My first acquaintance with Pechorin (Lermontov M.)

  • 02.07.2020

Target: in the process of reading and analyzing the novel, trace the character properties of the main character, understand the uniqueness of the creation of a psychological image, see its inconsistency, oddities, set the goal of solving the riddle of Pechorin.

Electronic means: film by A. Kott “Hero of Our Time”

Visual aids: illustrations and other artists for the novel “Hero of Our Time”

LESSON 1 The story "BELA".

Screen recording:

Vl. Nabokov builds chronological events and the order of the stories:

1. “Taman” (c. 1830) Pechorin goes from St. Petersburg to the active army and stops in Taman.

2. “Princess Mary” (May 10 – June 17, 1832). Pechorin comes from the active detachment to water in Pyatigorsk and then to Kislovodsk; After a duel with Grushnitsky, he was transferred to the fortress under the command of Maxim Maksimovich.

3. “Fatalist” (December 1832) Pechorin comes from Maxim Maksimovich’s fortress to the Cossack village for two weeks.

4. “Bela” (spring 1833) Pechorin kidnaps the daughter of “Prince Mirnov”, and after 4 months she dies at the hands of Kazbich.

5. “Maxim Maksimych” (autumn 1837) Pechorin goes to Persia, again finds himself in the Caucasus and meets Maxim Maksimych.

QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION: Why didn’t Lermontov build the novel in chronological order, but confused and rearranged everything?

(Answer options are written on the board)

CONCLUSION: This is explained by the author’s attention to the hero’s inner world. The reader is shown first one side or the other of his character, but the character itself does not change, it was formed earlier, and Pechorin himself sometimes explains his actions as “his unfortunate upbringing.”


2 SCREEN RECORDING:

“And maybe I’ll die tomorrow!.. and there won’t be a single creature left on earth who would understand me completely. Some honor me worse, others better than I really do. Some will say: he was a kind fellow, others – a scoundrel!.. Both will be false.”

WHO IS HE – LERMONTOV’S HERO?

Let's turn to the "Preface" test.

What epithets do we find in explaining the purpose of the essay? (evils of a generation, stupid, much more terrible and uglier fictions, bitter medicines, caustic truths, human vices).

What image of the hero is emerging? (this is not a hero in the romantic sense, but a portrait of a generation with its vices, immoral actions, without embellishment, about which Lermontov wrote bitterly in the Duma (SCREEN RECORDING):

I look sadly at our generation!

His future is either empty or dark,

Meanwhile, under the burden of knowledge and doubt,

It will grow old in inaction...

And we hate and we love by chance,

Without sacrificing anything, neither anger nor love,

And some secret cold reigns in the soul,

When fire boils in the blood.

Conclusion:

This contradictory hero, in whom a scoundrel and a good fellow are intertwined, evokes both sadness and regret in the author, because this is his contemporary, which means there is a piece of Lermontov in him; and his fate and his useless life will be repeated many times in future generations: “the bitter mockery of a deceived son over squandered father."

Let's turn to the story "Bela"

Here is staff captain Maxim Maksimovich, during the journey - the ascent to Gud Mountain, the descent to the Devil's Valley, the forced halt in the Ossetian hut, entertaining his companion with a story about his strange colleague, Pechorin.

What surprises and what is incomprehensible to Maxim Maksimovich in Pechorin?

Working with text (quoting, paraphrasing):

His inconsistency: during the hunt everyone will be tired and cold, but he won’t mind. But there is a smell of wind in the room, assuring me that I have a cold. Either he’ll be silent for hours, or he’ll start talking and you’ll tear your stomach.

He retells Pechorin’s explanations of why he quickly gets bored with everything, but explains that all misfortunes come from drunkenness or spoilage: “whatever you have in mind, give it to me, apparently, I was spoiled by my mother as a child.”

Interested in this strange man, we turn to his actions.

How does the hero manifest himself in the story with Bela?

- He liked her immediately when she came up and sang a compliment. 16-year-old, thin, eyes black, like a mountain chamois, and look into your soul. He figured out how to steal it, and he stole it.

To win her over, he showered her with gifts, but quickly realized that he had to appeal to her feelings: “Goodbye...

I’m guilty before you... Maybe I won’t be chasing a bullet for long... then remember me and forgive me.”

