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The relationship between Vera and Pechorin from Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" looks very tragic and somewhat paradoxical. In cases where the relationship of the characters becomes impossible due to a number of social or historical reasons (for example, Erasmus and Lisa, Romeo and Juliet), tragedy takes on large-scale features - it is difficult to resist the era or social order, but when the tragedy of relations lies in individual traits ( unrequited love), the tragedy is felt especially sharply.
Dear readers! We offer which was written by M.Yu. Lermontov.
At such moments, the notion comes that sometimes a person’s happiness did not materialize due to the fact that a person close to him was not ready to take drastic measures.
Vera and Pechorin were old acquaintances. Lermontov does not detail the description of these relations, which were formed before the described events in the Caucasus. Minor phrases suggest that these people were connected by a long-standing love, which, for some unknown reason, did not develop into something more, for example, into marriage. Despite the fact that Pechorin and Vera did not communicate for a long time, warm, friendly relations remained between them. It is likely that the former sympathy did not allow the development of a feeling of anger or resentment against each other.
A new round in the relationship between Vera and Pechorin falls at the time of their stay in Pyatigorsk and Kislovodsk.
During this period, Vera is in a state of physical and moral exhaustion - she is seriously ill, it is likely that this disease, which resembles an incurable fever, will become fatal in a woman's life, since the treatment produced does not bring significant results. In addition, Vera is unhappy in marriage - she married an unloved person and is now tormented by the lack of romantic feelings towards her husband.
Pechorin, at the time of the meeting, is on the verge of depression - he does not find his place in life, allowing him to feel moral satisfaction.
After a long separation, young people meet again, and a former feeling flares up between them.
Vera's marriage does not become an obstacle to the development of relations - in order to avoid publicity, young people meet secretly.
However, the idyll in their relationship did not last long - Pechorin, driven by the desire to cause an attack of jealousy in Vera, begins to court Princess Mary in a demonstrative manner, thus causing considerable mental anguish to Vera.
Dear readers! We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
Despite such a selfish attitude towards herself, Vera does not stop loving Pechorin - she sincerely worries about the outcome of the duel. Haunted by fear of loss and mental anguish, Vera confesses to her husband about her relationship with Pechorin. A quarrel arises between the spouses, which, however, Vera practically does not remember - her internal state and moral shocks do not allow her to sensibly assess everything that is happening. As a result, the woman, having written a farewell letter to Pechorin, leaves with her husband.
The subtle spiritual organization of Vera, in combination with an outstanding mind, becomes a key factor supporting Pechorin's interest in a woman.
However, this does not allow Vera to avoid mistakes in relationships. On the one hand, she is aware of the harmfulness of these relationships and their doom. Vera understands that Pechorin acts towards her like any man - he just enjoys her favor and love, but on the other hand, she hopes that she will become the woman who will heal Pechorin from his eternal dissatisfaction and blues.
For this purpose, a woman is ready to sacrifice herself, in return hoping to receive the same thing - a certain sacrifice from Pechorin, which would allow her to become happy and know the joy of a harmonious life, but Pechorin does not make a reciprocal move. On the one hand, such an act of his looks extremely selfish, on the other, it is natural. Whatever the good intentions of Vera, Pechorin did not ask her for this sacrifice.
Faith, however sad it may be, was guided solely by its own initiative, and, as is known from the proverb, it is punishable. The general tragedy of the situation is further enhanced by the fact that Pechorin did not promise Vera any retaliatory actions on his part. As a result, Vera, being truly in love with Pechorin, experiences mental anguish due to an unfair unrequited attitude towards her person, while Pechorin, who did not make any promises and only accepts the victim, is calm - by his standards, he does not owe Vera anything.
The relationship between Vera and Pechorin seems more than prosaic. Straightforward statements about passionate attraction to each other and about the emergence of romantic feelings allow us to say that Vera became the only woman in Pechorin's life that he really loved.
While in other cases the arisen passion faded as quickly as it appeared, the relationship with Vera is devoid of such transience. After a while, the woman still remains desired by Pechorin.
Having received Vera's farewell letter, Pechorin is tormented by doubts - what should he do, whether it is worth catching up with Vera on the way, which also suggests the presence of deeper feelings than just a temporary hobby.
