Turgenev on the eve of the analysis. "The day before

On one of the hottest days in 1853, two young people were lying on the banks of the Moskva River in the shade of a blossoming linden. Andrei Petrovich Bersenev, 23, had just emerged as the third candidate at Moscow University, with a career ahead of him. Pavel Yakovlevich Shubin was a promising sculptor. The dispute, quite peaceful, concerned nature and our place in it. Bersenev is struck by the completeness and self-sufficiency of nature, against the background of which our incompleteness is seen more clearly, which gives rise to anxiety, even sadness. Shubin proposes not to reflect, but to live. Stock up on a friend of the heart, and the longing will pass. We are driven by the thirst for love, happiness - and nothing else. "As if there is nothing higher than happiness?" - objects Bersenev. Isn't it a selfish, divisive word. Art, homeland, science, freedom can unite. And love, of course, but not love-pleasure, but love-sacrifice. However, Shubin does not agree to be number two. He wants to love for himself. No, his friend insists, putting yourself number two is the whole purpose of our life.

The young people stopped the feast of the mind at this point and, after a pause, continued the conversation about the ordinary. Bersenev recently saw Insarov. We must introduce him to Shubin and the Stakhov family. Insarov? Is this the Serb or the Bulgarian that Andrei Petrovich has already talked about? Patriot? Was it he who inspired the thoughts just expressed in him? However, it's time to return to the dacha: you shouldn't be late for dinner. Anna Vasilievna Stakhova, Shubin's second cousin, will be unhappy, but Pavel Vasilievich owes her the very opportunity to do sculpture. She even gave money for a trip to Italy, but Paul (Paul, as she called him) spent it on Little Russia. In general, the family is contemplative. And how could such parents have such an extraordinary daughter as Elena? Try to solve this riddle of nature.

The head of the family, Nikolai Artemyevich Stakhov, the son of a retired captain, dreamed of a profitable marriage from a young age. At twenty-five, he made his dream come true - he married Anna Vasilyevna Shubina, but soon got bored, became friends with the widow Augustina Christianovna and was bored already in her company. "They stare at each other, it's so stupid ..." - says Shubin. However, sometimes Nikolai Artemyevich starts arguments with her: is it possible for a person to travel around the entire globe, or to know what is happening at the bottom of the sea, or to foresee the weather? And he always concluded that it was impossible.

Anna Vasilievna endures her husband's infidelity, and yet it hurts her that he tricked the German woman into giving a couple of gray horses from her, Anna Vasilievna, factory.

Shubin has been living in this family for five years now, since the death of his mother, a smart, kind French woman (his father died several years earlier). He devoted himself entirely to his vocation, but although he works hard, but in fits and starts, he does not want to hear about the academy and the professors. In Moscow he is known as a promising one, but at twenty-six he remains in the same capacity. He really likes the daughter of the Stakhovs, Elena Nikolaevna, but he does not miss the opportunity to drag along the plump seventeen-year-old Zoya, taken to the house as a companion for Elena, who has nothing to talk about with her. Pavel calls her inwardly a sweetish German girl. Alas, Elena does not understand in any way the "all naturalness of such contradictions" of the artist. The lack of character in a person always outraged her, stupidity angered her, she did not forgive a lie. As soon as someone lost her respect, and he ceased to exist for her.

Elena Nikolaevna is an outstanding person. She just turned twenty, she is attractive: tall, with large gray eyes and a dark blond braid. In all her appearance, however, there is something impetuous, nervous that not everyone likes.

Nothing could ever satisfy her: she longed for active good. Since childhood, she was disturbed and occupied by the poor, hungry, sick people and animals. When she was ten years old, the beggar girl Katya became the subject of her cares and even worship. Parents did not approve of this hobby very much. True, the girl died soon. However, the trace from this meeting in Elena's soul remained forever.

From the age of sixteen, she already lived her own life, but a lonely life. Nobody embarrassed her, but she was torn and yearned: "How to live without love, but there is no one to love!" Shubin was quickly dismissed due to his artistic inconstancy. Bersenyev, on the other hand, takes her as an intelligent, educated person, in his own way, real, deep. But why is he so persistent with his stories about Insarov? These stories aroused Elena's keenest interest in the personality of a Bulgarian, obsessed with the idea of ​​liberating his homeland. Any mention of this kindles a dull, inextinguishable fire in him. One can feel the concentrated deliberation of a single and long-standing passion. And his story is as follows.

