“Poor Liza” by Karamzin: analysis of the work, characteristics of the characters, tests, quotes. Characteristics of the hero Lisa, Poor Lisa, Karamzin
Many remember N.M. Karamzin based on his historical works. But he also did a lot for literature. It was through his efforts that a sentimental novel was developed, which describes not just ordinary people, but their feelings, suffering, and experiences. brought together ordinary people and the rich as they feel, think and experience the same emotions and needs. At the time in which “Poor Liza” was written, namely in 1792, the liberation of the peasants was still far away, and their existence seemed something incomprehensible and wild. Sentimentalism brought them into full-fledged feeling heroes.
In contact with
History of creation
Important! He also introduced the fashion for little-known names - Erast and Elizabeth. Almost unused names quickly became household names that define a person’s character.
It was this seemingly simple and uncomplicated completely fictitious story of love and death that gave rise to a number of imitators. And the pond was even a place of pilgrimage for unhappy lovers.
It's easy to remember what the story is about. After all, its plot is not rich or full of twists and turns. The summary of the story allows you to find out the main events. Karamzin himself would convey the summary as follows:
- Left without a father, Lisa began to help her impoverished mother by selling flowers and berries.
- Erast, captivated by her beauty and freshness, invites her to sell the goods only to him and then asks her not to go out at all, but to give him the goods from home. This one is rich, but a flighty nobleman falls in love with Lisa. They begin to spend evenings alone.
- Soon a wealthy neighbor wooed Lizaveta, but Erast consoles her, promising to marry himself. Intimacy occurs, and Erast loses interest in the girl he destroyed. Soon the young man leaves for service. Lizaveta is waiting and afraid. But by chance they meet on the street, and Lizaveta throws herself on his neck.
- Erast reports that he is engaged to another, and orders the servant to give her money and take her out of the yard. Lizaveta, having handed over the money to her mother, throws herself into the pond. Her mother dies from a stroke.
- Erast is ruined by losing at cards and is forced to marry a rich widow. He does not find happiness in life and blames himself.
Sell flowers to the city
Main characters
It is clear that the characterization of one of the heroes of the story “Poor Liza” will be insufficient. They must be assessed together, in their influence on each other.
Despite the novelty and originality of the plot, the image of Erast in the story “Poor Liza” is not new, and the little-known name does not save it. Rich and bored nobleman, tired of accessible and cutesy beauties. He is looking for bright sensations and finds an innocent and pure girl. Her image surprises him, attracts him and even awakens love. But the very first intimacy turns the angel into an ordinary earthly girl. He immediately remembers that she is poor, uneducated, and her reputation is already ruined. He is running away from responsibility, from crime.
He runs into his usual hobbies - cards and festivities, which leads to ruin. But he doesn’t want to lose his habits and live the work life he loves. Erast sells his youth and freedom for the widow's wealth. Although a couple of months ago he tried to dissuade his beloved from a successful marriage.
Meeting his beloved after separation only tires him and interferes with him. He cynically throws money at her and forces the servant to take the unfortunate woman out. This gesture shows the depth of the fall and all its cruelty.
But the image of the main character of Karamzin’s story is distinguished by freshness and novelty. She is poor, works for her mother's survival and is also gentle and beautiful. Its distinctive features are sensitivity and nationality. In Karamzin's story, poor Liza is a typical heroine from the village, poetic and with a tender heart. It is her feelings and emotions that replace her upbringing, morality and norms.
The author, generously endowing the poor girl with kindness and love, seems to emphasize that such women have natural, which does not require restrictions and teachings. She is ready to live for the sake of her loved ones, work and maintain joy.
Important! Life has already tested her strength, and she has passed the test with dignity. Behind her image, honest, beautiful, gentle, one forgets that she is a poor, uneducated peasant woman. That she works with her hands and trades with what God sent her. This should be remembered when the news about the ruin of Erast becomes known. Lisa is not afraid of poverty.
The scene describing how the poor girl died is complete despair and tragedy. A believing and loving girl undoubtedly understands that suicide is a terrible sin. She also understands that her mother will not live without her help. But the pain of betrayal and the realization that she is disgraced is too hard for her to experience. Lisa looked at life soberly and honestly told Erast that she was poor, that she was not a match for him, and that her mother had found her a worthy groom, albeit an unloved one.
But the young man convinced her of his love and committed an irreparable crime - he took her honor. What became an ordinary boring event for him turned out to be the end of the world and the beginning of a new life at the same time for poor Lisa. Her most tender and pure soul plunged into the mud, and a new meeting showed that her beloved assessed her action as promiscuity.