He calculated the time when Bela would become his, even argued with Maxim Maksimovich - in a week.

They were happy for a while. But this did not last long. Pechorin became bored with Bela, he began to leave the fortress for a long time.

Bela left the fortress to the river, was captured by Kazbich and mortally wounded. So Kazbich took revenge on Pechorin for the horse. Pechorin amazed Maxim Maksimovich with a strange laugh after Bela’s death, then he was sick for a long time and lost weight.

Did these events and the hero’s actions clarify anything in Pechorin’s character?


- He is a charming person, Maxim Maksimovich fell in love with him as if he were his own son, and Bela fell in love with him.

He is a calculating egoist, a talented scoundrel. He is to blame for the death of Bela and her family. He treated Bela selfishly and inhumanly: he traded her for someone else’s horse.

He suffers and suffers. Bela's death left a long mark on his soul.

When he needs, he uses his methods of charm, and no one can resist him, he has a strong-willed nature, he knows how to play on human strings.

General conclusion: So, judging by the actions told by Maxim Maksimovich, Pechorin is a mysterious, strange, contradictory person. said about him: “In “Bel” he is some kind of mysterious person, as if he appears under a fictitious name so as not to be recognized.”

Written assignment: write an essay “First acquaintance with Pechorin”

LESSON 2 .

The story "Maksim Maksimych"

GOAL: To see the hero through the eyes of a psychological narrator, to find confirmation of Maxim Maksimych’s observations and to obtain explanations for some of his contradictions by examining his portrait.

1. Let’s share our thoughts about Pechorin (we read out our homework essays)

3. Working with the text of the chapter.

The meeting with the hero is preceded by a description of the morning. Let’s read it: “The morning was fresh and beautiful. Golden clouds piled up on the mountains, like a new series of aerial mountains...” Against the backdrop of a fresh morning, the long-awaited and impatiently awaited one appears (together with Maxim Maksimych) - He. Perhaps there is some hidden meaning in this?

Yes, he was clearly indifferent to the beauty of the morning: he yawned twice and sat down on the bench on the other side of the gate.

Let's read the portrait of Pechorin and note in it the features of his personality (the ability to endure the difficulties of nomadic life, the habits of a decent person, secrecy of character, nervous weakness, a childish smile, his eyes did not laugh when he laughed - a sign of either an evil disposition or deep constant sadness, look could have seemed impudent if he had not been so indifferently calm).

What immediately catches your eye in Pechorin’s portrait?

Yes, and the portrait emphasizes inconsistency. Let's confirm this with observations: let's make a table of contradictions.

Broad shoulders - Women's hands

Childish smile - Penetrating heavy gaze

Youthful appearance - Wrinkles intersecting one another

Blonde hair - Mustache and eyebrows black

Gait is careless and lazy - Does not swing arms

Strong physique - straight waist bent, as if there was not a single bone, etc.

What in his attitude towards Maxim Maksimych surprised and amazed you?

Indeed, it is so indifferent, cold to meet an old friend, refuse to talk, remember the old life. Belu. Stop! At the name of Bela, Pechorin turned pale and turned away. He didn't forget anything! Can we explain his behavior now?

Yes, he is going to Persia and will never return. Remember, in the fortress he said to Maxim Maksimych: “As soon as possible, I’ll go... to America, to Arabia, to India, and maybe I’ll die somewhere along the way.” Does he care about talking, does he care about memories? Even the diaries are no longer needed - he is breaking ties with everything that was dear...

What is your judgment about Pechorin now? (Strange, sad, lonely, tired, secretive, devastated, indifferent to both the past and the future, surprisingly cute, arousing sympathy and interest)

Write an essay about this.

(In the remaining time, we watch an episode of Cott’s film “Hero of Our Time” “Bela”)

