The role of landscape in N. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”. The meaning of landscape in the story by N.M. Karamzin “Poor Lisa The role of landscape in the work Poor Lisa

In this lesson we will get acquainted with the story by N.M. Karamzin "Poor Liza". We will find out why this work has a special place among other works of Russian literature, and we will also analyze the role of landscape in this story.

Topic: LiteratureXVIIIcentury

Lesson: “Poor Lisa.” The inner world of heroes. The role of landscape

In the last lesson, we talked about the unity of everything that Karamzin wrote, about one thought that permeates everything that Karamzin wrote, from beginning to end. This idea is to write the history of the soul of the people along with the history of the state.

Everything written by Karamzin was intended for a narrow circle of readers. First of all, for those with whom he was personally acquainted and with whom he communicated. This is that part of the high society, the St. Petersburg and Moscow nobility, which was involved in literature. And also for a certain part of the people, the number of which was measured by the number of seats in the imperial theater. As a matter of fact, those one and a half to two thousand people who gathered at the performances of the imperial theaters made up the entire audience to which Karamzin addressed. These were people who could see each other, see each other, first of all, in the theater, at balls, meetings of high society, which were sometimes official, sometimes not. But these meetings always represented the circle of communication and interests that shaped the future of Russian literature.

Everything that Karamzin wrote is addressed to a circle of people whom he calls friends. If we open “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” we read the very first phrase - an appeal to friends: “I broke up with you, dears, I broke up! My heart is attached to you with all the tenderest feelings, but I am constantly moving away from you and will continue to move away!” 18 months later, returning from a trip, Karamzin ends “Letters of a Russian Traveler” again with an appeal to his friends: “Coast! Fatherland! I bless you! I am in Russia and in a few days I will be with you, my friends!..” And further: “And you, dear ones, quickly prepare for me a neat hut in which I could freely have fun with the Chinese shadows of my imagination, be sad with my heart and take comfort with friends." An appeal to friends, as a cross-cutting motif, is constantly present in the text, and in the text of any work by Karamzin.

Rice. 2. Title page of “Letters of a Russian Traveler” ()

About the landscape

The story “Poor Liza” consists of fragments connected by a story about the author’s experiences, and these are fragments of two kinds. The first of them (and this is where the story begins) is a description of nature. A description of nature, which serves Karamzin solely as a reflection of the internal state of the author-narrator. There is some idea about the person who writes the text. It turns out that it is impossible to read without this idea. In order to read the text, you need to step into the shoes of the one who wrote it, you need to merge with the author and see through his eyes what he saw, and feel for him what he felt. This is a special kind of landscape, which Karamzin apparently appears for the first time in Russian literature. Here is the beginning: “... no one is in the field more often than me, no one more than me wanders on foot, without a plan, without a goal - wherever the eyes look - through meadows and groves, over hills and plains. Every summer I find new pleasant places or new beauty in old ones.”

Karamzin does not dwell on details, he does not describe color, he does not convey sound, he does not talk about some small details, objects... He talks about impressions, about the trace visible objects (their colors and sounds) leave in his soul . And this in some way tunes the reader and makes him think and feel in unison with how the author thinks and feels. And Karamzin wanted it or not, whether he did it intentionally or by accident, it appeared. But this is precisely what became such a material feature of Russian prose for several centuries to come.

Rice. 3. Illustration for the story “Poor Liza.” G.D. Epifanov (1947) ()

And “Poor Liza” finds itself in a special place among these works. The fact is that friendly meetings of Karamzin’s time represented a very clear line between the male and female parts of society. Men, as a rule, communicated separately. If it is not a ball or a children's party, then most often the meeting where future or current Russian writers met was attended exclusively by men. The appearance of a woman was still impossible. Nevertheless, women were the subject of men's conversations, men's interests, and women were most often addressed by what men wrote. Karamzin already noted that the Russian reader at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries was predominantly women. And his story, dedicated to a woman, the main character of which was a woman, was addressed primarily to the reader, and not to the reader. Karamzin later addressed the male reader in his multi-volume “History of the Russian State.” He addressed the female reader at the very moment when, apparently, the idea of ​​the unity of the history of the country and the history of the soul was born. It was the female soul that was of particular interest.

