In 1857, Turgenev’s touching, lyrical and beautiful work “Asya” saw the light. Public reviews of this story exceeded all expectations. “Asya” won the hearts of millions of readers around the world and was translated into many major European languages.

What is the secret of the attractiveness and popularity of this sad and simple love story? Let's find out.

This article will provide you with a laconic analysis of the work, a concise description of its characters and a brief retelling. “Asya” by Turgenev will certainly captivate you with its tender sentimental sensuality and ingenuous, simple chastity. It will encourage you to look at the world in a new way and teach you to value sincerity and purity.

So, meet “Asya” Turgenev, who conquered millions of hearts! Quotes and excerpts from the story mentioned in this article will give you the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful style and style of the writer, and the beautiful illustrations below will help to capture the images of the main characters and their characteristic features for a long time.

History of creation

Once, while traveling around Germany, Ivan Sergeevich became a casual observer of a fleeting picture: a decorous elderly woman was looking out from the window of the first floor of a small stone house. After a moment, the pretty face of a young girl appeared in the window on the floor above. What was the fate of these women? And what could bring them together in the same house? Turgenev’s lyrical “Asya” reflects the writer’s fantasies on this matter. Analysis of the narrative suggests that the author, with insightful, subtle psychologism, was able to convey the atmosphere of a German town and the friendship of two different, but very nice women.

Prototypes

They say that the prototype of the timid and sensual Asya was the writer’s own illegitimate daughter, Polina Brewer. The prototype of the main character could also be Turgenev’s half-sister, Varvara Zhitova. Both girls, deeply worried about their dubious position, could not find themselves in aristocratic society.

What did Turgenev want to convey to his reader? “Asya” (the analysis of the work is presented in the article) definitely answers this question. But before we begin a detailed study of the story, let's briefly recall the plot.

The beginning of a sad story

A brief retelling of Turgenev’s “Asia” should begin with a description of the main character on whose behalf the events are narrated.

The anonymous Mr. N.N. appears before the critical gaze of readers. He, remembering his youth, recalls the events of his tour of Europe and his acquaintance with unusual compatriots.

He meets the Gagins - a young man and a young girl, brother and sister, who are traveling together. Men quickly become close to each other, often spending time together talking and having fun.

The main characters of Turgenev’s “Asia” experience genuine feelings of friendship and sympathy for each other. Over time, Mr. N.N. begins to pay attention to his friend’s sister.

main character

Asya is a special and unusual girl. She is very well read and knows how to draw beautifully, has a keen sense of beauty and has a keen sense of justice.

Asya has a changeable character and extravagant nature; at times she can be desperate and reckless. On the other hand, the girl is vulnerable and impressionable, kind and affectionate, pure and natural.

Possessing such an amazing and unusual character, she attracts the attention of the main character and forces him to look for the reasons for her strange behavior. His feelings for her are truly contradictory: he simultaneously condemns the girl and admires her.

Watching his brother and sister, the main character begins to suspect that in reality they are not like that. What kind of relationship do they have? Are they really lovers, shamelessly playing with the feelings of their friend?

To answer these questions, you need to know the life story of the main character. This is the main theme of Turgenev’s “Asia”.

Asya's story

Asya is not a simple noblewoman. She is the daughter of a wealthy master, Gagin's father, and a poor serf. The ambiguous position, lack of upbringing and personal sorrows leave a certain imprint on the behavior and manners of the main character. She cannot skillfully and socially conduct a conversation, she cannot confidently control her feelings and emotions.

What is so attractive about Asya Turgeneva? The narrator's reviews of her indicate that the girl's main shortcomings are her main virtues. Asya is not like secular coquettes, hypocritical and thoughtless young ladies. She is endowed with imagination, passion, liveliness and spontaneity, which makes her charming and desirable in the eyes of the main character.

Brother and sister

There is a difficult and peculiar relationship between Asya and her brother. Gagin, realizing his duty regarding his younger sister, feels love and pity for her at the same time. He treats her condescendingly and at the same time sincerely, arrogantly and at the same time kindly. And she... She is attached to him genuinely and passionately, afraid of upsetting or sullying him.

“No, I don’t want to love anyone but you, no, no, I only love you
I want to love - and forever,” she passionately and emotionally reveals to her brother.

Unhappy love

Communication with Mr. N.N. awakens in the heart of a young and inexperienced girl a storm of new and incomprehensible feelings for her. She, who does not understand herself and is afraid of her feelings, behaves strangely and changeably, but these are not ordinary whims. Asya's behavior reflects her inner struggle and confusion, her desire to please and charm.

Unable to hide her feelings and not even realizing that this is necessary, the girl opens her soul to her brother and lover. In this childish, naive act, all of her is revealed - the innocent and impetuous Asya Turgeneva. The main characters cannot appreciate her frankness and temperament.

Gagin calls his sister crazy and laments that “she will certainly destroy herself.” However, he still notes Asya’s sublime and noble feelings, as well as her purity and sincerity.

The main character, on the contrary, cannot appreciate the rare and wonderful qualities of the girl who loves him and whom he himself loves. “To marry a seventeen-year-old girl with her temperament, how is that possible!” - thinks Mr. N.N. Yes, he cannot go against secular rules, cannot marry an illegitimate, cannot fight for his love. And even when Gagin straightforwardly and sadly asks his friend whether he is going to marry his sister, he avoids a direct answer and remains silent.

