Volodya and Zinaida. The main characters of the story
Year: 1860 Genre: story
Main characters: Volodya, Princess Zinaida
Princess Zasekina moves into the outbuilding next to the family of sixteen-year-old Vladimir. Volodya falls in love with the princess's daughter, Zinaida. One day he meets his beloved with his own father. Having followed them, Vladimir realizes that Zina is not indifferent to his father. After the scandal with Zasekina, the neighbors return to Moscow. Some time later, the young man entered the university, and six months later his father died of shock. Four years later, Vova returns to St. Petersburg and visits Zinaida Zasekina, where he learns that she died 4 days ago during the birth of her child.
the main idea. The story tells about unrequited first love, about how tragic relationships in a family can be if they are not based in any way on love.
Retelling
Sixteen-year-old Vova lives with his father and mother at the dacha and is preparing to enter university. Princess Zasekina moves into the neighboring outbuilding for a period of rest. The main character accidentally meets his neighbor's daughter and dreams of meeting her. Volodya's mother sends him to a neighbor with an offer to pay a visit. This is how the young man first meets his neighbor’s daughter, Zinaida Zasekina, who is a little older than him, she is 21 years old.
During the visit, Zasekina creates a not very good image of herself, but Zinaida behaves impeccably, but spends almost the entire evening talking only to Vladimir’s father. She showed no interest in the young man during the conversation, but before leaving he asks to pay her a visit. The young man increasingly comes to Zinaida in the evenings, and eventually realizes that he is in love with her.
One night, Vladimir becomes an unwitting witness to his beloved’s meeting with his father. Volodya realizes that she is not indifferent to his father. The young man does not stop communicating with the princess’s daughter, pretending that nothing is happening. A week later, his mother was sent a letter accusing her husband of having an affair with a neighbor’s daughter. After a scandal in the house, the Zasekins leave for Moscow. Before leaving, the young man in love decides to say goodbye to Zina and promises to love her forever.
A few days later, Volodya again involuntarily watches the scene of the meeting of his beloved girl and his father, he tries to convince her of something, she does not give consent and extends her hand to him. The father swings and hits her hand with the whip, she shudders and raises her hand to her mouth, touching the red mark of the blow with her lips. Vladimir runs away.
After some time, the young man’s family moves to St. Petersburg. Vova goes to college, but six months later his dad died of shock. After graduating from university, Volodya finds Zina’s friend in the theater to pay a visit to his beloved only a couple of weeks later. Arriving at the address, he learns that Zinaida Dolskaya died four days ago during the birth of her child.
Detailed summary of the work First Love
The story “First Love” is one of the most popular and famous. This is a story about the first love of a young man who has just emerged from childhood and is striving for new feelings and sensations. The basis of the plot is the memory of an already adult man about his first experience of communicating with a girl, about youth, and the desire for the unknown.
The main thread of the story is the idea that first love is the awakening of all the best in a person. First love is like the first thunderstorm or a fast flow of water, something spontaneous and not subject to reason.
A young man named Vladimir, who had just completed a home-schooling course, arrived at a country house with his parents. Here he must prepare to enter university and take a break from the bustle of the city. And, as it turned out, another family, consisting of two ladies, settled next door. One was quite young and very beautiful, of course, in the young man’s opinion.
Summer, languid evenings, black nights and early dawns did their job; they awakened unknown feelings in the young man. Vladimir fell in love with Zinaida, that was the name of the young neighbor, who also turned out to be sociable.
The girl was young, although older than Volodya, smart, open to communication, sometimes flighty, sometimes mysterious. no longer allowed the young man to come for visits. And, as a result, the young man became more and more immersed in love. Naturally, all other matters were abandoned, as well as preparation for studies. I felt the need to take long walks through the garden and find a reason to see my beautiful neighbor.
However, although Zina was constantly surrounded by fans, not one of them crossed the line to become closer to the girl. Although Volodya really wanted to see the whole situation. In fact, Zina was in love with the young man’s father, and she also experienced her love, but it was forbidden and not right. The girl secretly, at night, met with an adult man and at the same time suffered no less than her young neighbor. Zina's relationship with Volodya's father continued for quite a long time, even after the family returned to Moscow.