We must understand that in the system of education, in the system of communication that existed in that era (both the separate education of boys and girls, and the separate communication of men and women) was a very important part. And in this sense, in the male community of writers, women were something of an ideal, which they served, which they worshiped, and to which the texts they wrote addressed.

Rice. 4. “Poor Lisa.” O.A. Kiprensky (1827) ()

“Poor Liza” is the embodiment of the feminine ideal that Karamzin and his circle of friends see. At the same time, one must understand that the fictionality, some kind of artificiality, and the sketchiness of the entire plot of “Poor Lisa” is a completely natural thing for that time.

There is a gulf between the nobleman and the peasant, there is a gulf between the master and his slave. The love story between a rich and noble man named Erast and a poor peasant girl named Lisa is a very real story. And in the circle of acquaintances to whom Karamzin addresses his story, most should have recognized real prototypes - those people whose story Karamzin tells in his story. Everyone else who did not personally know about these circumstances could guess that there were real people behind the characters. And Karamzin doesn’t finish the story, doesn’t give any factual instructions, any hints about those who really stand behind these characters. But everyone realizes that the story is not fictional, the story is in fact the most ordinary and traditional: the master seduces a peasant woman and then abandons her, the peasant woman commits suicide.

Rice. 5. Illustration for the story “Poor Liza.” M.V. Dobuzhinsky (1922) ()

This standard situation is now for us, for those who look at this history from the height of two centuries that have passed since then. There is nothing unusual or mysterious about it. In essence, this is the story of a television series. This is a story that is repeatedly rewritten in notebooks, and now these notebooks have migrated to the Internet and are called blogs, and there, in essence, they tell exactly the same heart-warming stories that girls have been accustomed to since the time of Karamzin. And these stories are still incredibly popular. What's special? What holds our attention in this story now, two centuries later? From this point of view, it is very interesting to look at the reviews and comments left on the Internet by modern readers who have just read the story “Poor Liza.” They, it turns out, try this story on themselves. They put themselves in Lisa's shoes and talk about what they would do in similar circumstances.

The men in this story imagine themselves completely differently. None of the readers identify themselves with Erast and try to take on this role. A completely different male gaze, a completely different idea of ​​the text, completely different thoughts, completely different feelings for men.

Apparently, then in 1792 Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin discovered Russian literature as women's literature. And this discovery still continues to be important and relevant. The successors of this women's story, and then the women's novel, which Karamzin created, can be found quite often these days, and bookstores display a wide selection of women's stories and novels. And they are not always composed by women; more often they are composed by men. But, nevertheless, these novels are still very popular.

Women's literature. Contemporary women's stories. The pattern of development of Russian literature: a woman as a judge to a man

Following the landscapes, the second element, the second part of the texts that are included in the story are conversations. These are conversations that, as a rule, give only a hint, an outline. They are completely different from the real conversations that people have with each other. Both now and in the 18th century, when Karamzin’s story was written, people spoke differently. Those dialogues that Karamzin reproduces, they rather outline, give some hints, short indications of the feelings that people experience when they pronounce these words. The words themselves are not important, what matters are the feelings behind them. Here Liza’s mother speaks about the impression that Erast makes on her:

“What should we call you, kind, gentle gentleman?” - asked the old woman. “My name is Erast,” he answered. “Erastom,” said Lisa quietly, “Erastom!” She repeated this name five times, as if trying to solidify it. Erast said goodbye to them and left. Lisa followed him with her eyes, and the mother sat thoughtfully and, taking her daughter by the hand, said to her: “Oh, Lisa! How good and kind he is! If only your groom were like that!” Liza’s whole heart began to tremble. "Mother! Mother! How can this happen? He’s a gentleman, and among the peasants...” - Lisa didn’t finish her speech.”

Perhaps this is the first case in the entire history of Russian literature when a character’s broken speech gives more than its continuation. What Lisa is silent about is more important than what she says. The technique of silence, when an unspoken word has a much stronger effect and is perceived much brighter than a spoken word, was known in poetry. As a matter of fact, Karamzin also has a poem “Melancholy”, where he uses this. This is an imitation of Delisle, which ends with the words: “There is a feast there... but you don’t see, you don’t listen, and you lower your head into your hand; Your joy is to be silent, thoughtful, and turn a gentle gaze to the past.” In a poem, trying to convey feelings through silence is something like what a pause does in music. When the sound of a voice or musical instrument stops, the listener has a pause, a time appears when he can experience and feel what he just heard. Karamzin gives the same thing: he interrupts Lisa’s monologue, and she does not talk about what worries her most. She is worried about the gap between her and her lover. She is worried that their marriage is impossible.