Important! The one who wrote the story “Poor Liza” realized that he was raising a whole layer of problems and, in particular, the topic of the responsibility of rich, bored noblemen to unfortunate poor girls, whose destinies and lives are broken from boredom, which later found its response in the works of Bunin and others.
Scene near the pond
Readers' reaction
The public greeted the story with ambiguity. The women felt compassion and made a pilgrimage to the pond, which became the last refuge of the unfortunate girl. Some male critics shamed the author and accused him of being overly sensitive, of copious tears that constantly flow, and of the picturesqueness of the characters.
In fact, behind the external cloying and tearfulness, the reproaches of which every critical article is full of, lies the true meaning, understood by attentive readers. The author confronts not only two characters, but two worlds:
- Sincere, sensitive, painfully naive peasantry with its touching and stupid, but real girls.
- Good-natured, enthusiastic, generous nobility with pampered and capricious men.
One is strengthened by the difficulties of life, while the other is broken and frightened by these same difficulties.
Genre of the work
Karamzin himself described his work as a sentimental fairy tale, but it received the status of a sentimental story, since it has heroes acting over a long period of time, a full-fledged plot, development and denouement. The characters do not live individual episodes, but a significant part of their lives.
Poor LISA. Nikolay Karamzin
Retelling Karamzin N. M. “Poor Liza”
Conclusion
So, the question: “Poor Liza” is a story or a short story was solved long ago and unambiguously. The book summary gives the exact answer.
The main character of the story is a poor young peasant woman from a village near Moscow. Lisa was left early without her father, who was the breadwinner of the family. After his death, he and his mother quickly became poor. Lisa's mother was a kind, sensitive old woman, but no longer able to work. Therefore, Lisa took on any job and worked without sparing herself.
One of the heroes of the story, the old mother of the main character, Lisa. She is a kind, caring and sensitive woman living in a village near Moscow. After the death of her husband, who was the main breadwinner of the family, he and his daughter quickly became poor. Her health did not allow her to work much, and her vision was already poor.
Lisa's father
An episodic character, he was a wealthy and hardworking villager who never drank alcohol. After his death, his wife and daughter quickly became destitute.
Shepherd
An episodic character, a young man who drove his herd past Lisa. Instead of him, Lisa represented her beloved Erast.
Servant of Erast
An episodic character, he took Lisa out of the yard after Erast told her that he was getting married.
Elderly widow
An episodic character, Erast’s rich but elderly fiancee, whom he is forced to marry because he lost his entire estate at cards.
Kind woman
An episodic character, a random woman who brought Lisa to her senses and helped her get up after she fainted after leaving Erast.
Anyuta
An episodic character, a fifteen-year-old girl, Lisa's neighbor, whom she accidentally met near the pond. Giving her the money and asking her to give it to her mother, and also to kiss her and explain that Lisa had been betrayed and she could no longer live.
N.M. Karamzin wrote an extremely touching and dramatic story about a simple and at the same time eternal situation: she loves, but he does not. But before answering the question about what is the characterization of Lisa from the story “Poor Lisa,” you need to at least refresh your memory a little about the plot of the work.
Plot
Lisa is an orphan. Left without a father, she is forced to go to work: selling flowers in the city. The girl is very young and naive. On one of her “working days,” Lisa saw a young man (Erast) in the city who bought flowers from her, paying 20 times more than they cost. Erast said at the same time that these hands should pick flowers only for him. However, the next day he did not show up. Lisa was upset (like all young girls, she was very susceptible to compliments). But the next day, Erast himself visited Lisa at her home and even talked to her mother. The young man seemed very pleasant and polite to the old mother.
Things went on like this for some time. Erast reveled in Lisa’s virginity and purity, and she (a peasant girl of the 19th century) was simply stunned by the advances of a handsome young nobleman.
The turning point in the relationship came when Lisa spoke about her possible imminent marriage. She was upset and depressed, but Erast calmed her down and painted her future and said that the sky above them would be filled with diamonds.
Lisa cheered up a little - she believed Erast and, in a wave of relief, gave him her innocence. As one might expect, the nature of the meetings has changed. Now Erast again and again took possession of the girl, now without a twinge of conscience using her for his needs. Then Erast got bored with Lisa and his relationship with her, and he decided to run away from all this hardship into the army, where he did not serve the Fatherland, but quickly squandered his fortune.
Returning from the army, Erast, of course, did not say a word to Lisa about this; she herself once saw him on the street in a carriage. She rushed to him, but after a not very pleasant conversation that happened between them, her former lover kicked Lisa out the door, pushing her money.
Out of such grief, Lisa went and drowned herself in the pond. The old mother followed her in. As soon as she learned about the death of her daughter, she immediately had a stroke and died.
Now we are ready to answer the question of what is the characteristic of Lisa from the story “Poor Lisa”.
