First Love (Russian: Первая любовь, Pervaya ljubov) is a novella by Ivan Turgenev, first published in 1860. It is one of his best loved and most celebrated pieces of short fiction.
Plot summary
Vladimir Petrovich, a 16-year-old, is staying in the country with his family and meets Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina, a beautiful 21-year-old woman, staying with her mother, Princess Zasyekina, in a wing of the manor. This family, as with many of the Russian minor nobility with royal ties of that time, were only afforded a degree of respectability because of their titles; the Zasyekins, in the case of this story, are a very poor family. The young Vladimir falls irretrievably in love with Zinaida, who has a set of several other (socially more eligible) suitors whom he joins in their difficult and often fruitless search for the young lady's favour. Zinaida, as we find throughout the story, is a thoroughly capricious and somewhat playful mistress to a set of rather love-struck suitors. She fails to reciprocate Vladimir's love in a sensible and honest manner, often misleading him, mocking his comparative youth in contrast to her early adulthood. But eventually the true object of her affections and a rather tragic conclusion to the story are revealed.
Conclusion and outcome
Vladimir discovers that the true object of Zinaida's affection is his own father, Pyotr Vasilyevich. In the tragic and devastatingly succinct closing two chapters, Vladimir secretly observes a final meeting between Pyotr and Zinaida at the window of her house in which his father strikes her arm with a riding crop. Zinaida kisses the welt on her arm and Pyotr bounds into the house. Eight months later, Vladimir's father receives a distressing letter from Moscow and tearfully begs his wife for a favor. Pyotr dies of a stroke several days later, after which his wife sends a considerable sum of money to Moscow. Three or four years later, Vladimir learns of Zinaida's marriage to a Monsieur Dolsky and subsequent death during childbirth.
Central characters
Vladimir Petrovich
The storyteller, at the time of narration a 16-year old boy; the protagonist of the story.
Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina
The object of Vladimir's affections. Capricious, mocking and difficult, she is inconsistent in her affections towards her suitors, of which Vladimir is the one to whom she shows (outwardly) the most affection. However, it is the affection of sister to brother rather than between lovers.
Pyotr Vasilyevich
Vladimir's father, a stoic symbol of 19th century masculinity; very 'British' in outlook and apparently unreceptive to emotion.
Structure
The book has one introductory chapter followed by 22 chapters over a length of between 60 and 102 pages depending upon translation and publication.
Context
Vladimir, having persuaded his friends that he cannot deliver the story orally, has presented a written version to them two weeks after they urged him to do so at a party (which itself takes place many years after the events surrounding Zinaida).
Other relevant works of Turgenev
The three stories, Torrents of Spring, Asya, and First Love work well when read in combination; they are often found published together and deal with similar topics and take place in similar contexts.
The importance of First Love
The story First Love is a true Russian 'classic' (for want of a better phrase). It remains an important book for young Russians. The ending itself is of some interest - clearly designed as a surprise of sorts but, crucially, it encourages the reader to reassess what he thought of the characters and causes the reader to muse a little over the content. The text is regularly used in the teaching of Russian at schools and colleges.
Plot summary
Vladimir Petrovich, a 16-year-old, is staying in the country with his family and meets Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina, a beautiful 21-year-old woman, staying with her mother, Princess Zasyekina, in a wing of the manor. This family, as with many of the Russian minor nobility with royal ties of that time, were only afforded a degree of respectability because of their titles; the Zasyekins, in the case of this story, are a very poor family. The young Vladimir falls irretrievably in love with Zinaida, who has a set of several other (socially more eligible) suitors whom he joins in their difficult and often fruitless search for the young lady's favour. Zinaida, as we find throughout the story, is a thoroughly capricious and somewhat playful mistress to a set of rather love-struck suitors. She fails to reciprocate Vladimir's love in a sensible and honest manner, often misleading him, mocking his comparative youth in contrast to her early adulthood. But eventually the true object of her affections and a rather tragic conclusion to the story are revealed.
Conclusion and outcome
Vladimir discovers that the true object of Zinaida's affection is his own father, Pyotr Vasilyevich. In the tragic and devastatingly succinct closing two chapters, Vladimir secretly observes a final meeting between Pyotr and Zinaida at the window of her house in which his father strikes her arm with a riding crop. Zinaida kisses the welt on her arm and Pyotr bounds into the house. Eight months later, Vladimir's father receives a distressing letter from Moscow and tearfully begs his wife for a favor. Pyotr dies of a stroke several days later, after which his wife sends a considerable sum of money to Moscow. Three or four years later, Vladimir learns of Zinaida's marriage to a Monsieur Dolsky and subsequent death during childbirth.
Central characters
Vladimir Petrovich
The storyteller, at the time of narration a 16-year old boy; the protagonist of the story.
Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina
The object of Vladimir's affections. Capricious, mocking and difficult, she is inconsistent in her affections towards her suitors, of which Vladimir is the one to whom she shows (outwardly) the most affection. However, it is the affection of sister to brother rather than between lovers.
Pyotr Vasilyevich
Vladimir's father, a stoic symbol of 19th century masculinity; very 'British' in outlook and apparently unreceptive to emotion.
Structure
The book has one introductory chapter followed by 22 chapters over a length of between 60 and 102 pages depending upon translation and publication.
Context
Vladimir, having persuaded his friends that he cannot deliver the story orally, has presented a written version to them two weeks after they urged him to do so at a party (which itself takes place many years after the events surrounding Zinaida).
Other relevant works of Turgenev
The three stories, Torrents of Spring, Asya, and First Love work well when read in combination; they are often found published together and deal with similar topics and take place in similar contexts.
The importance of First Love
The story First Love is a true Russian 'classic' (for want of a better phrase). It remains an important book for young Russians. The ending itself is of some interest - clearly designed as a surprise of sorts but, crucially, it encourages the reader to reassess what he thought of the characters and causes the reader to muse a little over the content. The text is regularly used in the teaching of Russian at schools and colleges.
Torrents of Spring, also known as Spring Torrents (Russian: Вешние воды), is a novella written by Ivan Turgenev during 1870 and 1871 when he was in his fifties. The story is about a young 22 year old Russian landowner named Dimitry Sanin who fell deliriously in love for the first time while visiting the German city of Frankfurt. After fighting an abortive duel with a rude soldier and winning the heart of the local girl who was the object of his infatuation, the love-sick protagonist decided to sell off his estate in Russia in order to work at the girl's family's pastry shop and be close to his newfound love. Before he could be happily married, however, he went away to attend to a business matter and fell prey to the allures of an older and more sophisticated woman.
This literary work, as an unhappy love story, is often understood by readers as a description of Turgenev's own failure in finding romantic love. The story is partly autobiographical with the main character Sanin representing Turgenev himself during his younger days when the author did indeed visit Frankfurt and other European cities outside his native Russia.
While it is not an extended literary masterpiece like Turgenev's most famous novel Fathers and Sons, Torrents of Spring is significant in its revealing of the author's thoughts and intimate emotions.
A 101 minute movie based on this novel was released in 1989 and stars Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski and Valeria Golino.
This literary work, as an unhappy love story, is often understood by readers as a description of Turgenev's own failure in finding romantic love. The story is partly autobiographical with the main character Sanin representing Turgenev himself during his younger days when the author did indeed visit Frankfurt and other European cities outside his native Russia.
While it is not an extended literary masterpiece like Turgenev's most famous novel Fathers and Sons, Torrents of Spring is significant in its revealing of the author's thoughts and intimate emotions.
A 101 minute movie based on this novel was released in 1989 and stars Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski and Valeria Golino.
Fathers and Sons is an 1862 novel by Ivan Turgenev, his best known work. The title of this work in Russian is Отцы и дети (Otcy i Deti), which literally means "Fathers and Children"; the work is often translated to Fathers and Sons in English for reasons of euphony.
Historical context and notes
The fathers and children of the novel refers to the growing divide between the two generations of Russians, and the character Yevgeny Bazarov has been referred to as the "first Bolshevik", for his nihilism and rejection of the old order.
Turgenev wrote Fathers and Sons as a response to the growing cultural schism that he saw between liberals of the 1830s/1840s and the growing nihilist movement. Both the nihilists (the "sons") and the 1830s liberals sought Western-based social change in Russia. Additionally, these two modes of thought were contrasted with the conservative Slavophiles, who believed that Russia's path lay in its traditional spirituality.