He was still a child when his mother was kidnapped and killed by a Turkish agha. The father tried to take revenge, but was shot. Eight years old, left an orphan, Dmitry arrived in Russia, to his aunt, and after twelve he returned to Bulgaria and in two years walked her up and down. He was persecuted, he was in danger. Bersenyev himself saw the scar - the trace of the wound. No, Insarov did not take revenge on aha. Its purpose is broader.

He is poor as a student, but proud, scrupulous and undemanding, amazingly efficient. On the very first day after moving to Bersenev's dacha, he got up at four in the morning, ran around the vicinity of Kuntsevo, bathed and, after drinking a glass of cold milk, set to work. He studies Russian history, law, political economy, translates Bulgarian songs and chronicles, compiles Russian grammar for Bulgarians and Bulgarian for Russians: a Russian is ashamed not to know Slavic languages.

On his first visit, Dmitry Nikanorovich made less impression on Elena than she expected after Bersenev's stories. But the case confirmed the correctness of Bersenev's estimates.

Anna Vasilievna decided to somehow show her daughter and Zoya the beauty of Tsaritsyn. We went there in a big company. The ponds and ruins of the palace, the park - everything made a wonderful impression. Zoya sang not badly as they sailed on a boat among the lush greenery of the picturesque coast. The company of the Germans who had played around even shouted an encore! They did not pay attention to them, but already on the shore, after a picnic, we met with them again. A man of enormous stature, with a bull's neck separated from the company, and began to demand satisfaction in the form of a kiss for the fact that Zoe did not respond to their encore and applause. Shubin, floridly and with a pretense of irony, began to admonish the drunken impudent man, which only provoked him. Here Insarov stepped forward and simply demanded that he walk away. The bull-like carcass leaned forward threateningly, but at the same moment it swayed, lifted off the ground, lifted into the air by Insarov, and, plumping into the pond, disappeared under the water. "He will drown!" - shouted Anna Vasilievna. "It will come up," Insarov threw out carelessly. Something unkind, dangerous appeared on his face.

An entry appeared in Elena's diary: “... Yes, you can't joke with him, and he knows how to intercede. But why this malice? .. Or is it impossible to be a man, a fighter, and remain meek and gentle? Life is tough, he said recently. " She immediately admitted to herself that she fell in love with him.

The news turns out to be a big blow for Elena: Insarov is leaving the dacha. So far, only Bersenyev understands what the matter is. A friend once admitted that if he fell in love, he would certainly leave: for a personal feeling, he will not betray his duty ("... I don't need Russian love ..."). Having heard all this, Elena herself goes to Insarov.

He confirmed: yes, he must leave. Then Elena will have to be braver than him. He apparently wants to force her to confess her love first. Well, so she said it. Insarov embraced her: "So you will follow me everywhere?" Yes, it will, and neither the anger of her parents, nor the need to leave her homeland, nor danger will stop her. Then they are husband and wife, concludes the Bulgarian.

Meanwhile, a certain Kurnatovsky, chief secretary in the Senate, began to appear at the Stakhovs. Stakhov read his husband to Elena. And this is not the only danger for lovers. Letters from Bulgaria are becoming more and more alarming. We must go while it is still possible, and Dmitry begins to prepare for his departure. Once, having been busy all day, he was caught in a downpour, soaked to the bone. The next morning, despite the headache, he continued his chores. But by lunchtime there was a strong fever, and by evening he was completely down. For eight days Insarov is between life and death. Bersenyev has been caring for the patient all this time and informs Elena about his condition. Finally the crisis was over. However, it is far from real recovery, and Dmitry does not leave his home for a long time. Elena is impatient to see him, she asks Bersenev not to visit her friend one day and appears to Insarov in a light silk dress, fresh, young and happy. They talk for a long time and with ardor about their problems, about the golden heart of Elena Bersenev, who loves her, about the need to hurry up with leaving. On the same day, they already become husband and wife without words. Their meeting does not remain a secret for parents.

