This article is dedicated to the novel "Hero of Our Time". The history of its creation is very interesting and mysterious. We still do not know the details of the direct work of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov on the text of this work. This is due to the fact that the materials that have reached us are few: there are few white and draft manuscripts, as well as evidence of contemporaries of the poet and the author himself.
Despite this, collecting bit by bit the necessary information and materials, we can, with some hypothesis, recreate the main stages and some details of Mikhail Yuryevich’s writing the work “Hero of Our Time”. The history of the creation of this novel, which is considered the peak of the poet’s creativity, will be examined by us on the basis of this information.
Memories of Shan Giray
A.P. Shan-Girey, with his memoirs, provides us with some information about the poet’s work on this work. This relative and friend of the poet claimed that the “Hero of our time”, the history of which we are interested in, began after Lermontov returned from his first exile in St. Petersburg in 1838. Most Lermontologists adhere to this particular point of view. But there is evidence that suggests that as early as 1837 a draft of Taman was written. Today, an authorized copy of this short story is noted marked Viscous, which says that this manuscript was written by Shan-Girey, Lermontov's cousin, to whom the latter sometimes dictated his compositions. Apparently, “Taman” was dictated from a draft, and not impromptu (this is evidenced by the purity of the copy).
This assumption is confirmed by a number of testimonies of relatives and contemporaries of the poet. For example, Grigorovich, who saw the draft autograph of this work, wrote in his memoirs that the story “Taman” sounds from beginning to end in a single harmonic chord. But if we take the first manuscript, it can be noted that it is full of inserts, tattered, it has many marks on pieces of paper pasted on wafers.
Memoirs of Gigmont
Grigorovich, unfortunately, did not say anything about the whereabouts of this autograph, as well as about who owns it. But today another memory has come to light that echoes the story of this contemporary. In 1947, correspondence was published with P. S. Zhigmont, a relative of the poet, his first biographer, P. A. Viskovaty. Zhigmont reported that it seems that in 1839, in Stavropol, the poet sketched “Taman,” and then handed the sketch to the Petrovs, in whom he could be preserved.
This dating was made, thus, half a century after this event, and the author of the memoirs himself wrote that he was not sure about this date. A.V. Popov noted that S.O. Zhigmont and Lermontov met in Stavropol in 1837, and in 1839 none of them were in this city. Therefore, by 1837 the draft Tamani should be included.
Lermontov's location during the work on the work
As is known, this incident is based on the incident experienced in September 1837 by Mikhail Yurievich. In November, he was already in Tiflis. His very curious sketch entitled "I am in Tiflis" also belongs to this period. Therefore, I. Andronikov asserts very convincingly that it contains the embryos of "Fatalist" and "Taman". You might think that due to the fact that the “syncretic plan” was overloaded and complex in the plot, the writer decided to divide it into two works, first drafting “Taman”, during the wandering period in November-December 1837, and then “Fatalist”. From this begins the story “The Hero of Our Time”. The plot and composition of the novel underwent significant changes in the future, only later it was replenished with these two, initially separate, works. In December, returning already to Petersburg, the poet stopped for a short time in Sevastopol, where he met with S.O. Zhigmont and Petrov, his relatives. At this time, after rewriting Taman, Mikhail Yuryevich apparently left her a draft to Petrov. It was then that Grigorovich saw him.
When was written "Taman" ("Hero of our time")?
The story of creation (briefly dwell on all parts of the story) continues. Thus, the collected information allows us to say that the work on the draft "Taman" refers to the period from September to December 1837, since the poet was in Taman in September, and Mikhail Yuryevich left Sevastopol in late December. In this regard, it would seem, it can be established that it was in this, and not in 1838, that many researchers believe that the idea of the work “Hero of Our Time” began to be realized. The history of its creation, thus, opens between September and December 1837.
Is Taman involved in the original design of the novel?
Meanwhile, this conclusion is hasty, since there is evidence that Taman was initially not involved in the idea of the novel, which arose later, as the hero of this novel was not involved in the image of Pechorin.
Firstly, the name of the protagonist of the work in "Taman" is never mentioned. Secondly, it is known from "Princess Mary" that this character was exiled to the Caucasus for some "history." But the hero of "Taman" does not look like the exiled just arrived from Petersburg.
Thirdly, in all the novels and short stories, Maxim Maksimych, the “cross-cutting character”, who is the antithesis of Pechorin, is invariably mentioned or shown. Only in “Taman” is he absent.
There is also reason to believe that Fatalist was written separately, following Tamany, out of touch with this novel, apparently, at the beginning of 1838, after Mikhail Yuryevich returned to Petersburg.
Feature of the creative process of Lermontov
A feature of the creative process of this author is the parallel work on several works at once. Together with the development of the initial versions of the novel “Hero of Our Time”, the history of which is described in this article, the poet also worked on the final editions of Demon. The sixth was completed in September 1838, the seventh in December, and the eighth in January 1839.
First editions
In "Domestic Notes" was published "Bela" in March 1839.
In August of the same year, the poem "Mtsyri" was completed, and approximately at that time the intensive preparation of the "Hero of Our Time" for printing began. Then the composition of the novel was significantly changed - the novel "Fatalist" was included in it. Thus, the story of creation continues. The “Hero of Our Time” is already in its second edition during this period. There is little information about the first, but we can conclude that it consisted only of the works “Maxim Maksimych”, “Bela” and “Princess Mary”.
The inclusion of the Fatalist turned out to be organic primarily because there was an inner affinity between Pechorin and the author. In addition, this novel touched on the most important social problems of the generation modern Lermontov.
The inclusion of this work emphasized the philosophical nature of the novel, and also gave great depth to the image of Pechorin.
We continue to consider the work "Hero of Our Time". The story of the creation of the novel, summarized, is presented by the following further events.
The second edition of the work relates to 1839, the period from August to September. It consisted then of two short stories and two stories "Hero of Our Time". The history of creation, the composition of the novel in the final version will be described below. In this edition, the work was divided into the following two parts: notes of the officer, who is the narrator, and notes of the hero. The first included the story “Bela” and the story “Maxim Maksimych”, and the second - the story “Fatalist” and the story “Princess Mary”.
Final edition of the work
We continue to talk about what the story of creation was like in this work. The “Hero of Our Time” at the end of 1839 underwent significant changes in preparing the novel for a separate edition. At this stage, already final, Taman was introduced into it, in which the functions of the narrator, as in Fatalist, were transferred to the hero from the author-narrator. There were already six “chapters” in this edition. This also included the “Preface” to the hero’s notes - “The Pechorin Journal” - which Belinsky called the “head”, given its significance. In this edition, the poet divided the novel into two parts, which in the first two was only implied. Also at this final stage of creation is the definition of the final title of the work.
The publication of the final version of the novel "Hero of our time"
The story of the creation of the novel ends as follows. In February, censorship permission was granted to release this work. The book went on sale in April 1840, and a year later it came out in a second edition, which included the preface to the work as a whole, created by Lermontov, apparently in February 1841.
So, finally, the "canonical" composition of the novel "Hero of Our Time" was determined. The story of the creation of this work, which is one of the best in the 19th century, ends here.