Only once seeing his father with Zina, Volodya realized that the girl was truly in love. And this became a loss for the young man; he learned and defined for himself what unrequited love is.
The story ends tragically. Although Volodya becomes a student and grows up, his father dies an absurd death and this is a huge grief for the family. And one day the young man has the opportunity to see Zinaida, but even here evil fate prevents him. Zinaida dies two days before the meeting.
More than a century has passed since the publication of the story “First Love,” but the description of the feelings of young people, the description of youth, the effervescence of life has not lost any of its authenticity.
Picture or drawing First love
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Read also the analysis of other works by I.S. Turgeneva:
First love
Turgenev’s story “First Love” was written in the writer’s adulthood in 1860. Today you can download the book absolutely free. The author described the memory of the first feeling, putting his own experiences into the work.
“First Love” is a story with an unusual plot. Compositionally, it is presented in twenty chapters with a prologue. In the backstory, the reader meets the main character named Vladimir Petrovich, who tells his story of first love. In the image of the heroes, Turgenev’s close people are clearly visible: the writer’s parents, the author himself and his first lover Ekaterina Lvovna Shakhovskaya. The author describes in detail the young man's turbulent experiences and constantly changing mood. Despite Zasekina Zinaida’s frivolous attitude towards him, Volodya is happy. But the anxiety is growing, the young man realizes that Zina loves his father. And her feelings are much stronger than the romantic passion of the young man.
With his work, Ivan Sergeevich shows readers that first love can be different and multifaceted in its manifestations. The hero does not harbor a grudge against either his father or his beloved, understanding and accepting their feelings. You can read the text “First Love” online or download it in full on our website.
The main characters of the story. Volodya and Zinaida
Analysis of the story by I.S. Turgenev "First Love"
Volodya's soul is wide open to new impressions. The mood is prepared, and the reader is not surprised when Volodya falls in love with a young neighbor, Princess Zasekina, who has occupied the nearest house with her mother. “The dacha,” explains the narrator, “consisted of a manor house and two low outbuildings.” But the story about meeting a girl is ahead. First, the author considered it necessary to tell who lives in the second outbuilding, which was turned into a factory. He shows how city workers work, boys just like the main character himself: “A dozen thin and disheveled boys in greasy dressing gowns with worn-out faces jumped on wooden levers and thus, with the weight of their puny bodies, squeezed out the motley patterns of the wallpaper.” They have no time for the pleasures of life. A persistent reflection on the fatal guilt of the educated classes before the people is inherent in Turgenev. Wealthy people enjoy the benefits of life and do not notice their well-being. In "Rudin" Turgenev took us to a peasant hut. In “First Love” - to the factory.
Only after this does he draw a portrait of the main character. Zinaida appears as a vision, all the more beautiful because before this the young hero indulged in a not very poetic hobby. He went out to shoot crows, and suddenly “he saw a girl in a pink dress and headscarf behind the fence.” Volodya observed her from the side and therefore the heroine appears to us for the first time as a sketch in profile: “... A slender figure, and slightly disheveled blond hair under a white scarf, and this half-closed smart eye, and these eyelashes, and a tender cheek under them.” Volodya found more than one neighbor, and also engaged in a strange activity: “Four young men crowded around her, and she took turns slapping them on the forehead with gray flowers.” A game that portrays childhood in the form of a heroine. And at the same time, one of the main features is revealed: youthful coquetry, the desire to captivate and conquer - “young people so willingly offered their foreheads - and in the girl’s movements there was something so charming, commanding, mocking and sweet.” Volodya will instantly fall into the circle of young men, fascinated by her beauty.
Before us is a new Zinaida, “with an indescribable imprint of devotion, sadness, love and some kind of despair.” This face, the dark, sad dress speaks of how difficult the life of a girl who sacrificed everything for her first love is.
At the end of the story, Turgenev again touches on the theme of time, again recalling how irreparably terrible it is to delay in love. Mr. N. could not catch up with Asya. Vladimir Petrovich was lucky enough to hear about Zinaida “about four years” later. The princess managed to arrange her life, despite secular gossip. This is how one can understand Maidanov’s polite omissions, from whose lips Vladimir learned about the further fate of Zinaida, now Mrs. Dolskaya. They can meet and meet the past. Moreover, she “has become even prettier” and, according to a friend, “will be glad” to see her former admirer.
