Goals and objectives of the lesson:

1. to summarize the signs of sentimentalism as a literary method on the example of N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Lisa;
2. fostering in students an attentive attitude to the feelings of people, their soul;
3. development of the ability to reason on the problem posed, based on the story, their personal examples.

Forms and methods of work: conversation, reading by heart, reading by roles.

During the classes

Only the lover has
the right to be human.

Alexander Blok.

I. A.S. Pushkin’s poem “Reason and Love” (reading by heart).

Young Daphnis, chasing Dorida,
"Wait," he shouted, "pretty! wait,
Say: "I love" - ​​and run after you
I won't - I swear it is Cyprian!"
"Shut up, shut up!" - Reason said
And the rogue Eros: "Say: you are dear to the heart!"

"You are dear to my heart!" - the shepherdess repeated,
And their hearts lit up with the fire of love,
And fell at the feet of the beautiful Daphnis,
And Dorida lowered her passionate gaze.
"Run Run!" - Reason told her,
And the rogue Eros: "Stay!" - said.

Remained - and a trembling hand
The happy shepherd took her hand.
"Look," he said, "with a friend of a dove
There they embraced under the shade of thick lindens!
"Run Run!" - Reason repeated,
"Learn from them!" - Eros told her.

And a gentle smile ran
Beauties on fiery lips,
And here she is with languor in her eyes
I fell into the arms of the beloved ...
"Be happy!" - Eros whispered to her,
Mind what? Reason was silent.

Why do you think we started the lesson on N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Lisa” with this poem?
- How does Pushkin's poem resonate with Karamzin's story? (themes of “hard mind” and “tenderest feeling”)

The story is about love, about the eternal that excites the heart. In what literary direction is attention drawn to the inner world of the lyrical hero, his feelings? (sentimentalism)

What are the signs of this literary method on the example of the story "Poor Liza". (checking homework making a table)

II. Work with text.

Let's see how the theme of "reason and love" is traced in the story.

Find episodes that talk about Lisa's dreams and desires, about her happiness.

What are the characteristics of such love? (she's platonic)
- What definition does the author himself give to this love, highlighting it in italics? (Love)
- Lisa surrenders to feelings, not thinking about where it will lead. This is the almighty power of love.
- And the hero has a different idea of ​​love. Which? (He thought with disgust of contemptuous voluptuousness. This is love-passion.)

How does the theme of passion appear in the story? (Episodes: They want to marry Lisa - meeting with Erast - hugs - kiss - loss of innocence. “The darkness of the evening nourished desires.” Nature does not interfere, she is silent, giving Lisa the right to choose.)

What are the thoughts of Erast? (with memories)

Thus, on the pages of the story, the author speaks of different loves: on the one hand, love-friendship, on the other, love-passion, thereby showing the many faces of this feeling and, as it were, making it clear that it can burn to be both beautiful and dangerous.

Find Karamzin's warning to young people. (The story is written for them, that is, for you, young readers.)
- In whose mouth does the author put the reasoning? (This is Lisa's mother, her sensible view of choosing friends.)
How does the theme of reason develop in the story? (The scene of Liza parting with Erast, when Liza says the phrase “I have a mother!”)
- Why is Lisa's mind not allowed to take precedence over feelings? (Feelings are uncontrollable. They are stronger than the mind, which is typical of sentimentalism.)
- What is the reason for this? (a sentimental story)

Could events develop in a similar way, for example, in the works of M.V. Lomonosov? Why? (Lomonosov represents classicism, the subordination of the personal to the public, feelings to reason; Karamzin is a sentimentalist: attention to the individual, his inner world, that is, the mind is subordinate to feelings.)

About whom does Karamzin speak of a “reckless young man” and why? (About Erast, since he allowed himself everything, did not know his heart)

Did he think about the consequences of loving a peasant woman? What choice did he make? (The hero does not think about the consequences, since 1 - asks Lisa not to talk about their secret meetings with her mother, 2 - wants more, more - and does not want anything, 3 - having achieved what he wants, he does not feel the novelty.)

The author himself does not condemn, he is not a judge. In his opinion, there is a force that passes judgment. What is this power? (nature)
- What is the peculiarity of the image of nature? (Karamzin does not say “nature”, but “nature”. He makes her a full-fledged hero of the story.)

What images, taken from nature, characterize the characters of the story? (Liza is compared with the dawn, with a May morning. You can draw a parallel with Liza - lilies of the valley. They are white, Liza is just as fragile and immaculate. She throws them into the water, saying: “No one owns you!” This is symbolic. In the finale of the story, she herself jump into the water.)