How does Turgenev end his story “Asya”? Reviews of the work indicate that the chosen epilogue is very realistic and successful.

End

The main character, realizing that she is not loved and understood, decides to leave her first love forever. She doesn’t impose herself, doesn’t make a scene. She simply leaves, taking with her a broken heart and unrelenting pain.

This shows the strong side of the girl’s character - she is determined and adamant in what she considers right, her pride and wisdom are worthy of emulation.

What did Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev want to show with his work? “Asya” (the content and plot of the story are briefly described above) teaches readers that it is important to fight for their happiness, value sincerity and innocence, and not follow the lead of the majority opinion.

Modern reviews

What impression does the pure and straightforward Asya Turgeneva make on modern readers? Reviews of this story continue to be enthusiastic and positive.

Despite the fact that much of the work is not completely clear to the hearts and minds of today’s readers, Asya’s story nevertheless encourages us to think about true feelings and relationships.

Many people like the depth of feelings and fullness of emotions conveyed by Turgenev in the book. The author wrote accurately and vividly, without unnecessary vague phrases and reasoning. It touches the heart not with pathos or eroticism, not with sarcasm or cruelty (as may be common in modern literature). No, Ivan Sergeevich describes on the pages of his story quiet and simple feelings, gentle and noble impulses that find kindness, dignity and generosity in the hidden corners of the human soul.

We really hope that this article will encourage you to take a volume of “Asi” from the library and plunge into the gentle and romantic world of Turgenev, a world where mutual understanding and morality, compassion and prudence reign. And, of course, love.

Ivan Turgenev not only made a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature within the framework of existing directions, but also discovered new original features of national culture. In particular, he created the image of Turgenev’s young lady - he revealed the unique character of the Russian girl on the pages of his books. To get to know this person, just read the story “Asya”, where the portrait of a woman acquired unique features.

The writer was busy writing this work for several months (from July to November 1857). He wrote hard and slowly, because illness and fatigue were already making themselves felt. It is not known exactly who Asya’s prototype is. Among the versions, the prevailing point of view is that the author described his illegitimate daughter. The image could also reflect the fate of his paternal sister (her mother was a peasant woman). Turgenev, from these examples, knew well how a teenager felt when he found himself in such a situation, and reflected his observations in the story, showing a very delicate social conflict, for which he himself was to blame.

The work “Asya” was completed in 1857 and published in Sovremennik. The story of the story, told by the author himself, is as follows: one day Turgenev in a German town saw an elderly woman looking out of a window on the first floor, and the head of a young girl on the floor above. Then he decided to imagine what their fate might be, and he embodied these fantasies in the form of a book.

Why is the story called this?

The work received its name in honor of the main character, whose love story is the focus of the author’s attention. His main priority was to reveal the ideal female image, called the “Turgenev young lady”. According to the writer, a woman can be seen and appreciated only through the prism of the feeling she experiences. Only in it its mysterious and incomprehensible nature is fully revealed. Therefore, his Asya experiences the shock of her first love and experiences it with the dignity inherent in an adult and mature lady, and not the naive child she was before meeting N.N.

This transformation is what Turgenev shows. At the end of the book, we say goodbye to Asya the child and meet Anna Gagina - a sincere, strong and self-aware woman who does not agree to compromise: when N.N. afraid to surrender to the feeling completely and immediately acknowledge it, she, overcoming the pain, left him forever. But in memory of the bright time of childhood, when Anna was still Asya, the writer calls his work with this diminutive name.

Genre: story or short story?

Of course, “Asya” is a story. The story is never divided into chapters, and its volume is much smaller. The segment from the life of the heroes depicted in the book is shorter than in the novel, but longer than in the smallest form of prose. Turgenev also held the same opinion about the genre nature of his creation.

Traditionally, there are more characters and events in a story than in a short story. In addition, the subject of the image in it is precisely the sequence of episodes in which cause-and-effect relationships are revealed, which lead the reader to understand the meaning of the ending of the work. This is what happens in the book “Asya”: the characters get to know each other, their communication leads to mutual interest, N.N. finds out about Anna's origins, she confesses her love to him, he is afraid to take her feelings seriously, and in the end all this leads to a breakup. The writer first intrigues us, for example, shows the strange behavior of the heroine, and then explains it through the story of her birth.

What is the work about?

The main character is a young man, on whose behalf the story is told. These are the memories of an already mature man about the events of his youth. In "Ace" the middle-aged socialite N.N. recalls a story that happened to him when he was about 25. The beginning of his story, where he meets his brother and sister Gagin, is the exposition of the story. The place and time of action is “a small German town of W. near the Rhine (river).” The writer is referring to the city of Sinzig in a province of Germany. Turgenev himself traveled there in 1857, and then finished the book. The narrator writes in the past tense, stipulating that the events described occurred 20 years ago. Accordingly, they occurred in June 1837 (N.N. himself reports about the month in the first chapter).

