernyshevsky begins his article “Russian Man on Rendez Vous” with a description of the impression made on him by I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya”. He says that against the backdrop of the stories of a businesslike, revealing kind that prevailed at that time, leaving a heavy impression on the reader, this story is the only good thing. “The action is abroad, away from all the bad atmosphere of our home life. All the characters in the story are among the best people among us, very educated, extremely humane, imbued with the noblest way of thinking. The story has a purely poetic, ideal direction ... But the last pages of the story are not like the first, and after reading the story, the impression left from it is even more bleak than from stories about nasty bribe-takers with their cynical robbery. The whole point, N. G. Chernyshevsky notes, is in the character of the protagonist (he gives the name Romeo), who is a pure and noble person, but commits a shameful act at the decisive moment of explaining to the heroine. The critic argues with the opinion of some readers who claim that the whole story is spoiled by "this outrageous scene", that the character of the main person could not stand it. But the author of the article even gives examples from other works by I. S. Turgenev, as well as N. A. Nekrasov, to show that the situation in the story "Asya" turns out to be typical of Russian life, when the hero talks a lot and beautifully about high aspirations, captivating enthusiastic girls capable of deep feelings and decisive actions, but as soon as “it comes to expressing their feelings and desires directly and accurately, most of the characters begin to hesitate and feel slowness in the language.”

“These are our“ best people ”- they all look like our Romeo,” concludes N. G. Chernyshevsky. But then he takes the hero of the story under his protection, saying that such behavior is not the fault of these people, but a misfortune. This is how society brought them up: “their life was too shallow, soulless, all the relationships and affairs to which he was accustomed were shallow and soulless,” “life taught them only to pale pettiness in everything.” Thus, N. G. Chernyshevsky shifts the focus from the guilt of the hero to the guilt of society, which has excommunicated such noble people from civic interests.

30. Asya - one of the Turgenev girls (according to the story of I. S. Turgenev "Asya")

Turgenev's girls are heroines whose minds, richly gifted natures are not spoiled by the light, they retained the purity of feelings, simplicity and sincerity of the heart; they are dreamy, spontaneous natures without any falsehood, hypocrisy, strong in spirit and capable of difficult accomplishments.

T. Vinynikova

I. S. Turgenev calls his story by the name of the heroine. However, the real name of the girl is Anna. Let's think about the meanings of the names: Anna - "grace, good looks", and Anastasia (Asya) - "born again". Why does the author stubbornly call the pretty, graceful Anna Asya? When does rebirth take place? Let's look at the text of the story.

Outwardly, the girl is not a beauty, although it seems to the narrator very "pretty". This is typical of Turgenev's heroines: personal charm, grace, and human originality are important to the author in their appearance. Asya is exactly like this: “There was something special, in the warehouse of her swarthy large face, with a small thin nose, almost childish cheeks and black, bright eyes. She was gracefully built…” What an interesting detail of the portrait: black, bright eyes. This is not just an external observation, but the penetration of the word “bright” into the depths of the heroine’s soul with just one word.

At first, Asya makes a strange impression on the main character, Mr. N.N., because he behaves in a completely different way than the well-bred secular ladies familiar to him. In the presence of a guest, "she did not sit still for a single movement, she got up, ran into the house and ran again, sang in an undertone, often laughed." Speed, movement are the main features of the appearance of Turgenev's heroine.

Watching Asya, seeing her fearless and self-willed girl, the narrator admires her, and gets annoyed with her, and feels that she plays different roles in life. Now she is a soldier marching with a gun, shocking the stiff English; then at the table she played the role of a well-bred young lady; then the next day she introduced herself as a simple Russian girl, almost a maid. "What a chameleon this girl is!" - exclaims the narrator, more and more fond of Asya. Communication with this “life-filled girl” makes the hero take a fresh look at himself, and for the first time in his youth, he feels regret that his life forces are so senselessly wasted in wanderings in a foreign land.

Much in the behavior, character of the heroine becomes clear from the history of her childhood. This story is also unusual. The girl early learned the orphanhood and duality of her position; a person with such a pedigree, as already, was constantly humiliated and insulted, neither the peasant environment nor the secular society accepted such people. Both the brother and then Mr. N.N. understood her “kind heart” and “poor head”, her modesty and joy, “inexperienced pride”, saw how “she deeply feels and with what incredible power these feelings are in her.”

Asya is magnificent in the chapters, where her soul is revealed, feeling happiness. Previously, she was mysterious, she was tormented by uncertainty, she went to her idol, now he paid attention to her, but in a different way, “the thirst for happiness was kindled” in him. Between them, endless, difficult to convey conversations of lovers begin ... And how uniquely rich Asya's soul is against the backdrop of the fabulous beauty of nature! No wonder the author recalls the German folk legend about Lorelei.

Asya reveals herself to us deeper and more beautifully, she is characterized by an idealistic faith in the unlimited possibilities of man. Romantic distances beckon her, she longs for activity and is sure that “to live not in vain, to leave a trace behind herself”, and also to accomplish a “difficult feat” is within the power of every person. When a girl talks about the wings that she has grown, she means, first of all, the wings of love. In relation to Asya, this means the ability of a person to soar above the ordinary. “Yes, there is nowhere to fly,” the heroine, who has matured under the influence of a great feeling, realizes. These words contain not only an understanding of the futility of one's love for a young aristocrat, but a premonition of one's own difficult fate - the fate of a heavy "winged" nature in the close, closed world of "wingless" creatures.