However, this story has another side to the coin. Pechorin is courting Princess Mary in order to cause an attack of jealousy in Vera - he likes to realize that he is becoming the cause of mental anguish and anguish. Is that what they do with their loved ones?
To some extent, Pechorin acts selfishly towards a woman - he is little concerned about the possible consequences of such relationships outside of marriage, as well as the further fate of Vera.
After reading the letter, Pechorin does not feel tormented by conscience for his ignoble act - emptiness and chaos still reign in his soul.
As a result, we can say that Vera in the life of Pechorin was, of course, an important and significant person. Definitely, he had strong, deep feelings for Vera, but it is likely that Pechorin, who himself was in disharmony with the whole world, was not able to realize the full significance of this person in his life. Vera's sincere love became an occasion for Pechorin to assert himself, to amuse his pride and selfishness.
Vera, in turn, being unhappy in marriage, hoped to find peace of mind and happiness with the help of relations with Pechorin. She is so captivated by the young man that she is ready to sacrifice everything she has, just for the sake of the hope of an illusory happiness.
Endowed with intelligence and knowledge of life, protected by his skepticism from passion and illusions - Lermontov's Pechorin (see full text, summary and analysis of "The Hero of Our Time", as well as a description of the image and characterization of Pechorin) knows people, their passions are weak, knows how to play people, like pawns (cf. his relationship to Grushnitsky, to Maxim Maksimych). He knows women especially well. Like Onegin, he has perfectly studied "the science of tender passion", and plays his game for sure, like Lovelace - this experienced hunter for women's hearts.
Lermontov. Princess Mary. Feature film, 1955
"Won't belong to anyone but me! - he says decisively about Bela, - she will be mine! "Women only love those they don't know"; "If you do not gain power over her, then even her first kiss does not give you the right to a second." “There is nothing more paradoxical than the female mind; it is difficult to convince women of anything - they must be brought to the point that they convince themselves, ”these are examples of those aphorisms, rules and observations that Pechorin made from the knowledge of women.
He himself admits that "besides them, he loves nothing in the world." This, of course, is again a “phrase”, but a curious one. Pechorin's attitude to Bela, to Princess Mary and Vera gives us examples of various "techniques" that he developed during his practice. He bribed women by presenting himself as "unlucky"; he occupied them with the fact that he was mysterious and interesting - to look into his soul beckoned, like to look into the abyss ... He conquered them with the power of his soul.
Stronger than all women, he captured Vera, and, in a letter to him, she explained that her love grew out of pity for him, out of interest in him (she found something mysterious in him), finally, on the female desire for submission (she found in him "invincible power"). “No one knows how to want to be loved so constantly, in no one is evil so attractive!” Vera says. She is aware that he is an egoist (“you loved me like property”); she was convinced that her pity would not warm his heart, but this did not kill her love - her love darkened, but did not die out. In her society, Pechorin does not break down - he does not say “phrases” to her - on the contrary, he is simple, sincere with her, because he can be like that. Vera is an example of a woman, full of love, selfless.
Princess Mary - a romantically inclined girl - was carried away by the "mysteriousness" of Pechorin, because even Grushnitsky managed to impress her with this! Pechorin, having understood her, draws before her, tells her “phrases”, thickens the shadows and colors in his autobiographical confessions - and Princess Mary is lost, confused, she is dizzy, she is drawn into this mysterious foggy abyss ...
Bela is subdued by the power of Pechorin; for her, a savage who grew up in an environment of eastern slavery, a man, first of all, is a master, she is a slave in front of him, and she became a slave of Pechorin, who did not recognize any other relationship to a woman.
“I never became the slave of my beloved woman, on the contrary, I always acquired invincible power over their will and heart, without even trying about it.” "Why is that?" - Pechorin asks himself a question, and with the interest of a natural scientist-observer he tries to understand the psychological riddle posed: “is it because I never really value anything, and that they were every moment afraid to let me out of their hands? or is it the magnetic influence of a strong organism? Or did I just not manage to meet a woman with a stubborn character?
The theme of love in "A Hero of Our Time" is one of the central themes that the author explores. There are a lot of love conflicts in the novel. Even the main character, outwardly cold and selfish Pechorin, is looking for love, he finds it in the hearts of three women of Vera, Mary Ligovskaya and Bela, but the love of these beautiful women does not bring happiness to Pechorin.
In this novel, love generally does not bring joy to anyone, it is a test for each of the characters, and often their love experiences end tragically.