Left a reply Guest

An essay on the theme of the image of Pechorin.
1. Introduction: The novel “Hero of Our Time” is the most mature and major work of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a thoughtful writer-philosopher. The main character of the novel is Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin.
2. Introduction to the character: Pechorin is a young aristocrat who actively intervenes in the life around him. From the very first pages of the novel, we are presented with a hero who is caring, inquisitive, and wants to take as much as possible from life. At first we do not understand the motives of his actions; we are surprised by the unusual eccentric nature of the young man. Pechorin steals the girl he likes, without thinking about the actions that may follow this act. He sincerely believes that he is in love with the “maiden of the mountains”, that this love will become a saving bridge along which the hero can move into a new life for him, full of meaning. Grigory Alexandrovich soon realizes the futility of hopes: “I was wrong again: the love of a savage is little better than the love of a noble young lady,” he admits.
3. Portrait description: Gradually, in the fight against society, Pechorin loses his activity, becomes an indifferent, cold contemplator. If in the chapter “Taman” Grigory Aleksandrovich is active, even curious, then the chapter “Mary” shows us an already infantile person, floating with the flow, only the departure of Vera (the woman whom he deeply and sincerely loves) for a short time revives in him the desire to radically change own life. We see the hero's despair and tears. We rejoice that the “man” in Pechorin has not died, he is still capable of deeply and sincerely loving. But the impulse ends very quickly. Before us again is a reserved, cold, secretly suffering man. When meeting Pechorin, the narrator is struck by the hero’s eyes: “they didn’t laugh when he laughed!.. This is a sign of either an evil disposition or deep constant sadness... his gaze is short and heavy, leaving behind the unpleasant impression of an indiscreet question and could seem impudent if he were not so indifferently calm.”
4. Character's actions: His fate is tragic. Grigory Pechorin was expelled from St. Petersburg for a certain “story” (obviously, for a duel over a woman) to the Caucasus, several more stories happen to him along the way, he is demoted, goes to the Caucasus again, then travels for some time and, returning home from Persia , dies. During all this time, he experienced a lot himself and influenced the lives of other people in many ways. During his life, Pechorin destroyed many human destinies - Princesses Mary Ligovskaya, Vera, Bela, Grushnitsky.
5. My attitude: I believe that Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a very bright image created by M.Yu. Lermontov. He is a young aristocrat who actively intervenes in the life around him. From the very first pages of the novel, we are presented with a caring, inquisitive hero who wants to take as much as possible from life. Pechorin is an adventurer, a man who constantly tests his fate. At first it seems that he is fearless - he rushes into various adventures, plays with death. However, Pechorin has a secret, but very strong fear - he is afraid of marriage. Once a fortune teller predicted his death at the hands of his evil wife, and since then Pechorin has been afraid of marriage like fire. However, this did not save him: in the chapter “Maksim Maksimych” we learn that Grigory Alexandrovich died on the way from Persia. I cannot express my attitude towards Pechorin in just one phrase.
I hope so much is suitable for the essay, but in some places it needs to be corrected. I wish all the best.

B. Eikhenbaum considered the story “Bela,” along with “Taman,” an exposition of the image of Pechorin. This story tells about the circumstances of Pechorin’s life, his upbringing and education. Here is the first portrait of the hero.

For the first time we learn about Grigory Alexandrovich from the story of Maxim Maksimych. The staff captain describes Pechorin’s character, his “oddities,” his dissimilarity from those around him. And already here the motive of the hero’s internal contradiction sounds. “He was a nice guy, I dare to assure you; just a little strange. After all, for example, in the rain, in the cold, hunting all day; everyone will be cold and tired - but nothing to him. And another time he sits in his room, smells the wind, assures him that he has a cold; knock on the shutter, he will tremble and turn pale...”

The story “Bela” is devoid of psychological analysis. Maxim Maksimych here simply conveys the facts of Pechorin’s biography, without analyzing and practically not evaluating them in any way. In a certain sense, the staff captain is objective.

At the same time, sincerely pitying Bela, whom he loved as his own daughter, Maxim Maksimych considers Pechorin wrong. Seeing how Grigory Alexandrovich has changed towards her, how Bela suffers from his coldness, the staff captain tries to talk to him. And Pechorin tries to explain his behavior. He says that he stopped loving Bela, that she was unable to cure him of boredom. “Am I a fool or a villain, I don’t know; but it is true that I am also very worthy of pity, perhaps more than she: my soul is spoiled by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable; “Everything is not enough for me: I get used to sadness just as easily as to pleasure, and my life becomes emptier day by day...” says Pechorin.

Maxim Maksimych does not understand anything from Pechorin’s monologue. He just asks a passing officer what kind of fashion it is to be “bored” and whether all the capital’s youth are like this. For the staff captain, Pechorin is an ordinary metropolitan dandy; for Maxim Maksimych, it is wild and strange to hear complaints about life from a twenty-five-year-old man, whose life is quite prosperous.

