Pushkin's “Young Lady Peasant” is full of lightness, humor and simplicity. Reviews, which appeared immediately after the publication of the story, position the work, both innovative both in terms of form and content. In general, Belkin’s Tales, which include this work, is Pushkin’s first prosaic experience, which saw the light of day. What innovation Alexander Sergeevich brought to literature, we will analyze on the example of the story "The Young Lady-Peasant." Reviews from critics clearly speak of its simplicity and at the same time, the depth of meanings. Let us examine these aspects.
Writing history
Boldin autumn ... This is one of the most productive periods of Pushkin's work. At this time, Belkin's Tales came out from under his brilliant pen. Caught in the lap of nature, surrounded by the bright colors of autumn, observing the life of a Russian village, far from Petersburg life with constant surveillance by secret police, the writer relaxes here and writes “as long ago as he wrote”. Over these three short months, A.S. Pushkin creates both poetic and dramatic works. It is here, in Boldin, that the writer tries himself as a prose writer.
The idea that prose should be simple and concise has been nurtured by Pushkin for a long time, but he shares it with his friends more than once. The writer believes that such creations should describe Russian reality, such as it is, without embellishment. The path to writing prose literary works was not easy, because at that time more preference was given to poetry and the corresponding poetic language. Pushkin had a very difficult task: to process the language means in such a way that they fit the “language of thought”.
Summary
Let us turn to the last story from the series “Young Lady Peasant”. Reviews say that it is easy to read and has a simple plot.
The work tells of two landlord families: Berestov and Murom. They do not get along with each other. The son of Alexei is brought up in the family of the first master. Lisa is the daughter of the second. The landowner fathers are very different from each other. If Berestov is a successful businessman, he is loved and respected in the district, then Muromsky is a typical representative of the landlord estate - an inept manager, a real master.
Young Berestov is getting ready to become a military man, but his father does not quite like this idea, so he keeps his son in the village, next to him. Pleasant, disposable appearance makes Alexei popular among the daughters of local nobles. Liza of Murom learns of his existence from the servant Nastya (a young gentleman also conquered her heart). The girl described Alexey to her mistress in such a way that for her he also became a romantic ideal. Lisa, dreaming of meeting with young Berestov, dresses up in a peasant outfit and goes to the grove, where he usually hunts.
Young people meet and fall in love with each other. Young Murom is the daughter of a local blacksmith Akulin. Alexei is not afraid of her social status, he longs for continued meetings with the girl. An accident intervenes in the usual course of things. During a joint hunt, the horse of Murom suffered, Berestov came to the rescue - and relations between them began to warm. Everything went so far that they conspired to marry their children.
Arriving with his father for lunch at Muromskiy, Alexey does not recognize Lisa Akulin: the girl changes her appearance a lot, sniffs during the conversation. Meetings of young people continue. Alexei decides to marry a peasant woman, which he informs her in a letter. Arriving to explain himself to Murom, he meets Lisa-Akulina reading his letter.
Main characters
Here she is - Pushkin's “Young Lady Peasant”. The content, as we see, is not complicated by additional meanings; everything clearly outlines the ordinary life of nobles and peasants.
Let us examine in more detail the main characters of the story. Lisa of Murom is a seventeen-year-old girl, the daughter of a landowner. It should be said that A. S. Pushkin was the first to speak of the daughters of the landowners. Such and Tatyana Larina in "Eugene Onegin." These girls are clean, dreamy, they are brought up in French novels. At the same time, Lisa is able to truly love, to surrender to this feeling, she does not know how to lie and dissemble - all her feelings are sincere. It should be said that she is also very smart. The decency rules that existed in the 19th century did not allow the girl to get acquainted with a young man without an announcement and presentation, therefore Lisa comes up with a comedy with dressing up.
The next hero of the novel “The Young Lady-Peasant”, reviews of which are always positive, is Alexey Berestov. Initially, the reader learns about him from the lips of Nastya, the servant of Lisa. She presents him as an impregnable smoothie, covered in various secrets. In fact, a young man is a sincere young man, capable of truly loving, sincere, not setting class boundaries.
The fathers of young people, on the one hand, are very similar (widowers, who have spent their whole lives on raising only children, hospitable, ambitious), but on the other hand, they are completely different. This affects the manner of housekeeping. If Berestov is an entrepreneurial in business activities, successful and prosperous, then Muromsky’s passion for English manners did not bring to prosperity: even his estate was mortgaged. However, having made peace, the landowners understand that they are able to create a very influential union through the marriage of children.
Content Analysis
“The Young Lady-Peasant” is a story parodying the well-known “through” plots. First of all, this is the theme of two warring families, dating back to Shakespeare's work. However, Pushkin rethought the plot, and his story ends with the reconciliation and happy union of young people.
There is another cross-cutting theme: “The Young Peasant Woman” raises social problems as well. Karamzin wrote about such unequal love in the famous “Poor Liza”. However, Pushkin again outplayed the plot, and his narrative does not end in a tragic break based on differences in the origin of the characters. The title and epigraph to the story are not accidental: they indicate that in addition to the dress, the rustic and the landlord, Lisa is no longer distinguished from Akulina - the social side has been erased.
Genre originality
According to the genre of "Young Lady-Peasant" - a story. Let us prove it. There are two main characters, united by one storyline, and their characters throughout the work remain unchanged (in contrast, for example, from the novel).
Another thing is important here: Pushkin contrasts real life with a romantic attitude to it, sung by previous authors. He tries to convey to the reader the idea of ​​the unpredictability of life, the impossibility of driving it into a certain framework. Hence the sometimes outright mockery of the features of romantic works.
A striking example of this is the young Berestov - a mysterious, leading secluded lifestyle, corresponding with a stranger from Moscow. However, he turns out to be an ardent, sincere young man, with a tan appearing on his face (this ironic detail emphasizes the falsity of the reader's initial judgments).
Art Analysis
As for the use of expressive means, here Pushkin is very stingy. To achieve simplicity of prose, not to overload the narrative with unnecessary details, the author does not use poetic decorations. He himself said this: "Prose should not sing, but speak."
Pushkin refused exclamations, magnificent metaphors, ardent comparisons, as was the case, for example, in Karamzin. That is why the work “The Young Lady-Peasant”, as well as the entire cycle of “Belkin's Tales”, is distinguished by the parsimony of artistic means. Acquaintance with the characters takes place without unnecessary preludes - the reader immediately plunges into the narrative.
The writer focuses not on a detailed description of the appearance and psychological portrait of the characters, but on their actions, which characterize the character much better than simple words.
Place in Belkin's Tales
The “Young Lady Peasant” concludes Belkin’s Tale for a reason. It is a peculiar point in all these subjects, supplementing them, giving the reader hope for the best.
Unlike the Station Warden, parents and children are reunited, and fate does not interfere with the course of life - Lisa creates it herself, changing clothes, playing a role.