What Turgenev wrote about in “Ace” is familiar to the reader from the time of reading “Eugene Onegin”. Asya Gagina is the same young Tatyana who fell in love for the first time, but did not find reciprocity. It was the poem “Eugene Onegin” that N.N. once read. for the Gagins. Only the heroine in the story does not look like Tatyana. She is very changeable and fickle: she either laughs all day long, or walks around darker than a cloud. The reason for this state of mind lies in the girl’s difficult history: she is Gagin’s illegitimate sister. In high society she feels like a stranger, as if unworthy of the honor bestowed on her. Thoughts about her future situation constantly weigh on her, which is why Anna has a difficult character. But, in the end, she, like Tatyana from Eugene Onegin, decides to confess her love to N.N. The hero promises the girl’s brother to explain everything to her, but instead accuses her of confessing to her brother and actually exposing him to a laughing stock. Asya, hearing a reproach instead of a confession, runs away. A N.N. understands how dear she is to him, and decides to ask for her hand the next day. But it’s too late, because the next morning he finds out that the Gagins have left, leaving him a note:

Farewell, we won't see each other again. I’m not leaving out of pride - no, I can’t do otherwise. Yesterday, when I cried in front of you, if you had said one word to me, just one word, I would have stayed. You didn't say it. Apparently, it’s better this way... Goodbye forever!

The main characters and their characteristics

The reader's attention is drawn, first of all, to the main characters of the work. They embody the author's intention and are the supporting images on which the narrative is built.

1. Asya (Anna Gagina)- a typical “Turgenev young lady”: she is a wild, but sensitive girl who is capable of true love, but does not accept cowardice and weakness of character. This is how her brother described her: “Pride developed in her strongly, and mistrust too; bad habits took root, simplicity disappeared. She wanted (she herself admitted this to me once) to make the whole world forget her origins; she was both ashamed of her mother, and ashamed of her shame, and proud of her.” She grew up in nature on an estate and studied at a boarding school. At first she was raised by her mother, a maid in her father's house. After her death, the master took the girl to him. Then the upbringing was continued by his legitimate son, the brother of the main character. Anna is a modest, naive, well-educated person. She has not yet matured, so she fools around and plays pranks, not taking life seriously. However, her character changed when she fell in love with N.N.: he became fickle and strange, the girl was either too lively or sad. By changing her images, she unconsciously sought to attract the attention of her gentleman, but her intentions were absolutely sincere. She even fell ill with a fever from the feeling that filled her heart. From her further actions and words we can conclude that she is a strong and strong-willed woman, capable of sacrifice for the sake of honor. Turgenev himself described her description: “The girl, whom he called his sister, at first glance seemed very pretty to me. There was something special about her dark, round face, with a small thin nose, almost childish cheeks and black, light eyes. She was gracefully built, but seemed not yet fully developed.” The somewhat idealized image of Asya was repeated in the faces of other famous heroines of the writer.
2. N.N.- a narrator who, 20 years after the event described, takes up his pen to ease his soul. He can't forget about his lost love. He appears before us as a selfish and idle rich young man who travels because he has nothing to do. He is lonely and afraid of his loneliness, because, by his own admission, he loves to be in a crowd and look at people. At the same time, he does not want to meet Russians, apparently, he is afraid of disturbing his peace. He ironically notes that “he considered it his duty to indulge in sadness and loneliness for a while.” This desire to show off even in front of himself reveals the weak sides of his nature: he is insincere, false, superficial, and seeks justification for his idleness in fictitious and contrived suffering. It is impossible not to note his impressionability: thoughts about his homeland made him angry, meeting Anna made him feel happy. The main character is educated and noble, lives “as he wants,” and is characterized by inconstancy. He understands art, loves nature, but cannot find an application for his knowledge and feelings. He loves to analyze people with his mind, but does not feel them with his heart, which is why he could not understand Asya’s behavior for so long. Love for her revealed not the best qualities in him: cowardice, indecisiveness, selfishness.
3. Gagin- Anna's older brother who takes care of her. This is how the author writes about him: “It was a straight Russian soul, truthful, honest, simple, but, unfortunately, a little lethargic, without tenacity and inner heat. Youth was not in full swing in him; she glowed with a quiet light. He was very sweet and smart, but I couldn’t imagine what would happen to him once he matured.” The hero is very kind and sympathetic. He honored and respected his family, because he fulfilled his father’s last wishes honestly, and he loved his sister like his own. Anna is very dear to him, so he sacrifices friendship for the sake of her peace of mind and leaves N.N., taking the heroine away. He generally willingly sacrifices his interests for the sake of others, because in order to raise his sister, he resigns and leaves his homeland. The other characters in his description always look positive; he finds justification for all of them: the secretive father, the compliant maid, the headstrong Asya.

Minor characters are only mentioned in passing by the narrator. This is a young widow on the waters, who rejected the narrator, Gagin’s father (a kind, gentle, but unhappy man), his brother, who got his nephew a job in St. Petersburg, Asya’s mother (Tatyana Vasilievna - a proud and unapproachable woman), Yakov (Gagin the elder’s butler) . The description of the characters given by the author allows us to understand even more deeply the story “Asya” and the realities of the era that became its basis.