Fathers and Sons might be regarded as the first wholly modern novel in Russian Literature (Gogol's Dead Souls, another main contender, is sometimes referred to as a poem or epic in prose as in the style of Dante's Divine Comedy). The novel introduces a dual character study, as seen with the gradual breakdown of Bazarov's and Arkady's nihilistic opposition to emotional display, especially in the case of Bazarov's love for Madame Odintsova and Fenichka. This prominent theme of character duality and deep psychological insight would exert an influence on most of the great Russian novels to come, most obviously echoed in the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
The novel is also the first Russian work to gain prominence in the Western world, eventually gaining the approval of well established novelists Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, and Henry James.
Major characters
* Yevgeny Vasil'evich Bazarov - A nihilist, a student of science, and is training to be a doctor. As a nihilist he is a mentor to Arkady, and a challenger to the liberal ideas of the Kirsanov brothers and the traditional Russian Orthodox feelings of his own parents.
* Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov - A recent graduate of St. Petersburg University and friend of Bazarov. He is also a nihilist, although his belief seems to stem from his admiration of Bazarov rather than his own conviction.
* Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov - A landlord, a liberal democrat, Arkady’s father.
* Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov - Nikolai’s brother and a bourgeois with aristocratic pretensions, who prides himself on his refinement but like his brother is reform minded. Although he is reluctantly tolerant of the nihilism, he cannot help hating Bazarov.
* Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov - Bazarov’s father, a retired army surgeon, and a small countryside land/serf holder. Educated and enlightened, he nonetheless feels, like many of the characters, that rural isolation has left him out of touch with modern ideas. He thus retains a loyalty to traditionalist ways, manifested particularly in devotion to God and to his son Yevgeny.
* Arina Vlas'evna Bazarova - Bazarov’s mother. A very traditional woman of the 15th c. Moscovy style aristocracy: a pious follower of Orthodox Christianity, woven with folk tales and falsehoods. She loves her son deeply, but is also terrified of him and his rejection of all beliefs.
* Anna Sergeevna Odintsova - A wealthy widow who entertains the nihilist friends at her estate. Bazarov declares his love for her, but she is unable to reciprocate, both out of fear for the emotional chaos it could bring and an inability to recognize her own sentiments as love itself. Bazarov's love is a challenge to his nihilist ideal of rejection of all established order.
* Katerina (Katya) Sergeevna Lokteva - A character similar to Arkady and the younger sister of Anna. She lives comfortably with her sister but lacks confidence, finding it hard to escape Anna Sergeevna's shadow. This shyness makes her and Arkady’s love slow to realize itself.
* Fedosya (Fenichka) Nikolayevna - The daughter of Nikolai’s housekeeper, with whom he has fallen in love and fathered a child out of wedlock. The implied obstacles to their marriage are difference in class, and perhaps Nikolai's previous marriage - the burden of 'traditionalist' values.
* Viktor Sitnikov - A pompous and somewhat stupid friend of Bazarov who joins populist ideals and groups.
* Avdotya Nikitishna or Evdoksya Kukshina - An emancipated woman who lives in the town of X. Kukshina is independent but rather eccentric and incapable as a proto-feminist despite her potential.
Themes
Transgression and redemption
Bazarov (the prototypical nihilist) argues with Pavel Kirsanov (the prototypical liberal of the 1840s generation) about the nature of nihilism and usefulness to Russia in an episode which personifies the struggle between the fathers (i.e., the liberals of the 1840s) and their nihilist "sons". "Aristocratism, liberalism, progress, principles," Bazarov says. "Just think, how many foreign…and useless words!"
Bazarov tells Pavel that he will abandon nihilism when Pavel can show him "…a single institution of contemporary life, either in the family or in the social sphere, that doesn’t deserve absolute and merciless rejection." But despite this utter scorn for all things associated with traditional Russia, Bazarov still believes that there is a purpose and a value in applied science.
Human emotion and love as redemption
Bazarov's nihilism falls apart in the face of human emotions, specifically his love for Anna Odintsova. His nihilism does not account for the pain that his unrequited love causes him, and this introduces a despair that he is not capable of contending with.
Bazarov returns to his family after Odintsova rejects him. Bazarov complains to Arkady that "…they, that is, my parents, are occupied, and don't worry in the least about their own insignificance; they don't give a damn about it… While I…I feel only boredom and anger." His theory's inability to account for his emotions frustrates him and he sinks deep into boredom and ennui.
And then there is the enigmatic Anna Odintsova, a beautiful young woman of lowly origin. By virtue of having married well and been widowed young, she has inherited an exceedingly comfortable and insular life on a palatial country estate. In a letter written the same year the novel was published, Turgenev revealed that he conceived of Anna as “the representative of our idle, dreaming, curious and cold epicurean young ladies, our female nobility.” And yet, as with Bazarov, Turgenev’s fictional creation takes on a life of its own, superseding the author’s intellectual scheme to become a complex and perplexing figure.
Apparently content at the outset with her unattached life, Anna finds herself increasingly attracted to the blunt, unorthodox, highly intelligent Bazarov. She proceeds almost unwittingly to emotionally seduce the self-declared womanizer, luring him step by step in a pair of riveting, back-to-back passages to reveal his love. In the intimacy of her study, Anna confesses that she is very “unhappy,” that she has no desire to “go on,” that she longs for a “strong attachment” that is “all or nothing. A life for a life. You take mine, you give up yours, without regrets, without turning back.”
And yet, a moment after Bazarov capitulates and confesses his love, Odintsova rejects him brutally. Afterward, she is tortured, alternately blaming and excusing herself while fearing she may have thrown away a chance for genuine love. Finally she decides, “No. God knows where it might have led; one mustn’t fool around with this kind of thing.”
Conversely, Turgenev shows us Arkady and Nikolai's traditional happiness in marriage and estate management as the solution to Bazarov's cosmic despair and Anna's life of loveless comfort. (Arkady marries Anna Odintsova's sister Katya, though he was also originally in love with Anna). The height of the conflict between Bazarov and the older generation comes when Bazarov wounds Pavel in a duel. Finally, Turgenev also refutes Bazarov's "insignificance principle", i.e., the nihilist idea that life is utterly insignificant and that nothing remains after death: after leaving and then returning again to his parents, Bazarov dies of typhus. The final passage of the book portrays Bazarov's parents visiting his grave.
They walk with a heavy step, supporting each other; when they approach the railing, they fall on their knees and remain there for a long time, weeping bitterly, gazing attentively at the headstone under which their son lies buried: they exchange a few words, brush the dust off the stone, move a branch of the pine tree, and pray once again; they can’t forsake this place where they seem to feel closer to their son, to their memories of him… Can it really be that their prayers and tears are futile? Can it really be that love, sacred, devoted love is not all powerful? Oh, no!
Their love causes them to remember Bazarov: he has transcended death, but only through the love of other people. Fyodor Dostoevsky, who read Fathers and Sons and apparently appreciated Bazarov as a character, explores a similar theme with Raskolnikov's religious redemption (via the love of Christ) in Crime and Punishment.
Historical context and notes
The fathers and children of the novel refers to the growing divide between the two generations of Russians, and the character Yevgeny Bazarov has been referred to as the "first Bolshevik", for his nihilism and rejection of the old order.
Turgenev wrote Fathers and Sons as a response to the growing cultural schism that he saw between liberals of the 1830s/1840s and the growing nihilist movement. Both the nihilists (the "sons") and the 1830s liberals sought Western-based social change in Russia. Additionally, these two modes of thought were contrasted with the conservative Slavophiles, who believed that Russia's path lay in its traditional spirituality.
Fathers and Sons might be regarded as the first wholly modern novel in Russian Literature (Gogol's Dead Souls, another main contender, is sometimes referred to as a poem or epic in prose as in the style of Dante's Divine Comedy). The novel introduces a dual character study, as seen with the gradual breakdown of Bazarov's and Arkady's nihilistic opposition to emotional display, especially in the case of Bazarov's love for Madame Odintsova and Fenichka. This prominent theme of character duality and deep psychological insight would exert an influence on most of the great Russian novels to come, most obviously echoed in the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
The novel is also the first Russian work to gain prominence in the Western world, eventually gaining the approval of well established novelists Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, and Henry James.
Major characters
* Yevgeny Vasil'evich Bazarov - A nihilist, a student of science, and is training to be a doctor. As a nihilist he is a mentor to Arkady, and a challenger to the liberal ideas of the Kirsanov brothers and the traditional Russian Orthodox feelings of his own parents.
* Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov - A recent graduate of St. Petersburg University and friend of Bazarov. He is also a nihilist, although his belief seems to stem from his admiration of Bazarov rather than his own conviction.
* Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov - A landlord, a liberal democrat, Arkady’s father.
* Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov - Nikolai’s brother and a bourgeois with aristocratic pretensions, who prides himself on his refinement but like his brother is reform minded. Although he is reluctantly tolerant of the nihilism, he cannot help hating Bazarov.
* Vasily Ivanovich Bazarov - Bazarov’s father, a retired army surgeon, and a small countryside land/serf holder. Educated and enlightened, he nonetheless feels, like many of the characters, that rural isolation has left him out of touch with modern ideas. He thus retains a loyalty to traditionalist ways, manifested particularly in devotion to God and to his son Yevgeny.
* Arina Vlas'evna Bazarova - Bazarov’s mother. A very traditional woman of the 15th c. Moscovy style aristocracy: a pious follower of Orthodox Christianity, woven with folk tales and falsehoods. She loves her son deeply, but is also terrified of him and his rejection of all beliefs.
* Anna Sergeevna Odintsova - A wealthy widow who entertains the nihilist friends at her estate. Bazarov declares his love for her, but she is unable to reciprocate, both out of fear for the emotional chaos it could bring and an inability to recognize her own sentiments as love itself. Bazarov's love is a challenge to his nihilist ideal of rejection of all established order.
* Katerina (Katya) Sergeevna Lokteva - A character similar to Arkady and the younger sister of Anna. She lives comfortably with her sister but lacks confidence, finding it hard to escape Anna Sergeevna's shadow. This shyness makes her and Arkady’s love slow to realize itself.
* Fedosya (Fenichka) Nikolayevna - The daughter of Nikolai’s housekeeper, with whom he has fallen in love and fathered a child out of wedlock. The implied obstacles to their marriage are difference in class, and perhaps Nikolai's previous marriage - the burden of 'traditionalist' values.
* Viktor Sitnikov - A pompous and somewhat stupid friend of Bazarov who joins populist ideals and groups.
* Avdotya Nikitishna or Evdoksya Kukshina - An emancipated woman who lives in the town of X. Kukshina is independent but rather eccentric and incapable as a proto-feminist despite her potential.
Themes
Transgression and redemption
Bazarov (the prototypical nihilist) argues with Pavel Kirsanov (the prototypical liberal of the 1840s generation) about the nature of nihilism and usefulness to Russia in an episode which personifies the struggle between the fathers (i.e., the liberals of the 1840s) and their nihilist "sons". "Aristocratism, liberalism, progress, principles," Bazarov says. "Just think, how many foreign…and useless words!"
Bazarov tells Pavel that he will abandon nihilism when Pavel can show him "…a single institution of contemporary life, either in the family or in the social sphere, that doesn’t deserve absolute and merciless rejection." But despite this utter scorn for all things associated with traditional Russia, Bazarov still believes that there is a purpose and a value in applied science.
Human emotion and love as redemption
Bazarov's nihilism falls apart in the face of human emotions, specifically his love for Anna Odintsova. His nihilism does not account for the pain that his unrequited love causes him, and this introduces a despair that he is not capable of contending with.
Bazarov returns to his family after Odintsova rejects him. Bazarov complains to Arkady that "…they, that is, my parents, are occupied, and don't worry in the least about their own insignificance; they don't give a damn about it… While I…I feel only boredom and anger." His theory's inability to account for his emotions frustrates him and he sinks deep into boredom and ennui.
And then there is the enigmatic Anna Odintsova, a beautiful young woman of lowly origin. By virtue of having married well and been widowed young, she has inherited an exceedingly comfortable and insular life on a palatial country estate. In a letter written the same year the novel was published, Turgenev revealed that he conceived of Anna as “the representative of our idle, dreaming, curious and cold epicurean young ladies, our female nobility.” And yet, as with Bazarov, Turgenev’s fictional creation takes on a life of its own, superseding the author’s intellectual scheme to become a complex and perplexing figure.
Apparently content at the outset with her unattached life, Anna finds herself increasingly attracted to the blunt, unorthodox, highly intelligent Bazarov. She proceeds almost unwittingly to emotionally seduce the self-declared womanizer, luring him step by step in a pair of riveting, back-to-back passages to reveal his love. In the intimacy of her study, Anna confesses that she is very “unhappy,” that she has no desire to “go on,” that she longs for a “strong attachment” that is “all or nothing. A life for a life. You take mine, you give up yours, without regrets, without turning back.”
And yet, a moment after Bazarov capitulates and confesses his love, Odintsova rejects him brutally. Afterward, she is tortured, alternately blaming and excusing herself while fearing she may have thrown away a chance for genuine love. Finally she decides, “No. God knows where it might have led; one mustn’t fool around with this kind of thing.”
Conversely, Turgenev shows us Arkady and Nikolai's traditional happiness in marriage and estate management as the solution to Bazarov's cosmic despair and Anna's life of loveless comfort. (Arkady marries Anna Odintsova's sister Katya, though he was also originally in love with Anna). The height of the conflict between Bazarov and the older generation comes when Bazarov wounds Pavel in a duel. Finally, Turgenev also refutes Bazarov's "insignificance principle", i.e., the nihilist idea that life is utterly insignificant and that nothing remains after death: after leaving and then returning again to his parents, Bazarov dies of typhus. The final passage of the book portrays Bazarov's parents visiting his grave.
They walk with a heavy step, supporting each other; when they approach the railing, they fall on their knees and remain there for a long time, weeping bitterly, gazing attentively at the headstone under which their son lies buried: they exchange a few words, brush the dust off the stone, move a branch of the pine tree, and pray once again; they can’t forsake this place where they seem to feel closer to their son, to their memories of him… Can it really be that their prayers and tears are futile? Can it really be that love, sacred, devoted love is not all powerful? Oh, no!
Their love causes them to remember Bazarov: he has transcended death, but only through the love of other people. Fyodor Dostoevsky, who read Fathers and Sons and apparently appreciated Bazarov as a character, explores a similar theme with Raskolnikov's religious redemption (via the love of Christ) in Crime and Punishment.
Rudin (Рудин in Russian; IPA: [rudin]) is the first novel by Ivan Turgenev, a famous Russian writer best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. Turgenev started to work on it in 1855, and it was first published in the literary magazine "Sovremennik" in 1856; several changes were made by Turgenev in subsequent editions. It is perhaps the least known of Turgenev’s novels.
Rudin was the first of Turgenev’s novels, but already in this work the topic of the superfluous man and his inability to act (which became a major theme of Turgenev's literary work) was explored. Similarly to other Turgenev’s novels, the main conflict in Rudin was centred on a love story of the main character and a young, but intellectual and self-conscious woman who is contrasted with the main hero (this type of female character became known in literary criticism as «тургеневская девушка», “Turgenev maid”).
Context
Rudin was written by Turgenev in the immediate aftermath of the Crimean War, when it became obvious to many educated Russians that reform was needed. The main debate of Turgenev's own generation was that of Slavophiles versus Westernizers. Rudin depicts a typical man of this generation (known as 'the men of forties'), intellectual but ineffective. This interpretation of the superfluous man as someone who possesses great intellectual ability and potential, but is unable to realize them stems from Turgenev’s own view of human nature, expressed in his 1860 speech ‘Hamlet and Don Quixote’, where he contrasts egotistical Hamlet, too deep in reflection to act, and enthusiastic and un-thinking, but active Don Quixote. The main character of the novel, Rudin, is easily identified with Hamlet. Many critics also suggest that the image of Rudin was at least partly autobiographical.
Rudin is often compared to Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin and Lermontov’s Pechorin. The latter two are considered to be representations of their generations (‘men of twenties’ and ‘men of thirties’ respectively) as Rudin is considered to be a representation of his generation; the three literary works featuring these characters share many similarities in structure and all three characters are routinely referred to as ‘superfluous men’ (whether the term is applicable to all three has been a subject of scholarly debate).
For a long time, Turgenev was unsure of the genre of Rudin, publishing it with a subtitle of ‘novella’. In 1860, it was published together with two other novels, but in the three editions of Turgenev’s Works that followed it was grouped with short stories. In the final, 1880, edition it was again placed at the head of the novels. The theme of the superfluous man in love was further explored in Turgenev’s subsequent novels, culminating in Fathers and Sons.
