Analysis of the story "Poor Lisa". Analysis of the story "Poor Liza" by Karamzin Analysis of the work of poor Liza according to plan

N.M. Karamzin became one of the largest Russian writers in the era of sentimentalism. One of his first works in this direction was "Poor Liza", in which the author puts human feelings, and not reason, their improvement, the writer's attention is directed to the rich inner world of man.

The main characters are a simple girl Lisa and a young nobleman Erast. The plot is based on the love story of representatives of different walks of life. Karamzin does not recognize marriage between a peasant woman and a nobleman. In the work, the issue of choice between human feelings and material values is acute. At the same time, the author emphasizes that no matter what class a person belongs to, he must be responsible for his actions. Erast exchanged high feelings for a desire to live in abundance. He simply took advantage of the girl, and then left her without feeling any remorse.

Lisa is a modest girl with a kind soul. Once in another "world", she is defenseless. She trusts her heart, completely surrenders to her feelings, which ultimately leads her to death.

Erast belongs to high society, recognizes completely different values, different from the heroine. It has a destructive effect on the girl, hurts her heart, bestows empty promises, turning her head. Taking advantage of her naivety, he breaks her heart and undermines the emotional state of the "shepherdess". Of course, the girl could not bear such a blow, because it was the first time for her. Her honor is violated, life no longer makes sense. Erast was her meaning.

The cruel world in which the heroes found themselves deprives them of happiness, brings constant suffering and torment. Lisa is ruined by naivete, and Erast by sophistication.

"Poor Lisa" is a tragic love story, a drama of two hearts and a play of feelings. It is filled with incredible psychologism and tragedy, touches the heart and makes you shed tears of tender sorrow.

Love is what turns you inside and out. This great feeling extends to the rich and the poor, it lives in each of us, just not everyone is able to open up to it. Not everyone can experience true love. A person who has known and preserved it for many years is truly happy.

Option 2

The story of poor Liza, which is told by N.M. Karamzin is essentially a tragedy, since it ends with the death of one of the main characters. The work is filled with sentimentality, thanks to which it attracts the reader's attention, maintains interest in it and captures with its sensuality.

The love that arose between Lisa and Erast could not be durable. It's not even about material values, because the young man was ready to give them up in favor of feelings for the girl. The stumbling block was the laws common to all nobles, to whom Erast belonged. Public service at that time was in the first place among people of noble origin, and the privilege of dying for the fatherland was beyond any feelings. The young man was simply not able to change his title, since such a decision would dishonor him, make him a traitor in the eyes of the public. Not a single nobleman could forgive himself the shame of desertion, and that is why Erast went to the front.

There is no doubt that Liza sincerely loved this young man, but she was unable to resist the dictates of fate and save Erast from his fatal mistake. He, being at the front, succumbed to the temptation of excitement and lost a huge amount of money in cards. Perhaps, his financial situation really played a role here, because Erast, possessing the property assigned to a nobleman, sought to increase his wealth, but lost everything, including his love. Therein lies his vice.

The act committed by Erast can in no way be justified, however, to say that he had no feelings for Lisa, as well as his betrayal, is fundamentally wrong. At the end of the story, the author points out that it was Erast who told him this story, who for all these years was worried about what had happened and repented of his deed. It is also impossible to say that Lisa herself turned out to be completely innocent, because, having destroyed herself, she also destroyed her mother, who for a long time mourned the death of her husband, that is, Lisa's father. Such a tragic ending occurred, among other things, due to the fact that the young girl doubted Erast's love, deciding that he had betrayed her.

Thus, the problem of love in the work "Poor Lisa" is revealed in two ways. There is no doubt that both heroes loved each other sincerely, but they were not destined to stay together. In part, fate played a big role here, manifesting in state laws that forbid nobles to marry people from a peasant environment. But Erast also made a big mistake when he succumbed to card gambling. One way or another, the author himself does not treat the characters one-sidedly. He shows that both are to blame here, including Lisa, who, by committing suicide, made her mother's heart stop, and also doomed Erast to eternal repentance and pangs of conscience.

Composition based on the work Poor Liza

Russian literature is rich in lyrical and sentimental works. One of these works is the story "Poor Lisa", which was written in 1792 by the wonderful writer Karamzin. This story awakens many feelings, and also makes the reader remember humanity and respect for people.

The work contains a description of the tragedy, and everything written is perceived by the reader as a real story. This is due to the fact that the narrator was familiar with the hero, who showed him Lisa's grave. This story interested many people due to the images of people that the author created. The characters are filled with many feelings. Some people are good, some do evil, and some make a lot of mistakes and agree with them.

