The story “Poor Lisa”, written by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, was 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 contemporaries of the writer and was received with great enthusiasm. 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. Karamzin was distinguished by his love of Western culture and actively preached its principles. His role in the life of Russia was huge and invaluable. This progressive and active person traveled extensively throughout Europe from 1789-1790, and upon his return published the novel “Poor Liza” in the “Moscow Journal”.
The analysis of the story indicates that the work has a sentimental aesthetic orientation, which is expressed in interest in the feelings of people , regardless of their social status.
At the time of writing the story, Karamzin lived at the cottage of his friends, not far from which Simon Monastery 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 the readers as completely real. A pond near the monastery began to be called "Lysine Pond."
Karamzin's “Poor Lisa” as a Sentimentalist Tale
“Poor Lisa” is, in fact, a short story in the genre of which no one wrote in Russia before Karamzin. But the writer’s innovation is not only in choosing a genre, but also in the direction. It was for this story that the title of the first work of Russian sentimentalism was entrenched.
Sentimentalism arose in Europe as early as the 17th century and focused on the sensory side of human life. Issues of reason and society went by the wayside for this direction, but emotions, relationships of people became priority.
Sentimentalism has always sought to idealize what is happening, embellishment. Answering the question about what descriptions the story “Poor Liza” begins with, one can talk about the idyllic landscape that Karamzin draws 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 nobility to the peasants. It is not for nothing that Karamzin chooses a peasant girl for the role of bearer of innocence and morality.
Contrasting the images of Lisa and Erast, the writer was one of the first to raise the problem of the contradictions of the city and the village. If we turn to what descriptions of the story "Poor Lisa" begin, we will see a quiet, cozy and natural world that exists in harmony with nature. The city is frightening, terrifying with its "bulk of houses", "gold domes." Lisa becomes a reflection of nature, she is natural and naive, there is no falsehood and pretense in it.
The author appears in the story from the perspective of a humanist. Karamzin portrays all the charm of love, its beauty and strength. But reason and pragmatism can easily destroy this beautiful feeling. The story owes its success to incredible attention to the personality of a person, his experiences. “Poor Lisa” aroused sympathy among its readers due to Karamzin’s amazing ability to depict all the spiritual subtleties, experiences, aspirations and thoughts of the heroine.
Heroes
A complete analysis of the story “Poor Lisa” 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 eventually led her to death, although her morality remained untouched. However, in the image of Lisa there is little peasant: her speech and thoughts are closer to the book language, however, the feelings of the girl who first fell in love are conveyed with incredible truthfulness. So, despite the external idealization of the heroine, her inner experiences are transmitted very realistically. In this regard, the novel “Poor Lisa” does not lose its innovation.
What descriptions does the work begin with? First of all, in tune with the character of the heroine, helping the reader to know her. This is a natural idyllic world.
Erast appears before readers completely different. He is an officer who is puzzled only by the search for new entertainments, life in the world tires him and inspires boredom. He is not stupid, kind, but weak in character and changeable in his affections. Erast really falls in love, but does not think about the future at all, because Lisa is not his circle, and he will never be able to marry her.
Karamzin complicated the image of Erast. Typically, such a hero in Russian literature was simpler and endowed with certain characteristics. But the writer does not make him an insidious seducer, but sincerely in love with a man who, due to his weakness of character, could not pass the test and preserve his love. This type of hero was new to Russian literature, but immediately took root and later received the name "extra man."
The plot and originality
The plot of the work is pretty straightforward. This is the story of the tragic love of a peasant and 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 the story is not the plot and not the description, the main thing is feelings. And the storyteller should awaken these feelings from the public. 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 the reader with sadness and sympathy.
Thus, the story has three main characters: Lisa, Erast and the author-storyteller. Karamzin also introduces landscape descriptions and somewhat facilitates the heavyweight style of the Russian literary language.
Importance for Russian literature of the novel “Poor Liza”
The analysis of the story thus shows the incredible contribution of Karamzin to the development of Russian literature. In addition to describing the relationship of the city and the village, the appearance of the "extra man", many researchers note the birth of the "little man" - 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 world fame also spawned the story Poor Lisa. What descriptions does this work begin with! How much beauty, originality and incredible stylistic lightness are in them! One cannot overestimate the contribution of Karamzin to the development of Russian literature.