Main characters
Dmitrii Nikolaevich Rudin
Rudin's first appearance at Lasunskaya's, by Dmitry Kardovsky
The main protagonist of the novel. Rudin is a well-educated, intellectual and extremely eloquent nobleman. His finances are in a poor state and he is dependent on others for his living. His father was a poor member of the gentry and died when Rudin was still very young. He was brought up by his mother who spent all the money she had on him, and was educated at Moscow University and abroad in Germany, at Heidelberg and Berlin (Turgenev himself studied in Berlin). When he first appears in the novel, he is described as follows: “A man of about thirty-five […] of a tall, somewhat stooping figure, with crisp curly hair and swarthy complexion, an irregular but expressive and intelligent face.[…] His clothes were not new, and were somewhat small, as though he had outgrown them.” In the course of the novel he lives at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s estate and falls in love with her daughter, Natalya. This love is the main conflict of the novel. His eloquence earns him the respect of the estate's inhabitants, but several other characters display a strong dislike of him, and during the course of the novel it becomes apparent that he is “almost a Titan in word and a pigmy in deed” — that is, despite his eloquence he cannot accomplish what he talks of.
Natal’ya Aleskeevna Lasunskaya
Also referred to as Natasha. Natasha is a seventeen-year old daughter of Dar’ya Mikhailovna. She is observant, well-read and intelligent, but also quite secretive. While her mother thinks of her as a good-natured and well-mannered girl, she is not of a high opinion about her intelligence, and quite wrongly. She also thinks Natasha is ‘cold’, emotionless, but in the beginning of Chapter Five we are told by the narrator that “Her feelings were strong and deep, but reserved; even as a child she seldom cried, and now she seldom even sighed and only grew slightly pale when anything distressed her.” She engages in intellectual conversations with Rudin (which are not discouraged by her mother because she thinks that these conversations “improve her mind”); Natasha thinks highly of Rudin, who confides to her his ideas and “privately gives her books”, and soon falls in love with him. She also often compels him to apply his talents and act. Natasha is often thought of as the first of 'Turgenev maids' to feature in Turgenev's fiction.
Dar’ya Mikhailovna Lasunskaya
A female landowner at whose estate most of the events of the novel happen. She is the widow of a privy councillor, “a wealthy and distinguished lady”. While she is not very influential in St Petersburg, let alone Europe, she is notorious in Moscow society as “a rather eccentric woman, not wholly good-natured, but excessively clever.” She is also described as a beauty in her youth, but “not a trace of her former charms remained.” She shuns the society of local female landowners, but receives many men. Rudin at first gains her favour, but she is very displeased when she finds out about Rudin’s and Natasha’s love. That said, her opinion of Natasha is far from being correct.
Mihailo Mihailych Lezhnev
A rich local landowner, generally thought to be a “queer creature” and described in Chapter One as having the appearance of “a huge sack of flour”. Lezhnev is about thirty years old, and seldom visits Dar’ya Mikhailovna (more often than before as the novel progresses), but is often found at Aleksandra’s Pavlovna Lipina’s house; he is friends both with her and her brother, Sergei. He was orphaned at the age of seventeen, lived at his aunt’s and studied together with Rudin at Moscow University, where they were members of the same group of intellectual young men and was good friends with him; he also knew him abroad, but began to dislike him there as “Rudin struck [Lezhnev] in his true light.” Lezhnev is in fact in love with Aleksandra and in the end marries her. His character is often contrasted to Rudin’s as he is seen as everything a superfluous man is not – he is intelligent, but in a more practical way, and while he does not do anything exceptional, he doesn’t want to either. Seeley writes, that “he concentrates on doing the jobs that lie to hand – running his estate, raising a family – and these he does very competently. Beyond them he does not look.” Lezhnev also acts as Rudin’s biographer – he is the one who tells the reader about Rudin’s life prior to his appearance at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s. He first describes Rudin in extremely unfavourable terms, but in the end he is also the one who admits Rudin's “genius” in certain areas of life.
Aleksandra Pavlovna Lipina
Also a local landowner, she is the first of major characters to be presented in the novel. She is described as “a widow, childless, and fairly well off”; we first see her visiting an ill peasant woman, and also find out that she maintains a hospital. She lives with her brother Sergei, who manages her estate, and visits Dar’ya Mikhailovna sometimes (less often as the novel progresses). Dar’ya Mikhailovna describes her as “a sweet creature […] a perfect child […] an absolute baby”, although the question remains of how well Dar’ya Mikhailovna can judge people. At first, she thinks very highly of Rudin and defends him against Lezhnev, but as the novel progresses she seems to side with his view of Rudin. In the end, she marries Lezhnev and seems to be an ideal partner for him.
Sergei Pavlovich Volyntsev
Aleksandra’s brother. He is a retired cavalry officer and manages his sister’s estate. At the beginning of the novel he is a frequent guest at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s, because he is in love with Natasha. He takes a great dislike to Rudnev, whom he sees as far too intelligent and, quite rightly, a dangerous rival. He is also slighted by Rudin when the latter comes to inform him of his mutual love with Natasha (with the best intentions). He is generally shown as a pleasant, if not very intellectual person, and is good friends with Lezhnev.
Minor characters
Konstantin Diomidych Pandalevskii
Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s secretary, a young man of affected manners. He is a flatterer and appears to be a generally dishonest and unpleasant person. He doesn’t appear to play an important role in the novel apart from being a satirical image.
Afrikan Semenych Pigasov
Described as “a strange person full of acerbity against everything and every one”, Pigasov frequently visits Dar’ya Mikhailovna prior to Rudin’s appearance and amuses her with his bitter remarks, mostly aimed at women. Coming from a poor family, he educated himself, but never rose above the level of mediocrity. He failed his examination in public disputation, in government service he made a mistake which forced him to retire. His wife later left him and sold her estate, on which he just finished building a house, to a speculator. Since then he lived in the province. He is the first victim of Rudin’s eloquence, as at Rudin’s first appearance he challenged him to a debate and was defeated easily. He ends up living with Lezhnev and Aleksandra Pavlovna.
Basistov
Tutor to Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s younger sons. He is completely captivated by Rudin and seems to be inspired by him. Basistov is interesting in that he is the first example of an intellectual from the raznochinets background (Bazarov and Raskol’nikov are among later, more prominent fictional heroes from this background). He also serves as an example of how Rudin is not completely useless since he can inspire people such as Basistov, who can then act in a way impossible for Rudin.
Synopsis
Rudin’s arrival
The novel begins with the introduction of three of the characters – Aleksandra, Lezhnev, and Pandalevskii. Pandalevskii relates to Aleksandra Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s invitation to come and meet a Baron Muffel’. Instead of the Baron, Rudin arrives and captivates everyone immediately with his intelligent and witty speeches during the argument with Pigasov. Interestingly, Rudin’s arrival is delayed until Chapter Three. After his success at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s, he stays the night and the next morning meets Lezhnev who arrives to discuss some business affairs with Dar’ya Mikhailovna. This is the first time the reader finds out that Rudin and Lezhnev are acquainted, and studied together at university. During the day that follows Rudin has his first conversation with Natasha; as she speaks of him highly and says he “ought to work”, he replies with a lengthy speech. What follows is a description quite typical of Turgenev, where the character of Rudin is shown not through his own words, but through the text which underlines Rudin’s contradictory statements:
“Yes, I must act. I must not bury my talent, if I have any; I must not squander my powers on talk alone — empty, profitless talk — on mere words,’ and his words flowed in a stream. He spoke nobly, ardently, convincingly, of the sin of cowardice and indolence, of the necessity of action.”
On the same day, Sergei leaves Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s early and arrives to see that Lezhnev is visiting. Lezhnev then gives his first description of Rudin.