The author very beautifully describes the landscapes and the beauty of nature. Beautiful and touching words indicate that Karamzin had a very deep soul. The poet compares the urban area and the village. It wonderfully describes the summer in Moscow, and also masterfully transitions into the autumn season and thereby prepares the reader for more disturbing feelings.

The central characters of the story are Liza and Erast. The author described Erast as a wealthy person who has kindness and an open heart, but on the other hand, a weak and frivolous person. This hero loved a wild life and did not miss social events at which he sought and hoped to have fun. But in most cases, he did not find what he was looking for.

Liza, at the first meeting with Erast, surprised him with her beauty. Erast had a fairly developed imagination, as he read many novels in which couples kissed and lived life only in romantic feelings. The hero was now glad, because he had the impression that he had finally found the very girl he had been looking for for so long.

Young people met, and initially Lisa for Erast was something new, not previously seen. Erast could no longer satisfy himself with a kiss with Lisa or caresses. The girl eventually became for Erast no longer the one he had been looking for for so long. Soon the main character will leave Lisa, finally kissing her sincerely, which seemed to the girl as if the whole world was on fire. The hero lost his feelings for Lisa, and the reason for this was that Erast was not used to such a life. He was spoiled by the city with its parties and the behavior of people. It is difficult for the hero to communicate with ordinary people from ordinary places.

Karamzin's story "Poor Lisa" became a key work of its time. The introduction of sentimentalism into the work and the presence of many themes and problems allowed the 25-year-old author to become extremely popular and famous. Readers were absorbed in the images of the main characters of the story - the story of the events of their lives became an occasion to rethink the features of humanistic theory.

History of writing

In most cases, unusual works of literature have unusual stories of creation, however, if Poor Lisa had such a story, then it was not provided to the public and was lost somewhere in the wilds of history. It is known that the story was written as an experiment at the dacha of Peter Beketov, which was located near the Simonov Monastery.

Information about the publication of the story is also rather scarce. For the first time, "Poor Liza" saw the light in the "Moscow Journal" in 1792. At that time, N. Karamzin himself was its editor, and 4 years later the story was published as a separate book.

Heroes of the story

Lisa is the main character of the story. The girl belongs to the peasant class. After her father's death, she lives with her mother and earns money by selling knitwear and flowers in the city.

Erasmus is the main character of the story. The young man has a gentle character, he is not able to defend his position in life, which makes both himself and Lisa in love with him unhappy.

Lisa's mother is a peasant woman by birth. She loves her daughter and wants the girl to live her future life without difficulties and sorrows.

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The plot of the story

The action of the story takes place in the vicinity of Moscow. The young girl Lisa lost her father. Because of this, her family, consisting of her and her mother, began to gradually become poorer - her mother was constantly sick and therefore could not work fully. Liza represented the main labor force in the family - the girl actively wove carpets, knitted stockings for sale, and also collected and sold flowers. Once a young aristocrat, Erasmus, approached the girl, he fell in love with the girl and therefore decided to buy flowers from Lisa every day.

However, Erasmus did not come the next day. Disappointed, Lisa returns home, but fate presents the girl with a new gift - Erasmus comes to Lisa's home and says that he can come for flowers himself.

From this moment, a new stage in the girl's life begins - she is completely captivated by love. However, despite everything, this love adheres to the framework of platonic love. Erasmus is captivated by the spiritual purity of the girl. Unfortunately, this utopia did not last long. The mother decides to marry Lisa - a rich peasant decided to woo Lisa. Erasmus, despite his love and admiration for the girl, cannot claim her hand - social norms strictly regulate their relationship. Erasmus belongs to the nobility, and Lisa belongs to ordinary peasants, so their marriage is a priori impossible. In the evening, Liza comes on a date to Erast as usual and tells the young man about the upcoming event in the hope of support.

The romantic and devoted Erast decides to take Lisa to his house, but the girl cools his ardor, noting that in this case he will not be her husband. This evening the girl loses her purity.

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After this, the relationship between Lisa and Erasmus was no longer the same - the image of the immaculate and holy girl faded away in the eyes of Erasmus. The young man begins military service, and the lovers part. Lisa sincerely believes that their relationship will retain its former ardor, but the girl will be greatly disappointed: Erasmus is addicted to playing cards and does not become a successful player - marriage to a rich old woman helps him avoid poverty, but does not bring happiness. Lisa, having learned about the wedding, committed suicide (drowned in the river), and Erasmus forever acquired a sense of guilt for her death.