This psychological contradiction between Mr. N. N. and Asya is most clearly expressed in the meeting scene. The fullness of the feeling experienced by Asya, her timidity, bashfulness and resignation to fate are embodied in her laconic remarks, barely audible in the silence of a cramped room. But N.N. is not ready for a responsible feeling, unable to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.

Turgenev punishes his hero with a lonely familyless life because he did not recognize love, doubted it. And love cannot be postponed until tomorrow, this is a moment that will never happen again in the life of the hero: "Not a single eye can replace those eyes." She will forever remain in his memory, the Turgenev girl, strange and sweet, with a slight laugh or tearful eyes, a girl who can give happiness ...

31. Pictures of nature in the story of I. S. Turgenev "Asya"

The story of I. S. Turgenev "Asya" is sometimes called the elegy of an unfulfilled, missed, but such a close happiness. The plot of the work is simple, because the author is not interested in external events, but in the spiritual world of the characters, each of which has its own secret. In revealing the depths of the spiritual states of a loving person, the landscape also helps the author, which in the story becomes the “landscape of the soul”.

Here we have the first picture of nature, introducing us to the scene, a German town on the banks of the Rhine, given through the perception of the protagonist. About a young man who loves walks, especially at night and in the evening, peering into the clear sky with a fixed moon, pouring a serene and exciting light, observing the slightest changes in the world around him, we can say that he is a romantic, with deep, sublime feelings.

This is further confirmed by the fact that he immediately felt sympathy for the new acquaintances of the Gagins, although before that he did not like to meet Russians abroad. The spiritual intimacy of these young people is also revealed with the help of the landscape: the Gagins' dwelling was located in a wonderful place that Asya liked first of all. The girl immediately attracts the attention of the narrator, her presence, as it were, illuminates everything around.

“You drove into the moon pillar, you broke it,” Asya shouted to me. This detail at Turgenev becomes a symbol, because a broken moon pillar can be compared with Asya's broken life, the broken dreams of a girl about a hero, love, flight.

The continuing acquaintance with the Gagins sharpened the feelings of the narrator: he is attracted to a girl, he finds her strange, incomprehensible and surprising. The jealous suspicion that Gagina is not a brother and sister makes the hero seek solace in nature: “The mood of my thoughts had to match the calm nature of that region. I gave myself up to the quiet play of chance, the accumulating impressions ... "The following is a description of what the young man saw in these three days:" a modest corner of German land, with unpretentious contentment, with widespread traces of applied hands, patient, although unhurried work ... "But the most important thing here is the remark that the hero "given himself entirely to a quiet game of chance." This phrase explains the contemplative nature of the narrator, his habit of mentally not straining, but going with the flow, as is depicted in Chapter X, where the hero is actually sailing home in a boat, returning after a conversation that excited him with Asya, who slightly opened her soul to him. It is at this moment that the merging with nature in the inner world of the hero takes a new turn: what was vague, disturbing, suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with the personality of Asya. But the hero prefers to give himself thoughtlessly to incoming impressions: "I'm not only about the future, I didn't think about tomorrow, I felt very good." Everything happens rapidly: Asya’s excitement, her realization of the futility of her love for the young aristocrat (“I have grown wings, but there is nowhere to fly”), a difficult conversation with Gagin, a dramatic date of the heroes, which showed the complete “winglessness” of the narrator, Asya’s hasty flight, sudden departure of brother and sister. During this short time, the hero begins to see clearly, a reciprocal feeling flares up, but it's too late, when nothing can be corrected.

Having lived for many years as a familyless bean, the narrator keeps the girl's notes and the dried geranium flower, which she once threw to him from the window, as a shrine.

Asya's feeling for Mr. N.N. is deep and irresistible, it is "unexpected and as irresistible as a thunderstorm," according to Gagin. The detailed descriptions of the mountains, the powerful flow of the rivers symbolize the free development of the feelings of the heroine.

Only this “insignificant grass” and its slight smell remained for the hero from that beautiful, integral world of nature and the world of Asya’s soul, which merged into one in the brightest, most important days of the life of Mr. N.N., who lost his happiness.

32. Satirical depiction of reality in the “History of a City” by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (chapter “On the Root of the Origin of the Foolovites”)

The History of a City is the greatest satirical canvas-novel. This is a merciless denunciation of the entire system of government of tsarist Russia. The History of a City, completed in 1870, shows that the people in the post-reform period remained as disenfranchised as the officials were petty tyrants of the 1970s. differed from the pre-reform ones only in that they robbed in more modern, capitalist ways.

The city of Foolov is the personification of autocratic Russia, the Russian people. Its rulers embody the specific features of historically reliable, living rulers, but these features are brought to their "logical end", exaggerated. All the inhabitants of Glupovo - both the mayors and the people - live in some kind of nightmare, where the appearance of a ruler with an organ instead of a head, cruel tin soldiers instead of living ones, an idiot who dreams of destroying everything on earth, a bungler who walked "a mosquito eight miles to catch, etc. These images are built in the same way as the images of folk fantasy, but they are more terrible, because they are more real. The monsters of Foolov's world are generated by this same world, nourished by its rotten soil. Therefore, the satirist does not confine himself in the "History of a City" to one ridicule of the rulers of the city, he bitterly laughs at the slavish patience of the people.