Subject

1. Theme of love. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote many stories about this. For him, feeling is a test of the heroes’ souls: “No, love is one of those passions that breaks our “I”, makes us, as it were, forget about ourselves and our interests,” said the writer. Only a real person can truly love. However, the tragedy is that many people fail this test, and it takes two to love. When one fails to truly love, the other is undeservedly left alone. This is what happened in this book: N.N. I couldn’t pass the test of love, but Anna, although she coped with it, still couldn’t stand the insult of neglect and left forever.
2. The theme of the extra person in the story “Asya” also occupies an important place. The main character cannot find a place for himself in the world. His idle and aimless life abroad is proof of this. He wanders around in search of who knows what, because he cannot apply his skills and knowledge in the real business. His failure also manifests itself in love, because he is afraid of the girl’s direct recognition, afraid of the strength of her feelings, and therefore cannot realize in time how dear she is to him.
3. The theme of family is also raised by the author. Gagin raised Asya as his sister, although he understood the complexity of her situation. Perhaps it was precisely this circumstance that prompted him to travel, where the girl could distract herself and hide from sidelong glances. Turgenev emphasizes the superiority of family values ​​over class prejudices, calling on his compatriots to care more about family ties than about the purity of blood.
4. Theme of nostalgia. The whole story is imbued with the nostalgic mood of the protagonist, who lives with memories of the time when he was young and in love.

Issues

• The problem of moral choice. The hero does not know what to do correctly: is it worth taking responsibility for such a young creature, offended by fate? Is he ready to say goodbye to his single life and tie himself to one single woman? Besides, she had already deprived him of his choice by telling his brother everything. He was annoyed that the girl took all the initiative upon herself, and therefore accused her of being too frank with Gagin. N.N. was confused, and also not experienced enough to unravel the subtle nature of his beloved, so it is not surprising that his choice turned out to be wrong.
• Problems of feeling and duty. Often these principles oppose each other. Asya loves N.N., but after his hesitation and reproaches she understands that he is not sure of his feelings. A duty of honor commands her to leave and not meet with him again, although her heart rebels and asks to give her lover another chance. However, her brother is also adamant in matters of honor, so the Gagins leave N.N.
• The problem of extramarital affairs. During Turgenev's time, almost all nobles had illegitimate children, and this was not considered abnormal. But the writer, although he himself became the father of such a child, draws attention to how bad life is for children whose origins are illegal. They suffer without guilt for the sins of their parents, suffer from gossip and cannot arrange their future. For example, the author depicts Asya's studies in a boarding school, where all the girls treated her with disdain because of her history.
• The problem of adolescence. Asya at the time of the events described is only 17 years old, she has not yet formed as a person, which is why her behavior is so unpredictable and eccentric. It is very difficult for my brother to deal with her, because he does not yet have experience in the parenting field. Yes, and N.N. could not understand her contradictory and sentimental nature. This is the reason for the tragedy of their relationship.
• The problem of cowardice. N.N. she is afraid of serious feelings, so she does not say that very cherished word that Asya was waiting for.

Main thought

The story of the main character is a tragedy of naive first feelings, when a young dreamy person first encounters the cruel realities of life. The conclusions from this collision are the main idea of ​​the story “Asya”. The girl went through the test of love, but many of her illusions were shattered. Indecisive N.N. She read a sentence to herself, which her brother had mentioned earlier in a conversation with a friend: in this situation, she cannot count on a good match. Few will agree to marry her, no matter how beautiful or cheerful she is. She had seen before that people despised her for her unequal origin, and now the man she loved was hesitant and did not dare to commit himself to a word. Anna interpreted this as cowardice, and her dreams crumbled to dust. She learned to be more selective in her suitors and not to trust them with her heartfelt secrets.

Love in this case opens up the adult world for the heroine, literally pulling her out of her blissful childhood. Happiness would not have been a lesson for her, but a continuation of a girl’s dream; it would not have revealed this contradictory character, and Asya’s portrait in the gallery of female types of Russian literature was greatly impoverished by the happy ending. In the tragedy, she gained the necessary experience and became richer spiritually. As you can see, the meaning of Turgenev’s story is also to show how the test of love affects people: some show dignity and fortitude, others show cowardice, tactlessness and indecision.

This story from the lips of a mature man is so instructive that it leaves no doubt that the hero recalls this episode of his life for the edification of himself and the listener. Now, after so many years, he understands that he himself missed the love of his life, he himself destroyed this sublime and sincere relationship. The narrator calls on the reader to be more attentive and decisive than himself, not to let his guiding star go away. Thus, the main idea of ​​the work “Asya” is to show how fragile and fleeting happiness is if it is not recognized in time, and how merciless love is, which does not give a second try.

What does the story teach?

Turgenev, showing the idle and empty lifestyle of his hero, says that carelessness and aimlessness of existence will make a person unhappy. N.N. in old age he bitterly complains about himself in his youth, regretting the loss of Asya and the very opportunity to change his fate: “It never occurred to me then that man is not a plant and he cannot flourish for a long time.” He realizes with bitterness that this “blooming” did not bear fruit. Thus, the morality in the story “Asya” reveals to us the true meaning of existence - we need to live for the sake of a goal, for the sake of loved ones, for the sake of creativity and creation, no matter what it is expressed in, and not just for the sake of ourselves. After all, it was selfishness and the fear of losing the opportunity to “bloom” that prevented N.N. utter the very cherished word that Anna was waiting for.

Another conclusion that Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev makes in “Ace” is the statement that there is no need to be afraid of your feelings. The heroine gave herself completely to them, was burned by her first love, but learned a lot about life and about the person to whom she wanted to dedicate her. Now she will be more attentive to people and will learn to understand them. Without this cruel experience, she would not have revealed herself as a person, she would not have understood herself and her desires. After breaking up with N.N. she realized what the man of her dreams should be like. So you shouldn’t be afraid of the sincere impulses of your soul, you need to give them free rein, and come what may.