The reality of the events described

The features of the artistic construction of the plot and the description of the background of the work suggest the reality of the events taking place and the literary reminiscence of Karamzin. After the publication of the story, the surroundings of the Simonov Monastery became especially popular among young people, near which, based on Karamzin's story, Liza lived. Readers also took a fancy to the pond, in which the girl allegedly drowned, and even cutely renamed it "Lizin". However, there is no data on the real basis of the story; it is believed that its characters, as well as the plot, were the fruit of the author's imagination.

Subject

The story as a genre does not imply the presence of a huge number of themes. Karamzin fully complies with this requirement and is actually limited to only two topics.

The theme of peasant life

Using the example of Lisa's family, the reader can get acquainted with the peculiarities of the life of peasants. Readers are presented with a non-generalized image. From the story you can learn about the details of the life of the peasants, their everyday and not only everyday difficulties.

Peasants are people too

In literature, one can often find the image of peasants as a generalized one, devoid of individual qualities.

Karamzin, on the other hand, shows that the peasants, despite their lack of education and lack of involvement in art, are not devoid of intelligence, wisdom, or moral character.

Liza is a girl who can keep up the conversation, of course, these are not topics about innovations in the field of science or art, but her speech is built logically, and her content makes her associate the girl as an intelligent and talented interlocutor.

Issues

The Problem of Finding Happiness

Every person wants to be happy. Lisa and Erasmus are also no exception. The platonic love that arose between young people allowed them to realize how it is to be happy and at the same time how it is to be deeply unhappy. The author in the story raises an important question: is it always possible to become happy and what is needed for this.

The problem of social inequality

One way or another, but our real life is subject to some unspoken rules and social stereotypes. Most of them arose on the principle of social distribution into layers or castes. It is this moment that Karamzin acutely personifies in the work - Erasmus is an aristocrat, a nobleman by origin, and Lisa is a poor girl, a peasant woman. A marriage between an aristocrat and a peasant woman was unthinkable.

Loyalty in relationships

When reading the story, you understand that such exalted relations between young people, if they were transferred to the plane of real time, would not have existed forever - sooner or later the love ardor between Erasmus and Lisa would have faded away - the public position prevented further development, and the resulting stable uncertainty provoked the degradation of romance.

Guided by the possibility of material improvement of his position, Erasmus decides to marry a rich widow, although he himself gave Lisa a promise to always love her. While the girl faithfully awaits the return of her lover, Erasmus cruelly betrays her feelings and hopes.

The problem of urban orientation

Another global problem that found its reflection in Karamzin's story is the comparison of the city and the countryside. In the understanding of urban residents, the city is the engine of progress, newfangled trends and education. The village is always presented as something backward in its development. The inhabitants of the village, respectively, are also backward in every sense of the word.

The villagers also note the differences between the inhabitants of cities and villages. In their concept, the city is the engine of evil and danger, while the village is a safe place that preserves the moral character of the nation.

Idea

The main idea of the story is to denounce sensuality, morality and the influence of the emotions that have arisen on the fate of a person. Karamzin brings readers to the concept: empathy is an important part of life. Don't deliberately renounce compassion and humanity.

Karamzin argues that human morality is a factor that does not depend on class and position in society. Very often people with aristocratic ranks are lower in their moral development than ordinary peasants.

Direction in culture and literature

The story "Poor Lisa" is marked by the peculiarities of the direction in literature - sentimentalism successfully embodied in the work, which was successfully embodied in the image of Lisa's father, who, according to Karamzin's description, was an ideal person within his social cell.

Lisa's mother also has multiple features of sentimentalism - she experiences significant mental anguish after the departure of her husband, sincerely worries about the fate of her daughter.

The main array of sentimentalism falls on the image of Liza. She is depicted as a sensual person who is so absorbed in her emotions that she is unable to be guided by critical thinking - after meeting Erasmus. Liza is so absorbed in new romantic experiences that, apart from these feelings, she does not take any other feelings seriously - the girl is not able to sensibly assess her life situation, she is little worried about her mother's feelings and her love.

Instead of love for her mother (which used to be inherent in Lisa), now the girl's thoughts are occupied by love for Erasmus, which reaches a critical egoistic climax - Lisa perceives the tragic events in a relationship with a young man as an irreversible tragedy of her whole life. The girl does not try to find a "golden mean" between the sensual and the logical - she completely surrenders to emotions.

Thus, Karamzin's story "Poor Lisa" became a breakthrough of its time. For the first time, readers were given an image of the characters as close to life as possible. The characters do not have a clear division into positive and negative. Every character has good and bad qualities. The work reflects the main social themes and problems, which in their essence are philosophical problems outside of time - their relevance is not regulated by the framework of chronology.