Rudin and Natasha
Natasha leaves Rudin after their decisive encounter, by Dmitry Kardovsky
In two months, we are told, Rudin is still staying at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s, living off borrowed money. He spends a lot of time with Natasha; in a conversation with her he speaks of how an old love can only be replaced by a new one. At the same time, Lezhnev gives the account of his youth and his friendship with Rudin, making for the first time the point that Rudin is “too cold” and inactive. On the next day, Natasha quizzes Rudin over his words about old and new love. Neither she, nor he confess their love for each other but in the evening, Rudin and Natasha meet again, and this time Rudin confesses his love for her; Natasha replies that she, too, loves him. Unfortunately, their conversation is overheard by Pandalevskii, who reports it to Dar’ya Mikhailovna, and she strongly disapproves of this romance, making her feelings known to Natasha. The next time Natasha and Rudin meet, she tells him that Dar’ya Mikhailovna knows of their love and disapproves of it. Natasha wants to know what plan of action is Rudin going to propose, but he does not fulfil her expectations when he says that one must “submit to destiny”. She leaves him, disappointed and sad:
“I am sad because I have been deceived in you… What! I come to you for counsel, and at such a moment! — and your first word is, submit! submit! So this is how you translate your talk of independence, of sacrifice, which …”
Rudin then leaves Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s estate. Before his departure he writes two letters: one to Natasha and one to Sergei. The letter to Natasha is particularly notable in its confession of the vices of inactivity, inability to act and to take responsibility for one’s actions – all the traits of a Hamlet which Turgenev later detailed in his 1860 speech. Lezhnev, meanwhile, asks Aleksandra to marry him and is accepted in a particularly fine scene.
The Aftermath
Rudin at the barricades, by Dmitry Kardovsky
Chapter Twelve and the Epilogue detail events of over two years past Rudin’s arrival at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s estate. Lezhnev is happily married to Aleksandra. He arrives to give her news of Sergei’s engagement to Natasha, who is said to “seem contented”. Pigasov lives with Lezhnevs, and amuses Aleksandra as he used to amuse Dar’ya Mikhailovna. A conversation which follows happens to touch on Rudin, and as Pigasov begins to make fun of him, Lezhnev stops him. He then defends Rudin’s “genius” while saying that his problem is that he had no “character” in him. This, again, refers to the superfluous man’s inability to act. He then toasts Rudin. The chapter ends with the description of Rudin travelling aimlessly around Russia. In the Epilogue, Lezhnev happens by chance to meet Rudin at a hotel in a provincial town. Lezhnev invites Rudin to dine with him, and over the dinner Rudin relates to Lezhnev his attempts to “act” – to improve an estate belonging to his friend, to make a river navigable, to become a teacher. In all three of this attempts Rudin demonstrated inability to adapt to the circumstances of Nicholas I’s Russia, and subsequently failed, and was in the end banished to his estate. Lezhnev then appears to change his opinion of Rudin as inherently inactive, and says that Rudin failed exactly because he could never stop striving for truth. The Epilogue ends with Rudin’s death at the barricades during the French Revolution of 1848; even at death he is mistaken by two fleeing revolutionaries for a Pole.
Adaptations
Rudin was adapted for screen in 1976. The 95 minutes-long Soviet-made movie was directed by Konstantin Voynov. The cast included Oleg Yefremov, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, and Rolan Bykov.
Rudin was the first of Turgenev’s novels, but already in this work the topic of the superfluous man and his inability to act (which became a major theme of Turgenev's literary work) was explored. Similarly to other Turgenev’s novels, the main conflict in Rudin was centred on a love story of the main character and a young, but intellectual and self-conscious woman who is contrasted with the main hero (this type of female character became known in literary criticism as «тургеневская девушка», “Turgenev maid”).
Context
Rudin was written by Turgenev in the immediate aftermath of the Crimean War, when it became obvious to many educated Russians that reform was needed. The main debate of Turgenev's own generation was that of Slavophiles versus Westernizers. Rudin depicts a typical man of this generation (known as 'the men of forties'), intellectual but ineffective. This interpretation of the superfluous man as someone who possesses great intellectual ability and potential, but is unable to realize them stems from Turgenev’s own view of human nature, expressed in his 1860 speech ‘Hamlet and Don Quixote’, where he contrasts egotistical Hamlet, too deep in reflection to act, and enthusiastic and un-thinking, but active Don Quixote. The main character of the novel, Rudin, is easily identified with Hamlet. Many critics also suggest that the image of Rudin was at least partly autobiographical.
Rudin is often compared to Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin and Lermontov’s Pechorin. The latter two are considered to be representations of their generations (‘men of twenties’ and ‘men of thirties’ respectively) as Rudin is considered to be a representation of his generation; the three literary works featuring these characters share many similarities in structure and all three characters are routinely referred to as ‘superfluous men’ (whether the term is applicable to all three has been a subject of scholarly debate).
For a long time, Turgenev was unsure of the genre of Rudin, publishing it with a subtitle of ‘novella’. In 1860, it was published together with two other novels, but in the three editions of Turgenev’s Works that followed it was grouped with short stories. In the final, 1880, edition it was again placed at the head of the novels. The theme of the superfluous man in love was further explored in Turgenev’s subsequent novels, culminating in Fathers and Sons.
Main characters
Dmitrii Nikolaevich Rudin
Rudin's first appearance at Lasunskaya's, by Dmitry Kardovsky
The main protagonist of the novel. Rudin is a well-educated, intellectual and extremely eloquent nobleman. His finances are in a poor state and he is dependent on others for his living. His father was a poor member of the gentry and died when Rudin was still very young. He was brought up by his mother who spent all the money she had on him, and was educated at Moscow University and abroad in Germany, at Heidelberg and Berlin (Turgenev himself studied in Berlin). When he first appears in the novel, he is described as follows: “A man of about thirty-five […] of a tall, somewhat stooping figure, with crisp curly hair and swarthy complexion, an irregular but expressive and intelligent face.[…] His clothes were not new, and were somewhat small, as though he had outgrown them.” In the course of the novel he lives at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s estate and falls in love with her daughter, Natalya. This love is the main conflict of the novel. His eloquence earns him the respect of the estate's inhabitants, but several other characters display a strong dislike of him, and during the course of the novel it becomes apparent that he is “almost a Titan in word and a pigmy in deed” — that is, despite his eloquence he cannot accomplish what he talks of.
Natal’ya Aleskeevna Lasunskaya
Also referred to as Natasha. Natasha is a seventeen-year old daughter of Dar’ya Mikhailovna. She is observant, well-read and intelligent, but also quite secretive. While her mother thinks of her as a good-natured and well-mannered girl, she is not of a high opinion about her intelligence, and quite wrongly. She also thinks Natasha is ‘cold’, emotionless, but in the beginning of Chapter Five we are told by the narrator that “Her feelings were strong and deep, but reserved; even as a child she seldom cried, and now she seldom even sighed and only grew slightly pale when anything distressed her.” She engages in intellectual conversations with Rudin (which are not discouraged by her mother because she thinks that these conversations “improve her mind”); Natasha thinks highly of Rudin, who confides to her his ideas and “privately gives her books”, and soon falls in love with him. She also often compels him to apply his talents and act. Natasha is often thought of as the first of 'Turgenev maids' to feature in Turgenev's fiction.
Dar’ya Mikhailovna Lasunskaya
A female landowner at whose estate most of the events of the novel happen. She is the widow of a privy councillor, “a wealthy and distinguished lady”. While she is not very influential in St Petersburg, let alone Europe, she is notorious in Moscow society as “a rather eccentric woman, not wholly good-natured, but excessively clever.” She is also described as a beauty in her youth, but “not a trace of her former charms remained.” She shuns the society of local female landowners, but receives many men. Rudin at first gains her favour, but she is very displeased when she finds out about Rudin’s and Natasha’s love. That said, her opinion of Natasha is far from being correct.
Mihailo Mihailych Lezhnev
A rich local landowner, generally thought to be a “queer creature” and described in Chapter One as having the appearance of “a huge sack of flour”. Lezhnev is about thirty years old, and seldom visits Dar’ya Mikhailovna (more often than before as the novel progresses), but is often found at Aleksandra’s Pavlovna Lipina’s house; he is friends both with her and her brother, Sergei. He was orphaned at the age of seventeen, lived at his aunt’s and studied together with Rudin at Moscow University, where they were members of the same group of intellectual young men and was good friends with him; he also knew him abroad, but began to dislike him there as “Rudin struck [Lezhnev] in his true light.” Lezhnev is in fact in love with Aleksandra and in the end marries her. His character is often contrasted to Rudin’s as he is seen as everything a superfluous man is not – he is intelligent, but in a more practical way, and while he does not do anything exceptional, he doesn’t want to either. Seeley writes, that “he concentrates on doing the jobs that lie to hand – running his estate, raising a family – and these he does very competently. Beyond them he does not look.” Lezhnev also acts as Rudin’s biographer – he is the one who tells the reader about Rudin’s life prior to his appearance at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s. He first describes Rudin in extremely unfavourable terms, but in the end he is also the one who admits Rudin's “genius” in certain areas of life.