“Old memories stirred up in me,” says Vladimir Petrovich, “I promised myself the next day to visit my former “passion.” The frivolous word “passion”, which Vladimir Petrovich used when speaking about his first love, instills anxiety in the reader. And indeed, the hero is not in a hurry: “But some things came up; a week passed, then another...” And fate does not want to wait: “...When I finally went to the Demuth hotel and asked Mrs. Dolskaya, I found out that she died almost suddenly four days ago.” “It was as if something pushed me into my heart,” says the hero. “The thought that I could have seen her and did not see her and will never see her - this bitter thought sank into me with all the force of an irresistible reproach.
It is also interesting why Turgenev called his heroine the name “Zinaida,” which was so unusual in those days. Having considered its meaning, it becomes clear that this name characterizes a girl like no other.
Zinaida (Greek) - born of Zeus (in Greek mythology, Zeus is the supreme deity); from the family of Zeus.
The name Zinaida means divine; belonging to Zeus, i.e. God's; from the family of Zeus; born of Zeus. A bright, light, cheerful and strong name. It sounds internal strength and concentration, demandingness and serious penetration. This name gives the impression of being armed and invulnerable, like knightly armor.
By mental make-up, Zinaida is a leader. But, when necessary, she will submit to a man. This woman with a constant desire for primacy, as they say, has character. A restless and always dissatisfied soul.
Zinaida is the “empress” in the company. In the sea of life - like a fish in water. She is determined and even reckless. She will not compromise her interests, but she is not capable of vile acts. And if he makes a scandal, it’s over trifles and quickly cools down. She knows everyone's responsibility to society, to themselves.
Zinaida is somewhat cold, but men always pay attention to her. It fools their minds.
“Of all my female types,” Turgenev once said, “I am most pleased with Zinaida in “First Love.” In her I was able to present a real, living person: a coquette by nature, but a really attractive coquette.”
"First Love" (main characters)
The story was written by Turgenev as an autobiographical plot. Zinaida was in his destiny. It was his father who became interested in the young lady. Therefore, Turgenev was able to publish his work only after the death of his mother in 1860. Criticism did not accept Turgenev's Zinochka unfriendly. DI. Pisarev wrote that he did not understand her character, but for Dobrolyubov she was Pechorin and Nozdryov rolled into one. “No one has ever met such a woman, or would like to meet one,” the critic concluded.Marya Nikolaevna, mother– I didn’t pay any attention to my son, despite the fact that he was my only son. She was jealous, constantly worried or angry.
Peter Vasilievich, father- a person who is exquisitely calm, self-confident and autocratic. He treated his son with indifference and kindness. He was 10 years younger than his wife and married her for convenience. He treated his son distantly and was almost not involved in his upbringing.
Princess Zasekina– 50-year-old woman. Judging by her manners, she was not born into a princely family. In the second half of the 19th century, marriages between wealthy merchants and industrialists and impoverished nobles were accepted. The noble class degraded. Princess Zasekina was not distinguished by secular manners, and was even an unpleasant woman
Zinochka, daughter of Zasekina- young lady 21 years old. Flirty. Her face was subtle, smart and sweet. Unlike mother, she was distinguished by her secular manners and tact. She was not without princely arrogance. She spoke French perfectly and read. Zinochka liked men, and she knew it very well, and took advantage of it. She quickly noticed that 16-year-old Vladimir was in love with her, flirted with him, teased him, spoiled him, and made fun of him.
“In her entire being, tenacious and beautiful, there was some particularly charming mixture of cunning and carelessness, artificiality and simplicity, silence and playfulness; over everything she did and said, over her every movement there was a subtle, light charm, a peculiar, playful force was felt in everything. And her face was constantly changing, playing too: it expressed, almost at the same time, mockery, thoughtfulness and passion. The most varied feelings, light and quick, like the shadows of clouds on a sunny, windy day, ran over her eyes and lips every now and then.”