The reasons for this misunderstanding are the difference in the worldview of the heroes, their spiritual needs, cultural level, and character. As Belinsky notes, Maxim Maksimych’s mental horizons are very limited; “to live” for him means “to serve,” and to serve in the Caucasus. The staff captain's manners are rude and simple-minded, and he is unpretentious in his choice of acquaintances. However, Maxim Maksimych has “a wonderful soul, a golden heart”, “by some instinct” he understands “everything human and takes an ardent part in it.” So, the staff captain immediately fell in love with Bela and became attached to Pechorin. Having learned about a possible meeting with him, Maxim Maksimych rejoices like a child.

Thus, Pechorin’s “oddities” do not prevent Maxim Maksimych from loving him. And this is very important. The staff captain is intuitively humane, humane, a “warm, noble, even tender heart” beats in his chest. It seems that it is no coincidence that Lermontov focuses the attention of readers on the fact that Maxim Maksimych is sincerely attached to Pechorin. After all, in the story with Bela, Grigory Alexandrovich does not look very dignified. However, in spite of everything, the staff captain, this “heart of gold,” still loves him. Thus, the writer seems to be hinting here that there is something genuine, sincere in Pechorin.

After the death of the Circassian woman, the staff captain tries to console Grigory Alexandrovich, but Pechorin remains calm. Maxim Maksimych is annoyed: “If I were him, I would die of grief,” he says. And the staff captain completely incomprehensible Pechorin’s laughter, from which “a chill ran down my skin.”

Of course, Pechorin suffers after losing Bela. He is not used to the open manifestation of his feelings, his laughter in the scene with Maxim Maksimych is nothing more than hysteria. However, the story of this love could not end happily: Pechorin’s feelings are devoid of integrity and unity, the love of a “savage” for him is “little better than the love of a noble lady.”

Belinsky explains Pechorin’s behavior with Bela by the difference in their intelligence and cultural level. “What could he talk to her about? What remained unsolved for him in her? Love requires reasonable maintenance, like oil to support a fire; love is the harmonious fusion of two related natures into a feeling of the infinite. There was strength in Bela’s love, but there could not be infinity...,” the critic wrote.

However, it seems that the motives for Pechorin’s behavior are deeper. Rather, he is simply incapable of love. That is why he does not value the feelings of other people - Vera, Princess Mary. In fact, he destroyed Bela for the sake of his own whim, momentary whim, desire to get rid of boredom. Therefore, happiness is impossible for Pechorin.

The story “Bela” contains many elements of a romantic style. The plot of the story is based on a traditional romantic scheme - the hero’s flight from the world of civilization to the world of nature; the civilized hero begins a love relationship with a Circassian woman. All the plot attributes of romantic stories are present: kidnapping, love, revenge, death. However, Lermontov maintains realistic motivations. The breakup of the heroes was determined not by external, “fatal circumstances,” but by the peculiarities of Pechorin’s inner world, his character.

Thus, the story “Bela” is the first acquaintance with Pechorin. Here we learn about his upbringing, education, social status, and some episodes from life in the Caucasus. It is characteristic that the first narrator in the novel treats Pechorin well, Maxim Maksimych. sincerely attached to his young friend. At the same time, the staff captain does not understand the motives of his behavior or character traits. This misunderstanding to some extent distances him from Grigory Alexandrovich. Sympathy and at the same time a certain alienation - these two moments in Maxim Maksimych’s perception of Pechorin emphasize the impartiality of the first narrator and create a certain objectivity of the narrative. The author in this story invites readers to draw their own conclusions about the hero.

MY ATTITUDE TO PECHORIN

I believe that Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a very bright image created by M.Yu. Lermontov. He is a young aristocrat who actively intervenes in the life around him. From the very first pages of the novel, we are presented with a caring, inquisitive hero who wants to take as much as possible from life. Pechorin is an adventurer, a man who constantly tests his fate. At first it seems that he is fearless - he rushes into various adventures, plays with death. However, Pechorin has a secret, but very strong fear - he is afraid of marriage. Once a fortune teller predicted his death at the hands of his evil wife, and since then Pechorin has been afraid of marriage like fire. However, this did not save him: in the chapter “Maksim Maksimych” we learn that Grigory Alexandrovich died on the way from Persia.