Nikolai Artemyevich demands his daughter to answer. Yes, she admits, Insarov is her husband, and next week they are leaving for Bulgaria. "To the Turks!" - Anna Vasilievna loses her feelings. Nikolai Artemyevich grabs his daughter by the hand, but at this time Shubin shouts: “Nikolai Artemyevich! Avgustina Christianovna has arrived and is calling you! "

A minute later, he is already talking with Uvar Ivanovich, a retired sixty-year-old cornet who lives with the Stakhovs, does nothing, eats often and a lot, is always calm and expresses himself something like this: "It would be necessary ... somehow, that ..." This desperately helps himself with gestures. Shubin calls him a representative of the choral principle and black earth power.

Pavel Yakovlevich expresses his admiration for Elena to him. She is afraid of nothing and no one. He understands her. Who is she leaving here? Kurnatovskikhs, and Bersenevs, but such as he himself. And they are even better. We don't have people yet. Everything is either small fry, hamletics, or darkness and wilderness, or pouring from empty to empty. If there were good people among us, this sensitive soul would not have left us. "When will people be born here, Ivan Ivanovich?" - "Give a time, they will," - he replies.

And here are the young ones in Venice. Behind the difficult journey and two months of illness in Vienna. From Venice, the way to Serbia and then to Bulgaria. It remains to wait for the old sea wolf Randych, who will ferry across the sea.

Venice was the best way to help forget the hardships of travel and the excitement of politics. All that this unique city could give, the lovers took in full. Only in the theater, listening to La Traviata, are they embarrassed by the farewell scene of Violetta and Alfreda, dying of consumption, by her prayer: “Let me live ... die so young!” The feeling of happiness leaves Elena: "Is it really impossible to beg, to turn away, to save. I was happy ... And from what right? .. And if it is not given for free?"

The next day Insarov gets worse. Fever rose, he fell into oblivion. Exhausted, Elena falls asleep and has a dream: a boat on the Tsaritsyn pond, then found herself in a restless sea, but a snow whirlwind flies, and she is no longer in a boat, but in a cart. Near Katya. Suddenly the cart flies into the snowy abyss, Katya laughs and calls her from the abyss: "Elena!" She raises her head and sees the pale Insarov: "Elena, I'm dying!" Randitch no longer finds him alive. Elena begged the stern sailor to take the coffin with the body of her husband and herself to his homeland.

Three weeks later Anna Vasilievna received a letter from Venice. The daughter goes to Bulgaria. There is no other homeland for her now. “I was looking for happiness - and perhaps I will find death. It can be seen ... there was wine. "

Reliably the further fate of Elena remained unclear. Some said that they later saw her in Herzegovina as a sister of mercy in the army in the same black outfit. Then her trace was lost.

Shubin, occasionally corresponding with Uvar Ivanovich, reminded him of the old question: "So what, will we have people?" Uvar Ivanovich played with his fingers and fixed his mysterious gaze into the distance.

Retold

In this article, we will consider the novel by Ivan Sergeevich, created in 1859, we will outline its summary. "On the Eve" Turgenev first published in 1860, and to this day this work remains in demand. Interesting not only the novel itself, but also the history of its creation. We will present it, as well as a brief analysis of the work, after we present a summary of "On the Eve". it is presented below) has created a very interesting novel, and you will surely enjoy its plot.

Bersenev and Shubin

On the banks of the Moskva River in the summer of 1853, two young men lie under a linden tree. Acquaintance with them begins the summary of "On the Eve". Turgenev introduces to us the first of them, Andrei Petrovich Bersenev. He is 23 years old, he just graduated from Moscow University. A scholarly career awaits this young man. The second is Pavel Yakovlevich Shubin, a promising sculptor. They argue about nature and about the place of man in it. Its self-sufficiency and completeness amaze Bersenev. He believes that the incompleteness of man is seen more clearly against the background of nature. This creates anxiety and sadness. Shubin believes that you need to live, not reflect. He advises his friend to have a friend of the heart.

Then young people move on to talking about everyday things. Bersenev recently saw Insarov. It is necessary to acquaint Shubin with him, as well as with the Stakhov family. It's time to return to the dacha, you shouldn't be late for dinner. Stakhova Anna Vasilievna, Pavel Yakovlevich's second cousin, will be unhappy. And to this woman he owes the opportunity to be engaged in sculpting.