Zinaida was dominated by an incorrect upbringing, she was surrounded by strange people; poverty and disorder in the house. She felt superior to people and enjoyed boundless freedom. All this, taken together, developed in her a certain carelessness towards everything and undemandingness. “Caprice and independence,” is how Lushin described Zinochka.
Zinochka made fun of the poet Maidanov, sympathized with him, and at the same time forced him to read Pushkin.
But of all the men surrounding Zinochka, she fell in love with Pyotr Vasilyevich, Volodya’s father. She fell in love so much that she was able to take a blow from him with a whip. This struck young Vladimir most of all.
Count Malevsky spoke with a slight Polish accent. He was a handsome and smartly dressed brunette with a mustache, expressive brown eyes, a thin nose and a small mouth. He was smart and handsome, but there was a falseness, something dubious about him. He earned himself a reputation as a hoaxer; he masterfully fooled people at masquerades. He had the cunning of a fox and an unconscious deceit that was absorbed into his entire existence.
Doctor Lushin was distinguished by truthfulness and straightforwardness. Vladimir Petrovich respected him for this trait. He knew Zinaida better than others, and probably loved her more than others. In words he was a cynical and mocking person.
Poet Maidanov - a tall young man with a thin face, blind eyes and long black hair. A cold man, like all writers, who lived in his own imaginary world. He assured Zinochka, and perhaps to a greater extent himself, that he adored her, sang her praises in his poems.
Retired Captain Nirmatsky, a forty-year-old man, incredibly pockmarked, curly-haired like a blackamoor, stooped, bow-legged.
Belovzorov, hussar, - the handsome hussar with bulging eyes and blond curls had a stately and even heroic build. As a military man, he always wore a uniform. He asked Zinaida to marry him. Zinochka called the hussar “my beast.” Belovzorov was incredibly jealous of Zinochka for everyone
The novel ends with the fact that 4 years after the events described, Zinochka dies during childbirth. Vladimir graduated from the University, and Zinochka married a certain wealthy Mr. Dolsky.
Characteristics of the hero Volodya's father, First love, Turgenev. Character image Father Volodya
Characteristics of the hero Father Volodya
Volodya's father (Peter Vasilyevich) is one of the main characters in the story "First Love", Ivan Turgenev - a handsome, calm and self-confident man who married Volodya's mother, who is 10 years older than him, for convenience. He does not love his wife, nor his son, and practically does not raise him, but sometimes he can play or talk with him.
When his son turned 16 years old, Peter started an affair with his first love - Princess Zinaida Zasekina, their neighbor in the country. Pyotr Vasilyevich’s wife found out about this affair, but he managed to convince her to forgive him, after which they had to urgently leave the dacha for the city. Zinaida also moved to the city, where they continued to meet. She suggested that he leave his wife and go to her, but he did not agree.
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Turgenev, reviews of which are given in this article, were first published in Russia in 1860. It tells about the emotional experiences of the young protagonist, his first real love, who had to face dramatic and sacrificial relationships between adults.
History of creation
The story “First Love” by Turgenev, reviews can be found in this article, was written by the author in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1860.
As the writer himself admitted, he created the work on the basis of his own emotional experience, as well as events that actually happened in the writer’s family. Turgenev later admitted that he described everything as it was, trying not to embellish anything. One of the main characters was his father. Later, many condemned the writer for such frankness, and especially for the fact that he did not hide the fact that all these were real events and not fiction.
Turgenev himself was firmly convinced that there was nothing wrong with this, since he had nothing to hide from the public.
Plot of the story
Turgenev's story "First Love" received mostly positive reviews. Both from readers and literary critics.
The plot of the story “First Love” by Turgenev, reviews of which are in this article, is the memoirs of an elderly man. At the end of his life, he recalls the very first romantic feeling that visited him in his youth.
At the center of the story is the main character named Vladimir. He is only 16 years old. He lives with his family on his parents' country estate. There he meets the charming 21-year-old Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasekina, a princess who moves in next door. He immediately falls in love with a beautiful girl, who also shows him signs of attention.