I cannot express my attitude towards Pechorin in just one phrase. This is a hero who cannot be treated unequivocally. Of course, this is an intelligent person who knows his worth and calculates situations in advance. But he is unfamiliar with such feelings as friendship and love. Grigory Alexandrovich perceives the world as a raging ocean of passions. He is loved by a girl, Vera, who does everything to see her lover. And this despite the fact that she is married. Pechorin also seems to love Vera, respects her and feels sorry for her. But at the same time, this does not prevent him from caring for Princess Mary and experiencing tender feelings for her. Pechorin steals the girl he likes, without thinking about the actions that may follow this act. He sincerely believes that he is in love with the “maiden of the mountains”, that this love will become a saving bridge along which the hero can move into a new life for him, full of meaning. But soon Grigory Alexandrovich understands the futility of hopes: “I was wrong again: the love of a savage is little better than the love of a noble young lady,” he admits to Maxim Maksimych. It turns out that Pechorin first deceives women, makes them fall in love with him, gains their trust, and then? Then, when the girls begin to hope for a marriage proposal, Grigory Alexandrovich either disappears or makes the woman disappointed in him. In the latter case, this happened to Princess Mary. The first opinion about Pechorin may be wrong: “He’s just an egoist!” Belinsky defended Pechorin from such accusations: “You say that he is an egoist? But doesn’t he despise and hate himself for this? Doesn’t his heart thirst for pure and selfless love?” In fact, the hero of the novel arranges tests for others, he asks himself: “Can we be friends?”

Pechorin is a contradictory, ambiguous person. He combines so many different qualities that it is very difficult for the reader to determine whether Pechorin is a negative character or a positive one. But a real person is not exceptionally good.

The novel “A Hero of Our Time” shows a portrait of not one person, but an entire generation, made up of vices. The main role is assigned to Pechorin, but it is the other characters in the novel with whom he had to intersect in life that allow us to better understand the inner world of this person, the depth of his soul.

The relationship between Pechorin and Princess Mary is one of the brightest storylines of the novel. They began casually, ending quickly and tragically. Once again, showing Pechorin as a man with a callous soul and a cold heart.

Acquaintance

The first meeting of Pechorin and Princess Mary took place in Pyatigorsk, where Grigory was sent after completing another military mission. The princess and her mother underwent a course of treatment with the mineral waters of Pyatigorsk.

The princess and Pechorin constantly moved in secular society. A common circle of friends brought them together at one of the meetings. Grigory stirred up interest in his person, deliberately teasing the girl, ignoring her presence. He saw that she paid attention to him, but Pechorin was much more interested in watching how she would behave next. He knew women very well and could calculate several steps ahead how the acquaintance would end.

He took the first step. Pechorin invited Mary to dance, and then everything had to go according to the scenario he had developed. It gave him unprecedented pleasure to lure his next victim, allowing her to get carried away. The girls fell in love with the handsome military man, but quickly got bored and he, pleased with himself, with a feeling of complete self-satisfaction, put another tick on his record of love affairs, happily forgetting about them.

Love

Mary truly fell in love. The girl did not understand that the toy was in his hands. Part of the insidious heartthrob's plan. Pechorin benefited from meeting her. New emotions, sensations, a reason to distract the public from an affair with Vera, a married woman. He loved Vera, but they could not be together. Another reason to hit on Mary, to make Grushnitsky jealous. He was truly in love with the girl, but his feelings remained unanswered. Mary did not love him and was unlikely to love him. In the current love triangle, he is clearly superfluous. In retaliation for unrequited feelings, Grushnitsky spread dirty rumors about the affair between Pechorin and Mary, ruining her reputation. He soon paid for his vile act. Pechorin challenged him to a duel, where the bullet reached its target, killing the liar outright.

The final

After what happened, Mary began to love Pechorin even more. She believed that his action was noble. After all, he defended her honor, making it clear that she had been slandered. The girl was waiting for confessions from Gregory, tormented by love and the feelings that gripped her. Instead, he hears the bitter truth that he never loved her and certainly had no intention of marrying her. He achieved his goal by breaking the heart of another victim of his love spells. She hated him. The last phrase heard from her was

"…I hate you…".

Once again, Pechorin acted cruelly towards loved ones, stepping over their feelings and trampling on love.