Karamzin wrote the story "Poor Lisa" in 1792 at the age of 26. By this time, the writer had mastered modern literature well, was familiar with Russian and European life, and was imbued with the advanced ideas of his era. In "Poor Lisa" all this life experience was embodied. The story turned out to be a literary achievement not only of Karamzin himself, it became an important milestone, a starting point for the further development of Russian literature. Researcher of Karamzin's creativity, academician V.N. Toporov described the meaning of the story as follows: "Poor Liza is exactly the root from which the tree of Russian classical prose grew."

The plot of the story "Poor Lisa" is based on the love story of a poor peasant girl for the young aristocrat Erast. The story of deceived love itself was common in literature, but in Karamzin's story it struck readers with its sincerity and sensitivity. The novelty of the story was that the writer managed to touch the heart of the reader, awaken in him a sense of compassion and moral justice. This effect is explained by the words of Karamzin himself: “You take up the pen and want to be an author: ask yourself, in private, without witnesses, sincerely: what am I? for you want to paint a portrait of your soul and heart.” These words show what responsibility the author felt before the reader, undertaking to convey his thoughts and feelings to him.

The story "Poor Liza" was perceived by readers as a living story about their real life. The surroundings of the Simonov Monastery, the panorama of Moscow, the natural landscapes serving as an exposition and anticipating the events of the story were well known, recognizable and created the impression of the reality of what was happening. At the beginning of the story, a sad mood, characteristic of sentimentalism, is also created: “The winds howl terribly in the walls of the deserted monastery, between the coffins overgrown with tall grass, and in the dark passages of the cells.” The author expressed the inexorability of the passing time in the images of a gray-haired old man, "kneeling before the crucifixion", and a young monk "with a pale face, with a languid gaze." Against this background, the story of poor Lisa unfolds.

The plot of the story is based on a love conflict between a sensitive and virtuous girl Lisa and a handsome young man from a rich, noble family - Erast. The feeling that arose between them is natural and pure: Lisa is attracted by Erast's kind heart and unusualness, he is also struck by her sincerity and selflessness. The unusualness of this love story is expressed in the words: “And peasant women know how to love!” This statement emphasizes the novelty of the story: usually such a high feeling as love was described in the relationship between heroes of noble and noble origin. Remember how amazed the hero of the story A.S. Pushkin's "The Young Lady-Peasant Woman" young nobleman Alexei Berestov with the exceptional qualities of the imaginary peasant woman Akulina, in fact, the local young lady Lisa.

The culmination of a love feeling is an episode in which a young peasant from a wealthy family is married to Lisa. Erast faces a choice: he must either rise above the social inequality that separates them by marrying Lisa, or leave her. The kind but weak-willed Erast deceives Lisa and marries an elderly rich widow in order to save himself from ruin. Thus, the story poses two most important problems of the time: social inequality between people and the character of modern man, which determines his choice in life.

Karamzin seeks to influence the feelings of readers by constant appeals, conversations with them. There are a lot of exclamations, emotional epithets, evaluative vocabulary in his speech. The speeches of the heroes are accentuated by the exclamation "ah", for example: "Ah, Erast! Will you always love me?" The heroes of the story are characterized by evaluative epithets: gentle Liza, a kind old woman, a reckless young man. The same emotional characterization is given to the actions of the heroes, their state, the world around them: Lisa sings “plaintive songs” in a “quiet voice”, Erast thinks about the “contemptuous voluptuousness” of his past life. The structure of the author's speech is also emotional: "There, often, the quiet moon, through the green branches, silvered Liza's blond hair with its rays, which were played with marshmallows and the hand of a dear friend."

The whole world of "Poor Liza" turned out to be very close, familiar to readers. The story caused numerous imitations in Russian literature, and Simonov's pond, in which the unfortunate girl drowned herself, became known in Moscow as Lizin's pond - a meeting place for lovers.

The story "Poor Lisa", written by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, became 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 of the writer's contemporaries 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. M. Karamzin was distinguished by his love for Western culture and actively preached its principles. His role in the life of Russia was enormous and invaluable. This progressive and active man traveled extensively in Europe in 1789-1790, and upon his return he published the story "Poor Lisa" in the Moscow Journal.

Analysis of the story indicates that the work has a sentimental aesthetic orientation, which is expressed in interest in, regardless of their social status.

At the time of writing the story, Karamzin lived at the dacha of his friends, not far from which he 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 readers as completely real. And the pond near the monastery began to be called "Lizina Pond".

"Poor Lisa" by Karamzin as a sentimentalist story

“Poor Liza” 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 the choice of genre, but also in the direction. It was behind this story that the title of the first work of Russian sentimentalism was entrenched.