Lisa sacrifices herself, she refuses the rich peasant groom who proposed to her. And here she is silent about what is most important for the reader. Karamzin largely discovered this ability to let the reader hear, feel, understand what cannot be conveyed in words as a possibility in literature.

When we say that “Poor Liza” marks the beginning of women’s literature in Russia, we must understand that women’s literature is not at all prohibited for men. And when we say that the heroes do not identify themselves with the negative character of this story, we do not mean at all that this story causes disgust in the male reader. We're talking about the male reader identifying with another character. This hero is an author-narrator.

A man who, while walking around the outskirts of Moscow, came across a hut where Liza lived with her mother and tells this whole story not at all in order to edify his descendants and contemporaries to read another moral. No. He talks about his experiences, about what touched him. Please note: the words “touch” and “feel” are among those that Karamzin used in the Russian language for the first time.

Another thing is that he borrowed these words from the French language and sometimes simply used French words, replacing French roots with Russian ones, sometimes without changing them. Nevertheless, readers (both men and women) remain readers of Karamzin, because it is important for them to follow the movement of the soul, which makes up the meaning, which makes up the core, the essence of the narrative.

This discovery of Karamzin is much more important than his discoveries in literature and history. And the discovery of the soul, the discovery of the opportunity to look deep into a person, as an opportunity to look into the soul of another person and look into one’s own soul and read something there that was previously unknown - this is Karamzin’s main discovery. A discovery that largely determined the entire future course of Russian literature.

1. Korovina V.Ya., Zhuravlev V.P., Korovin V.I. Literature. 9th grade. M.: Education, 2008.

2. Ladygin M.B., Esin A.B., Nefedova N.A. Literature. 9th grade. M.: Bustard, 2011.

3. Chertov V.F., Trubina L.A., Antipova A.M. Literature. 9th grade. M.: Education, 2012.

1. What was the audience to which N.M. addressed? Karamzin? Describe the circle of its readers.

2. Which work by N.M. Karamzin is predominantly addressed to the male reader, and which one is addressed to the female reader?

3. Which character from N.M.’s story? Karamzin's "Poor Liza" is often identified by male readers?

4. To what extent does the technique of silence used by N.M. contribute to understanding the emotional state of the characters? Karamzin?

5. * Read the text “Poor Lisa” by N.M. Karamzin. Tell us about your impressions.

Master Class

Kontsur Yu.O., teachers of the Moscow School of EducationI- IIsteps No. 20

Topic: Analysis of the landscape in N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”

Goals: 1) give the concept of landscape as an element of composition; 2) analyze the role of landscape in N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”

Forms of work: group

1. Introduction

Writers very often turn to description in their works.

the literary direction (current) with which it is associated, the writer’s method, as well as the type and genre of the work. Landscape can create an emotional background against which actions unfold. Landscape, as a part of nature, can emphasize a certain state of mind of the hero, highlight one or another feature of his character by recreating consonant or contrasting pictures of nature.

The story “Poor Liza” contains beautifully picturesque pictures of nature that harmoniously complement the story. At first glance, they can be considered random episodes that are just a beautiful background for the main action. But everything is much more complicated. Landscapes in “Poor Lisa” are one of the main means of revealing the emotional experiences of the characters.

With a small knapsack on his back, Karamzin went off for whole days to wander without a goal or plan through the lovely forests and fields of the Moscow region, close to the white-stone outposts. He was especially attracted by the surroundings of the old monastery, which towered above the Moscow River. Karamzin came here to read his favorite books. Here he had the idea to write “Poor Liza” - a story about the sad fate of a peasant girl who fell in love with a nobleman and was abandoned by him. The story “Poor Liza” excited Russian readers. From the pages of the story they saw an image well known to every Muscovite. They recognized the Simonov Monastery with its gloomy towers, the birch grove where the hut stood, and the monastery pond surrounded by old willows - the place where poor Lisa died. Accurate descriptions gave some special authenticity to the whole story. The surroundings of the Simonov Monastery became a favorite walking place for melancholic readers. The name “Lizin Pond” was established behind the pond.