There are many obstacles in his way. Firstly, Zinaida is surrounded by a large number of other young people, each of whom strives to achieve her favor. And secondly, his feelings turn out to be non-reciprocal. Zinaida is capricious, has a playful character, she often mocks the hero, ridiculing him for various reasons. For example, for his comparative youth.
The Mystery of Zinaida
The story “First Love” by Turgenev,” reviews of which are given in this article, captivates the reader. Especially when it turns out who was the true object of Zinaida’s love. This is Vladimir’s father, whose name is Pyotr Vasilyevich.
The main character secretly watches the scene of his father's romantic meeting with Zinaida, which, however, ends in a breakup. Pyotr Vasilyevich decides to leave the young girl. However, his wife becomes aware of the husband’s affair. The family leaves the estate.
Soon Pyotr Vasilyevich dies. He is struck by a stroke. At the end of the story, the main character learns that Zinaida married Mr. Dolsky. He is going to see her, but does not have time. Princess Zinaida dies during childbirth.
Prototypes of the story's heroes
As already mentioned, Turgenev’s story “First Love” is based on real events. In reviews of the work you can find direct references to the prototypes of the main characters.
The prototype of Pyotr Vasilyevich is his father, whose name was Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev. His personal life was not entirely successful. He married for convenience to a woman who was much older than him, but wealthier. The writer's mother is Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova. When they got married, she was 28 years old, and Turgenev's father was 22.
Sergei Nikolaevich never felt love and tenderness for his wife. Therefore, after several years of relatively happy family life, he began to openly stare at other women. He succeeded in this; Turgenev’s father was popular with the opposite sex. His most famous mistress, with whom he had the longest relationship, Ekaterina Lvovna Shakhovskaya. Shortly after breaking up with her, he died at a relatively young age. He was only 40 years old.
Turgenev's father's mistress
Princess Shakhovskaya became the prototype of Zinaida Alexandrovna in Turgenev’s story “First Love”. You can find reviews of the product in this article. She was a poetess, young Turgenev himself was really in love with her, but she gave preference to his father.
Her fate turned out as described in the story. Soon after breaking up with Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, she married Lev Kharitonovich Vladimirov. Six months later, they had a boy. Shakhovskaya had a hard time giving birth; a week after the birth of the child, she died.
Analysis of the work
In the analysis of the work “First Love” by Turgenev, it is worth noting that the author was best able to depict the emergence of a bright and great feeling that visits every person, as well as the development of love that emerged from a fleeting youthful infatuation.
The author claims that love can give a person a huge range of different feelings. Moreover, they may not always be positive. Love not only gives delight or peace, but can also instill hatred and anger in the soul.
In this work you can follow all the stages of love. The main character first experiences moments of happiness and rapture, then a feeling of black jealousy. And also annoyance and disappointment when it turns out that his main rival is his own father.
Narrative Features
Simplicity of presentation is one of the main advantages of all of Turgenev's prose. The reader does not have to constantly arrange complex facts into a single chain. Instead, the straightforward plot creates an impression of realism and sincerity. All the lines sound very natural, because everything actually happened in the author’s life. For this reason, working on this story gave him such pleasure.
The story “First Love” by Turgenev, the analysis of which is given in this article, is divided into chapters. Each of them contains a specific, completely independent plot. Thanks to this structure, the writer can more easily convey his ideas to the reader and demonstrate the full range of development of the characters’ feelings.
The climax of the story comes in chapter 12. It describes in detail the whole range of powerful and contradictory feelings that the main character experiences for Princess Zinaida. The reader has a unique opportunity to look into the souls of the characters. Find out how they really feel and how they experience the events that are happening.
Images of heroes
It is also important that almost all the characters in Turgenev’s story are in development. The protagonist's father is presented clearly and contrastingly. At some point, the reader can even sympathize with him, because his life is doomed. He is married to an unloved woman, and all his relationships on the side are doomed.
Throughout the story, the image of the main character, Princess Zinaida, also changes radically. Her image is undergoing a process of evolution. She transforms from the frivolous girl she was at the beginning into a truly loving, strong and independent woman.