The story of Stakhov Nikolai Artemievich

The story of Nikolai Artemyevich Stakhov continues Turgenev's novel "On the Eve" (summary). This is the head of the family who, from a young age, dreamed of marrying profitably. He made his dream come true at the age of 25. Shubina Anna Vasilievna became his wife. However, Stakhov soon became friends with Augustina Christianovna. Both of these women bored him. His wife suffers infidelity, but she still hurts, because he tricked his mistress into giving a pair of gray horses from the factory owned by Anna Vasilyevna.

Shubin's life in the Stakhov family

Shubin has been living in this family for about 5 years, after his mother, a kind and intelligent Frenchwoman, died (Shubin's father died several years earlier than her). He works hard, but in fits and starts, does not want to hear anything about the professors and the academy. In Moscow, Shubin is considered promising, but he still has not done anything outstanding. daughter of the Stakhovs, he really likes it. However, the hero does not miss the opportunity to flirt with the plump 17-year-old Zoya, Elena's companion. Alas, Elena does not understand these contradictions in Shubin's personality. She was always outraged by the lack of character in a person, angered by stupidity, she does not forgive a lie. If someone loses her respect, he immediately ceases to exist for her.

The personality of Elena Nikolaevna

I must say that Elena Nikolaevna is an extraordinary nature. She is 20 years old, she is very attractive and stately. She has a dark blond braid and gray eyes. However, there is something nervous, impetuous in the appearance of this girl, which not everyone will like.

Nothing can satisfy Elena Nikolaevna, whose soul strives for active good. From childhood this girl was occupied and disturbed by hungry, beggars, sick people and animals. At the age of 10, she met a beggar girl, Katya, and began to take care of her. This girl even became a kind of object of her worship. Elena's parents did not approve of this hobby. True, Katya soon died. However, in Elena's soul there was a trace of meeting her.

The girl had been living her life since the age of 16, but she was lonely. Nobody embarrassed Elena, but she languished, said that there was no one to love. She did not want to see Shubin as her husband, since he is notable for impermanence. But Bersenev attracts Elena as an educated, intelligent and deep person. But why is he so insistently talking about Insarov, who is obsessed with the idea of ​​liberating his homeland? Bersenev's stories awaken in Elena a keen interest in the personality of this Bulgarian.

The story of Dmitry Insarov

Insarov's story is as follows. His mother was kidnapped and then killed by a certain Turkish aga, when the Bulgarian was still a child. The father made an attempt to take revenge on him, but was shot. Left an orphan at the age of eight, Dmitry came to his aunt in Russia. After 12 years, he returned to Bulgaria, which he studied up and down in 2 years. Insarov was repeatedly endangered in his travels, he was persecuted. Bersenyev personally saw the scar left at the site of the wound. Dmitry does not intend to take revenge on the age, he is pursuing a broader goal.

Insarov is poor, like all students, but scrupulous, proud and undemanding. He is distinguished by his enormous capacity for work. This hero studies political economy, law, Russian history, translates Bulgarian chronicles and songs, composes Bulgarian grammar for Russians and Russian for Bulgarians.

How Elena fell in love with Insarov

During the first visit, Dmitry Insarov did not make such a big impression on Elena as she expected after Bersenev's enthusiastic stories. However, one case soon confirmed that he was not mistaken about the Bulgarian.

Once Anna Vasilievna was going to show the beauty of Tsaritsyn to her daughter and Zoya. A large company went there. The park, the ruins of the palace, the ponds - all this made an impression on Elena. Zoya sang well while sailing on a boat. She was even shouted an encore by a group of Germans who had played around. At first they did not pay much attention to them, but after the picnic, already on the shore, we again met with them. Suddenly one man of impressive height separated from the company. He began to demand a kiss as compensation for the fact that Zoya did not respond to the applause of the Germans. Shubin began to pretend to be ironic, floridly admonish this drunken impudent, but this only provoked him. And so Insarov stepped forward. He simply demanded that the impudent man leave. The man leaned forward, but Insarov lifted him into the air and threw him into the pond.