We will try to analyze the landscape against which Lisa’s tragic fate unfolded. It is important for us to prove that it is not a dispassionate background for the development of events, but a recreation of living nature, deeply perceived and felt.

(During the analysis process, slides depicting the Simonov Monastery, “Liza’s Pond,” and the scene of Lisa’s death are shown on the interactive board).

2. Analysis of landscape sketches in the story “Poor Lisa”

Here are excerpts from “Poor Lisa,” that part of the story that describes the heroine’s subtle emotional experiences. When analyzing landscape sketches, stick to the following plan:

1. Determine the lexical means used by the author.

2. The tone of the episodes.

3. Images and symbols characteristic of sentimental prose.

4. The relationship between the description of nature and the heroine’s state of mind.

5. Draw a conclusion.

(Work takes place in three groups)

First group

Perhaps no one living in Moscow knows the surroundings of this city as well as I do, because no one is in the field more often than me, no one more than me wanders on foot, without a plan, without a goal - wherever the eyes look - through the meadows and groves , over hills and plains. Every summer I find new pleasant places or new beauty in old ones.

But the most pleasant place for me is the place where the gloomy, Gothic towers of the Sin...nova Monastery rise. Standing on this mountain, you see on the right side almost the entire Moscow, this a terrible mass of houses and churches, which appears to the eye in the image of a majestic amphitheater: magnificent picture, especially when the sun shines on it, when its evening rays glow on countless golden domes, on countless crosses ascending to the sky! Below are the fat ones, deep green flowering meadows, and behind them, yellow sands, flows bright river, agitated by the light oars of fishing boats or rustling under the helm of heavy plows that sail from the most fertile countries of the Russian Empire and endow greedy Moscow bread. On the other side of the river one can see an oak grove, near which numerous herds graze; there young shepherds, sitting under the shade of trees, sing simple, sad the songs shorten the summer days, which are so uniform for them. Further away, in the dense greenery of ancient elms, shines golden-headed Danilov Monastery; even further, almost at the edge of the horizon, turn blue Sparrow Hills. On the left side you can see vast fields covered with grain, forests, three or four villages and in the distance the village of Kolomenskoye with its high palace.

I often come to this place and almost always see spring there; I come there too dark days autumn to grieve with nature. The winds howl terribly within the walls of the deserted monastery, between the coffins overgrown with tall grass, and in the dark passages of the cells. There, leaning on the ruins tombstones, I listen to the deaf I moan times, swallowed up by the abyss of the past - a groan from which my heart shudders and trembles. Sometimes I enter cells and imagine those who lived in them - sad pictures! Here I see a gray-haired old man, kneeling before the crucifix and praying for a quick release from his earthly shackles, for all the pleasures in life had disappeared for him, all his feelings had died, except for the feeling of illness and weakness. There is a young monk - with pale face, With with a languid gaze- looks into the field through the window bars, sees funny birds freely floating in the sea of ​​air, sees - and sheds bitter tears from your eyes. He languishes, withers, dries up - and the sad ringing of a bell announces to me his untimely death. Sometimes on the gates of the temple I look at the image of miracles that happened in this monastery, where fish fall from the sky to feed the inhabitants of the monastery, besieged by numerous enemies; here the image of the Mother of God puts the enemies to flight. All this renews in my memory the history of our fatherland - the sad history of those times when the ferocious Tatars and Lithuanians devastated the environs of the Russian capital with fire and sword and when unfortunate Moscow, like a defenseless widow, expected help from God alone in fierce their disasters.