It is interesting that in the end she turns out to be not as frivolous as she might have seemed at the very beginning of the story. Closer to the middle of the work, she appears before us in the image of an unhappy girl who is doomed to suffer in this life because of love. She is literally constantly tormented and gnawing from the inside by the thought that her love for a married man has no future. However, she steadfastly and courageously endures all the hardships that befall her. This speaks only of one thing - during her affair with Pyotr Vasilyevich, she turned into a wise woman who knows the value of her feelings.
The main character of the story
In fact, the main character of the story is a real child. Youthful maximalism in him prevails over many rational feelings. For example, he wants to kill his rival, who is preventing him from reuniting with Zinaida Alexandrovna.
However, when he finds out that he has to compete with his own father, all his stormy mood goes away. He forgives everyone around him and looks at the situation in which he finds himself in a completely different way. Agree, the act is very naive and childish in its own way.
The story was written by Turgenev as an autobiographical plot. Zinaida was in his destiny. It was his father who became interested in the young lady. Therefore, Turgenev was able to publish his work only after the death of his mother in 1860. Criticism did not accept Turgenev's Zinochka unfriendly. DI. Pisarev wrote that he did not understand her character, but for Dobrolyubov she was Pechorin and Nozdryov rolled into one. “No one has ever met such a woman, or would like to meet one,” the critic concluded.
The main characters of Turgenev’s story “First Love”:
Vladimir Petrovich - bachelor. The main development of the plot occurs when Vladimir Petrovich was 16 years old. Then he first fell in love with his neighbor, Princess Zina Zasekina. He felt bliss when he was next to her, was insanely jealous of other men, and was sad when she was not around. Young Vladimir abandoned his classes, walks around the neighborhood, and stopped horseback riding.
Marya Nikolaevna, mother– I didn’t pay any attention to my son, despite the fact that he was my only son. She was jealous, constantly worried or angry.
Peter Vasilievich, father- a person who is exquisitely calm, self-confident and autocratic. He treated his son with indifference and kindness. He was 10 years younger than his wife and married her for convenience. He treated his son distantly and was almost not involved in his upbringing.
Princess Zasekina– 50-year-old woman. Judging by her manners, she was not born into a princely family. In the second half of the 19th century, marriages between wealthy merchants and industrialists and impoverished nobles were accepted. The noble class degraded. Princess Zasekina was not distinguished by secular manners, and was even an unpleasant woman
Zinochka, daughter of Zasekina- young lady 21 years old. Flirty. Her face was subtle, smart and sweet. Unlike mother, she was distinguished by her secular manners and tact. She was not without princely arrogance. She spoke French perfectly and read. Zinochka liked men, and she knew it very well, and took advantage of it. She quickly noticed that 16-year-old Vladimir was in love with her, flirted with him, teased him, spoiled him, and made fun of him.
“In her entire being, tenacious and beautiful, there was some particularly charming mixture of cunning and carelessness, artificiality and simplicity, silence and playfulness; over everything she did and said, over her every movement there was a subtle, light charm, a peculiar, playful force was felt in everything. And her face was constantly changing, playing too: it expressed, almost at the same time, mockery, thoughtfulness and passion. The most varied feelings, light and quick, like the shadows of clouds on a sunny, windy day, ran over her eyes and lips every now and then.”
Zinaida was dominated by an incorrect upbringing, she was surrounded by strange people; poverty and disorder in the house. She felt superior to people and enjoyed boundless freedom. All this, taken together, developed in her a certain carelessness towards everything and undemandingness. “Caprice and independence,” is how Lushin described Zinochka.
Zinochka made fun of the poet Maidanov, sympathized with him, and at the same time forced him to read Pushkin.
But of all the men surrounding Zinochka, she fell in love with Pyotr Vasilyevich, Volodya’s father. She fell in love so much that she was able to take a blow from him with a whip. This struck young Vladimir most of all.
Count Malevsky spoke with a slight Polish accent. He was a handsome and smartly dressed brunette with a mustache, expressive brown eyes, a thin nose and a small mouth. He was smart and handsome, but there was a falseness, something dubious about him. He earned himself a reputation as a hoaxer; he masterfully fooled people at masquerades. He had the cunning of a fox and an unconscious deceit that was absorbed into his entire existence.