Curious about how the "The Eve" summary continues? Sergeevich has prepared a lot of interesting things for us. After the incident at the picnic, Elena admitted to herself that she fell in love with Dmitry. Therefore, the news that he was leaving his dacha was a big blow for her. Only Bersenyev still understands why this departure was needed. His friend once admitted that he would definitely leave if he fell in love, since he cannot change his debt for the sake of a personal feeling. Insarov said that he did not need Russian love. Upon learning of this, Elena decides to personally go to Dmitry.

Declaration of love

So we got to the scene of declaration of love, describing the summary of the work "On the Eve". Surely readers are interested in how it happened. Let's briefly describe this scene. Insarov confirmed to Elena, who came to him, that she was leaving. The girl decided that she needed to be the first to confess her feelings, which she did. Insarov asked if she was ready to follow him everywhere. The girl answered in the affirmative. Then the Bulgarian said that he would marry her.

The difficulties faced by the beloved

In the meantime, Kurnatovsky began to appear at the Stakhovs, who worked in the Senate as chief secretary. Stakhov sees this person as the future husband of his daughter. And this is just one of the dangers that lie in wait for the beloved. Letters from Bulgaria are becoming more and more alarming. It is necessary to go while it is possible, and Dmitry is preparing to leave. However, he suddenly caught a cold and fell ill. For 8 days Dmitry was dying.

All these days Bersenyev looked after him, and also told Elena about his condition. Finally the threat was over. But full recovery is still far away, and Insarov is forced to remain in his home. Ivan Sergeevich tells about all this in detail, but we will omit the details, making up a summary of Ivan Turgenev's novel "On the Eve".

One day Elena visits Dmitry. They talk for a long time about the need to hurry up with leaving, about Bersenev's golden heart, about their problems. On this day, they become husband and wife no longer in words. The parents find out about their date.

Elena's father calls his daughter to account. She confirms that Insarov is her husband, and that in a week they will go to Bulgaria. Anna Vasilievna faints. The father grabs Elena by the hand, but at that moment Shubin shouts that Augustina Christianovna has arrived and calls for Nikolai Artemyevich.

The journey of Elena and Dmitry

The young have already arrived in Venice. A difficult journey was left behind, as well as 2 months of illness in Vienna. After Venice they will go first to Serbia and then to Bulgaria. You just need to wait for Randych, the old wolf, who must ferry them across the sea.

Elena and Dmitry liked Venice very much. However, listening to La Traviata at the theater, they are embarrassed by the scene in which Alfredo says goodbye to Violetta, who is dying of consumption. Elena leaves a feeling of happiness. Insarov gets worse the next day. He has a fever again, he is in oblivion. Elena, exhausted, falls asleep.

Further, her dream is described by Turgenev ("On the Eve"). Reading the summary is, of course, not as interesting as the original work. We hope that after getting acquainted with the plot of the novel, you will have a desire to get to know him better.

Elena's dream and Dmitry's death

She dreams of a boat, first at Tsaritsyn pond, and then in the restless sea. Suddenly a whirlwind of snow begins, and now the girl is no longer in the boat, but in the cart. Katya is next to her. Suddenly, the carriage rushes into the snowy abyss, and her companion laughs and calls Elena from the abyss. Raising her head, Elena sees Insarov, who says that he is dying.

The further fate of Elena

The summary of "On the Eve" is already approaching the final. Turgenev I.S. further tells us about the fate of the main character after the death of her husband. Three weeks after his death, a letter comes from Venice. Elena informs her parents that she is going to Bulgaria. She writes that from now on there is no other homeland for her. The further fate of Elena remained reliably unclear. There were rumors that someone had seen her in Herzegovina. Elena was allegedly a sister of mercy in the Bulgarian army, always wearing black clothes. Further, the trace of this girl is lost.

This concludes the summary of "The Eve". Turgenev took as the basis of this work a plot from the story of his friend. You will learn more about this by reading the history of the creation of "On the Eve".

History of creation

Vasily Katareev, an acquaintance of Turgenev and his neighbor on the estate, went to the Crimea in 1854. He had a presentiment of his death, so he gave Ivan Sergeevich the story he had written. The work was called "The Moscow Family". The story presented the story of Vasily Katareev's unhappy love. While studying at Moscow University, Katareev fell in love with a girl. She left him and went with the young Bulgarian to his homeland. Soon this Bulgarian died, but the girl never returned to Katareev.