Sentimentalism arose in Europe in the 17th century and focused on the sensual side of human life. Questions of reason and society went by the wayside for this direction, but emotions, relationships between people became a priority.

Sentimentalism has always sought to idealize what is happening, to embellish. Answering the question about what descriptions the story “Poor Liza” begins with, we can talk about the idyllic landscape that Karamzin paints 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 towards the peasants. It is not for nothing that Karamzin chooses a peasant girl for the role of the bearer of innocence and morality.

Contrasting the images of Liza and Erast, the writer is one of the first to raise the problem of contradictions between the city and the countryside. If we turn to what descriptions the story "Poor Liza" begins with, then we will see a quiet, cozy and natural world that exists in harmony with nature. The city, on the other hand, frightens, terrifies with its “mass of houses”, “golden domes”. Lisa becomes a reflection of nature, she is natural and naive, there is no falsehood and pretense in her.

The author speaks in the story from the position of a humanist. Karamzin depicts all the charm of love, its beauty and strength. But reason and pragmatism can easily destroy this wonderful feeling. The story owes its success to the incredible attention to the personality of a person, his experiences. "Poor Lisa" evoked sympathy from her readers thanks to Karamzin's amazing ability to portray all the spiritual subtleties, experiences, aspirations and thoughts of the heroine.

Heroes

A complete analysis of the story "Poor Liza" is impossible without a detailed examination of the images of the main characters of the work. Liza 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 ultimately led her to death, although her morality remained intact. However, in the image of Lisa there is little peasant: her speech and thoughts are closer to the language of the book, however, the feelings of the girl who fell in love for the first time are conveyed with incredible truthfulness. So, despite the external idealization of the heroine, her inner experiences are conveyed very realistically. In this regard, the story "Poor Liza" does not lose its innovation.

What descriptions begin the work? First of all, consonant with the character of the heroine, helping the reader to recognize her. This is a natural idyllic world.

Erast appears completely different to readers. He is an officer who is only puzzled by the search for new entertainment, life in the world tires and bores him. He is not stupid, kind, but weak in character and changeable in his affections. Erast truly 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. Usually such a hero in Russian literature was simpler and endowed with certain characteristics. But the writer does not make him an insidious seducer, but a sincerely fallen in love man who, due to weakness of character, could not pass the test and keep his love. This type of hero was new to Russian literature, but he immediately took root and later received the name "superfluous person."

Plot and originality

The plot of the story is pretty straightforward. This is the story of the tragic love of a peasant woman and a nobleman, the result of which was the death of Liza.

What descriptions begin the story "Poor Liza"? 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 descriptions, the main thing is feelings. And the narrator must awaken these feelings in the audience. For the first time in Russian literature, where the image of the narrator has always remained outside the work, the hero-author appears. This sentimental narrator learns the love story from Erast and retells it to the reader with sadness and sympathy.

Thus, there are three main characters in the story: Liza, Erast and the author-narrator. Karamzin also introduces the technique of landscape descriptions and somewhat lightens the ponderous style of the Russian literary language.

Significance for Russian literature of the story "Poor Liza"

An analysis of the story thus shows Karamzin's incredible contribution to the development of Russian literature. In addition to describing the relationship between the city and the countryside, the appearance of an “extra person”, many researchers note the birth of a “little person” - 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 world fame to Russian literature also gave rise to the story "Poor Liza". With what descriptions does this work begin! How much beauty, originality and incredible stylistic lightness are in them! One cannot overestimate Karamzin's contribution to the development of Russian literature.

One of the key literary works of the 18th century is the story of N.M. Karamzin "Poor Lisa". In his twenty-five years, the writer became discussed and popular due to the disclosure of many problems and topics of society. He was one of the first to introduce features of sentimentalism into the story and became an innovator. Vivid images of the heroes of the work greatly influenced the worldview of readers.
The first time "Poor Lisa" was published and published in 1792 by the Moscow Journal. At the time of publication, the author himself was the editor of this journal. Four years later, the work was published as a separate book.

main characters

An ordinary peasant girl named Lisa is the main character of Karamzin's work. Her father died and she stayed with her mother. The girl works in the city of Moscow, selling flowers and knitwear.
The main male character of the story is a young man named Erasmus, of aristocratic origin. He has a gentle character, which made both himself and Lisa, who is madly in love with him, suffer.
Another female image is Lisa's mother. This is a simple woman of peasant origin. A woman wishes her beloved daughter a calm measured life, unclouded by problems and condemnation.
Thanks to the image of the author, readers are immersed in the action of the work and are able to observe the events as closely as possible.