Lisa's character
Lisa was practically a child, even though she had to go to work early because her father died. But she did not have time to learn life properly. The girl’s inexperience attracted the young superficial nobleman, who saw the purpose of his life in pleasure. Poor Liza with her admiration is also in this row. Erast was very flattered by the attitude of such a young and such a fresh girl, but she was naive to the extreme. She took the attitude of the young rake at face value, and this was all a game out of boredom, in fact. Who knows, maybe even Lisa secretly hoped for the lady’s position over time. Among her other character qualities, it is worth noting kindness and spontaneity.
We may not have described all facets of the main character’s personality, but it seems there is enough information here for the characterization of Lisa from the story “Poor Lisa” to be understandable and capturing the very essence of her being.
Erast and its internal content
The second main character of the story, Erast, is a typical esthetician and hedonist. He lives only to enjoy. He has intelligence. He could have been brilliantly educated, but instead the young master is simply wasting his life, and Lisa is entertainment for him. While she was pure and immaculate, the girl interested Erast, how the ornithologist was fascinated by the species of birds he had recently discovered, but when Lisa surrendered to Erast, she became the same as everyone else, which means he became bored, and he, driven by a thirst for pleasure, moved on , without really thinking about the consequences of his vile behavior.
Although the behavior of a young man becomes unethical only through the prism of certain moral values. If a person is unprincipled (as Erast was), then he cannot even feel the share of baseness that is contained in his actions.
A person who seeks only pleasure in life is superficial by definition. He is not capable of deep feelings. And, of course, he is an opportunist, as evidenced by Erast’s marriage for money with an already middle-aged widow.
The confrontation between Lisa and Erast is like a struggle between light and shadow, good and evil
At first glance, it seems that Lisa and Erast are like day and night or good and evil. Accordingly, the characterization of Lisa from the story “Poor Lisa” and the characterization of Erast are deliberately contrasted by the author of the story, but this is not entirely true.
If the image of Lisa is good, then neither the world nor people need such goodness. It's simply not viable. Nevertheless, in general, the story “Poor Liza” is well written (if a little sentimental). The characteristic of Lisa that can exhaustively define her is naivety, reaching the point of stupidity. But this is not her fault, because we are talking about a peasant girl of the 19th century.
Erast is also not evil in its pure form. Evil requires strength of character, and the young nobleman is not endowed with it, unfortunately. Erast is just an infantile boy running away from responsibility. It is completely empty and meaningless. His behavior is disgusting, but it is difficult to call him evil, much less the embodiment of evil. This is all that the story “Poor Lisa” revealed to us. The description of Erast is more than exhaustive.
Liza is the main character of N. M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza,” a poor young peasant woman from a village near Moscow. Lisa was left early without her father, who was the breadwinner of the family. After his death, he and his mother quickly became poor. Lisa's mother was a kind, sensitive old woman, but no longer able to work. Therefore, Lisa took on any job and worked without sparing herself. She wove canvas and knitted stockings, collected berries and flowers, and then sold them in the city. Lisa's main character traits are sensitivity, naivety, purity and the ability to love faithfully. She sees only good in people, although her mother warned her that there are also “evil” people who can offend.
One day, while selling flowers in Moscow, she met a young rich nobleman, who asked from now on to sell her products only to him. Lisa’s mother was pleased with this news, because her daughter would no longer have to travel to the city so often. Lisa's new acquaintance named Erast begins to visit the girl often and the young people fall in love. They often meet and walk by the pond. However, Erast subsequently betrays Lisa. Having said that he is leaving for work, he never returns to her. During his service, he played cards a lot and lost his entire fortune. As a result, he had to marry a rich widow. Lisa's heart could not stand such news, and the girl drowned herself in a deep pond.
After her death, other girls unhappy in love began to come to the girl’s grave. Erast was unhappy until the end of his life and considered himself guilty of Lisa’s death.
The story “Poor Liza,” written by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, became one of the first works of sentimentalism in Russia. The love story of a poor girl and a young nobleman won the hearts of many of the writer’s contemporaries and was received with great delight. The work brought unprecedented popularity to the then completely unknown 25-year-old writer. However, with what descriptions does the story “Poor Liza” begin?
History of creation
N. M. Karamzin was distinguished by his love for Western culture and actively preached its principles. His role in the life of Russia was enormous and invaluable. This progressive and active man traveled extensively throughout Europe in 1789-1790, and upon his return he published the story “Poor Liza” in the Moscow Journal.
Analysis of the story indicates that the work has a sentimental aesthetic orientation, which is expressed in interest in people, regardless of their social status.