The author of the work invited Ivan Sergeevich to process it. After 5 years, Turgenev began writing his novel "On the Eve". Katareyev's story served as the basis for this work. By that time, Vasily had already died. In 1859, Turgenev completed "On the Eve".

Brief analysis

After the creation of the images of Lavretsky and Rudin, Ivan Sergeevich wondered where the "new people" would come from, from what strata would they appear? He wanted to portray an active, energetic hero who is ready for a stubborn struggle. Such people were demanded by the "stormy" 1860s. They had to replace the likes of Rudin, who could not move from words to deeds. And Turgenev created a new hero, whom you have already met after reading the summary of the novel. Of course, this is Insarov. This hero is an "iron man" who possesses determination, perseverance, willpower, and is in control of himself. All this characterizes him as a practical figure, in contrast to contemplative natures like the sculptor Shubin and the philosopher Bersenev.

Elena Stakhova finds it difficult to make a choice. She can marry Alexei Bersenev, Pavel Shubin, Yegor Kurnatovsky or Dmitry Insarov. The presentation of the chapters of the work "On the Eve" (Turgenev) allowed you to get acquainted with each of them. Elena personifies young Russia "on the eve" of change. In this way, Ivan Sergeevich solves the important question of who the country needs most now. Artists or scientists, statesmen or people of nature who have dedicated their lives to serving a patriotic goal? Elena, with her choice, answers a question that was very important for Russia in the 1860s. On whom she chose, you know, if you read the summary of the novel.

"Nakanune"- a novel by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, published in 1860.

The history of the writing of the novel

In the second half of the 1850s, Turgenev, according to the views of a liberal democrat who rejected the ideas of revolutionary-minded raznochinets, began to think about the possibility of creating a hero whose positions would not conflict with his own, more moderate, aspirations, but who, at the same time, would be revolutionary enough not to provoke ridicule from more radical colleagues at Sovremennik. An understanding of the inevitable change of generations in progressive Russian circles, clearly visible in the epilogue of The Noble Nest, came to Turgenev back in the days when he was working on Rudin:

In 1855, Turgenev's neighbor in the Mtsensk district, the landowner Vasily Karateev, who was sent to the Crimea as an officer of the noble militia, left the writer a manuscript of an autobiographical story, allowing him to dispose of it at his own discretion. The story told about the author's love for a girl who preferred him a Bulgarian, a student at Moscow University. Later, scientists from several countries identified the identity of the prototype of this character. This man was Nikolai Katranov. He came to Russia in 1848 and entered Moscow University. After the Russian-Turkish war broke out in 1853, and the revolutionary spirit revived among the Bulgarian youth, Katranov and his Russian wife Larisa returned to their hometown of Svishtov. His plans, however, were thwarted by an outbreak of transient consumption, and he died during treatment in Venice in May of that year.

Karateev, who had a presentiment of his death when he handed the manuscript to Turgenev, did not return from the war, having died of typhus in the Crimea. Turgenev's attempt to publish an artistically weak work by Karateev was not crowned with success, and until 1859 the manuscript was forgotten, although, according to the memoirs of the writer himself, having read it for the first time, he was so impressed that he exclaimed: “Here is the hero I was looking for! " Before Turgenev returned to Karateev's notebook, he managed to finish Rudin and work on The Noble Nest.

Returning home to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo in the winter of 1858-1859, Turgenev returned to the ideas that had occupied him in the year of his acquaintance with Karateev, and remembered the manuscript. Taking as a basis the plot suggested by the deceased neighbor, he took up its artistic processing. Only one scene from the original work, the description of the trip to Tsaritsyno, according to Turgenev himself, was preserved in general terms in the final text of the novel. In the work on the factual material, he was assisted by his friend, writer and traveler E.P. Kovalevsky, who was well acquainted with the details of the Bulgarian liberation movement and himself published essays about his trip to the Balkans at the height of this movement in 1853. Work on the novel "On the Eve" continued both in Spassky-Lutovinovo and abroad, in London and Vichy, until the fall of 1859, when the author took the manuscript to Moscow, to the editorial office of the Russian Bulletin.