Aleksandra Pavlovna Lipina
Also a local landowner, she is the first of major characters to be presented in the novel. She is described as “a widow, childless, and fairly well off”; we first see her visiting an ill peasant woman, and also find out that she maintains a hospital. She lives with her brother Sergei, who manages her estate, and visits Dar’ya Mikhailovna sometimes (less often as the novel progresses). Dar’ya Mikhailovna describes her as “a sweet creature […] a perfect child […] an absolute baby”, although the question remains of how well Dar’ya Mikhailovna can judge people. At first, she thinks very highly of Rudin and defends him against Lezhnev, but as the novel progresses she seems to side with his view of Rudin. In the end, she marries Lezhnev and seems to be an ideal partner for him.
Sergei Pavlovich Volyntsev
Aleksandra’s brother. He is a retired cavalry officer and manages his sister’s estate. At the beginning of the novel he is a frequent guest at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s, because he is in love with Natasha. He takes a great dislike to Rudnev, whom he sees as far too intelligent and, quite rightly, a dangerous rival. He is also slighted by Rudin when the latter comes to inform him of his mutual love with Natasha (with the best intentions). He is generally shown as a pleasant, if not very intellectual person, and is good friends with Lezhnev.
Minor characters
Konstantin Diomidych Pandalevskii
Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s secretary, a young man of affected manners. He is a flatterer and appears to be a generally dishonest and unpleasant person. He doesn’t appear to play an important role in the novel apart from being a satirical image.
Afrikan Semenych Pigasov
Described as “a strange person full of acerbity against everything and every one”, Pigasov frequently visits Dar’ya Mikhailovna prior to Rudin’s appearance and amuses her with his bitter remarks, mostly aimed at women. Coming from a poor family, he educated himself, but never rose above the level of mediocrity. He failed his examination in public disputation, in government service he made a mistake which forced him to retire. His wife later left him and sold her estate, on which he just finished building a house, to a speculator. Since then he lived in the province. He is the first victim of Rudin’s eloquence, as at Rudin’s first appearance he challenged him to a debate and was defeated easily. He ends up living with Lezhnev and Aleksandra Pavlovna.
Basistov
Tutor to Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s younger sons. He is completely captivated by Rudin and seems to be inspired by him. Basistov is interesting in that he is the first example of an intellectual from the raznochinets background (Bazarov and Raskol’nikov are among later, more prominent fictional heroes from this background). He also serves as an example of how Rudin is not completely useless since he can inspire people such as Basistov, who can then act in a way impossible for Rudin.
Synopsis
Rudin’s arrival
The novel begins with the introduction of three of the characters – Aleksandra, Lezhnev, and Pandalevskii. Pandalevskii relates to Aleksandra Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s invitation to come and meet a Baron Muffel’. Instead of the Baron, Rudin arrives and captivates everyone immediately with his intelligent and witty speeches during the argument with Pigasov. Interestingly, Rudin’s arrival is delayed until Chapter Three. After his success at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s, he stays the night and the next morning meets Lezhnev who arrives to discuss some business affairs with Dar’ya Mikhailovna. This is the first time the reader finds out that Rudin and Lezhnev are acquainted, and studied together at university. During the day that follows Rudin has his first conversation with Natasha; as she speaks of him highly and says he “ought to work”, he replies with a lengthy speech. What follows is a description quite typical of Turgenev, where the character of Rudin is shown not through his own words, but through the text which underlines Rudin’s contradictory statements:
“Yes, I must act. I must not bury my talent, if I have any; I must not squander my powers on talk alone — empty, profitless talk — on mere words,’ and his words flowed in a stream. He spoke nobly, ardently, convincingly, of the sin of cowardice and indolence, of the necessity of action.”
On the same day, Sergei leaves Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s early and arrives to see that Lezhnev is visiting. Lezhnev then gives his first description of Rudin.
Rudin and Natasha
Natasha leaves Rudin after their decisive encounter, by Dmitry Kardovsky
In two months, we are told, Rudin is still staying at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s, living off borrowed money. He spends a lot of time with Natasha; in a conversation with her he speaks of how an old love can only be replaced by a new one. At the same time, Lezhnev gives the account of his youth and his friendship with Rudin, making for the first time the point that Rudin is “too cold” and inactive. On the next day, Natasha quizzes Rudin over his words about old and new love. Neither she, nor he confess their love for each other but in the evening, Rudin and Natasha meet again, and this time Rudin confesses his love for her; Natasha replies that she, too, loves him. Unfortunately, their conversation is overheard by Pandalevskii, who reports it to Dar’ya Mikhailovna, and she strongly disapproves of this romance, making her feelings known to Natasha. The next time Natasha and Rudin meet, she tells him that Dar’ya Mikhailovna knows of their love and disapproves of it. Natasha wants to know what plan of action is Rudin going to propose, but he does not fulfil her expectations when he says that one must “submit to destiny”. She leaves him, disappointed and sad:
“I am sad because I have been deceived in you… What! I come to you for counsel, and at such a moment! — and your first word is, submit! submit! So this is how you translate your talk of independence, of sacrifice, which …”
Rudin then leaves Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s estate. Before his departure he writes two letters: one to Natasha and one to Sergei. The letter to Natasha is particularly notable in its confession of the vices of inactivity, inability to act and to take responsibility for one’s actions – all the traits of a Hamlet which Turgenev later detailed in his 1860 speech. Lezhnev, meanwhile, asks Aleksandra to marry him and is accepted in a particularly fine scene.
The Aftermath
Rudin at the barricades, by Dmitry Kardovsky
Chapter Twelve and the Epilogue detail events of over two years past Rudin’s arrival at Dar’ya Mikhailovna’s estate. Lezhnev is happily married to Aleksandra. He arrives to give her news of Sergei’s engagement to Natasha, who is said to “seem contented”. Pigasov lives with Lezhnevs, and amuses Aleksandra as he used to amuse Dar’ya Mikhailovna. A conversation which follows happens to touch on Rudin, and as Pigasov begins to make fun of him, Lezhnev stops him. He then defends Rudin’s “genius” while saying that his problem is that he had no “character” in him. This, again, refers to the superfluous man’s inability to act. He then toasts Rudin. The chapter ends with the description of Rudin travelling aimlessly around Russia. In the Epilogue, Lezhnev happens by chance to meet Rudin at a hotel in a provincial town. Lezhnev invites Rudin to dine with him, and over the dinner Rudin relates to Lezhnev his attempts to “act” – to improve an estate belonging to his friend, to make a river navigable, to become a teacher. In all three of this attempts Rudin demonstrated inability to adapt to the circumstances of Nicholas I’s Russia, and subsequently failed, and was in the end banished to his estate. Lezhnev then appears to change his opinion of Rudin as inherently inactive, and says that Rudin failed exactly because he could never stop striving for truth. The Epilogue ends with Rudin’s death at the barricades during the French Revolution of 1848; even at death he is mistaken by two fleeing revolutionaries for a Pole.
Adaptations
Rudin was adapted for screen in 1976. The 95 minutes-long Soviet-made movie was directed by Konstantin Voynov. The cast included Oleg Yefremov, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, and Rolan Bykov.
Home of the Gentry (Russian: Дворянское гнездо, pronounced [dvorʲanskɔjɛ ɡnʲɛzdo]) is a novel published by Ivan Turgenev in the January 1859 issue of Sovremennik. It was enthusiastically received by the Russian society and remained his least controversial and most widely-read novel until the end of the 19th century. It was turned into a movie by Andrey Konchalovsky in 1969.
Plot summary
The novel's protagonist is Fyodor Ivanych Lavretsky, a nobleman who shares many traits with Turgenev. The child of a distant, Anglophile father and a serf mother who dies when he is very young, Lavretsky is brought up at his family's country estate home by a severe maiden aunt, often thought to be based on Turgenev's own mother who was known for her cruelty.
Lavretsky pursues an education in Moscow, and while he is studying there, he spies a beautiful young woman at the opera. Her name is Varvara Pavlovna, and he falls in love with her and asks for her hand in marriage. The two move to Paris, where Varvara Pavlovna becomes a very popular salon hostess and begins an affair with one of her frequent visitors. Lavretsky learns of the affair only when he discovers a note written to her by her lover. Shocked by her betrayal, he severs all contact with her and returns to his family estate.