The chapter "On the Root of the Origin of the Foolovites" was supposed to show the tradition of the emergence of the favorite pastime of the mayors - cutting and collecting arrears.

Initially, the Foolovites were called bunglers, because “they had the habit of banging their heads against everything that they met on the way. The wall comes across ─ they are slapping against the wall; They will start praying to God - they are grabbing the floor. This “grabbing” already speaks enough about the spiritual, innate qualities of the bunglers, who developed in them independently of the princes. With a bitter laugh, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin writes that “having gathered together the Kurales, the Gushcheeds and other tribes, the bunglers began to settle inside, with the obvious goal of achieving some kind of order.” “It started with the fact that Kolga was kneaded with a thick coat, then they dragged zhelemka to the bathhouse, then they boiled kosha in a purse” and performed other senseless deeds, because of which even two stupid found princes did not want to “volunteer” bunglers, calling them Foolovites. But the people could not arrange themselves in any way. A prince was certainly needed, “who will make soldiers with us, and build a prison, which follows!” Here, the “historical people”, “carrying the Wartkins, Burcheevs, etc. on their shoulders”, with whom the writer, as he himself admitted, could not sympathize, are subjected to satirical ridicule.

The bunglers voluntarily surrendered to bondage, "sighed unrelentingly, cried out loudly," but "the drama had already taken place irrevocably." And the oppression and robbing of the Foolovites began, bringing them to revolts that were beneficial to the rulers. And the "historical times" for Glupov began with a cry: "I'll screw it up!" But despite the sharply critical attitude towards people's passivity, humility and long-suffering, the author in the "History of a City" in other chapters paints the image of the people with penetrating colors, this is especially evident in the scenes of national disasters.

But in his work, the author does not limit himself to showing pictures of the arbitrariness of the rulers and the long-suffering of the people, he also reveals the process of growing anger of the oppressed, convincing readers that it cannot continue like this: either Russia will cease to exist, or there will be such a turning point that will sweep away the Russian land from the face of the earth. the existing state system.

33. Folklore traditions in the “History of a City” by M.E. Saltykov‑Shchedrin (chapter “On the Root of the Origin of the Foolovites”)

The “History of a City” by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was written in the form of a chronicler-archivist’s story about the past of the city of Glupov, but the writer was not interested in the historical topic, he wrote about real Russia, about what worried him as an artist and citizen of his country. Having stylized the events of a hundred years ago, giving them the features of the epoch of the 18th century, Saltykov-Shchedrin acts in different capacities: first, he narrates on behalf of the archivists, the compilers of the Foolovsky Chronicler, then on behalf of the author, who acts as a publisher and commentator of archival materials.

Approaching the presentation inventively, Saltykov-Shchedrin managed to combine the plot and motifs of legends, fairy tales, and other folklore works and simply, in an accessible way, convey anti-monarchist ideas to readers in pictures of folk life and everyday concerns of Russians.

The novel opens with the chapter “Appeal to the Reader”, stylized as an old style, with which the writer introduces his readers to his goal: “to portray successively the mayors, to the city of Foolov from the Russian government at different times, set up”.

The chapter "On the root of the origin of the Foolovites" is written as a retelling of the chronicle. The beginning is an imitation of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, a listing of well-known historians of the 19th century who have directly opposite views on the historical process. The prehistoric times of Foolov seem absurd and unreal, the actions of the peoples who lived in ancient times are far from conscious acts. That is why the Foolovites were called bunglers in the past, which in itself declares their innate essence.

Speaking about the attempts of the bunglers, having gathered together the tricksters, guinedes and other tribes, to settle down inside and achieve some kind of order, the writer cites many tales: they met, then they drove the pike from the eggs, ”etc.

Just like their actions, the desire of bunglers to get a prince is ridiculous. If in folk tales the heroes go in search of happiness, then these tribes need a ruler to “make a soldier and build a prison, as it should be.” Continuing to sneer at the bunglers, Saltykov-Shchedrin again resorts to folklore traditions: lexical repetitions, proverbs: “They searched, they searched for princes and almost got lost in three pines, but thanks to a blind-breed on foot, who these three pines are like his five knew the fingers.

In the spirit of folk tales, “good fellows” walk around in search of the prince for three years and three days, and they find it only on the third attempt, passing through “spruce forest and berunichka, then more densely, then with a carrier.” All these folklore traditions, combined with satire, create a unique style of the work, help the author to emphasize the absurdity and meaninglessness of Foolov's life.

But even in this chapter, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin finds an opportunity to pity the stupid people who voluntarily put a prince on their neck. He cites the full two verses of the famous folk song “Don’t make noise, mother green oak forest”, accompanying it with sad comments: “The longer the song flowed, the lower the heads of the bunglers drooped.”

The author resorts to the proverb genre when he talks about the candidates for the role of the landowner to the Foolovites: “Which of the two candidates should be given the advantage: whether the Orlovets, on the grounds that“ Orel and Kromy are the first thieves ”, or Shuyashen, on the grounds that he “was in St. Petersburg, drove on the ass, and immediately fell down.” Yes, the reign begins with thieves and fools and will be continued by them, but it is no coincidence that from the very beginning of their characterization, healthy folk wit sounds, which, but the author’s thoughts, will defeat the headless monsters of the Foolov world.