Plot

The novel begins with a dispute about nature and the place of man in it between two young people, the scientist Andrei Bersenev and the sculptor Pavel Shubin. In the future, the reader gets to know the family in which Shubin lives. The spouse of his second aunt Anna Vasilievna Stakhova, Nikolai Artemyevich, once married her because of money, does not love her and makes acquaintance with the German widow Augustina Christianovna, who is robbing him. Shubin has been living in this family for five years, since the death of his mother, and is engaged in his art, however, he is subject to bouts of laziness, works in fits and starts and does not intend to learn the skill. He is in love with the daughter of the Stakhovs Elena, although he does not lose sight of her seventeen-year-old companion Zoya.

Vladimir Goldin

Heroes in Turgenev's novels. Article 3.

"ONEVER"

The title of the novel itself is intriguing. The day before - What? Every reader who starts reading this novel thoughtfully can answer this question in his own way, and he will be right. So after all, on the eve of what? ..

On a hot summer day, two young men are resting on the banks of the river under a linden tree. Their thoughts and words are mundane, dreams are standards for young people who are starting their lives. Let's imagine them, following Turgenev: Bersenev, Andrei Petrovich - a university graduate and Shubin, Pavel Yakovlevich - a sculptor. Young people talk about love, about women, about nature, which, as it were, is the connecting principle in all life endeavors.

Shubin lived with a relative of Stakhova, Anna Vasilievna, a rich woman, but empty, carried away by various trifles and quickly tired of them. The birth of her daughter upset her health, and after that she did nothing but “she was sad and quietly worried,” she was a stay-at-home, she forgave her husband his male pranks. Stakhov, Nikolai Artemyevich, a retired warrant officer, "picked up" Anna Vasilievna at one of the secular balls, was a fronder.

After lunch, young people Bersenev, Shubin and Elena Nikolaevna, the daughter of the Stakhovs, go to the park for a walk. Here, young people who have reached the age when they need to think about starting a family, when they need to determine the profession of their future adult life, share their desires and dreams. Here, in my opinion, is the first clue to the title of the novel "On the Eve", a moment of life that determines the meaning of all subsequent years of human existence. Bersenyev dreams of becoming a professor of history or philosophy. Shubin still hovers in the space of thoughts between the profession of a sculptor and a womanizer, he likes Elena, he flirts with Zoya, a Russianized German woman in the Stakhovs' house, and is fond of peasant "girls". Elena, a maximalist, speaking in a modern style, did not forgive anyone a lie "forever and ever", as soon as a person lost her respect and he ceased to exist for her. At the same time, she read a lot and longed for active good, gave alms and picked up crippled birds and animals, thought about love, and was surprised that there was no one to love.

Bersenev goes to the city, where he meets a student acquaintance and invites him to visit his country cottage. Bersenev's friend is a student, a Bulgarian Insarov, Dmitry Nikanorich has limited funds, he accepts the invitation, but on the condition that he will pay for the rented room himself.

The first acquaintance of Elena and Shubin with Insarov did not produce the impression that Bersenev had outlined for them. But if Shubin could be understood immediately - jealousy spoke in him, then Elena's consciousness did not accept Insarov as a hero. The trust in each other of Elena and Insarov developed slowly, but after their meeting in private, these relations began to develop hastily. Who is Insarov, and how does Turgenev present him to the reader?
Insarov is a man of ideas, the idea of ​​liberating Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke. For this, Insarov lives, studies, suffers, suffers hardships, helps compatriots, refuses to love a woman - all for the sake of an idea. But the character of young Elena conquers Insarov. Elena finally falls in love with Insarov after a walk arranged by Stakhova, where Insarov showed himself as a hero, defending the company from the harassment of drunken Germans. Elena in her diary admits to herself that she is in love. Insarov, unable to control his feelings, leaves the dacha and leaves for Moscow.

But feeling wins. Elena and Insarov meet at an abandoned chapel in bad weather. Young people declare their love. For the sake of love, Elena refuses a profitable marriage offered to her by her father, leaves her home, full of prosperity and bliss - goes to Insarov. Elena accepts Insarov's illness as her own, takes care of the patient, then, with an unrecovered Insarov, goes to Europe, with the aim of illegally entering Bulgaria, where the liberation movement flared up with renewed vigor. Insarov dies. Elena, faithful to him and his idea, travels with strangers to Bulgaria. The further fate of Elena is unknown.