Doctor Lushin was distinguished by truthfulness and straightforwardness. Vladimir Petrovich respected him for this trait. He knew Zinaida better than others, and probably loved her more than others. In words he was a cynical and mocking person.
Poet Maidanov - a tall young man with a thin face, blind eyes and long black hair. A cold man, like all writers, who lived in his own imaginary world. He assured Zinochka, and perhaps to a greater extent himself, that he adored her, sang her praises in his poems.
Retired Captain Nirmatsky, a forty-year-old man, incredibly pockmarked, curly-haired like a blackamoor, stooped, bow-legged.
Belovzorov, hussar, - the handsome hussar with bulging eyes and blond curls had a stately and even heroic build. As a military man, he always wore a uniform. He asked Zinaida to marry him. Zinochka called the hussar “my beast.” Belovzorov was incredibly jealous of Zinochka for everyone
The novel ends with the fact that 4 years after the events described, Zinochka dies during childbirth. Vladimir graduated from the University, and Zinochka married a certain wealthy Mr. Dolsky.
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a famous Russian writer, whose work is of interest to readers of many countries and generations.Fame came to this greatest writer not only thanks to novels and stories. Numerous stories, plays, and prose poems played a major role. He was a very versatile writer.
The author did not chase quantity. It is known that he wrote his works slowly, nurturing the idea for a long time. Despite this, his works regularly appeared on the pages of magazines and as separate books.
Turgenev wrote the famous story “First Love” when he was already 42 years old. In his work, he tried to comprehend the years he had lived and understand his past. Therefore, the entire literary plot is imbued with autobiography.
The history of the creation and conception of the story “First Love”
Turgenev's story with a beautiful and unusual title, “First Love,” was written by the author while he was in the city on the Neva. It is known that the basis for the author’s plot was the events that once happened to the writer himself. And so, being in St. Petersburg from January to March 1860, he took on his new work, the idea of which had long been born in his head.
According to the plot, the author talks about emotional experiences that aroused new feelings in the main character. A small childhood love on the pages of Turgenev's story turns into adult love, filled with tragedy and sacrifice. It is known that almost every hero of this work had prototypes, since this story was written on the basis of the author’s personal emotional experience and the events that once happened in his family.
As the writer himself later admitted, he tried to portray all events as they are, without hiding or embellishing anything.
“The actual incident is described without the slightest embellishment.”
The author believed that there was nothing wrong with him telling the truth, he had nothing to hide, and someone would take his story as a model and this would help avoid many mistakes and tragedies. This Turgenev story was first published in Russia, the year of its publication was 1860.
The plot of Turgenev's story "First Love" is structured as if it were a memoir. The story is told from the perspective of an elderly man who remembers his first love. The author took as the main character of his story a young man, Vladimir, who was barely 16 years old.
In the story, the main character and his family go to relax on a family estate, which is located outside the city. In this rural calm and tranquility, he meets a young and beautiful girl. Zinaida was already 21 years old at that time. But Vladimir is not at all embarrassed by the age difference. This is how the main female character appears in Turgenev’s story - Zinaida Aleksandrovna Zasekina. Of course, she is young and beautiful, so it’s hard not to fall in love. Yes, Vladimir fell in love with Zina, but it turns out that he is not the only one in love. Around a pretty girl there are constantly candidates for her affection.
But the girl’s character turns out to be not the most diligent. Realizing that men really like her, Zina is not averse to sometimes making cruel jokes on them. So she doesn’t like Vladimir at all, but seeing his suffering, she decides to play a little prank on him, showing her capricious and playful disposition. Sometimes Zinaida Alexandrovna makes fun of him in front of everyone because he is too young. But Turgenev’s hero endures all this, because he is deeply in love. And only after some time, Vladimir unexpectedly learns that Zinaida is also very much in love and this object of her love is his father.
One day he witnesses a secret meeting between Zinaida Alexandrova and Pyotr Vasilyevich, his father. From everything he saw and said, he understood that his father had left the girl forever, because the whole family was leaving back to the city from the village. And a week later, Vladimir’s father suddenly has a stroke and dies. Zinaida very soon marries some Mr. Dolsky. Four years later, the young woman dies in childbirth.