Let's try to consider the main love lines of this work.
One of the literary critics, analyzing the content of this work, rightly noted that the compositional structure of the novel is based on endless love triangles.
Indeed, there are a lot of love triangles here.
In the first part of the novel "Bela" we learn that Pechorin kidnaps a young Circassian Bela from his own father and makes her his mistress. Proud Bela is smart, beautiful and kind. She fell in love with the Russian officer with all her heart, but she realized that in his soul there was no reciprocal feeling for her. Pechorin kidnapped her for fun and soon lost all interest in his captive.
As a result, Bela is unhappy, her love has brought her nothing but deep sorrow.
In one of the walks near the fortress in which she lives with Pechorin, she is kidnapped by the Circassian Kazbich, who is in love with her. Seeing the chase, Kazbich mortally wounds Bela, and she dies two days later in the fortress in the arms of Pechorin.
As a result, this love triangle does not bring satisfaction and joy to any of the heroes. Kazbich, who has killed his beloved, is tormented by remorse, Pechorin understands that Bela's love could not awaken him to life and realizes that he killed the young girl in vain, driven by a sense of pride and selfishness. In his diary, he later wrote: “I was mistaken again, the love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one is just as annoying as the coquetry of another.”
The theme of love in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is represented by another love triangle, in which Pechorin, Princess Mary Ligovskaya and Grushnitsky, who is in love with her, are in love, whom Pechorin, unwittingly, kills in a duel.
This love triangle is also tragic. It leads all its participants either to endless grief, or to death, or to the realization of their spiritual worthlessness.
We can say that the main character of this triangle is Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. It is he who constantly laughs at the young man Grushnitsky, who is in love with Mary, which ultimately leads the latter to jealousy and to a fatal challenge for him to a duel. It is Pechorin, who, having become interested in Princess Ligovskaya, brings this proud girl to the point that she herself confesses her love to him. And he rejects her proposal, which causes on her part a feeling of longing and deceived hopes.
Pechorin is dissatisfied with himself, but he, trying to explain the motives of his behavior, only says that freedom is dearer to him than love, he simply does not want to change his life for the sake of another person, even a girl like Princess Mary.
Love in Lermontov's work "A Hero of Our Time" finds its expression in yet another passionate love triangle.
It includes Pechorin, a secular married lady Vera and her husband, about whom the novel is only mentioned. He met Vera Pechorin back in St. Petersburg, he was passionately in love with her, but her marriage and fear of the world prevented the further development of their romance.
In Kislovodsk, Vera and Pechorin meet by chance, and the old relationship flares up again with its former strength.
Pechorin shows tenderness to Vera when she suddenly leaves Kislovodsk, he drives his horse to death to keep up with her, which, however, he fails. However, these love relationships do not bring happiness to either Vera or Pechorin. This is confirmed by the words of the heroine: “Since we know each other,” she said, “you have given me nothing but suffering.”
In fact, this love triangle anticipates the love conflict described in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina". There, too, a secular married lady meets a young officer, falls in love with him and understands that her husband has become unpleasant to her. Unlike Vera, Anna Karenina breaks up with her husband, goes to her lover, but finds only misfortunes, which leads her to suicide.
And, finally, the last love triangle of the novel is the story that happened to Pechorin on Taman. There, he accidentally uncovered a gang of smugglers who almost killed him for this.
This time, the participants in the love triangle were Pechorin, a girl whom he nicknamed "undine", that is, a mermaid, and her beloved smuggler Yanko.
However, this love collision was more of a gamble in which Pechorin decided to distract himself from his experiences. Undine was not in love with him, but lured him only in order to drown him as an unwanted witness. The girl took such a dangerous step, obeying the feeling of falling in love with Yanko.
Pechorin realized the danger of his position and came to the conclusion that he had put himself in vain at such a risk.
As we can see, the love theme in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" is presented quite vividly. At the same time, there are no examples of happy love in the work. And this is not surprising, because love and friendship in the work of Lermontov are always tragic themes. According to the writer and poet, on earth a person will never be able to find true love, because he himself bears the seal of imperfection. Therefore, people will love and suffer because their love cannot bring them happiness, joy, or peace.
It will be useful for students of grade 9 to familiarize themselves with a description of the main love lines of the novel before writing an essay on the topic “The theme of love in the novel“ A Hero of Our Time ””.