Criticism

The reviewers called N.N. a typical literary embodiment of the “superfluous person”, and later they identified a new type of heroine - the “Tugenev young lady”. The image of the main character was studied especially carefully by Turgenev’s ideological opponent, Chernyshevsky. He dedicated an ironic article to him entitled “Russian man at rendez-vous. Reflections on reading the story “Asya”. In it, he condemns not only the moral imperfection of the character, but also the squalor of the entire social group to which he belongs. The idleness and selfishness of noble offspring destroys the real people in them. This is precisely what the critic sees as the cause of the tragedy. His friend and colleague Dobrolyubov enthusiastically appreciated the story and the author’s work on it:

Turgenev... talks about his heroes as about people close to him, snatches their warm feeling from his chest and watches them with tender sympathy, with painful trepidation, he himself suffers and rejoices along with the faces he created, he himself is carried away by the poetic setting that he loves always surround them...

The writer himself speaks very warmly about his creation: “I wrote it very passionately, almost in tears...”.

Many critics responded positively to Turgenev’s work “Asya” even at the stage of reading the manuscript. I. I. Panaev, for example, wrote to the author about the impression of the editors of Sovremennik in the following expressions:

I read the proofs, the proofreader and, moreover, Chernyshevsky. If there are still mistakes, it means we did everything we could, and we can’t do better. Annenkov has read the story, and you probably already know his opinion about it. He's delighted

Annenkov was Turgenev's close friend and his most important critic. In a letter to the author, he highly praises his new work, calling it “a frank step towards nature and poetry.”

In a personal letter dated January 16, 1858, E. Ya. Kolbasin (a critic who positively assessed Turgenev’s work) informed the writer: “Now I have come from the Tyutchevs, where there was a dispute about “Asia”. And I like it. They find that Asya’s face is tense and not alive. I said the opposite, and Annenkov, who arrived in time for the argument, completely supported me and brilliantly refuted them.”

However, it was not without controversy. The editor-in-chief of Sovremennik magazine Nekrasov proposed changing the scene of the explanation of the main characters, believing that it too belittled the image of N.N.:

There is only one remark, mine personally, and it is unimportant: in the scene of the meeting at the knees, the hero unexpectedly showed an unnecessary rudeness of nature, which you did not expect from him, bursting out with reproaches: they should have been softened and reduced, I wanted to, but did not dare, especially since Annenkov is against this

As a result, the book was left unchanged, because even Chernyshevsky stood up for it, who, although he did not deny the rudeness of the scene, noted that it best reflects the real appearance of the class to which the narrator belongs.

S. S. Dudyshkin, who in the article “Tales and Stories of I. S. Turgenev”, published in “Notes of the Fatherland,” contrasted the “sick personality of the Russian man of the 19th century” with an honest worker - a bourgeois businessman. He was also extremely concerned about the question of the historical fate of the “extra people” posed by the author of “Asia”.

Obviously not everyone liked the story. After its publication, reproaches rained down on the writer. For example, reviewer V.P. Botkin told Fet: “Not everyone likes Asya. It seems to me that Asya’s face failed - and in general the thing has a prosaically invented appearance. There is nothing to say about other persons. As a lyricist, Turgenev can only express well what he has experienced...” The famous poet, the addressee of the letter, agreed with his friend and recognized the image of the main character as far-fetched and lifeless.

But the most indignant of all the critics was Tolstoy, who assessed the work as follows: “Turgenev’s Asya, in my opinion, is the weakest thing of all that he wrote” - this remark was contained in a letter to Nekrasov. Lev Nikolaevich connected the book with the personal life of a friend. He was dissatisfied that he arranged for his illegitimate daughter Polina in France, forever separating her from her natural mother. This “hypocritical position” was sharply condemned by the count; he openly accused his colleague of cruelty and improper upbringing of his daughter, also described in the story. This conflict led to the fact that the authors did not communicate for 17 years.

Later, the story was not forgotten and often appeared in the statements of famous public figures of the era. For example, Lenin compared Russian liberals to an indecisive character:

...Just like the ardent Turgenev hero who escaped from Asya, about whom Chernyshevsky wrote: “A Russian man on a rendez-vous”

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

Ivan Turgenev’s story “Asya” is an unusual story about first love. There are often obstacles on the path of lovers, but in this case the obstacle was the characters' characters.

The main character is a certain Mr. N.N., whose memories formed the basis of the work. However, the story is not named after him. The meaning of the name can be explained in different ways. The author uses the technique of metonymy, that is, transferring a name from one to another. Thus, Asya is not just a name, but the embodiment of the hero’s first love. Mr. N.N. recalls the years of his youth when he traveled around the world. Once in a European town he met fellow countrymen - the friendly young man Gagin and his sister Asya. The young people became friends and began to spend a lot of time together.

Turgenev girl

The main character notices that Asya is a unique person. She is changeable, like a chameleon: sometimes playful, like a child, sometimes thoughtful, like an adult woman. There were forces hidden within her that were unknown, even to her. She is a vivid example of a Turgenev girl, glorified by the author. That is why her name is included in the title of the story, because in the center of the image is not even the love story itself, but the inner world of Asya’s unusual personality, her development from the ordinary girl Asya to the strong woman Anna.

Asya at the center of history

Asya is the central main character. If it weren’t for her, there wouldn’t be the story of the main character. The heroine's real name is Anna, but for the main character she will forever remain Asya - a tender memory of her first love.