What other characters are in the story? (Lisa is light, light is good, joy, life. Erast is always in the shade, even during the day. The moon does not want to notice him. Erast is darkness, darkness is sadness, disappointment, death.)

Nature warns of a possible tragedy. Remember how the morning meets Lisa? (Meets with a fog - a foggy future)
- What other warnings does nature give? (dew drops - tears, thunder, rain)
- Erast leaves Lisa. The warning of nature was realized in life. But Lisa is not alone. Why? (since nature is on her side, she sympathizes with her)
- How does the author feel about Erast? After all, the attitude of nature to him is already clear. (“I am ready to curse the man in Erast.”)
- What position of Karamzin can be seen in this phrase? (The position is not of a writer, but of a person.)
- On the one hand, anger, on the other - pity for Erast. Why? (Because Erast was unhappy all his life.)
- Does Lisa's love change anything? (Yes. Of course, he does. Erast's soul awakens, but he is cleansed through suffering - catharsis.)
- So what wins in the story: reason or love?
- The author, reviving Erast to life, proclaims the victory of love and remains in our reader's memory.

III. Outcome.

Let's remember Pushkin again. Reason or love? What wins the poet in the poem? (love wins)
- How to be guided in life: reason or love?
- How do the poet and writer answer this question?

The poet ends the poem with the line: “Reason what? the mind is already silent.” For Karamzin, as a sentimentalist writer, feelings are more important and stronger than reason. It is they who make a man a man if they are pure and noble.

Maybe you have to make a choice in life between reason and feelings. In our progmatic age, reason (and even calculation) often wins. Classical literature reminds us that without real feelings a person loses his soul and is unlikely to be happy (which happened to Erast).

Although Karamzin warns: "The fulfillment of all desires is the most dangerous temptation of love."

Writers often touch upon the problem of the struggle between feelings and reason, but do not give an answer, because "this mystery is great."

IV. Grading.

V. Homework (in writing, at the choice of students):

1. write a discourse on the topic “Reason and Love”, using the life material of your parents, perhaps acquaintances, perhaps your own experience;
2. write your short story in the style of sentimentalism, where there would be a confrontation between reason and love.

Final essay

in the thematic direction "Mind and feeling »

Mind and feeling ... What is it? These are the two most important forces

components of the inner world of each person. Both of these forces

equally need each other.

The mental organization of a person is very complex. situations that

happen and happen to us, there are very different.

One of them is when our feelings prevail over reason. For another

situation is characterized by the predominance of reason over feelings. It also happens

the third, when a person has harmony, this means that the mind and

Feelings have exactly the same effect on the mental organization of a person.

The theme of reason and feeling is interesting for many writers. Reading

works of world fiction, including

Russian, we meet many such examples that tell us about

manifestation of different situations in the life of heroes of art

works, when an internal conflict occurs: feelings act

against reason. Literary heroes very often find themselves in front of

choice between the dictates of the senses and the prompting of the mind.

So, in the story of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin "Poor Lisa" we see

how the nobleman Erast falls in love with a poor peasant girl Liza. Lisa

Confusion, sadness, crazy joy, anxiety, despair, shock-

these are the feelings that overwhelmed the girl's heart. Erast, weak and

windy, cool to Lisa, he doesn’t think about anything, reckless

Human. Satiation sets in and the desire to get rid of the bored

connections.

A moment of love is beautiful, but reason gives long life and strength to feelings.

Lisa hopes to regain her lost happiness, but all in vain. deceived into

best hopes and feelings, she forgets her soul and throws herself into the pond

near the Simonov Monastery. A girl trusts the movements of her heart and ivet

only "gentle passions." For Lisa, the loss of Erast is tantamount to the loss

life. Fervor and ardor bring her. to death.

Reading the story of N. M. Karamzin, we are convinced that “mind and

feelings are two forces equally in need of each other.

In the novel by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, one can find several scenes and

episodes related to the topic.

Favorite heroine of L. N. Tolstoy, Natasha Rostova met and fell in love

Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. After the departure of Prince Andrei abroad, Natasha

I was very sad for a long time without leaving my room. She is very lonely

loved one. In these difficult days, Anatole meets in her life

Kuragin. He looked at Natasha "admired, affectionate

with a glance." The girl was recklessly carried away by Anatole. Natasha's love

Andrea was put to the test. Not keeping this promise

wait for a loved one, she betrayed him. A young girl is too young and

inexperienced in matters of the heart. But a pure soul tells her that she

behaves badly. Why did Rostova fall in love with Kuragin? She saw in him

someone close to her. This love story ended very sadly:

Natasha tried to poison herself, but remains alive.