The idea that the long-suffering people will wake up and overcome difficulties, because they have not forgotten how to believe, love and hope, runs through the entire “History of a City”.

34. Who is to blame for the suffering of the heroine? (according to the story of N. S. Leskov "The Old Genius")

The work of N. S. Leskov is an important stage in the formation of the national identity of Russian literature. He was not afraid to speak the most bitter truth about his country and his people, because he believed in the possibility of changing them for the better. In his works, he pays special attention to the fate of commoners. And although the heroine of the story "The Old Genius" is not a peasant woman, but a landowner, she is a poor old woman who finds herself in a hopeless situation. This woman is portrayed with great authorial sympathy: “by her kindness and simplicity of the heart”, “she rescued one high-society dandy out of trouble by laying her house for him, which was the entire property of the old woman and her property.” Then the writer will emphasize her exceptional honesty.

The court case initiated by the heroine will be resolved quickly and favorably for her. But the authorities will not move further than this. No one wants to get involved with a young man who behaves in an openly shameless manner (“he is tired of all of us”), but remains unpunished, because “he had some kind of powerful relationship or property.” That is why they could not even hand him a court paper, advising the old woman to stop trying to get him to pay the debt, although they sympathized with her. Here is such a “little life” is portrayed by N. S. Leskov. There is no furious condemnation of the helpless authorities, no dishonorable young man, no simple-hearted old woman who believes people only because she "has dreams" and has a premonition. But behind this situation, so simply and artlessly conveyed, there are serious and profound conclusions of the author. When reading this story, the question involuntarily arises: if neither the lower nor the higher authorities could resolve such a petty trial of not just an unanswered peasant, but a landowner, and not God knows with what significant persons, but with a young dandy from a noble family, then what Are the authorities good enough then? And what is it like for people to live with such lawlessness? The story is written about the post-reform period, and the writer shows that the essence of the state system has remained the same, that the fate of people is of little concern to officials of all ranks, that the law “who is richer is right” continues to govern life. Therefore, ordinary people will suffer from injustice if other equally simple, but honest, decent and resourceful people do not come to their aid, where is the “genius Ivan Ivanovich” in this story. And N. S. Leskov ardently believed in the existence of such people, and it was with them that he linked his hopes for the revival of Russia, for its great future.

35. Russian reality in the story of N. S. Leskov "The Old Genius"

N. S. Leskov belongs to the generation of writers of the 60s–90s. XIX century, who passionately loved Russia, its talented people and actively opposed the oppression of freedom and the suppression of individual freedom. He created essays, novels, stories about the fate of ordinary people, about original historical figures, about abuses of power, outright predation. Other of his stories were cycles. Such are Christmas stories, quite rare in Russian literature of the 19th century. genre. These are “Christ Visiting the Archer”, “The Darner”, “A Little Mistake”, etc. The story “The Old Genius”, written in 1884, also belongs to them.

The action in it takes place in post-reform Russia, in St. Petersburg. The plot of the story is very simple: an old landowner, deceived by a dishonest high-society dandy, who lent him money and mortgaged a house for this, comes to the capital to get justice for him. Yes, it wasn't there. The authorities could not help her, and the poor woman had to use the services of an unknown desperate businessman, who turned out to be a decent person, settled this difficult matter. The narrator calls him "genius".

This story is preceded by an epigraph: "A genius has no years - he overcomes everything that stops ordinary minds." And in this story, the “genius” overcame what the state power could not do. And after all, it was not about some omnipotent personality, it was just about a young windy man who belonged to one of the best families, who annoyed the authorities with his dishonesty. But the judiciary could not even hand him a paper for execution.

The author narrates about this in a simple, as it were, narrative manner, without clearly condemning anyone and without ridiculing. And “she met a sympathetic and merciful lawyer, and in court the decision was favorable for her at the beginning of the dispute,” and no one took payment from her, then suddenly it turns out in no way, “it was impossible to rein in” this deceiver because of some kind of “powerful connections” . Thus, N. S. Leskov focuses the reader's attention on the complete lack of rights of the individual in Russia.

But the peculiarity of Leskov's writing talent lies in the fact that he also saw the positive beginnings of Russian life, portrayed the rich talent of a Russian person, his depth and integrity. In the story “The Old Genius”, this light of goodness is carried by the heroine herself, “a woman of excellent honesty”, “a kind old woman”, and the narrator who helped her out with the necessary money, and the most important “genius of thought” ─ Ivan Ivanovich. This is a mysterious person who, for some unknown reason, undertook to help the unfortunate woman and arranged a very clever situation in which the debtor was simply forced to pay off.

The favorable outcome of the story falls on Christmas, and this is not accidental, since the author believes in the spiritual beginning of man, in the righteous of Russian life.

Ivan Turgenev not only made a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature within the existing areas, but also discovered new original features of the national culture. In particular, he created the image of the Turgenev young lady - he revealed the unique character of the Russian girl on the pages of his books. To get acquainted with this special one, it is enough to read the story "Asya", where the female portrait acquired unique features.