While writing the story, Karamzin lived at his friends’ dacha, not far from which he was located. It is believed that he served as the basis for the beginning of the work. Thanks to this, the love story and the characters themselves were perceived by readers as completely real. And the pond not far from the monastery began to be called “Liza’s Pond.”
“Poor Liza” by Karamzin as a sentimental story
“Poor Liza” is, in fact, a short story, a genre in which no one had written in Russia before Karamzin. But the writer’s innovation is not only in the choice of genre, but also in the direction. It was this story that secured the title of the first work of Russian sentimentalism.
Sentimentalism arose in Europe back in the 17th century and focused on the sensual side of human life. Issues of reason and society faded into the background for this direction, but emotions and relationships between people became a priority.
Sentimentalism has always strived to idealize what is happening, to embellish it. Answering the question about what descriptions the story “Poor Liza” begins with, we can talk about the idyllic landscape that Karamzin paints for readers.
Theme and idea
One of the main themes of the story is social, and it is connected with the problem of the attitude of the noble class towards the peasants. It is not for nothing that Karamzin chooses a peasant girl to play the role of bearer of innocence and morality.
Contrasting the images of Lisa and Erast, the writer is one of the first to raise the problem of contradictions between the city and the countryside. If we turn to the descriptions with which the story “Poor Liza” begins, we will see a quiet, cozy and natural world that exists in harmony with nature. The city is frightening, terrifying with its “huge houses” and “golden domes.” Lisa becomes a reflection of nature, she is natural and naive, there is no falsehood or pretense in her.
The author speaks in the story from the position of a humanist. Karamzin depicts all the charm of love, its beauty and strength. But reason and pragmatism can easily destroy this wonderful feeling. The story owes its success to its incredible attention to a person’s personality and his experiences. “Poor Liza” aroused sympathy among its readers thanks to Karamzin’s amazing ability to depict all the emotional subtleties, experiences, aspirations and thoughts of the heroine.
Heroes
A complete analysis of the story “Poor Liza” is impossible without a detailed examination of the images of the main characters of the work. Lisa and Erast, as noted above, embodied different ideals and principles.
Lisa is an ordinary peasant girl, whose main feature is the ability to feel. She acts according to the dictates of her heart and feelings, which ultimately led to her death, although her morality remained intact. However, there is little peasant in the image of Lisa: her speech and thoughts are closer to book language, but the feelings of a girl who has fallen in love for the first time are conveyed with incredible truthfulness. So, despite the external idealization of the heroine, her inner experiences are conveyed very realistically. In this regard, the story “Poor Liza” does not lose its innovation.
What descriptions does the work begin with? First of all, they are in tune with the character of the heroine, helping the reader to recognize her. This is a natural, idyllic world.
Erast appears completely different to the readers. He is an officer who is only puzzled by the search for new entertainment; life in society tires him and makes him bored. He is intelligent, kind, but weak in character and changeable in his affections. Erast truly falls in love, but does not think at all about the future, because Lisa is not his circle, and he will never be able to take her as his wife.
Karamzin complicated the image of Erast. Typically, such a hero in Russian literature was simpler and endowed with certain characteristics. But the writer makes him not an insidious seducer, but a sincerely in love with a person who, due to weakness of character, could not pass the test and preserve his love. This type of hero was new to Russian literature, but it immediately caught on and later received the name “superfluous person.”
Plot and originality
The plot of the work is quite simple. This is the story of the tragic love of a peasant woman and a nobleman, the result of which was the death of Lisa.
What descriptions does the story “Poor Liza” begin with? Karamzin draws a natural panorama, the bulk of the monastery, a pond - it is here, surrounded by nature, that the main character lives. But the main thing in a story is not the plot or descriptions, the main thing is feelings. And the narrator must awaken these feelings in the audience. For the first time in Russian literature, where the image of the narrator has always remained outside the work, a hero-author appears. This sentimental narrator learns a love story from Erast and retells it to the reader with sadness and sympathy.
Thus, there are three main characters in the story: Lisa, Erast and the author-narrator. Karamzin also introduces the technique of landscape descriptions and somewhat lightens the ponderous style of the Russian literary language.
The significance of the story “Poor Lisa” for Russian literature
Analysis of the story, thus, shows Karamzin’s incredible contribution to the development of Russian literature. In addition to describing the relationship between city and village, the appearance of the “extra person,” many researchers note the emergence of the “little person” - in the image of Lisa. This work influenced the work of A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, who developed the themes, ideas and images of Karamzin.
The incredible psychologism that brought Russian literature worldwide fame also gave rise to the story “Poor Liza.” What descriptions does this work begin with! There is so much beauty, originality and incredible stylistic lightness in them! Karamzin’s contribution to the development of Russian literature cannot be overestimated.
Loading...