Second group

Night came - the mother blessed her daughter and wished her a gentle sleep, but this time her wish did not come true: Lisa sleeping Very bad. The new guest of her soul, the image of Erastov, seemed to her so vividly that she almost every minute woke up, woke up and sighed. Even before the sun rose, Lisa got up, went down to the bank of the Moscow River, sat down on the grass and, saddened, looked at the white mists that were agitated in the air and, rising up, left shiny drops on the green cover of nature. Silence reigned everywhere. But soon the rising luminary of the day awakened all creation: groves, bushes perked up, the birds fluttered and sang, the flowers raised their heads to be saturated with the life-giving rays of light. But Lisa was still sitting having become sad. Oh, Lisa, Lisa! What happened to you? Until now, waking up with the birds, you are with them had fun in the morning, and a pure, joyful soul shone in your eyes, like the sun shines in drops of heavenly dew; but now you thoughtful, and the general joy of nature is alien to your heart. - Meanwhile, a young shepherd was driving his flock along the river bank, playing the pipe. Lisa fixed her gaze on him and thought: “If the one who now occupies my thoughts was born a simple peasant, a shepherd, - and if he were now driving his flock past me: ah! I would bow to him with a smile and say affably: “Hello, dear shepherd!” Where are you driving your flock? And here green grass grows for your sheep, and here flowers grow red, from which you can weave a wreath for your hat.” He would look at me with an affectionate look - maybe he would take my hand... A dream! A shepherd, playing the flute, passed by and disappeared with his motley flock behind a nearby hill.

Third group

She threw herself into his arms - and at this hour her integrity had to perish! - Erast felt an extraordinary excitement in his blood - Liza had never seemed so charming to him - never had her caresses touched him so much - never had her kisses been so fiery - she knew nothing, suspected nothing, was afraid of nothing - the darkness of the evening fed desires - not a single star shone in the sky - no ray could illuminate the delusions. - Erast feels awe in himself - Liza also, not knowing why - not knowing what is happening to her... Oh, Lisa, Lisa! Where is your guardian angel? Where is your innocence?

The delusion passed in one minute. Lila did not understand her feelings, she was surprised and asked. Erast was silent - he searched for words and did not find them. “Oh, I’m afraid,” said Lisa, “I’m afraid of what happened to us! It seemed to me that I was dying, that my soul... No, I don’t know how to say this!.. Are you silent, Erast? Are you sighing?.. My God! What's happened?" - Meanwhile lightning flashed And thunder struck. Lisa all trembled. “Erast, Erast! - she said. - I'm scared! I’m afraid that thunder will kill me like a criminal!” Grozno the storm was roaring, the rain was pouring from the black clouds - it seemed that nature was lamenting about Liza’s lost innocence. - Erast tried to calm Lisa down and walked her to the hut. Tears rolled from her eyes as she said goodbye to him. “Ah, Erast! Assure me that we will continue to be happy!” - “We will, Lisa, we will!” - he answered. - “God willing! I can’t help but believe your words: after all, I love you! Only in my heart... But it’s complete! Sorry! Tomorrow, tomorrow, see you."

Representatives of each group voice the results of their work. Next comes a conversation.

Questions for the first group

Why are the descriptions given at the beginning of the work? ( To evoke a certain mood in readers with which they learn about the fate of the heroes.)

What epithets predominate in the description of the surroundings of the Simonov Monastery? ( gloomy, Gothic towers, terrible bulk, greedy Moscow, sad songs, sad ringing, dull groan, sad pictures, pale face, languid gaze, bitter tears, fierce disasters).

Questions for the second group

Questions for the third group

What is the reason for the author’s use of numerous dashes as a connecting syntactic element? ( A similar syntax is used to depict the internal state of the heroine’s soul - her impulses, worries, rapid changes in mental states.)

Find words in the passage that indicate the author’s attitude towards the heroine. Please comment on them.

General issues

How does the word “poor” make you feel? ( Sadness, despondency.)

What is the role of landscape in the text? ( The landscape is in tune with the mood of the work, causing sadness.)

Emotionality is an important feature of works of sentimentalism. Is the text emotional? By what means is this transmitted?

The image of nature gives rise to a special mood, leading to the need to remember, dream, and reflect. What genre of lyricism arises in sentimentalism and becomes leading in romanticism? ( Elegy.) Is our work elegiac in mood?

The description of nature is aimed at conveying the state of mind and experiences of the main character. It helps the reader understand the depth of the author’s thoughts, his ideological plan. The author's introduction sets the reader up in a certain emotional mood that evokes empathy and sympathy.

Methodological development based on literature.

The meaning of landscape in Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza.”

One of the features of European literature of the 18th century in comparison with the literature of an earlier period is the aesthetic understanding of the landscape. Russian literature is no exception; landscape in the works of Russian writers has its own value. The most indicative in this regard is the literary work of N. M. Karamzin, one of whose many merits is the discovery of the multifunctionality of landscape in Russian prose. If the poetry of Russia could already be proud of nature sketches in the works of Lomonosov and Derzhavin, Russian prose of that time was not rich in pictures of nature. Having analyzed the descriptions of nature in Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza,” we will try to comprehend the meaning and functions of the landscape.