The writer was busy writing this work for several months (from July to November 1857). He wrote heavily and slowly, because illness and fatigue were already making themselves felt. Who is the prototype of Asya is not exactly known. Among the versions, the point of view that the author described his illegitimate daughter prevails. Also, the fate of his sister on the paternal side could be reflected in the image (her mother was a peasant woman). Based on these examples, Turgenev knew very well how a teenager who finds himself in such a situation feels, and reflected his observations in the story, showing a very delicate social conflict, to which he himself was to blame.

The work "Asya" was completed in 1857 and published in Sovremennik. The story of the story, told by the author himself, is as follows: once Turgenev in a German town saw an elderly woman looking out of a window on the first floor, and the head of a young girl on the floor above. Then he decided to imagine what their fate could be, and embodied these fantasies in the form of a book.

Why is the story called that?

The work got its name in honor of the main character, whose love story is the focus of the author. His main priority was the disclosure of the ideal female image, called "Turgenev's young lady." To see and evaluate a woman, according to the writer, is possible only through the prism of the feeling that she experiences. Only in it, its mysterious and incomprehensible nature is fully revealed. Therefore, Asya experiences the shock of his first love and experiences it with the dignity inherent in an adult and mature lady, and not the naive child she was before meeting N.N.

This reincarnation shows Turgenev. At the end of the book, we say goodbye to Asya the child and get acquainted with Anna Gagina, a sincere, strong and self-aware woman who does not agree to compromises: when N.N. afraid to surrender to the feeling completely and immediately recognize it, she, overcoming pain, left him forever. But in memory of the bright time of childhood, when Anna was still Asya, the writer calls his work this diminutive name.

Genre: novel or short story?

Of course, Asya is a story. The story is never divided into chapters, and its volume is much smaller. The segment from the life of the characters depicted in the book is smaller than in the novel, but longer than in the smallest form of prose. Turgenev also held this opinion about the genre nature of his creation.

Traditionally, there are more characters and events in the story than in the story. In addition, it is the sequence of episodes that becomes the subject of the image in it, in which cause-and-effect relationships are revealed, which lead the reader to realize the meaning of the finale of the work. This is what happens in the book "Asya": the characters get to know each other, their communication leads to mutual interest, N.N. learns about the origin of Anna, she confesses her love to him, he is afraid to take her feelings seriously, and in the end all this leads to a break. The writer first intrigues us, for example, shows the strange behavior of the heroine, and then explains it through the story of her birth.

What is the piece about?

The main character is a young man, on whose behalf the story is being told. These are the memories of an already mature man about the events of his youth. In "Ace" a middle-aged secular man N.N. recalls a story that happened to him when he was 25 years old. The beginning of his story, where he meets his brother and sister Gagin, is the exposition of the story. Place and time of action - "a small German town Z. near the Rhine (river)". The writer is referring to the city of Sinzig in the province of Germany. Turgenev himself traveled there in 1857, at the same time he finished the book. The narrator writes in the past tense, stipulating that the events described took place 20 years ago. Accordingly, they took place in June 1837 (N.N. himself reports on the month in the first chapter).

What Turgenev wrote about in Asa is familiar to the reader since the time of reading Eugene Onegin. Asya Gagina is the same young Tatyana who fell in love for the first time, but did not find reciprocity. It was the poem "Eugene Onegin" that N.N. for the Gagins. Only the heroine in the story does not look like Tatyana. She is very changeable and fickle: either she laughs all day long, or she walks gloomier than a cloud. The reason for this mood lies in the difficult history of the girl: she is the illegitimate sister of Gagin. In high society, she feels like a stranger, as if unworthy of the honor that she has been given. Thoughts about her future situation constantly weigh on her, so Anna has a difficult character. But, in the end, she, like Tatyana from "Eugene Onegin", decides to confess her love to N.N. ridicule. Asya, having heard a reproach instead of a confession, runs away. A N.N. understands how dear she is to him, and decides to ask for her hand the next day. But it's too late, as the next morning he finds out that the Gagins have left, leaving him a note:

Goodbye, we won't see each other again. I'm not leaving out of pride - no, I can't do otherwise. Yesterday, when I was crying in front of you, if you had said one word to me, just one word, I would have stayed. You didn't say it. Apparently, it's better this way ... Goodbye forever!

Main characters and their characteristics

The reader's attention is attracted, first of all, by the main characters of the work. It is they who embody the author's intention and are the supporting images on which the narrative is built.