The author gives the heroine a complex origin story. She is the daughter of a landowner and a simple peasant woman. The father did not abandon his illegitimate daughter and took care of her education and upbringing. Afterwards, her older brother Gagin took care of her. He sent her to a boarding school, but she never turned out to be a real socialite. The girl understood that in the eyes of society she was just the fruit of an illegal relationship. As a child, the heroine spent a lot of time with peasants, and in her youth she studied with the children of landowners. Her world seemed to have split into two parts: the world of ordinary peasants and the secular dangerous world. She took a little from each. Asya was spontaneous and cheerful, like a peasant woman and smart, like a young lady. All this led to the contradiction of her nature. Asya's image is ambiguous, which is reflected even in her external portrait. What a detail: the heroine has “dark light eyes.” Despite the dark color of her eyes, Asya looked at the world with a bright gaze.

From Asya to Anna

At first, the heroine seems to the reader like an eccentric child, capricious Asya, who plays with the main character. When meeting with Mr. N.N. The heroine's mood could change dramatically. She either behaved with demonstrative cheekiness, or sat with her knees tucked up, with a sad face. Brother and Mr. N.N. the reason for this behavior is not immediately understood. And the girl herself comes to realize this gradually. However, when Asya realizes that the reason for everything is her love for the hero, she decides to take a frank step. The girl is the first to confess her feelings to Mr. N.N. She challenges him to a frank conversation and expects the “right words” from him. But the main character acts “reasonably” and does not reciprocate. He also has tender feelings for the girl, but he hesitates because he is afraid to marry a woman like Asya. She is very different from the people of his circle, her wild character is alarming. Besides, she is only 17 years old. On the one hand, the hero is doing the right thing, because the young wife is unlikely to behave wisely. On the other hand, he refuses true love because of prejudice. The author shows that, despite progressive views, the main character behaves like a typical representative of secular society. The next day after the conversation with Asya, Mr. N.N. suddenly realizes that he is madly in love with a girl and runs to her. However, Asya and Gagin had already left. And he never saw them again. So the hero missed the chance to find love because he missed time. And the heroine gained precious experience. She was determined in love, but she was also decisively able to refuse it when she realized what kind of person her beloved was. Now she has become Anna, and not just Asya.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev had the ability to clearly see and deeply analyze the socio-psychological contradictions of the individual. This quality of Turgenev - an artist and a psychologist - manifested itself in the story“ASYA”, which was published in the first issue of “Contemporary" behind 1858 year.

The history of the creation of the story “Asya”

At the beginning of 1857, in a letter to his friend, literary critic, one of the first readers of all his works, P. V. Annenkov, I. S. Turgenev wrote: “I’m going through – or maybe I’m living through – a moral and physical crisis, from which I will emerge either shattered or... renewed!” In June, the writer comes to Sinzig on the Rhine (near Bonn) to be treated for neuralgia, and takes a long walk along the Ara River valley. During this trip, the idea for the story “Asya” was born. Turgenev talked about it like this: “We pass by a small ruin; next to the ruins there is a two-story house. An old woman is looking from the window on the lower floor, and from the window on the upper floor the head of a pretty girl is sticking out. Then suddenly a special mood came over me. I began to think and invent who this girl was, what she was like and why she was in this house, what her relationship was with the old woman - and so right there in the boat the whole plot of the story came together for me.”. The writer worked on the story in July 1857, first in Baden-Baden, then in Paris. “It was strange for me to start writing oh,” he admitted, “ after a year of inactivity, it was difficult at first, but then things got easier.”. The story was written “with a special mood, similar to inspiration.”

Despite the random idea, the life story of the main character Asya is somewhat reminiscent of the fate of Turgenev’s daughter. In the summer of 1841, in Spassky-Lutovinovo, the young Turgenev took a liking to a girl dressmaker who worked freely for Varvara Petrovna, Turgenev’s mother. The connection between the young people did not escape the watchful eye of Varvara Petrovna. The seamstress was paid off and she returned to Moscow. In May 1842, her daughter Pelageya was born, whom Varvara Petrovna took away, took to Spasskoye-Lutovinovo and gave to be raised in the family of a serf. The servants gloatingly called her “lady” and forced her to do hard housework. By order of Varvara Petrovna, the girl was sometimes dressed for a minute in a clean dress and brought into the living room. “Tell me, who does this girl look like?”- Turgeneva asked with feigned bewilderment and sent her back. Turgenev learned about the existence of his daughter by chance. Arriving at the estate in 1850, he was shocked by the orphan fate of the girl. On the advice of Polina Viardot, Turgenev took his daughter to Paris. "This little creature must be saved, he wrote, and I really look forward to the complete change in life that lies ahead for her...” .

After finishing her studies at a French boarding school, Polina (that was her name now) lived in Paris with her father until her marriage. Turgenev took care of his daughter’s family until his death, although there was no spiritual closeness between father and daughter. Turgenev was upset that Polina “does not like music, poetry, or nature.” “There’s not a trace of artistic beginnings in her.”<…>“, she ... is gifted with character, calmness, common sense: she will be a good wife, a kind mother of the family, an excellent housewife - romantic, dreamy everything is alien to her,” he complained in his letters. “I respect her, but that’s not enough.”. Turgenev endowed the “illegitimate” heroine of his story, Asya, with a rich spiritual world, a subtle sense of beauty in nature, art, and human relationships.