The girl passionately repents for this before God, asks him to give

her peace of mind and happiness. L. N. Tolstoy himself considered history

relations between Natasha and Anatole "the most important place of the novel." Natasha

should be happy, as she has tremendous power of life and love.

What conclusion can be drawn from this topic? Remembering the pages

works of N. M. Karamzin and L. N. Tolstoy, I come to the conclusion that

that in both works we see an internal human conflict:

feelings oppose reason. No deep moral sense

"A man cannot have either love or honor." How are they related

mind and feeling? I would like to quote the words of the Russian writer M.M.

Prishvin: “There are feelings that replenish and obscure the mind, but there are

mind that cools the movement of the senses.

The great philosopher Epictetus once said: "Keep your passions, otherwise passions will take possession of you." What is passion, feelings? What can be used to manage them? And what can happen if feelings take over? Feelings are the ability to feel, experience, perceive external influences. Reason is the ability of a person to think logically and creatively. I believe that for a happy life, a person needs the mind that controls the passions to be in harmony with the impulses of the senses. The conflict of two human principles is a favorite topic in the literature of all countries and times.

So, what can happen if feelings take over? Many domestic writers subjected their heroes to the test of love. So, in N. M. Karamzin's sentimental story "Poor Liza", the main character is completely seized by passions, her mind is clouded, and she does not think what consequences this can lead to. She gives herself to her lover without looking back, forgetting about honor, decency and, in the end, the duty to her sick mother to protect her peace. Between duty and feelings, Lisa chooses feelings and does not want to compromise. Moreover, love for a young man displaces in her love for her mother, that is, her experiences are superficial and selfish. But Erast quickly cools down and loses interest in Lisa. True, his mind is replaced by low and vile calculation. After breaking up with Lisa, he married a rich woman. Unable to cope with her feelings, the girl is very painful and hard going through a break with her loved one, and, not finding a way out of this situation, she decides to commit suicide because of betrayal. She leaves her sick mother, whose well-being is so baked, and indulges in a desperate impulse to end a cruel and unjust life. But is it really that unfair? Is it worth it to feel sorry for an impulsive girl, as Karamzin did? One can understand him, he is a sentimentalist writer, but can the reader justify such stupidity? Hardly. Liza was unable to regain control of herself; she gave herself up not so much to feeling, but to pleasure. Prior to this, her life was devoted to her daughter's duty, she did not know the joy available to other, more successful girls. But the appearance of Erast changed everything: first love (not the most durable and solid feeling) gave her the long-awaited pleasure of life, not overshadowed by the shadow of duty. If Lisa had fallen in love seriously, she would have thought about marriage first, and not about momentary satisfaction. People tend to not only "soar in the clouds", but also take care of their loved ones. The girl did not think about either her mother or her fiancé, whose morality suffered greatly from her act, as well as faith in her piety and ability to become a faithful wife. This means that Liza was seized not so much by a sublime feeling as by an ordinary passion, devoid of awareness and depth of love. This passion made the already narrow-minded girl reckless and selfish. An example is contagious, like a disease: many women have gone through the same mournful path. If Lisa had pulled herself up, thought about what was happening, and did not surrender to the flow, her fate would have been different.

As a second argument, I want to cite a magnificent novel - the epic of L. N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". Natasha Rostova is a young girl, and, therefore, sincere, naive, good-natured. She wants to love and receive love in return. But the betrothed groom Andrei Bolkonsky left Natasha alone for exactly a year, having gone abroad at the insistence of his father. In her passionate desire to love, the girl does not pass the test and is fond of Anatole Kuragin, refusing to Prince Andrei. But later she realizes that these were false feelings, and she felt true love for Bolkonsky. It is obvious that passions ruined this heroine, although she fell not so low and not so painfully. Unfortunately, the hypocritical world justifies the frivolous "passions" of its regulars, so Natasha's act is easy to understand. Thoughtless infatuation in the world destroyed her true personal life. She did not have the intelligence and experience to distinguish the wheat from the chaff and wait for true love. If she had thought, and not only felt, things might have turned out differently.

Analyzing the actions of the characters, we can conclude that feelings should not be allowed to take precedence over reason, this can lead to irreparable mistakes. It is better to think over each step and responsibly weigh all the pros and cons, consulting, perhaps, with more experienced and wise people. Therefore, to the question “What controls a person to a greater extent: mind or feelings?” I answer “reason”, if only because feelings do not control a person, but, on the contrary, give him freedom.