1. Asya (Anna Gagina)- a typical "Turgenev young lady": she is a wild, but sensitive girl who is capable of true love, but does not accept cowardice and weakness of character. This is how her brother described her: “Pride developed in her strongly, distrust too; bad habits took root, simplicity disappeared. She wanted (she herself confessed this to me once) to make the whole world forget her origin; she was ashamed of her mother, and ashamed of her shame, and proud of her. She grew up in nature on the estate, studied at the boarding school. At first she was raised by her mother, a maid in her father's house. After her death, the master took the girl to him. Then the upbringing was continued by his legitimate son, the brother of the main character. Anna is a modest, naive, well-educated person. She has not matured yet, so she fools around and plays pranks, not taking life seriously. However, her character changed when she fell in love with N.N.: he became fickle and strange, the girl was sometimes too lively, sometimes sad. Changing images, she unconsciously sought to attract the attention of a gentleman, but her intentions were absolutely sincere. She even fell ill with a fever from a feeling that overwhelmed her heart. From her further actions and words, we can conclude that she is a strong and strong-willed woman, capable of sacrifice for the sake of honor. Turgenev himself outlined her description: “The girl whom he called his sister seemed to me very pretty at first sight. There was something of her own, special, in the make-up of her swarthy, round face, with a small, thin nose, almost childish cheeks, and black, bright eyes. She was gracefully built, but as if not yet fully developed. The somewhat idealized image of Asya was repeated in the faces of other famous heroines of the writer.
2. N.N.- a narrator who, 20 years after the event described, takes up a pen to ease his soul. He can never forget his lost love. He appears before us as a selfish and idle rich young man who travels from nothing to do. He is lonely and afraid of his loneliness, because, by his own admission, he loves to be in the crowd and look at people. At the same time, he does not want to get acquainted with the Russians, apparently, he is afraid of disturbing his peace. He ironically remarks that "he considered it his duty to indulge in sadness and loneliness for a while." This desire to show off even in front of himself reveals in him the weaknesses of nature: he is insincere, false, superficial, looking for an excuse for his idleness in fictitious and far-fetched suffering. It is impossible not to note his impressionability: thoughts about his homeland angered him, a meeting with Anna made him feel happy. The protagonist is educated and noble, lives "as he wants", and he is characterized by inconstancy. Understands art, loves nature, but cannot find application for his knowledge and feelings. He likes to analyze people with his mind, but does not feel them with his heart, which is why he could not understand Asya's behavior for so long. Love for her revealed not the best qualities in him: cowardice, indecision, selfishness.
3. Gagin- Anna's older brother, who takes care of her. This is how the author writes about him: “It was just a Russian soul, truthful, honest, simple, but, unfortunately, a little sluggish, without tenacity and inner heat. Youth did not seethe in him; she glowed with a soft light. He was very nice and smart, but I could not imagine what would become of him as soon as he matured. The hero is very kind and sympathetic. He honored and respected the family, because he honestly fulfilled the last will of his father, and loved his sister like his own. Anna is very dear to him, so he sacrifices friendship for her peace of mind and leaves N.N., taking the heroine away. In general, he willingly sacrifices his interests for the sake of others, because in order to raise his sister, he resigns and leaves his homeland. Other characters in his description always look positive, he finds an excuse for all of them: both the secretive father and the compliant maid, masterful Asya.

Minor characters are only mentioned in passing by the narrator. This is a young widow on the waters who rejected the narrator, Gagin's father (a kind, gentle, but unhappy person), his brother, who arranged for his nephew to serve in St. Petersburg, Asya's mother (Tatyana Vasilyevna is a proud and impregnable woman), Yakov (the butler of Gagin the elder) . The description of the characters given by the author allows a deeper understanding of the story "Asya" and the realities of the era that became its basis.

Topic

1. Theme of love. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote many stories about this. For him, feeling is a test of the souls of heroes: “No, love is one of those passions that breaks our “I”, makes us forget about ourselves and our interests,” the writer said. Only a real person can truly love. However, the tragedy is that many people do not cope with this test, and it takes two to love. When one fails to truly love, the other undeservedly remains alone. So it happened in this book: N.N. could not pass the test of love, but Anna, although she coped with it, still could not stand the insult of neglect and left forever.
2. The theme of the superfluous person in the story "Asya" also occupies an important place. The main character can not find a place in the world. His idle and aimless life abroad is proof of this. He wanders around in search of who knows what, because he cannot apply his skills and knowledge in the real case. His failure is also manifested in love, because he is afraid of the direct recognition of the girl, afraid of the strength of her feelings, so he cannot realize in time how dear she is to him.
3. The theme of the family is also raised by the author. Gagin raised Asya as his sister, although he understood the complexity of her situation. Perhaps it was this circumstance that prompted him to travel, where the girl could be distracted and hide from sidelong glances. Turgenev emphasizes the superiority of family values ​​over class prejudices, urging his compatriots to care more about family ties than about the purity of blood.
4. Nostalgia theme. The whole story is imbued with the nostalgic mood of the protagonist, who lives with memories of the time when he was young and in love.

Issues

• The problem of moral choice. The hero does not know what to do: is it worth taking responsibility for such a young and offended creature? Is he ready to say goodbye to single life and tie himself to one single woman? Besides, she had already taken away his choice by telling her brother. He was annoyed that the girl took all the initiative, and therefore accused her of being too frank with Gagin. N.N. was confused, and even not experienced enough to unravel the subtle nature of his beloved, so it is not surprising that his choice turned out to be wrong.
• Problems of feeling and duty. Often these principles are opposed to each other. Asya loves N.N., but after his hesitation and reproaches, she realizes that he is not sure of his feelings. The duty of honor tells her to leave and not see him again, although her heart rebels and asks to give her lover another chance. However, her brother is also adamant in matters of honor, so the Gagins leave N.N.
• The problem of extramarital affairs. In the time of Turgenev, almost all nobles had illegitimate children, and this was not considered abnormal. But the writer, although he himself became the father of such a child, draws attention to how badly children live, whose origin is outside the law. They suffer without guilt for the sins of their parents, suffer from gossip and cannot arrange their future. For example, the author depicts Asya's studies in a boarding school, where all the girls treated her with disdain because of her history.
• The problem of transition. Asya at the time of the events described is only 17 years old, she has not yet formed as a person, so her behavior is so unpredictable and eccentric. It is very difficult for a brother to deal with her, because he does not yet have experience in the parental field. Yes and N.N. could not understand her contradictory and sentimental nature. This is the reason for the tragedy of their relationship.
• The problem of cowardice. N.N. she is afraid of serious feelings, therefore she does not say the very cherished word that Asya was waiting for.