The story was published in the January issue of Sovremennik magazine for 1858 under the title “Asya. N.N.'s story." Turgenev anxiously awaited feedback. Annenkov gave the story the highest rating, adding: “And I won’t be the only one who will be touched and shocked”. Nekrasov wrote that “Asya” is “pure gold of poetry.” Many writers spoke enthusiastically about the story. The Sovremennik magazine raised acute socio-political issues. It is no coincidence that the character of the main character of the story “Asya”, Mr. N.N., a representative of the liberal noble intelligentsia, and in connection with this character about the role of the noble intelligentsia in Russian public life in general, heated debates arose. Prominent critics of that time took part in them: N. G. Chernyshevsky, P. V. Annenkov, D. I. Pisarev.

(Based on the book by V. Afanasyev and P. Bogolepov “The Path to Turgenev”)

“Asya” is a story about love. The hero fell in love with a very original and courageous girl, with a pure soul, without a shadow of the artificial affectation of society young ladies. His love did not go unanswered. But at the moment when Asya was waiting for a decisive word from him, he was afraid of something and retreated.
N.G. Chernyshevsky dedicated a large article to the story “Asya”, entitled “" He pointed out the connection of this story with Turgenev’s previous works and with a number of works by other authors. Chernyshevsky saw the similarity between them in the character of the main character:

“... while there is no talk of business, and you just need to occupy idle time, fill an idle head or an idle heart with conversations or dreams, the hero is very lively; As the matter approaches to directly and accurately express their feelings and desires, most of the heroes begin to hesitate and feel clumsy in their language.”

“These are our “best people...“- notes Chernyshevsky, emphasizing that the main feature of such “best people” is the fear of decisive action, decisive action in everything, and not just in love, this is the inability to go to the end in one’s beautiful motives, the desire to stop somewhere halfway from fulfillment of your noble hopes.

N. G. Chernyshevsky in his articlecondemned “superfluous people” and noble liberalism of the late fifties of the nineteenth century. Heexpressed the opinion that the personal lack of will and egoism of Turgenev’s hero is an expression of social bankruptcy. The hero's behavior is socially typical. In support of his thesis, Chernyshevsky drew an analogy with Pechorin, Beltov, Agarin (from “Sasha” by Nekrasov).

After reading “Asia,” Nekrasov wrote to Turgenev: “...she’s so lovely. She exudes spiritual youth, all of her is pure gold of poetry. Without a stretch, this beautiful setting matched the poetic plot, and what came out was something unprecedented in its beauty and purity.”

• The heroine of the story is an open, proud, passionate girl, striking with her unusual appearance, spontaneity and nobility.

She seems strange and unnatural precisely because she does not like the ordinary life of people in her circle. She dreams of an active, sublime and noble life. Her attention is attracted by simple people, she, apparently, both sympathizes and at the same time envies them. So, watching the crowd of pilgrims, she notices: “ I wish I could go with them" She understands the life of ordinary people as a feat: “ Go somewhere for prayer, for a difficult feat" She doesn't want her life to pass without a trace. But she feels how difficult it is to achieve this.
Asa combined the desire to be happy with the desire to fulfill the high duty of a person. She dreams of a feat and of uniting her destiny with a person who would help her accomplish it.

• She is the daughter of a serf peasant woman and a landowner. This explains her behavior: she is shy and does not know how to behave in society. After the death of her mother, the girl is left to her own devices; she early begins to think about the contradictions of life, about everything that surrounds her.

• Asya is close to other female images in Turgenev’s works.In Asa you can see a lot in common with Lisa from “The Noble Nest”. Both girls are morally pure, truth-loving, and capable of strong passions.

On the psychologism of I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya”

Since the beginning of the 19th century, in literature and other forms of art there has been an increasing interest in depicting the inner world of man, the life of his soul. One of the recognized artist-psychologists is I. S. Turgenev. P.V. Annenkov said that Turgenev - psychologist, But secret, Turgenev’s study of psychology “is always hidden in the depths of the work and develops with it, like a red thread threaded through a fabric.” Ivan Sergeevich himself characterized his “psychological method” as follows: “The psychologist must disappear in the artist, just as a skeleton disappears from view under a living and warm body, for which he served as a strong but invisible support”; “The poet must be a psychologist, but a secret one: he must know and feel the roots of phenomena, but represents only the phenomena themselves.” For Turgenev, the main and almost the only goal is to depict the inner life of a person. The writer helps readers penetrate the recesses of the souls of his characters in different ways.

Showing, for example, Asya, he selects such details of the portrait, the behavior of the heroine, the environment in which she is placed, which seem to objectify certain movements of the girl’s soul. Psychological analysis appears here as an external expression of feelings, experiences, a gradual change in the state of the inner world of the girl who falls in love - in facial expressions, gestures, in ever new nuances of the heroine’s portrait sketches, attention to the intonations of her voice.

Otherwise, the inner world of Mr. N.N. is revealed. It was not by chance that the story was published under the title “Asya. N.N.’s story”: the writer chooses the narrator’s confession as a form of narration, and confession always involves detailed coverage of circumstances, mainly of internal life. Through the narrator, Turgenev penetrates into the intricate weaves of the character’s feelings and moods, into the most hidden corners of his consciousness. The inner life of this Turgenev hero appears as reflection. He stubbornly thinks about many, sometimes depressing, questions that cause deep emotions. At the same time, the narrator cannot comprehend everything in his experiences in order to make the right decision. Turgenev does not exclude the irrational in the inner world, in the development of a person’s feelings, in particular Mr. N.N. At the same time, the main thing remains that only one character can be shown from the inside in the movement of his feelings and thoughts - this is the narrator himself.