Karamzin's story is very close to European novels. We are convinced of this by the contrast between the city and the morally pure village, and the world of feelings and life of ordinary people (Lisa and her mother). The introductory landscape with which the story opens is written in the same pastoral style: “...a magnificent picture, especially when the sun shines on it...! Below are lush, densely green flowering meadows, and behind them, along the yellow sands, flows a light river, agitated by the light oars of fishing boats.” This landscape not only has a purely pictorial meaning, but also performs a preliminary function; it introduces the reader to the spatio-temporal situation created in the story. We see the “golden-domed Danilov Monastery;... almost on the edge of the horizon... the Sparrow Hills are blue. On the left side you can see vast fields covered with grain, forests, three or four villages and in the distance the village of Kolomenskoye with its high palace.”

In a certain sense, the landscape not only precedes, but also frames the work, since the story also ends with a description of nature “near the pond, under a gloomy oak tree... the pond flows in my eyes, the leaves rustle above me,” although not as detailed as the first.

An interesting feature of Karamzin’s story is that the life of nature sometimes moves the plot, the development of events: “The meadows were covered with flowers, and Lisa came to Moscow with lilies of the valley.”

Karamzin’s story is also characterized by the principle of psychological parallelism, which is expressed in the comparison of the inner world of man and the life of nature.

Moreover, this comparison takes place on two levels – on the one hand, comparison, and on the other, opposition. Let's turn to the text of the story.

“Until now, waking up with the birds, you had fun with them in the morning, and a pure, joyful soul shone in your eyes, like the sun glows in the drops of heavenly dew...,” writes Karamzin, turning to Lisa and remembering the times, when her soul was in complete harmony with nature.

When Lisa is happy, when joy controls her entire being, nature (or “nature,” as Karamzin writes) is filled with the same happiness and joy: “What a wonderful morning! How fun it is in the field!

Never have larks sung so well, never has the sun shone so brightly, never have flowers smelled so pleasantly!..” At the tragic moment of Karamzin’s heroine’s loss of innocence, the landscape couldn’t be more in keeping with Lisa’s feelings: “Meanwhile, lightning flashed and thunder thundered. Lisa trembled all over... The storm roared menacingly, rain poured from black clouds - it seemed that nature was lamenting about Liza’s lost innocence.”

The comparison between the feelings of the characters and the picture of nature at the moment of farewell between Lisa and Erast is significant: “What a touching picture! The morning dawn, like a scarlet sea, spread across the eastern sky. Erast stood under the branches of a tall oak tree, holding in his arms his poor, languid, sorrowful friend, who, saying goodbye to him, said goodbye to her soul. The whole nature was in silence.” Lisa’s grief is echoed by nature: “Often the sad turtle dove combined her plaintive voice with her lamentation...”

But sometimes Karamzin gives a contrasting description of nature and what the heroine experiences: Soon the rising luminary of the day awakened all creation: the groves and bushes came to life, the birds fluttered and sang, the flowers raised their heads to drink in the life-giving rays of light. But Lisa still sat sadly.” This contrast helps us more accurately understand Lisa’s sadness, duality, and her experience.

“Oh, if only the sky would fall on me! If only the earth would swallow up the poor one!..” Memories of former happy days bring her unbearable pain when, in a moment of grief, she sees ancient oak trees, “which a few weeks before were weak-willed witnesses to her delight.”

Sometimes Karamzin’s landscape sketches cross both descriptive and psychological boundaries, growing into symbols. Such symbolic moments of the story include a thunderstorm (by the way, this technique - punishing a criminal with a thunderstorm, a thunderstorm as God's punishment - later became a literary cliche), and a description of the grove at the moment of the heroes' parting.

The comparisons used by the author of the story are also based on a comparison between man and nature: “it is not so soon that lightning flashes and disappears in the clouds, as quickly as her blue eyes turned to the ground, meeting his gaze, her cheeks glowed like the dawn on a summer evening.”

Karamzin’s frequent appeals to landscape are natural: as a sentimentalist writer, he appeals primarily to the reader’s feelings, and it is possible to awaken these feelings through descriptions of changes in nature in connection with changes in the feelings of the characters.