"Strong mind" and "tender feelings"

Written at the end of the 18th century, "Poor Liza", she retained her attractive power for the modern reader two hundred years later.

The success of this small book is explained simply: it is about love, that is, about the eternal, about what always excites people, especially young ones. In the story, the feeling of love is revealed as a moving, changeable feeling, capable of renewing the soul, enriching it (both through happiness and through suffering).

The story can be studied from different angles, but in order to ensure success, let's turn to its moral and philosophical issues.

The leading storyline of the story comes down to the love story of Lisa and Erast. Karamzin always pays great attention to the inner world of a person, his feelings, experiences, believing that their comprehension helps the formation of the human soul. Therefore, it is necessary first of all to trace the nature of the feelings of the characters, how they develop, and what they lead to. The answers to these questions will make it possible to reach the eternal problems of life: love is happiness and love is a tragedy; fate and circumstances; nature and man.

So, let's turn to the feelings of the characters, first of all, to the feeling of love of the main character of the story - Lisa (the fact that she is the main character is indicated both by the title of the story and the place of this image in the system of developing events).

Depicting a wide and far from unambiguous stream of feelings of the heroine, Karamzin discovered the true skill of a psychologist. This was manifested in the special presentation of Liza's emotional experiences. Before us appears a continuous process of changing, immediate feelings, thoughts, impressions, memories of Liza, caused by the most important external and internal events for her heart.

So, the first meeting of Lisa with a beautiful stranger gives rise to embarrassment in her soul, which after a while is replaced by excitement. The mother's warnings bring her to tears. Not having met the next day a young man with a "kind face", Liza is sad. But as soon as Erast appeared in her room, Lisa's heart was seized by insane "joy".

At night she cannot sleep: "The image of the Erasts ... vividly appears to her." The morning brings her sad thoughts that Erast is not a “simple peasant”, not a “shepherd boy” dear to her heart, but his declaration of love destroyed her thoughts, delighting Lisa. Her heart is full of "pure and at the same time passionate feeling", which she does not try to hide.

But mother makes plans for Liza's marriage, not connecting them with Erast, and Liza "cries". Erast consoles her: he promises her an eternal chaste "paradise" "in the countryside" or "in the dense forests", and Liza forgot everything in rapture. She forgot herself too... And then it becomes "scary", and "tears roll from her eyes": it seems to her that the "former" happiness will no longer be.

Her bitter assumptions are correct: Erast has not been to Lisa's for "five days in a row", and she is experiencing "the greatest anxiety".

Having learned from Erast about his upcoming departure to the army, Lisa falls into despair and, having seen him off, "loses her senses and memory." Her days without Erast became "days of anguish and sorrow."

Finally, Erast's marriage, his deceit, the money with which he seems to buy her off - all this, together with memories of past happiness, shakes her soul, and she commits suicide.

As we can see, Lisa, having fallen in love, goes through different psychological states: in a short time of love, she experienced timidity, excitement, hope, joy, happiness, anxiety, sadness, longing, fear, despair, and, finally, shock. All these are manifestations of boundless love.

Karamzin fixes attention not only on the internal experiences of the heroine, but also on external details that help convey this or that state of hers. This should include views, speech, actions, objects of the outside world caught by the eye, etc. For example: Liza “dared to look at the young man”; “her blue eyes quickly turned to the earth, meeting his gaze”; “In the eyes of the Lizins, a joy flashed, which she tried in vain to hide; her cheeks glowed like the dawn on a clear summer evening; she looked at her left sleeve and plucked it with her right hand," and so on. There are many examples like those given in the story, and students will find them at our request. Together we conclude: Karamzin was able to show the richness of Lisa's soul, its ambiguity, depth. We agree with the researchers of Karamzin's work: the writer, acquainting readers with the "bends of the heart", immerses us in a tense, emotional atmosphere of "tender passions".

And what image does the spiritual life of Erast receive? Of course, Karamzin also acts here as a true psychologist, knowing perfectly well what forms the human personality and what role the feeling of love plays in this.

Therefore, the writer's story focuses not so much on the history of the hero's life as on the history of his soul. Under the influence of what is the inner life of Erast? First of all, his natural properties had an effect (“a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and windy”), then the environment did their job (“scattered social life”, filled with social amusements, not always harmless) and reading novels that took him into the world of careless, naive pleasures. As a result, boredom settled in Erast's soul (he "complained about his fate") and a thirst for direct, pure feelings and sensations.

