Turgenev’s story “Date”, a brief summary of which will be discussed below, is included in the series “Hunting Notes”. Published in the journal Sovremennik in 1850.
Exposition
Where does it all start? The hunter stopped in the autumn forest to rest.
He admires the magnificent paintings of the colorful forest. At first, our hero dozed off, and when he woke up after a short time, he saw a peasant girl in a clearing. We begin to consider the story of Turgenev's “Date”.
Plot plot
She sat on a stump and was clearly waiting for someone. The sweet girl with ash blond hair was neatly dressed, and yellow beads adorned her neck. On her lap lay flowers that she was sorting out, and she listened carefully to the rustling in the forest. The girl's eyelashes were wet from tears. Sadness and bewilderment were visible on her meek face. Branches crackled in the distance, then footsteps were heard, and a dapper young man stepped into the clearing.
So the summary of Turgenev’s “Date” continues. By the appearance of a man, you can immediately determine that this is the master's valet . He is wearing clothes from a gentleman's shoulder, crooked red fingers laced with gold and silver rings with turquoise. The girl with delight and affection peers into him, ugly and narcissistic. From a further discussion, it turns out that they are seen for the last time. Akulina, that’s the name of the heroine, I want to cry, but Victor says that he can’t stand the tears, and the poor thing is holding them back.
She tilts her head to the flowers, carefully picks them and tells the young man what each flower means, and gives him a bouquet of cornflowers. He casually drops him and speaks of an imminent separation: his master leaves for Petersburg, and then, possibly, abroad.
Conflict
During this conversation, a different understanding of the situation emerges. We set out a summary of Turgenev’s “Date”. Akulina believed in the tender feelings of a young man, which in reality was not. Finally, before leaving, he did not even utter a single kind word to the girl, as she asked, but only told her to obey her father. This means that she will be married off against her will.
Climax
Heroes break up. Akulina is left alone with her experiences. This does not exhaust the summary of Turgenev's “Date”. The final remains open. When the hunter appears, Akulina runs away in fright, and he shows understanding of those feelings that excite the girl. The hunter picks up a bunch of cornflowers and carefully stores them.
Analysis of the work
First, consider the heroes. There are only three of them: hunter, Akulina and Victor.
The author secretly admires the girl who is the center of the story. First, her appearance is described with the eyes of a doe and long eyelashes, thin, slightly tanned skin, blond hair, caught in a scarlet ribbon. Only tears roll down the cheek. When Victor appeared, she started up joyfully, and then became embarrassed. With trepidation, she tenderly kisses Victor's hand and speaks to him respectfully. And when he finds out about the breakup, he cannot restrain his grief. Akulina tries to restrain herself and begs only a good word for parting. The bouquet that she collected is of great importance to the girl, but she gives special to the cornflowers, which, negligently, like herself, were rejected by Victor. These blue flowers have become a symbol of desecrated love.
Victor immediately makes a bad impression on the author. The young man is very ugly. His eyes are small, his forehead is narrow, his antennae are rare. He is full of self-esteem and self-satisfaction. Victor behaves ugly with Akulina, yawns, showing that he is bored with the peasant woman. He turns his watch endlessly and lorgn, which he does not know how to use. In the end, the genuine sorrow of Akulina frightens him, and he shamefully runs away, leaving the girl alone.
The hunter tells us about a date, sympathizing with the girl and despising the cynical lackey who may have broken her life.
The problems raised by the author can be transferred to our realities. Too often, modern young girls choose completely unworthy men and make them objects of worship, and then, abandoned, suffer. This concludes our analysis of Turgenev's “Date”.