Upon returning to Russia, Lavretsky visits his cousin, Marya Dmitrievna Kalitina, who lives with her two daughters, Liza and Lenochka. Lavretsky is immediately drawn to Liza, whose serious nature and religious devotion stand in contrast to Varvara Pavlovna's coquettishness and social consciousness. Lavretsky realizes that he is falling in love with Liza, and when he reads in a foreign journal that Varvara Pavlovna has died, he confesses his love to her and learns that she loves him in return.
Unfortunately, a cruel twist of fate prevents Lavretsky and Liza from being together. After they confess their love to one another, Lavretsky returns home to find his supposedly dead wife waiting for him in his foyer. It turns out that the reports of her death were false, and that she has fallen out of favor with her friends and needs more money from Lavretsky.
Upon learning of Varvara Pavlovna's sudden appearance, Liza decides to join a remote convent and lives out the rest of her days as a nun. Lavretsky visits her at the convent one time and catches a glimpse of her as she is walking from choir to choir. The novel ends with an epilogue which takes place eight years later, in which Lavretsky returns to Liza's house and finds that, although many things have changed, there are elements such as the piano and the garden that are the same. Lavretsky finds comfort in his memories and is able to see the meaning and even the beauty in his personal pain.
Major themes
Ultimately, Turgenev concludes that the truth is best left unstated. He concludes the novel by stating that he could not possibly explain what Lavretsky and Liza felt, and that it is better to point out these individual tragedies and pass them by.
Turgenev wrote the novel shortly after his 40th birthday, and it expresses some of his feelings about middle age, as its protagonist is forced to confront the mistakes of his past and determine what options are left for his dwindling future.
Plot summary
The novel's protagonist is Fyodor Ivanych Lavretsky, a nobleman who shares many traits with Turgenev. The child of a distant, Anglophile father and a serf mother who dies when he is very young, Lavretsky is brought up at his family's country estate home by a severe maiden aunt, often thought to be based on Turgenev's own mother who was known for her cruelty.
Lavretsky pursues an education in Moscow, and while he is studying there, he spies a beautiful young woman at the opera. Her name is Varvara Pavlovna, and he falls in love with her and asks for her hand in marriage. The two move to Paris, where Varvara Pavlovna becomes a very popular salon hostess and begins an affair with one of her frequent visitors. Lavretsky learns of the affair only when he discovers a note written to her by her lover. Shocked by her betrayal, he severs all contact with her and returns to his family estate.
Upon returning to Russia, Lavretsky visits his cousin, Marya Dmitrievna Kalitina, who lives with her two daughters, Liza and Lenochka. Lavretsky is immediately drawn to Liza, whose serious nature and religious devotion stand in contrast to Varvara Pavlovna's coquettishness and social consciousness. Lavretsky realizes that he is falling in love with Liza, and when he reads in a foreign journal that Varvara Pavlovna has died, he confesses his love to her and learns that she loves him in return.
Unfortunately, a cruel twist of fate prevents Lavretsky and Liza from being together. After they confess their love to one another, Lavretsky returns home to find his supposedly dead wife waiting for him in his foyer. It turns out that the reports of her death were false, and that she has fallen out of favor with her friends and needs more money from Lavretsky.
Upon learning of Varvara Pavlovna's sudden appearance, Liza decides to join a remote convent and lives out the rest of her days as a nun. Lavretsky visits her at the convent one time and catches a glimpse of her as she is walking from choir to choir. The novel ends with an epilogue which takes place eight years later, in which Lavretsky returns to Liza's house and finds that, although many things have changed, there are elements such as the piano and the garden that are the same. Lavretsky finds comfort in his memories and is able to see the meaning and even the beauty in his personal pain.
Major themes
Ultimately, Turgenev concludes that the truth is best left unstated. He concludes the novel by stating that he could not possibly explain what Lavretsky and Liza felt, and that it is better to point out these individual tragedies and pass them by.