Circumstances were kind to Erast: on his way he met Lisa - the personification of purity and immediacy. “It seemed to him that he had found in Lisa what his heart had been looking for for a long time.” Even in her very appearance, he saw the providence of God. “Natura calls me into its arms, to its pure joys,” he thought. Lisa's love is a test of the hero, a test of his decision to start a new life, a test of his heart, the depth of his feelings.

In the history of his relationship with Liza, one can see some duality, which makes itself felt in the most subtle sphere - in the sphere of love, and this duality is a consequence of both a “good heart” and a harmful environment that deepened his frivolity and selfishness. On the one hand, Erast is sincerely in love with Lisa, he is proud of their pure relationship, recalling his former life with disgust. He takes care of Lisa's peace, knows how to dry her tears. He weeps, parting with her... It seems that his heart has risen and lives with new feelings - quite worthy. On the other hand, in the new Erast, the former one peeps through: there is no true depth in his feelings for Lisa, they have an element of the game that captivates him; in love, he thinks in clichés, probably taken from the books he has read: he calls Lisa, as usual, “shepherdess”, says that “he will take her to him and will live inseparably with her in the village and in dense forests, as in paradise ", that for him "the most important thing is the soul, a sensitive, innocent soul", etc.

As a result, it is not high, but low feelings that are familiar to him that win in him. Lisa loses interest for him. He deceives her, betrays his oath. All this gives the impression that Erast could not stand the test of love and his soul was not cleansed of evil. This impression is also supported by the narrator, whose position is given openly: "I forget the man in Erast - I'm ready to curse him," he says.

But from the end of the story, we learn that Erast, after the death of Liza, "could not be consoled and considered himself a murderer." What does this indicate? Erast, who previously did not have the ability to self-esteem, calls himself a "murderer." Much is revealed to us by the phrase: "he could not be consoled." In addition, we learn that he visits Liza's grave.

Can we say that the rebirth of the soul has taken place? What do the significant words at the end of the story reveal to us: “Now, maybe they have already reconciled”? We are talking about the meeting of the souls of Erast and Lisa in another world, after death, about their reconciliation, which means that we are talking about forgiveness, and this can only be if Erast's soul is cleansed, he admits his own mistakes and delusions.

So Karamzin, using the example of Erast's life, convincingly shows what a big role the feelings of love play in the formation of the human personality.

In the love story of Erast and Lisa, several points are important, and it is necessary to dwell on them. Exploring the "anatomy" of love, Karamzin raises the question of the possibility and impossibility of happiness in love. What is this happiness? Is it controllable? What kind of happiness is complete - thoughtless or reasonable? Answering these questions, we will rely on the text.

Take these scenes. Here Karamzin introduces us to the momentary happiness of “passionate friendship”, in which there is neither past nor future, it lives only in the present, filling souls with pure delight. It was given to Lisa and Erast to experience these blissful moments. “They were sitting on the grass… they looked into each other’s eyes, they said to each other: “Love me!” - and two hours seemed to them in an instant, ”writes Karamzin. Lisa and Erast were destined to experience the momentary happiness of love-passion, when they were not afraid of anything, did not think about anything, surrendering completely to the flow of feelings. And this is the almighty power of love!

But Karamzin warns, using the example of Erast, that "the fulfillment of all desires is the most dangerous temptation of love," for if not her death, then irreversible fatal changes may come. Therefore, the writer's thought about the need for reason is so important. The theme of reason begins to sound in the story almost immediately. We get acquainted with the mother's rational view of Lisa's behavior, of her life; thinks about her own fate and the fate of Erast Liz, but her mind is not allowed to triumph. And Erast doesn’t think about anything at all - he swims with the flow of feelings, making idyllic plans for life with Lisa, “like with a sister.”

The theme of reason resounds powerfully in the speeches of the narrator. Turning to Erast, he exclaims: “Reckless young man! Do you know your heart? Are you always responsible for your movements? Is reason always the king of your feelings?

Reflections on this statement allow us to conclude: a moment of love, when a person is completely given over to feeling, is beautiful - this is a happy moment, but reason, reason gives a long life and strength to a feeling.

Reason did not prevail in the relationship between Lisa and Erast, and this is one of the reasons for their troubles. But the writer does not blame his heroes for their "delusions", he only explains the behavior of the heroes, and this position is wise: he knows that there are people who are controlled by passions, and this is their reward and punishment.