Landscapes that reveal to the reader the beauty of the Moscow region, although not always life-like, are always truthful and recognizable; That’s why, perhaps, “Poor Liza” so excited Russian readers. Accurate descriptions gave the story special authenticity.

Thus, we can identify several lines of meaning of the landscape in N.M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”: the descriptive, pictorial role of the landscape, which is reflected in the detailed pictures of nature; psychological. The function of natural descriptions is in those cases when, with the help of a landscape, the author emphasizes the feelings of his characters, showing them in comparison or contrast with the state of nature, the symbolic meaning of pictures of nature, when the landscape carries not only figurativeness, but also embodies a certain supernatural power.

The landscape in the story also has, in a sense, a documentary significance, creating authenticity and veracity of the image, since all the pictures of nature are almost copied by the author from life.

The appeal to pictures of nature also occurs at the linguistic level of Karamzin’s story, which can be seen in the comparisons used in the text.

With natural sketches and detailed landscapes, N.M. Karamzin significantly enriched Russian prose, raising it to the level at which Russian poetry was by that time.

The story “Poor Liza” was written by N.M. Karamzin in 1792. She made a huge impression on the Russian reader. Uneducated young ladies learned to read and write in order to independently read about Lisa’s unfortunate fate. Although the plot of unequal love was far from new, the writer managed to write the story in such a way that for more than two hundred years we have felt pity and compassion for the deceived young girl.

And the point is not only that the author was one of the first in our literature to describe not events, but the feelings of the characters. “Peasant women also know how to love!” - says the writer. And this became a discovery for his contemporaries in serf Russia. He doesn’t give judgment, but just like we worry about his heroine, he sympathizes with her. The main theme of the story, as befits a sentimental work, is love. But there is also a theme of fate and circumstance, and, what is important for me, a theme of nature. Each event in the story is accompanied by a description of the picture of nature. And this is also a very unusual artistic device for Russian literature of the late 18th century. The artistic skill of N.M. Karamzin is obvious.

Lisa's first meeting with Erast. And in the morning it's foggy. The unknown. Nature tells us that this meeting does not promise happiness, that what lies ahead is unknown. There is always sun and light next to Lisa. But Erast is never exposed to the sun’s rays. And this is also no coincidence. Liza is a sweet, pure, naive girl, but Erast is not like that at all. He is accustomed to pleasures and luxury. He is kind, but flighty, as the author emphasizes. He says one thing and acts differently. When Lisa gives in to Erast in his desires, blindly trusting him, nature is indignant. Wind, thunderstorm, rain. Nature cries, foreseeing the girl's unfortunate fate. Erast lost interest in poor Liza. And when he leaves, Lisa grieves and nature grieves with her. The flowers in the story are also symbolic. White lilies of the valley in Lisa's hands at the first meeting. The next day, Lisa throws them into the water without waiting for Erast. Dreams of a happy life, of true and bright love are drowning along with the flowers.

What role do landscapes play in the story? The writer wants to show us that nature is not a judge, it does not condemn anyone, it does not give assessments. She is a friend, a good adviser. She tells Lisa what to do right. But the heroine forgot about reason, succumbing to feelings. For a while, the girl lost harmony with nature, and disaster struck. Therefore, a tragic ending was inevitable, as punishment for a fatal mistake. Erast will also face punishment. N.M. Karamzin wanted to show that one should not succumb to passion, forgetting about reason, that one must perceive nature as a friend who is trying to advise and save us from mistakes that cannot be corrected.

At the end of the 18th century, the works of N. M. Karamzin aroused great interest in Russian literature. For the first time, his heroes spoke in simple language, and their thoughts and feelings came to the fore. What was new was that the author openly expressed his attitude to what was happening and gave it an assessment. The role of the landscape was also special. In the story “Poor Liza” he helps to convey the feelings of the characters and understand the motives of their actions.

Beginning of the work

The outskirts of “greedy” Moscow and the magnificent rural expanses with a bright river, lush groves, endless fields and several small villages - such contrasting pictures appear in the exhibition of the story. They are absolutely real, familiar to every resident of the capital, which initially gives the story credibility.

The panorama is complemented by the towers and domes of the Simonov and Danilov monasteries shining in the sun, symbolizing the connection of history with the common people who sacredly preserve it. And this is where the acquaintance with the main character begins.