Turgenev wrote the novel shortly after his 40th birthday, and it expresses some of his feelings about middle age, as its protagonist is forced to confront the mistakes of his past and determine what options are left for his dwindling future.
译者：黄伟经
输入：小精灵
－－爱之路
落难
“这些声音声意味着什么呢？”“意味着我感到痛苦，强烈地感到痛苦。”
“当小溪的流水碰到石头的时候，你听见过它的潺潺声吗？”
“听见过……但这说明了说明呢？”
“说明这潺潺声和你的呻吟声都一样是声音，而不是别的什么东西。所不同的是：小溪的潺潺声使人悦耳，而你的呻吟声，却引不起任何人的怜悯。你不必忍住呻吟，可是你记住吧：这反正是声音，声音，象树木被折裂的嘎吱声一样的声音……声音－－而不是什么别的东西。
屠格涅夫这篇散文诗写于他去世前一年，那时他身患重病(脊椎癌)经常处于痛苦呻吟和孤独感之中。
乞丐
我在街上走着……一个乞丐－－一个衰弱的老人档住了我。红肿的、流着泪水的眼睛，发青的嘴唇，粗糙、褴褛的衣服，龌龊的伤口……呵，贫穷把这个不幸的人折磨成了什么样子啊！他向我伸出一只红肿、肮脏的手……。他呻吟着，他喃喃地乞求帮助。我伸手搜索自己身上所有口袋……。既没有钱包，也没有怀表，甚至连一块手帕也没有……。我随身什么东西也没有带。但乞丐在等待着……他伸出来的手，微微地摆动着和颤动着。我惘然无措，惶惑不安，紧紧地握了握这只肮脏的、发抖的手……。“请别见怪，兄弟；我什么也没有带，兄弟。”乞丐那对红肿的眼睛凝视着我；他发青的嘴唇微笑了一下－－接着，他也照样紧握了我的变得冷起来的手指。“那儿的话，兄弟，”他吃力地说道，“这也应当谢谢啦。这也是一种施舍啊，兄弟。”乞丐那对红肿的眼睛凝视着我；他发青的嘴唇微笑了一下－－接着，他也照样紧握了我的变得冷起来的手指。“那儿的话，兄弟，”他吃力地说道，“这也应当谢谢啦。这也是一种施舍啊，兄弟。”我明白，我也从我的兄弟那儿得到了施舍。
明天，明天
度过的每一天，几乎都是那么空虚，那么懒散，那么毫无价值！它给自己留下的痕迹是多么少！这些一点钟又一点钟消逝了的时间，又是多么没有意义，多么糊里糊涂啊！
然而，人却要生存下去；他珍惜生命，他把希望寄托在生命，寄托在自己，寄托在未来上面……噢，他期待着将来什么样的幸福呀！
可是，他为什么设想，其他后来的日子，将不会同刚刚过去的这一天相似呢？
他就是没有料想到这一点。他向来不爱思索－－他这做得很好。
“啊，明天，明天！”他安慰着自己，一直到这个“明天”把他送入坟墓。
好啦－－一旦在坟墓里－－你就不得不停止思索了。
爱之路
一切感情都可以导致爱情，导致热烈爱慕，一切的感情：憎恨，怜悯，冷漠，崇敬，友谊，畏惧，－－甚至蔑视。是的，一切的感情……只是除了感谢以外。
感谢－－这是债务；任何人都可以摆出自己的一些债务……但爱情－－不是金钱。
空话
我害怕，我避免空话；但对空话的畏惧－－也是一种自负。
于是，在这两个外来词之间，在自负与空话之间，我们复杂的生活在流逝着和变动着。
纯朴
纯朴！纯朴！人们把你叫作神圣的。可是，神圣－－这不是人类的事。
谦逊－－这才是。它抑制着，它战胜着骄傲。但不要忘记：胜利感本身就蕴场着自己的骄傲。
你哭……
你哭的是我的悲痛；而我哭，是由于同情你对我的怜悯。
然而，要知道，你哭的也是自己的悲痛，因为只有你在我身上看到了自己的悲痛。
爱情
大家都说：爱情－－这是最高尚的，最特殊的感情。别一个的“我”，深入到你的“我”里：你被扩大了－－你也被突破了；现在从肉体上说你是很超然了，而且你的“我”被消除了。可是甚至连这样的消亡，也使一个有血有肉的人愤懑。只有不朽之神才能复活啊。
啊，我的青春！啊，我的活力！
啊，我的青春！啊，我的活力！－－果戈里
“啊，我的青春！啊，我的活力！”我有个时候也曾经这样感叹过。不过，当我发出这个感叹的时候，我自己还年轻和充满活力。
那时，我不过是想以忧郁的情绪来投自己所好，表面上是在怜悯自己，暗地里是在高兴。
现在，我缄口不语，不再为那些失去的东西唉声叹气，难过伤心……。那些失去的东西，本来就以不能明说的烦恼经常折磨着我。
“嘿！最好别去想吧！”男子汉们坚决地说。
我怜悯……
我怜悯我自己，别人，所有的人，野兽，鸟类……一切有生命之物。
我怜悯孩子们和老年人，不幸者和幸运者……怜悯幸运者甚于不幸者。
我怜悯常胜的、凯旋的首领们，怜悯伟大的艺术家，思想家诗人们。
我怜悯杀人犯和他的受害者，怜悯丑与美，怜悯被压迫者和压迫者。
我怎样从这怜悯中解脱出来呢？它不让我安稳地生活……。它，还有这烦恼。
哦，烦恼，烦恼，充满了怜悯的烦恼啊！人千万不能陷入烦恼之中。
真的，我最好还是羡慕吧！我就羡慕－－岩石。
处世法则
你想成为心情安宁的人吗？那么，去同人们交往吧，不过要一个人生活，对任何事情都不要着手去做，对任何事情都不惋惜吧。
你想成为幸福的人吗？那你首先要学会吃苦。
谁之罪
她向我伸出了自己的温暖的手、苍白的手……我却粗鲁无情地推开了她。年轻、可爱的脸庞上，表现出疑惑不解的神情；年轻、善良的眼睛，带着责备的目光注视着我；年轻、纯洁的心，并不理解我。
“我的罪过是什么？”她的嘴唇喃喃着说。
“你的罪过？在最光辉灿烂的苍穹深处，最快活的安琪儿，可能比你更容易犯下罪过呢。
“可是，在我面前，你的罪过依然是很大的。
“你想知道它，知道这个你不可能了解，我无法给你解释明白的罪过吗？
“这个罪过就在于：你－－正当青春年华；我－－已是老年。”
输入：小精灵
－－爱之路
落难
“这些声音声意味着什么呢？”“意味着我感到痛苦，强烈地感到痛苦。”
“当小溪的流水碰到石头的时候，你听见过它的潺潺声吗？”
“听见过……但这说明了说明呢？”
“说明这潺潺声和你的呻吟声都一样是声音，而不是别的什么东西。所不同的是：小溪的潺潺声使人悦耳，而你的呻吟声，却引不起任何人的怜悯。你不必忍住呻吟，可是你记住吧：这反正是声音，声音，象树木被折裂的嘎吱声一样的声音……声音－－而不是什么别的东西。
屠格涅夫这篇散文诗写于他去世前一年，那时他身患重病(脊椎癌)经常处于痛苦呻吟和孤独感之中。
乞丐
我在街上走着……一个乞丐－－一个衰弱的老人档住了我。红肿的、流着泪水的眼睛，发青的嘴唇，粗糙、褴褛的衣服，龌龊的伤口……呵，贫穷把这个不幸的人折磨成了什么样子啊！他向我伸出一只红肿、肮脏的手……。他呻吟着，他喃喃地乞求帮助。我伸手搜索自己身上所有口袋……。既没有钱包，也没有怀表，甚至连一块手帕也没有……。我随身什么东西也没有带。但乞丐在等待着……他伸出来的手，微微地摆动着和颤动着。我惘然无措，惶惑不安，紧紧地握了握这只肮脏的、发抖的手……。“请别见怪，兄弟；我什么也没有带，兄弟。”乞丐那对红肿的眼睛凝视着我；他发青的嘴唇微笑了一下－－接着，他也照样紧握了我的变得冷起来的手指。“那儿的话，兄弟，”他吃力地说道，“这也应当谢谢啦。这也是一种施舍啊，兄弟。”乞丐那对红肿的眼睛凝视着我；他发青的嘴唇微笑了一下－－接着，他也照样紧握了我的变得冷起来的手指。“那儿的话，兄弟，”他吃力地说道，“这也应当谢谢啦。这也是一种施舍啊，兄弟。”我明白，我也从我的兄弟那儿得到了施舍。
明天，明天
度过的每一天，几乎都是那么空虚，那么懒散，那么毫无价值！它给自己留下的痕迹是多么少！这些一点钟又一点钟消逝了的时间，又是多么没有意义，多么糊里糊涂啊！
然而，人却要生存下去；他珍惜生命，他把希望寄托在生命，寄托在自己，寄托在未来上面……噢，他期待着将来什么样的幸福呀！
可是，他为什么设想，其他后来的日子，将不会同刚刚过去的这一天相似呢？
他就是没有料想到这一点。他向来不爱思索－－他这做得很好。
“啊，明天，明天！”他安慰着自己，一直到这个“明天”把他送入坟墓。
好啦－－一旦在坟墓里－－你就不得不停止思索了。
爱之路
一切感情都可以导致爱情，导致热烈爱慕，一切的感情：憎恨，怜悯，冷漠，崇敬，友谊，畏惧，－－甚至蔑视。是的，一切的感情……只是除了感谢以外。
感谢－－这是债务；任何人都可以摆出自己的一些债务……但爱情－－不是金钱。
空话
我害怕，我避免空话；但对空话的畏惧－－也是一种自负。
于是，在这两个外来词之间，在自负与空话之间，我们复杂的生活在流逝着和变动着。
纯朴
纯朴！纯朴！人们把你叫作神圣的。可是，神圣－－这不是人类的事。
谦逊－－这才是。它抑制着，它战胜着骄傲。但不要忘记：胜利感本身就蕴场着自己的骄傲。
你哭……
你哭的是我的悲痛；而我哭，是由于同情你对我的怜悯。
然而，要知道，你哭的也是自己的悲痛，因为只有你在我身上看到了自己的悲痛。
爱情
大家都说：爱情－－这是最高尚的，最特殊的感情。别一个的“我”，深入到你的“我”里：你被扩大了－－你也被突破了；现在从肉体上说你是很超然了，而且你的“我”被消除了。可是甚至连这样的消亡，也使一个有血有肉的人愤懑。只有不朽之神才能复活啊。
啊，我的青春！啊，我的活力！
啊，我的青春！啊，我的活力！－－果戈里
“啊，我的青春！啊，我的活力！”我有个时候也曾经这样感叹过。不过，当我发出这个感叹的时候，我自己还年轻和充满活力。
那时，我不过是想以忧郁的情绪来投自己所好，表面上是在怜悯自己，暗地里是在高兴。
现在，我缄口不语，不再为那些失去的东西唉声叹气，难过伤心……。那些失去的东西，本来就以不能明说的烦恼经常折磨着我。
“嘿！最好别去想吧！”男子汉们坚决地说。
我怜悯……
我怜悯我自己，别人，所有的人，野兽，鸟类……一切有生命之物。
我怜悯孩子们和老年人，不幸者和幸运者……怜悯幸运者甚于不幸者。
我怜悯常胜的、凯旋的首领们，怜悯伟大的艺术家，思想家诗人们。
我怜悯杀人犯和他的受害者，怜悯丑与美，怜悯被压迫者和压迫者。
我怎样从这怜悯中解脱出来呢？它不让我安稳地生活……。它，还有这烦恼。
哦，烦恼，烦恼，充满了怜悯的烦恼啊！人千万不能陷入烦恼之中。
真的，我最好还是羡慕吧！我就羡慕－－岩石。
处世法则
你想成为心情安宁的人吗？那么，去同人们交往吧，不过要一个人生活，对任何事情都不要着手去做，对任何事情都不惋惜吧。
你想成为幸福的人吗？那你首先要学会吃苦。
谁之罪
她向我伸出了自己的温暖的手、苍白的手……我却粗鲁无情地推开了她。年轻、可爱的脸庞上，表现出疑惑不解的神情；年轻、善良的眼睛，带着责备的目光注视着我；年轻、纯洁的心，并不理解我。
“我的罪过是什么？”她的嘴唇喃喃着说。
“你的罪过？在最光辉灿烂的苍穹深处，最快活的安琪儿，可能比你更容易犯下罪过呢。
“可是，在我面前，你的罪过依然是很大的。
“你想知道它，知道这个你不可能了解，我无法给你解释明白的罪过吗？
“这个罪过就在于：你－－正当青春年华；我－－已是老年。”