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Love ... Such a beautiful and sublime feeling, to which Pechorin is so thoughtlessly treated. He is an egoist, and beautiful girls who see their ideal in him suffer from this. Bela and Princess Mary, Vera and Undine are so different, but equally hurt by Pechorin, who himself admits: “Yes, and what do I care about human joys and misfortunes ...”.
When Pechorin first saw the beautiful Circassian Bela, he thought that love for her would bring him healing from longing and disappointment. Bela was endowed not only with beauty. She was an ardent and tender girl, capable of deep feelings. Proud and bashful Bela is not devoid of consciousness of her dignity. When Pechorin lost interest in her, Bela, in a fit of indignation, says to Maxim Maksimych: “If he doesn’t love me, who’s stopping him from sending me home? .. If this continues, then I myself will leave: I’m not a slave, I’m a prince’s daughter!” .
The story with Bela showed Pechorin that in woman's love he was looking for happiness in vain. “I was mistaken again,” says Pechorin, “the love of a savage woman is little better than the love of a noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one is just as annoying as the coquetry of another.”
Princess Mary, like Bela, is a victim of the restless Pechorin. This proud and restrained aristocrat was deeply carried away by the “army ensign” and decided not to reckon with the prejudices of her noble relatives. She was the first to confess to Pechorin her feelings. But at the moment of a decisive explanation with Princess Pechorin, he felt incapable of giving away his freedom to anyone. Marriage would be a "quiet haven". And he himself rejects Mary's love. Offended in her feelings, the sincere and noble Mary withdraws into herself and suffers.
Love for Vera was Pechorin's deepest and most lasting affection. Among his wanderings and adventures, he left faith, but returned to it again. Pechorin caused her a lot of suffering. “Since we have known each other,” Vera said, “you have given me nothing but suffering.” And yet she loved him. Ready to sacrifice her self-esteem and the opinion of the world to her beloved, Vera becomes a slave to her feelings, a martyr of love. Parting with her, Pechorin realized that faith was the only woman who understood him and continued to love him, despite his shortcomings. Pechorin experiences the final separation from Vera as a catastrophe: he indulges in despair and tears. Nowhere is Pechorin's hopeless loneliness and the suffering he engendered, which he hid from others under his usual firmness and composure, so clearly revealed.
Relations with the undine were just an exotic adventure for Pechorin. She is an undine, a mermaid, a girl from a forgotten fairy tale. This is what attracts Pechorin. Undoubtedly, his interest was influenced by the mysterious environment. For him, this is one of the coils of fate; for her, this is life, where everyone fights for their place, for their work.
Thus, Pechorin did not know how to truly love. He could only make those who treated him so devotedly and reverently suffer.
In the lyrical-psychological novel "The Hero of Our Time" M. Yu. Lermontov aims to fully convey the character of the protagonist and the reasons for his failures. Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin finds himself in the Caucasus because of some regular "story" that happened to him in St. Petersburg. His life confronts a variety of people from different walks of life and fields of activity. Throughout the work, the character of the hero is tested in love, friendship and emergency situations.
We see that his relationship does not add up, and his personal life makes him sad. Pechorin is characterized by the inconsistency of character, and the author also attributes to him a considerable share of egoism and skepticism. But its main enemy is still boredom. Everything he does is just to somehow fill his spiritual emptiness. Despite the fact that the hero is endowed with courage, willpower, high intellect, insight, vivid imagination, a special form of morality peculiar only to him, he lacks spiritual warmth.
He treats friends either coldly or indifferently, giving nothing in return. Women are all the same for him and make him bored. Pechorin has rich experience in communicating with the opposite sex, and only one woman managed to keep his attention for many years. This is Vera, with whom fate again pushed him in Pyatigorsk near the Ligovskys. Despite the fact that she is married, seriously ill, she still devotedly loves Gregory with all his shortcomings. She alone manages to look into his vicious soul and not be afraid.
However, the hero did not appreciate this devotion either, so at the end of the story, Vera leaves him, and with it, faith in life, faith in a bright future. We see that the hero of Lermontov is deeply unhappy. This is a person who does not know how to love. He would like to, but nothing. In parting, Vera tells him that "no one can be as truly unhappy as he is," and in this she, alas, is right. In the Caucasus, he made other attempts to get close to women, but they all ended tragically.