The story imperiously includes the problem of fate and circumstances. Karamzin does not put an equal sign between these concepts. Circumstances, as the sum of real reasons, determined the behavior of both Lisa and Erast: after the death of her father, Lisa was forced to help her family and went to Moscow to sell flowers, where she met Erast; circumstances are developing for Erast in such a way that he is obliged to go into the army and part with Liza for a while; circumstances forced him to marry "an elderly rich widow" to improve his fortune. But all these circumstances are still not fatal.

But there are, according to Karamzin, higher, fatal forces that pass their sentence on a person: Liza, for having thoughtlessly and recklessly loved, doomed herself to physical death; Erast, for not keeping his vow to be always with Lisa, doomed himself to moral death: he "was unhappy until the end of his life."

The higher forces are also represented in the image of Nature. Nature occupies a large place in Karamzin's worldview. She is for him as a creation of the Supreme - the embodiment of beauty, "feeling" mind. In some works of the writer, she appears under the name of Nature (the visible, visible world, on the one hand; on the other, any possibilities laid down by a higher power). Nature in Karamzin has many faces in relation to a person: she sympathizes with him, can approve him or blame him, she is able to warn him of danger and turn into an enemy. Both man and humanity can be in harmony with Nature, and they can also turn into a toy of terrible, fatal forces.

These views of Karamzin on Nature were also manifested in the story "Poor Liza". Here we saw many different faces of Nature, which manifested themselves in different ways in relation to Liza and Erast.

Liza first appears before us as a girl of "rare beauty", pure and young, with lilies of the valley in her hands. These lilies of the valley are a symbol of its spring bloom, purity. But it is precisely these flowers that Liza will throw into the Moscow River when she does not meet the young man she likes so much ... What do comparisons taken from the natural world give the reader? We comprehend the spiritual beauty and inner world of the heroine, we learn that "a pure, joyful soul" shines in her eyes, "like the sun shines in drops of heavenly dew." Sometimes Nature accurately reflects Lisa's feelings, carefully "warns" her. This warning was made by Nature at the very beginning of the emergence of Lisa's love. She did not sleep the night, "almost every minute she woke up and sighed." In the morning, even before sunrise, Liza sat down on the grass and, cringing, looked "at the white mists that waved in the air."

In the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" edited by D.N. Ushakov, the word "fog" is explained not only as a state of air, but also as a symbol of the obscure, confusing, incomprehensible. In this context, “mists” are a prophetic sign, because Lisa does not clearly see her future, it is covered with fog.

But Liza's feelings are so pure and beautiful that Nature "cannot but share" her joy: after all, Liza loves and is loved. "What a wonderful morning! - says Lisa. - How fun in the field! The larks never sang so well, the sun never shone so well, the flowers never smelled so pleasant!”

Nature is "fastened" to Liza, and in the moment of her misfortune - in the moment of her "delusion". At this time, "a storm roared menacingly, rain poured from black clouds - it seemed that nature was lamenting about Liza's lost innocence." But Nature does not turn away from Liza—she pities her, sympathizes with her. When Lisa, after Erast left for the army, retired to the forest, where she shed tears and "moaned about separation from her beloved," "the sad dove combined her mournful voice with her lamentations."

We can say that nature in the story is always next to Lisa. Spring, morning, sun, lilies of the valley, dawn, birds, quiet moon, thunderstorm, lightning, rain - everything takes part in her joys and sorrows, everything speaks of the harmonious relationship established between Lisa and Nature. In the behavior of Nature there is sympathy, pity for poor Liza, but there is no curse, condemnation ...

Is Nature connected with Erast? In fact, this connection does not exist, and its absence is also a characteristic of the hero. It is interesting that Lisa is always accompanied by light, the sun, even at night, during her meetings with Erast, "the quiet moon ... silvered Lisa's blond hair with its rays," - this same moon did not seem to see Erast.

The accompanying images, taken from the world of Nature and characterizing Erast, are images of darkness: he always comes to Lisa “in the evening”, twilight will soon come (“it was getting dark”). Into this “evening”, “into the night”, Liza, personifying “light”, is also drawn in, and nature pities her, but not Erast.

Everything that this hero touches perishes or turns into its opposite: just the “high oak”, near which Erast met Liza, becomes “gloomy”, and Liza, who was friends with nature quite recently, will pray: “Oh, if the sky would fall on me: If the earth swallowed up the poor! And in the hut, once warmed by the love of two humble hearts - mother and daughter, after the death of Liza, caused by Erast's deceit, and the death of the poor old woman, the wind will "howl".