The fate of the rest of the main characters of the novel "On the Eve" is interesting. Bersenev, as dreamed of, successfully began his career as a university professor, he is abroad and has already published two articles that have attracted the attention of specialists. Shubin's dream also came true, he is in Rome "... all devoted to his art and is considered one of the most remarkable and promising young sculptors." Elena found someone she could love, and fell in love not only with a person with a purposeful character, but also with his idea ... The dreams of the heroes that had developed on the eve of entering an independent adult life came true.
The novel "On the Eve" is multifaceted. Here are the deep thoughts and thoughts of the author. A thoughtful researcher on reading the novel is provided with material for numerous articles: male and female heroes in the novel, landscape and its connection with the thoughts and actions of the heroes, the relationship between the older and the incoming generations, and others. Let us not creep our thoughts along the tree here. This is not the purpose of our article.

I would like to dwell once again on the title of the novel “On the Eve”. Dobrolyubov in the article "When Will the Present Day Come?" ran far ahead of real events, seeing in the novel signs of an impending revolution. This speaks of inexperience, intolerance and inability to deeply analyze the historical situation in Europe, and most importantly in Russia. Therefore, it was no coincidence that Turgenev insisted that Dobrolyubov's article not be published in the open press, and when the article was published, Turgenev decisively broke off relations with Nekrasov and Dobrolyubov. The strategists of the "advanced thought" turned out to be blind. Nekrasov and Dobrolyubov were simple propagandists of the "revolution" who understood neither the purpose of the revolution, nor its driving forces, nor the program of subsequent actions. For them, the revolution had to take place for the revolution - and only, beyond that, their thoughts did not go. Imagine Barin Nekrasov moving in a whole train to hunt in 1919 !!! How many such revolutionaries have rejected the revolution and condemned it.

Turgenev in this case is more of an analyst and strategist than his compatriots.

Dear reader, pay attention to the dynamics of the actions of the main characters of Turgenev's novels. Rudin is a loner, a man who grew up and matured under the conditions of the noble nobility, at the expense of the labor of serfs. He is a poor nobleman who picked up ideas while traveling around Europe. Remember: "His eloquence is not Russian" !!! He is a fluff, lives on debt, and dies senselessly. In the "Noble Nest" Lavretsky strives to find himself in the active management of his household. Mikhalevich is all in search of finding a job for himself in order to be useful, if not to society, then to himself.

Insarov is a completely different person. Insarov is already working with a group of like-minded people, he has connections in Russia and abroad, he is a member of a secret community. A man of ideas for which he gives his life. Insarov is a Bulgarian, on the territory of Russia the leader of some group of possessed people seeking to free their homeland from the Turkish yoke. There were no such groups, formed like-minded people in Russia when Turgenev wrote his novel. There were scattered loners like Rudin and Mikhalevich.

Let's turn to female images. In "Rudin" Natalia understood the character and deeds of her hero and found her "woman's happiness" in marriage. In the "Noble Nest" Elizaveta Mikhailovna could not understand the moral aspects of her admirers and went to a monastery.

In "On the Eve" Elena, on the contrary, chooses from the circle of admirers Insarov - a man of ideas. Elena's act is symbolic in that she chooses a foreigner and his ideology. Here Elena - a woman chooses someone else's ideology, is comparable to the concept of Elena - Russia, which is increasingly moving towards imitation of the West. Elena chose Western ideology, and it is unknown how she dies. This is where, in my opinion, the answer to the title of the novel "On the Eve" is.

And Elena is also a symbol of the Russian noble intelligentsia, in the ranks of which a spontaneous protest against the established foundations is born and begins to develop.

It was the noble intelligentsia that began to excite the minds of the practically absolutely illiterate peasantry, and the nascent illiterate working class.

However, “smart people. Damn them! " they did not understand that the loners of the revolution would not do, for this it was necessary to train cadres. It's easy to build a factory or a ship, but they will not give the estimated economic and other returns if they are run by untrained people, this takes time.

The novel "On the Eve", in my opinion, is a novel a call to all strata of society to reflect on the future development of Russia.