Lisa and Erast are contrasted in Karamzin’s story “ Poor Lisa“like two worlds: the holiday life of rich aristocrats and the simple everyday life of peasant workers. Karamzin deliberately contrasts the heroes with each other in everything. Liza, a poor peasant woman, is capable of sublime and selfless love; The author’s enthusiastic assessment is given to the depth of feelings of Liza’s mother, who mourns the death of her husband day and night (“For even peasant women know how to love!”).

When Lisa gave herself all to Erast, suspecting nothing, her soul was so pure and immaculate, so innocent! -Who does she blame for what happened? Only yourself. She calls herself a criminal. Which of the two is more than guilty? Erast, since such relationships with women were not new for him, because he did not deny himself anything. He had to take care of Lisa’s reputation: after all, at that time such a relationship was reprehensible for a girl.

After this fatal intimacy, everything changed: Lisa only lived and breathed for him, “obeying his will,” and Erast began to come on dates less often, and once “for five days in a row she did not see him and was in the greatest anxiety.” Erast is no longer afraid of losing Liza’s love; he is sure that Liza will always be waiting for him. Was Erast really absent for five days only because he was preparing to go to war? Does this mean that Lisa is not the most important place in his life now? Meetings with her are pleasant for him, but he also finds other pleasures. Erast behaves insincerely, falsely, shows off, tries to seem better, more noble than he really is.

Getting ready for war, when parting with Liza, he says that he cannot help but go, since this will be the greatest disgrace for him, he talks about honor, about serving the fatherland. But in fact, “instead of fighting the enemy, he played cards and lost all his property.” And here is the face of an aristocrat: in love - a coward and a traitor, in relation to the fatherland - irresponsible and unreliable. But Lisa fell in love with him for some reason! Indeed, there is a lot of good in Erast, the author himself says about him: “a rich nobleman, with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty.” What influenced the appearance of weakness and frivolity in his character?

Consider the lifestyle of the heroes. What conditions do they live in and what do they do? We read about Lisa at the beginning of the story: “she worked day and night,” she was responsible for her mother, tried to console her in grief, “to calm her mother, she tried to hide the sadness of her heart and seem calm and cheerful,” she was afraid to upset, worry her, even in During my meetings with Erast, I thought about my mother. And Erast “lived a distracted life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements... he was bored and complained about his fate.” Both in love and in lifestyle, Lisa and Erast are completely different people. What is their main difference?

Karamzin leads the reader to understand this: they belong to different classes, which means moral values are not the same for them. Let's think about the question: why did Erast leave Lisa? Didn’t he dream of “living inseparably with her, in the village and in the dense forests, as in paradise”? Even after losing his estate at cards, Erast did not die of hunger, and in addition to the estate, he probably still had wealth. What is the meaning of life for Erast? In money. For him they are the most important thing. And in Karamzin’s story the theme of money runs through the entire plot. The acquaintance of Lisa and Erast began with the fact that Lisa was selling a bouquet of flowers, and Erast, wanting to make an acquaintance with a pretty girl, decided to buy lilies of the valley from her, offering a ruble instead of five kopecks.

Valuing only money, he believes that he will please the poor girl he liked. From the same motives, Erast expressed a desire to pay ten times more for Liza’s work than
she was worth it. He plays cards in the army for money. For the sake of money, he marries an elderly rich widow without love. And in the episode of the last parting with Lisa, he gives her a hundred rubles, puts them in her pocket, as if paying her off for the sake of his well-being, for the sake of the opportunity to have a lot of money.

He traded love for money. And he sold himself for money. How does Lisa feel about money? If for Erast money is a source of pleasure and amusement, then for Liza it is a means of subsistence, but not an end in itself. She firmly learned the lessons of her mother, who taught: “...it is better to feed yourself by your labors and not take anything for nothing.” How much dignity and nobility there are in these simple poor people, crushed by need, but who have not lost their pride!

What is the meaning of life for Lisa? The meaning of her life is love, dedication. Before meeting Erast, it was love for his mother, caring for her, then reckless love for his “dear friend.” Lisa will never trade love for money. This is evidenced by the girl’s act when she refuses buyers, saying that the flowers are not for sale, hoping that a wonderful gentleman will come for them again, and at the end of the day, without waiting for Erast, she throws them into the river with the words: “No one can own you.” ! But she could get money for them, which she and her sick mother so needed. For Lisa, flowers are a symbol of love, because it was with a bouquet of lilies of the valley that her acquaintance with Erast began.

5 / 5. 1

Characteristics of Erast.