Nature is included in all the main events of the story, so she is next to the characters, sees them and evaluates them fully, quite emotionally and at the same time fairly. Karamzin affirms the idea that Nature is endowed with reason and it is impossible not to reckon with her assessments. True, some see much more humanism in the narrator's hopes for the resurrection of Erast's soul than in Nature's attitude to this hero. But this opposition is false, because the narrator's position is dictated by his organic connection with Nature, therefore, it comes from Nature. This is clearly seen from the following examples.

The narrator confesses his love for walks "without a plan, without a goal - wherever your eyes look - through meadows and groves, over hills and plains." But this recognition alone does not mean much. In order to discover precisely the organic connection of the narrator with Nature, it is necessary to study the artistic structure of at least the microtext, which makes it possible to judge the originality of Karamzin's aesthetics. You can take a short excerpt from the description of the surroundings of Moscow:

“On the other side of the river, an oak grove is visible, near which numerous herds graze ... Further, in the dense greenery of ancient elms, the golden-domed Danilov Monastery shines; still farther, almost at the edge of the horizon, the Sparrow Hills are turning blue...

I often come to this place and almost always meet spring there; I also come there in the gloomy days of autumn to grieve together with nature.

What does this description reveal? In the first paragraph, the landscape is given in perspective, this expands the space. Artistic simplicity, the absence of metaphors, the harmonic structure of speech give it an almost epic character. This is a calm landscape, but its calmness is not cold, not impassive, it is warmed by the warm feeling of the narrator. Hence the lyricism in the parsimonious description of nature, which is achieved mainly due to the special structure of sentences. So, in each sentence we see inversions that create a special, lyrical intonation: “an oak grove is visible”, “numerous herds graze”, “the golden-domed Danilov Monastery shines”, “Sparrow Hills turn blue”. The main words denoting specific objects of the natural world are placed at the end of sentences - they become stressed, as they are important for the narrator: he singled out "grove", "herds", "Danilov Monastery", "Sparrow Hills".

Using verbs with coloring (“shine”, “turn blue”), he thus consecrated these places, since the brilliance is caused by gold on the domes of the monastery, glowing under the sun, and blue comes from the sky. Gold and blue colors, along with white, are the most frequent in icon painting and artistic painting of temples.

The triple repetition of words in the first paragraph is characteristic: “beside”, “further”, “further”. Here, each word of the three is used in a new lexical meaning, which creates the effect of emotional forcing, increasing solemnity, and the repetition of the consonant "l" in each of the three words gives the sentences softness, melodiousness. As a result, Karamzin's prose really "poeticizes" (Yu. M. Lotman). Consequently, the narrator is also “poeticized”, his soul sensitive to beauty, Nature,

The second paragraph is extremely important: it introduces us to Karamzin's special artistic style. Here are images of spring and autumn. It is known that these words, as a rule, were used in the works of sentimentalists not only in their direct meaning (season) - their capacity, depth, subtext were usually taken into account. The word "spring" was certainly associated with the words "light", "joy", "hope", "happiness", "flourishing", etc.; the word "autumn" was associated with the collapse of hopes, with withering, the end of life. Therefore, these words created their own lyrical theme. They were usually italicized or written with a capital letter to show that the given word is a whole topic, a sign of great meaning.

Karamzin, with the help of images of spring and autumn (spring - to a greater extent), conveys the excited state of the narrator's living, sensitive soul, caused by memories, which is not fully disclosed, but is taken out, as they say, out of brackets, and therefore Karamzin and nature and man are extraordinarily multidimensional.

The analyzed passage helps to get acquainted with the poetics of Karamzin the prose writer: with the peculiarities of his style, poetic word usage, with the special structure of sentences - and ultimately make sure of the organic fusion of Nature and the narrator. It is this organic fusion with Nature as with some kind of higher rational force that allows the narrator to intervene in events, evaluate the heroes and express hopes for the resurrection of Erast's soul.

All the characters (which include not only Liza and Erast, but also the narrator and Nature) and the style of the story itself help us to realize the author's position as humanistic. It also manifested the bright personal qualities of the writer (high morality, intelligence, nobility, sensitivity, kind heart, disinterestedness, religiosity, etc.), and Karamzin's views on the poet-creator as an enlightened, virtuous, independent person and on art itself as a moral force capable of inspiring the reader with sublime feelings. Creating his story, Karamzin combined the categories of "good" and "beautiful" - moral and aesthetic. As a result, we have Karamzin the artist and Karamzin the philosopher.