But in the depiction of Asya’s inner world and the inner world of Mr. N.N., the peculiarities of the writer’s talent and personality are reflected: his characteristic elegism, poeticization of the relationships between the characters and their surroundings - landscapes, romance

“Love seemed to the writer as a spontaneous and unconscious force, against whose power a person is defenseless. This is exactly how love appears in the story “Asya”: it manifests itself as an elemental force, which a person cannot master, “subordinate it to himself and force it to serve his happiness. It is impossible to guess the moment when this power can be given into the hands of a person; A word not spoken in time turns an almost completely happy person into a lonely, familyless bastard. In the article “Russian man at rendez-vouz,” Chernyshevsky, arguing with Turgenev, showed that the misfortune of the hero of the story “Asya” is not to blame for spontaneous forces, but for his own spinelessness, generated by the social conditions of life. Of course, Turgenev was far from such an understanding of the issue. Turgenev's hero is innocent of his misfortune. It was not the mental flabbiness that manifested itself at the moment of the decisive explanation that destroyed him, but something else. “When I met her in that fateful room, I did not yet have a clear consciousness of my love; it did not wake up even when I sat with her brother in meaningless and painful silence... it flared up with uncontrollable force only a few moments later, when, frightened by the possibility of misfortune, I began to look for and call her... but then it was too late.” The point, then, according to Turgenev, is that love is capricious and willful, like Asya, and “happiness has no tomorrow.”

(From the book by G. Byaly “Turgenev and Russian realism”)

Whose opinion: Pisarev, Chernyshevsky or Byaloy - seems more fair to you? Or maybe you have your own opinion on why happiness eluded Mr. N.N.? Explain and justify your point of view by referring to the text of the story.

Written in 1857, first published in 1858 in the first issue of the Sovremennik magazine (volume LXVII), 39-84.

History of creation

Turgenev worked on the story from July to November 1857. The slow pace of writing was due to the illness and fatigue of the author (the editors of Sovremennik expected the story much earlier). By Turgenev’s own admission, the idea for the story was connected with a fleeting picture he saw in a German town: an elderly woman looking out of a window on the first floor, and the head of a young girl in the window above. Turgenev tried to imagine the fate of these people: this is how the “Asya” idea arose.

Among the prototypes of the heroes of “Asia,” they call first of all Turgenev himself and his illegitimate daughter Polina Brewer, who was in exactly the same position as Asya: the daughter of a master and a peasant woman, she came from a peasant hut into the noble world, where she felt like a stranger. Another prototype of Asya could be V.N. Zhitova, Turgenev’s illegitimate sister.

Plot

The narration is told on behalf of an anonymous narrator (Mr. N.N.). He remembers his youth, his stay in the small town of Z. on the banks of the Rhine. One day, hearing the music and noise of a student festival, he crossed the river to the neighboring town of L. Here the hero met two Russians: a young man named Gagin, who wants to become an artist, and a girl Asya (Anna), whom he introduced as his sister . Asya is either happy or sad, doing eccentric things (climbing the ruins of a castle to water the flowers). The hero begins to suspect that Asya is not Gagin’s sister.

A few days later, the narrator has a frank conversation with Gagin. It turns out that Asya is really his sister. At the age of twelve, Gagin was sent to St. Petersburg to a boarding school. His widowed father remained in the village. After the death of his father, it turned out that he had another child, a daughter, Asya, whose mother was Tatyana, a maid in the Gagins’ house. Gagin is forced to raise a thirteen-year-old girl alone. He sends her to a boarding school for several years, where life is not easy for her. Finally, Gagin decided to go abroad with Asya.

The narrator feels deep pity for Asya: he understands that it is her unclear social position (the daughter of a serf and a master) that causes nervous tension in her. Gradually he falls in love with Asya. Asya writes him a letter asking for a date. Gagin, who knows about his sister’s feelings, asks the hero if he agrees to marry her. The hero, unsure of his feelings, cannot yet agree and promises to reject Asya’s love at the meeting (if it takes place).

The hero's meeting with Asya takes place in the house of the burgomaster's widow. After the explanation, Asya finds herself in his arms, but then the hero begins to reproach her for ruining everything by confessing to her brother, and now their happiness is impossible. Asya runs away. Hero and Gagin are looking for her. In the end, the narrator realizes that he really loves Asya and wants to marry her. The next day he plans to ask his brother for the girl’s hand in marriage. But the next day it turns out that Gagin and Asya left the city. The hero tries to catch up with them, but in London their trail was lost.

The hero never met Asya again. There were other women in his life, but now, on the threshold of old age and death, he understands that he truly loved only her, and that even the dried flower that she gave him will outlive both lovers - human life is so fleeting.

Criticism and perception

During Turgenev's lifetime, the story was translated into many European languages: German, English, Swedish. There were several French translations; Turgenev himself was not satisfied with their quality and released his own French translation.

Critics considered the hero of the story to be a classic type of “superfluous person” - indecisive, who has not found a place for himself in life. N. G. Chernyshevsky dedicated his article “Russian man at rendez-vous” to the image of the hero “Asia”. Reflections on reading Mr. Turgenev’s story “Asya.”