Sentimentalism is one of the most significant literary trends of the 18th century in Russia, the brightest representative
which became N.M. Karamzin. Sentimentalist writers showed interest in depicting ordinary people and ordinary human feelings.
As Karamzin himself puts it, the story “Poor Liza” is “a rather uncomplicated fairy tale.” The plot of the story is simple. This is the love story of a poor peasant girl Lisa and a rich young nobleman Erast.
Erast is a secular young man “with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty.” Social life and secular
he was tired of pleasures. He was constantly bored and “complained about his fate.” Erast “read idyll novels” and dreamed of
that happy time when people, not burdened by the conventions and rules of civilizations, lived carefree
in the lap of nature. Thinking only about his own pleasure, he “looked for it in amusements.”
With the advent of love in his life, everything changes. Erast falls in love with the pure “daughter of nature” - the peasant woman Lisa. He decided that he “found in Lisa what his heart had been looking for for a long time.”
Sensuality is the highest value of sentimentalism
- pushes the heroes into each other’s arms, giving them a moment of happiness. Painting
pure first love is depicted in the story very touchingly. Erast admires his “shepherdess.” “All the brilliant amusements of the great world seemed insignificant to him in comparison with the pleasures with which the passionate friendship of an innocent soul nourished his heart.” But when Lisa gives herself to him, the jaded young man begins to cool in his feelings for her.
In vain does Lisa hope to regain her lost happiness. Erast goes on a military campaign, loses everything he has at cards
fortune and eventually marries a rich widow.
And Liza, deceived in her best hopes and feelings, forgets her soul” - she throws herself into the pond near the Si...nova Monastery. Erast
is also punished for his decision to leave Lisa: he will forever reproach himself for her death. “He could not be consoled and revered himself
murderer." Their meeting, “reconciliation” is possible only in heaven.
Of course, the gap between a rich nobleman and a poor villager
very great, but Liza in the story least of all looks like a peasant woman, more like a sweet society young lady, brought up in
sentimental novels.
There were many works similar to this story. For example: “Queen of Spades”, “Station Agent”, “Young Lady - Peasant”. These are works by A.S. Pushkin; “Sunday” L.T. Tolstoy. But it is precisely in this story that the sophisticated psychologism of Russian artistic prose, recognized throughout the world, is born.

END ESSAY WRITTEN BY I. S. GLOTOV AT “5”

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2 version of the table

The story “Poor Liza,” which became an example of sentimental prose, was published by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin in 1792 in the Moscow Journal publication. It is worth noting Karamzin as an honored reformer of the Russian language and one of the most highly educated Russians of his time - this is an important aspect that allows us to further evaluate the success of the story. Firstly, the development of Russian literature had a “catch-up” character, since it lagged behind European literature by about 90-100 years. While sentimental novels were being written and read in the West, clumsy classical odes and dramas were still being composed in Russia. Karamzin’s progressiveness as a writer consisted in “bringing” sentimental genres from Europe to his homeland and developing a style and language for the further writing of such works.

Secondly, the assimilation of literature by the public at the end of the 18th century was such that at first they wrote for society how to live, and then society began to live according to what was written. That is, before the sentimental story, people read mainly hagiographic or church literature, where there were no living characters or living speech, and the heroes of the sentimental story - such as Lisa - gave secular young ladies a real life scenario, a guide to feelings.

The history of the story

Karamzin brought the story about poor Liza from his many trips - from 1789 to 1790 he visited Germany, England, France, Switzerland (England is considered the birthplace of sentimentalism), and upon his return he published a new revolutionary story in his own magazine.

“Poor Liza” is not an original work, since Karamzin adapted its plot for Russian soil, taking it from European literature. We are not talking about a specific work and plagiarism - there were many such European stories. In addition, the author created an atmosphere of amazing authenticity by depicting himself as one of the heroes of the story and masterfully describing the setting of events.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, soon after returning from the trip, the writer lived in a dacha near the Simonov Monastery, in a picturesque, calm place. The situation described by the author is real - readers recognized both the surroundings of the monastery and the “Lizin Pond”, and this contributed to the fact that the plot was perceived as reliable, and the characters as real people.

Analysis of the work

Plot of the story

The plot of the story is love and, as the author admits, extremely simple. The peasant girl Lisa (her father was a wealthy peasant, but after his death the farm is in decline and the girl has to earn money by selling handicrafts and flowers) lives in the lap of nature with her old mother. In a city that seems huge and alien to her, she meets a young nobleman, Erast. Young people fall in love - Erast out of boredom, inspired by pleasures and a noble lifestyle, and Liza - for the first time, with all the simple, ardor and naturalness of a “natural person”. Erast takes advantage of the girl’s gullibility and takes possession of her, after which, naturally, he begins to be burdened by the girl’s company. The nobleman leaves for war, where he loses his entire fortune at cards. The way out is to marry a rich widow. Lisa finds out about this and commits suicide by throwing herself into a pond, not far from the Simonov Monastery. The author, who was told this story, cannot remember poor Lisa without holy tears of regret.