Prototypes of the heroes of Turgenev's story “First Love”
All Turgenev's heroes in his story “First Love” have fictitious names, but according to the memoirs of contemporaries, they all have prototypes. As soon as the story came out, everyone recognized real people in it: the writer himself, his mother, father and the girl with whom the author was in love. Let's take a closer look at their prototypes:
♦ Vladimir, Turgenev’s main character, is the author himself, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
♦ Zinaida Alexandrovna - Princess Ekaterina Lvovna Shakhovskaya, who was a poetess. It is known that the young author was deeply in love with her, but it soon became clear that she was his father’s mistress. Her fate: wedding and death after childbirth was in reality.
♦ Pyotr Vasilyevich, the father of the main character - Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, who married a woman for convenience. Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova was much older than him, and he did not love her at all. Hence his affairs with other women.
It is known that due to the fact that the writer’s father’s marriage was not for love, Sergei Nikolaevich’s novels were frequent. His wife, the writer’s mother, took care of the housework and stood firmly on her feet. Therefore, the couple lived on their own. In the story, the author shows such a married couple, from whose relationship their son, a completely young creature, suffers. The author himself is easily recognizable in it. This whole story takes place at a time when Ivan Turgenev lives in a village in the Moscow region to prepare for exams to enter the university.
The young man is passionately in love, and the girl flirts and jokes with him. Volodya completely forgets about his studies and thinks only about Zinochka. That’s why so much of Turgenev’s story is devoted to describing the experiences and feelings of a young man, which are constantly changing and in some ways even resemble a storm or flash. It is worth noting that Volodya is still happy, although the girl simply laughs at him. But still, anxiety gradually increases, and soon the young man begins to understand that Zina is not so simple: she has a secret life and she is also in love with someone.
Soon, not only the hero, but also the readers begin to guess who Zinaida is in love with. The tone of the entire narrative of Turgenev's story changes greatly and the word "love", which before was stormy and enthusiastic, becomes dark and tragic. The girl’s feelings turn out to be much deeper than those of the main character. And Vladimir understands that this is true love. It’s so different, everyone has their own, which is impossible to understand and explain. And as confirmation of this is the ending of the story, where the hero witnesses the explanation of two people in love who cannot be together.
But Volodya is not offended by them, realizing that this love is real and he has no right to condemn or interfere with such true love. This love is multifaceted, beautiful, complex. The author himself tried to find it all his life.
Composition of Turgenev's story
In its composition, Turgenev's story “First Love” is a rather simple work, but deep and meaningful. It has twenty chapters. The narrative is constructed in the form of memories, so the presentation is sequential and in the first person, since the author is the main character himself, who talks about what happened to him in his youth. Although the name, of course, has been changed: Vladimir Petrovich.
Turgenev's story begins with a short prologue, which shows the background of all these memories and introduces the reader to what they are about to learn. So, Vladimir, being an old man, in one of the companies tells the story of his first and tragic love. He does not want to tell his friends it verbally, as they did, but tells them that he will definitely write this story and read it to them the next time they meet. And he keeps his word. After this comes the story itself.
Detailed analysis of the twelfth chapter of Turgenev's story
The twelfth chapter, which is the culmination of the entire plot, occupies a special place in the entire Turgenev story. It is here, in this chapter, that the hero’s feelings reach their highest intensity. In it, the author describes the feeling that he has never had better in his life. The plot of this chapter allows us to understand a girl who at first seems frivolous and not serious, but it turns out that she is capable of suffering and deep and serious feelings. But only these “illegal” feelings become a real tragedy for her, and, most likely, this pushes her to commit unpredictable and sometimes cruel acts.
The author claimed that what he had to experience at the age of 16 was simply bliss, which, unfortunately, would never be repeated. The writer measured a lot of things in life through love, and therefore he puts his heroes in Turgenev’s story through the test of love. Ivan Sergeevich shows that his heroes must be fulfilled as individuals. Turgenev's psychologism is always secret; he does not give an open description of them, only general hints that helped readers plunge into the depths of sensuality. This chapter contains many experiences of Vladimir, which show his inner world, and this helps to understand the content of the entire work.
With the help of his work, Turgenev was able to relive his youthful excitement and show the reader all the versatility of love.