In a small work (the theme itself, the plot, the organization of the material, the imaginative world, the language), Karamzin managed to openly express himself: he sang love as a feeling that can enrich the human soul, experience and revive it; he stood for the harmony of reason and feeling in love; he propagated a humane attitude towards man, censuring him for deviations from the laws of morality, but believing in the resurrection of his soul; he urged to believe in higher powers and serve virtue.

The moral lessons of Karamzin are worthy of attention even in today's difficult days, especially since these are the lessons of a man whose "hard mind", according to V. A. Zhukovsky, "has always been softened by the most tender feeling."

Karamzin did not accidentally attribute the action of the story to the vicinity of the Simonov Monastery. He knew this outskirts of Moscow well. Sergius Pond, according to legend dug by Sergius of Radonezh, became a place of pilgrimage for couples in love, it was renamed Lizin Pond.

Literary direction

Karamzin is an innovative writer. He is rightfully considered the founder of Russian sentimentalism. Readers accepted the story enthusiastically, because society has long yearned for something like this. The classical trend that preceded sentimentalism, which was based on rationalism, tired readers with sermons. Sentimentalism (from the word feelings) reflected the world of feelings, heart life. Many imitations of "Poor Lisa" appeared, a kind of mass literature that was in demand by readers.

Genre

"Poor Lisa" is the first Russian psychological story. The feelings of the characters are revealed in dynamics. Karamzin even invented a new word - sensitivity. Lisa's feelings are clear and understandable: she lives by her love for Erast. Erast's feelings are more complex, he himself does not understand them. At first he wants to fall in love simply and naturally, as he read in novels, then he discovers a physical attraction that destroys platonic love.

Issues

Social: the class inequality of lovers does not lead to a happy ending, as in old novels, but to tragedy. Karamzin raises the problem of the value of a person, regardless of class.

Moral: a person's responsibility for those who trust him, "unintentional evil" that can lead to tragedy.

Philosophical: a self-confident mind tramples on natural feelings, which the French Enlightenment spoke about at the beginning of the 18th century.

Main characters

Erast is a young nobleman. His character is written in many ways. Erast cannot be called a scoundrel. He is just a weak-willed young man who does not know how to resist life's circumstances, to fight for his happiness.

Lisa is a peasant girl. Her image is not spelled out in such detail and contradictory, remains in the canons of classicism. The author sympathizes with the heroine. She is a hardworking, loving daughter, chaste and ingenuous. On the one hand, Liza does not want to upset her mother by refusing to marry a rich peasant, on the other hand, she submits to Erast, who asks her not to tell her mother about their relationship. First of all, Lisa thinks not about herself, but about the fate of Erast, who will be dishonored if he does not go to war.

Lisa's mother is an old woman who lives with love for her daughter and the memory of her dead husband. It was about her, and not about Liza, that Karamzin said: “Even peasant women know how to love.”

Plot and composition

Although the writer's attention is focused on the psychology of the characters, external events that lead the heroine to death are also important for the plot. The plot of the story is simple and touching: the young nobleman Erast is in love with the peasant girl Lisa. Their marriage is impossible due to class inequality. Erast is looking for pure brotherly friendship, but he does not know his own heart. When the relationship develops into an intimate one, Erast grows cold towards Lisa. In the army, he loses fortune at cards. The only way to improve things is to marry a wealthy elderly widow. Lisa accidentally meets Erast in the city and thinks that he has fallen in love with another. She cannot live with this thought and drowns herself in the very pond near which she met her beloved. Erast realizes his guilt and suffers for the rest of his life.

The main events of the story take about three months. Compositionally, they are decorated with a frame associated with the image of the narrator. At the beginning of the story, the narrator reports that the events described by the lake happened 30 years ago. At the end of the story, the narrator returns to the present again and recalls the unfortunate fate of Erast at Lisa's grave.

Style

In the text, Karamzin uses internal monologues, the voice of the narrator is often heard. Landscape sketches are in harmony with the mood of the characters and are in tune with the events.

Karamzin was an innovator in literature. He was one of the creators of the modern language of prose, close to the colloquial speech of an educated nobleman. So say not only Erast and the narrator, but also the peasant woman Lisa and her mother. Sentimentalism did not know historicism. The life of the peasants is very conditional, they are some kind of free (not serfs) pampered women who cannot cultivate the land and buy rose water. Karamzin's goal was to show feelings that are equal for all classes, which a proud mind cannot always control.