Karamzin, for the first time among Russian writers, unleashed the conflict of a work with the death of the heroine - as, most likely, it would have happened in reality.

Of course, despite the progressiveness of Karamzin’s story, his heroes differ significantly from real people, they are idealized and embellished. This is especially true for peasants - Lisa does not look like a peasant woman. It is unlikely that hard work would have contributed to her remaining “sensitive and kind”; it is unlikely that she would conduct internal dialogues with herself in an elegant style, and she would hardly be able to carry on a conversation with a nobleman. Nevertheless, this is the first thesis of the story - “even peasant women know how to love.”

Main characters

Lisa

The central heroine of the story, Lisa, is the embodiment of sensitivity, ardor and ardor. Her intelligence, kindness and tenderness, the author emphasizes, are from nature. Having met Erast, she begins to dream not that he, like a handsome prince, will take her into his world, but that he would be a simple peasant or shepherd - this would equalize them and allow them to be together.

Erast differs from Lisa not only in social terms, but also in character. Perhaps, the author says, he was spoiled by the world - he leads a typical life for an officer and a nobleman - he seeks pleasure and, having found it, grows cold towards life. Erast is both smart and kind, but weak, incapable of action - such a hero also appears in Russian literature for the first time, a type of “aristocrat disillusioned with life.” At first, Erast is sincere in his impulse of love - he does not lie when he tells Lisa about love, and it turns out that he is also a victim of circumstances. He does not stand the test of love, does not resolve the situation “like a man,” but experiences sincere torment after what happened. After all, it was he who allegedly told the author the story about poor Lisa and led him to Lisa’s grave.

Erast predetermined the appearance in Russian literature of a number of heroes of the “superfluous people” type - weak and incapable of making key decisions.

Karamzin uses “speaking names.” In the case of Lisa, the choice of name turned out to be a “double bottom.” The fact is that classical literature provided typification techniques, and the name Lisa was supposed to mean a playful, flirtatious, frivolous character. This name could have been given to a laughing maid - a cunning comedy character, prone to love adventures, and by no means innocent. By choosing such a name for his heroine, Karamzin destroyed the classical typification and created a new one. He built a new relationship between the name, character and actions of the hero and outlined the path to psychologism in literature.

The name Erast was also not chosen by chance. It means “lovely” from Greek. His fatal charm and the need for new impressions lured and destroyed the unfortunate girl. But Erast will reproach himself for the rest of his life.

Constantly reminding the reader of his reaction to what is happening (“I remember with sadness...”, “tears are rolling down my face, reader...”), the author organizes the narrative so that it acquires lyricism and sensitivity.

Quotes

“Mother! Mother! How can this happen? He is a gentleman, but among the peasants...”. Lisa.

“Nature calls me into its arms, to its pure joys,” he thought and decided - at least for a while - to leave the big world.”.

“I can’t live,” thought Lisa, “I can’t!.. Oh, if the sky would fall on me! If the earth would swallow up the poor woman!.. No! the sky doesn’t fall; the earth doesn’t shake! Woe to me.” Lisa.

"Now maybe they have already reconciled!" Author

Theme, conflict of the story

Karamzin's story touches on several topics:

• The theme of the idealization of the peasant environment, the ideality of life in nature. The main character is a child of nature, and therefore by default she cannot be evil, immoral, or insensitive. The girl embodies simplicity and innocence due to the fact that she is from a peasant family, where eternal moral values ​​are kept.
• Theme of love and betrayal. The author glorifies the beauty of sincere feelings and talks with sorrow about the doom of love, not supported by reason.
• The theme is the contrast between countryside and city. The city turns out to be evil, a great evil force capable of breaking a pure being from nature (Lisa’s mother intuitively senses this evil force and prays for her daughter every time she goes to the city to sell flowers or berries).
• Subject " little man" Social inequality, the author is sure (and this is an obvious glimpse of realism) does not lead to happiness for lovers from different backgrounds. This kind of love is doomed.

The main conflict of the story is social, because it is because of the gap between wealth and poverty that the love of the heroes, and then the heroine, perishes. The author extols sensitivity as the highest human value, asserts the cult of feelings as opposed to the cult of reason.