The basic idea

The story of the main character is a tragedy of naive first feelings, when a young dreamy person first encounters the cruel realities of life. The conclusions from this collision are the main idea of ​​the story "Asya". The girl went through the test of love, but many of her illusions were broken in it. In indecision N.N. she read the sentence to herself, which her brother had mentioned earlier in a conversation with a friend: in such a position she cannot count on a good match. Few will agree to marry her, no matter how beautiful or funny she is. She had seen before that people despise her for her unequal origin, but now the person she loves hesitates and does not dare to bind himself with a word. Anna interpreted this as cowardice, and her dreams crumbled to dust. She learned to be more selective in boyfriends and not to trust them with her heart secrets.

Love in this case opens up the adult world to the heroine, literally pulling her out of her blissful childhood. Happiness would not be a lesson for her, but a continuation of a girl's dream, it would not reveal this contradictory character, and Asya's portrait in the gallery of female characters in Russian literature was greatly impoverished from a happy ending. In tragedy, she gained the necessary experience and became richer spiritually. As you can see, the meaning of Turgenev's story is also to show how the test of love affects people: some show dignity and strength of mind, others show cowardice, tactlessness and indecision.

This story from the lips of a mature man is so instructive that it leaves no doubt that the hero recalls this episode of his life as an edification to himself and the listener. Now, after so many years, he understands that he himself missed the love of his life, he himself destroyed this sublime and sincere relationship. The narrator urges the reader to be more attentive and more determined than himself, not to let his guiding star go away. Thus, the main idea of ​​the work "Asya" is to show how fragile and fleeting happiness is if it is not recognized in time, and how merciless love is, which does not give a second attempt.

What does the story teach?

Turgenev, showing the idle and empty lifestyle of his hero, says that the carelessness and aimlessness of existence will make a person unhappy. N.N. in old age, he bitterly complains about himself in his youth, regretting the loss of Asya and the very opportunity to change his fate: “Then it never occurred to me that a person is not a plant and he cannot flourish for a long time.” He realizes with bitterness that this "flowering" did not bear fruit. Thus, morality in the story "Asya" reveals to us the true meaning of being - you need to live for the sake of the goal, for the sake of loved ones, for the sake of creativity and creation, no matter what it is expressed in, and not for the sake of oneself alone. After all, it was egoism and the fear of losing the opportunity to “bloom” that prevented N.N. utter the very cherished word that Anna was waiting for.

Another conclusion that Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev makes in Asa is the assertion that one should not be afraid of one's feelings. The heroine gave herself completely to them, burned herself with her first love, but she learned a lot about life and about the person to whom she wanted to devote it. Now she will be more attentive to people, will learn to understand them. Without this cruel experience, she would not have revealed herself as a person, would not have understood herself and her desires. After breaking up with N.N. she realized what the man of her dreams should be. So do not be afraid of the sincere impulses of the soul, you need to give them free rein, and come what may.

Criticism

The reviewers called N.N. a typical literary embodiment of the “superfluous person”, and later they singled out a new type of heroine - the “Tugenev young lady”. Chernyshevsky, Turgenev's ideological opponent, studied the image of the protagonist with particular attention. He dedicated an ironic article to him called “Russian man on rendez-vous. Reflections after reading the story "Asya". In it, he condemns not only the moral imperfection of the character, but also the poverty of the entire social group to which he belongs. The idleness and selfishness of noble offspring destroys real people in them. It is in this that the critic sees the cause of the tragedy. His friend and colleague Dobrolyubov enthusiastically appreciated the story and the author's work on it:

Turgenev ... talks about his heroes as about people close to him, snatches their warm feeling from his chest and watches them with tender participation, with painful trepidation, he himself suffers and rejoices along with the faces created by him, he himself is carried away by the poetic atmosphere that he loves always surround them...

The writer himself speaks very warmly about his creation: "I wrote it very passionately, almost in tears ...".

Many critics responded positively to Turgenev's work "Asya" even at the stage of reading the manuscript. I. I. Panaev, for example, wrote to the author about the impression of the editors of Sovremennik in the following terms:

I read the proofs, the proofreader, and, moreover, Chernyshevsky. If there are still mistakes, it means that we did everything we could, and we can’t do it better. Annenkov has read the story, and you probably already know his opinion about it. He is delighted

Annenkov was a close friend of Turgenev and his most important critic. In a letter to the author, he praises his new work, calling it "a frank step towards nature and poetry."

In a personal letter dated January 16, 1858, E. Ya. Kolbasin (a critic who positively assesses Turgenev’s work) informed the writer: “Now I have come from the Tyutchevs, where there was a dispute about Asya. I like too. They find that Asya's face is strained, not alive. I said the opposite, and Annenkov, who arrived in time for the dispute, completely supported me and brilliantly refuted them.