Such a landscape sketch cultivates the idyll of village life and sets the tone for the entire narrative. The fate of the poor peasant woman Liza will be tragic: a simple peasant girl brought up close to nature will become a victim of the all-consuming city. And the role of the landscape in the story “Poor Liza” will only increase as the action develops, since changes in nature will be in complete harmony with what will happen to the characters.

Features of sentimentalism

This approach to writing was not something unique: it is a distinctive feature of sentimentalism. The historical and cultural movement with this name became widespread in the 18th century, first in Western Europe, and then in Russian literature. Its main features:

• the predominance of the cult of feeling, which was not allowed in classicism;
• the harmony of the hero’s inner world with the external environment - a picturesque village landscape (this is the place where he was born and lives);
• instead of the sublime and solemn - touching and sensual, associated with the experiences of the characters;
• the main character is endowed with rich spiritual qualities.

Karamzin became the writer in Russian literature who brought the ideas of sentimentalism to perfection and fully realized all its principles. This is confirmed by the characteristics of the story “Poor Liza,” which occupied a special place among his works.

The image of the main character

The plot at first glance seems quite simple. At the center of the story is the tragic love of a poor peasant woman (something that did not exist before!) for a young nobleman.

Their chance meeting quickly grew into love. Pure, kind, raised far from city life, full of pretense and deception, Lisa sincerely believes that her feeling is mutual. In her desire to be happy, she steps over the moral standards by which she has always lived, which is not at all easy for her. However, Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” shows how untenable such love is: very soon it turns out that her lover deceived her. The whole action takes place against the backdrop of nature, which has become an involuntary witness, first of boundless happiness, and then of the heroine’s irreparable grief.

Start of a relationship

The first meetings of lovers are filled with joy from communicating with each other. Their dates take place either on the river bank, or in a birch grove, but more often near three oak trees growing near a pond. Landscape sketches help to understand the smallest changes in her soul. During the long minutes of waiting, she is lost in thought and does not notice what has always been a part of her life: a month in the sky, the singing of a nightingale, a light breeze. But as soon as her lover appears, everything around is transformed and becomes amazingly beautiful and unique for Lisa. It seems to her that never before have the larks sung so well for her, the sun has not shone so brightly, and the flowers have smelled so pleasant. Absorbed in her feelings, poor Lisa could not think about anything else. Karamzin picks up the mood of his heroine, and their perception of nature in the happy moments of the heroine’s life is very close: this is a feeling of delight, peace and tranquility.

Lisa's Fall

But there comes a time when pure, immaculate relationships are replaced by physical intimacy. Poor Lisa, brought up on Christian commandments, perceives everything that happened as a terrible sin. Karamzin again emphasizes her confusion and fear of the changes occurring in nature. After what happened, the sky opened up above the heads of the heroes and a thunderstorm began. Black clouds covered the sky, rain poured from them, as if nature itself was mourning the girl’s “crime”.

The feeling of impending disaster is enhanced by the scarlet dawn that appeared in the sky at the moment of farewell to the heroes. It recalls the scene of the first declaration of love, when everything seemed bright, shining, full of life. Contrasting landscape sketches at different stages of the heroine’s life help to understand the transformation of her inner state during the acquisition and loss of the person dearest to her heart. Thus, Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” went beyond the classical depiction of nature in From a hitherto insignificant detail that played the role of decoration, the landscape turned into a way of conveying heroes.

The final scenes of the story

The love of Lisa and Erast did not last long. The nobleman, broke and in dire need of money, soon married a rich widow, which became the most terrible blow for the girl. She could not survive the betrayal and committed suicide. The heroine found peace in the very place where the most passionate dates took place - under an oak tree by the pond. And next to the Simonov Monastery, which appears at the beginning of the story. The role of the landscape in the story “Poor Liza” in this case comes down to giving the work compositional and logical completeness.

The story ends with a story about the fate of Erast, who never became happy and often visited the grave of his former lover.

The role of landscape in the story “Poor Liza”: results

When analyzing a work of sentimentalism, one cannot fail to mention how the author manages to convey the feelings of the characters. The main technique is the creation of an idyll based on the complete unity of rural nature with its bright colors and a pure soul, sincere person, like poor Lisa was. Heroes like her cannot lie or pretend, so their fate is often tragic.