However, it was not without controversy. Nekrasov, editor-in-chief of the Sovremennik magazine, suggested changing the scene of the explanation of the main characters, believing that it would belittle the image of N.N. too much:

One remark, personally mine, and that is unimportant: in the scene of a meeting at the knees, the hero unexpectedly showed an unnecessary rudeness of nature, which you don’t expect from him, bursting into reproaches: they should have been softened and reduced, I wanted to, but I didn’t dare, especially since Annenkov against this

As a result, the book was left unchanged, because even Chernyshevsky stood up for it, who, although he did not deny the rudeness of the scene, noted that it best reflects the real appearance of the class to which the narrator belongs.

S. S. Dudyshkin, who in the article “Tales and Stories of I. S. Turgenev”, published in “Notes of the Fatherland”, contrasted the “sick personality of a Russian person of the 19th century” with an honest worker - a bourgeois businessman. He was also extremely worried about the historical fate of the "superfluous people", posed by the author of Asya.

The story is clearly not for everyone. After its publication, reproaches rained down on the writer. For example, reviewer V.P. Botkin told Fet: “Not everyone likes Asya. It seems to me that Asya's face failed - and in general the thing has a prosaically invented look. There is nothing to say about other people. As a lyricist, Turgenev can only express well what he experienced ... ". The famous poet, the addressee of the letter, was in solidarity with his friend and recognized the image of the main character as far-fetched and lifeless.

But Tolstoy was most indignant of all critics, who assessed the work as follows: ““ Asya ”Turgenev, in my opinion, is the weakest thing of all that he wrote” - this remark was contained in a letter to Nekrasov. Lev Nikolayevich connected the book with the personal life of a friend. He was unhappy that he arranged for the illegitimate daughter Pauline in France, forever separating her from her own mother. Such a “hypocritical position” was sharply condemned by the count, he openly accused his colleague of cruelty and improper upbringing of his daughter, which was also described in the story. This conflict led to the fact that the authors did not communicate for 17 years.

Later, the story was not forgotten and often appeared in the statements of famous public figures of the era. For example, Lenin compared Russian liberals to an indecisive character:

... Just like the ardent Turgenev hero who escaped from Asya, about whom Chernyshevsky wrote: "A Russian man on rendez-vous"

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The writing

Topic: My attitude to the story Asya

For I.S. Turgenev, the impetus for starting work on the story, according to the author, was the following impression: “While driving by a boat past a small house, I saw the sweetest girl. Suddenly, a special mood came over me. I began to invent who this girl is, what she is and why she is in this house - and so right there, in the boat, the whole plot of the story took shape for me. Work on the work ended in 1858.

The plot of Asya is extremely simple. A certain Mr. N.N. meets a girl Anna Nikolaevna (Asya), falls in love, does not immediately decide to offer her a hand, but having decided, he finds out that the girl has left, disappearing forever from his life.

The heroine of the story, seventeen-year-old Asya, is a girl with a difficult Russian fate. The heroine, the daughter of a landowner and a maid, was brought up in a village family for a long time. Childhood lived with her mother in poor conditions, and adolescence - in the master's house. This could not but affect the formation of Asya's character. N.N. describes her as gracefully built, very pretty, who “had something of her own, special, in the warehouse of her swarthy round face, with a small thin nose, almost childish cheeks and black, bright eyes.” Her "black hair, cut and combed like a boy's, fell in large curls around her neck and ears."

N.N. first met Asya and Gagin at the students' holiday. Asya introduced herself as Gagin's sister. Every day the protagonist visited them and every meeting he found something new in Asa. “What a chameleon this girl is!” he thought again. N.N. admired and a little annoyed by this uncertainty in the girl. The hero fell in love...

Turgenev masterfully shows the origin of love feelings in the hero. At the first meeting, the girl seemed to him very pretty.

Next - a conversation in the Gagins' house, Asya's strange behavior, a moonlit night, a boat, Asya on the shore, throwing an unexpected phrase: "You drove into the moon pillar, you broke it ..." - this is enough for the hero to feel happy . Somewhere in the depths of his soul, the thought of love is born in him, but he does not give it a go. Soon, with pleasure, the hero begins to guess that Asya loves him. He drowns in this blissful sweet feeling ....

Asya's strange behavior is explained by the fact that at first she lived in a village house, and after her mother's death, her father took her to the master's house. From the events that took place, Asya began to be shy of strangers, she really got used only to her older brother Gagin. Asya all the time tried to overcome her constraint, timidity. She was shy and did not know how to behave with the young man she liked. And trying to hide her shyness, the girl did not sit still for a single moment. And also, perhaps, this was due to the fact that she did not forget about the fact of her fate.
During the meeting, Asya hoped for reciprocity, waiting for warm words addressed to her. But N.N. although he loved, he did not understand the hints, or, perhaps, did not understand his feelings. The first love of the heroine remains unhappy. After the date, Asya and Gagin disappear. The search for the girl does not yield results.

The indecision of Mr. N.N. due to Turgenev's feeling about the irresponsibility of youth, the belief that life is endless and everything can happen again. Obviously, that is why N.N. in those years, he did not feel sad for Asa for too long, only many years later he realized the significance of meeting her in his life.

After reading the story, I deduced for myself - A person should feel a sense of responsibility for himself and others in every minute of his life - I learned such an important life lesson for myself from the story.