M.Yu. himself Lermontov defined the purpose of the novel "Hero of Our Time" as the depiction of an entire generation. He emphasized that “the history of the human soul, even the smallest soul, is perhaps more interesting and useful than the history of an entire people.” But the soul of Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is by no means shallow, because, as we understand, reading the novel, he is an extraordinary person. That is why it is important for Lermontov to reveal Pechorin’s character as deeply as possible. Therefore, he resorts to a very unusual structure of the novel.

The story “Princess Mary” outlines the main motives of the entire novel: Pechorin’s desire for active action, curiosity that pushes him to experiment on others and on himself, his reckless courage and desire to understand what motivates people, to identify the motives of their actions, to comprehend their psychology.

"Princess Mary" was built on diary entries, this is an almost daily chronicle of Pechorin’s life. Wherein main character describes not so much the events themselves (they don’t seem to interest him at all), but his opinions and feelings, as if he was carefully examining and analyzing his soul and the people his life encounters.

Pechorin’s diary more than once reminds us of Lermontov’s “Duma”: reading the novel, you are convinced of the correctness of the lines:

They are shamefully indifferent to good and evil... .

And we hate and we love by chance,

Without sacrificing anything, neither anger nor love...

This indifference does not bother anyone as long as everything goes smoothly. But what to do when a storm comes? But Pechorin cannot live without storms, he creates them himself (lines from Lermontov’s “Sails” come to mind, perfectly characterizing young man: “And he, the rebellious one, asks for storms, as if there is peace in storms”). So, in such a situation, Pechorin’s cold indifference can and does turn into evil.

From Doctor Werner, the young man learns about Vera’s arrival in the Caucasus. When he meets her, we understand that he loves her, but he loves only “for himself”, does not think about her, about what torments her. There is an obvious contradiction: if he loves Vera, then why court Mary? So how are things going with Mary?

On May 16, the young man makes the following entry in his journal: “Over the course of two days, my affairs have progressed terribly.” What are these things? He is busy making the princess fall in love with him out of a desire to dispel boredom, to annoy Grushnitsky, or God knows what else. After all, he himself doesn’t even understand why he’s doing this: he doesn’t love Mary, Pechorin believes. The main character is true to himself: for the sake of entertainment, he invades the life of another person.

“Why am I bothering?” - he asks himself and answers: “There is immense pleasure in possessing a young, barely blossoming soul!” This is pure selfishness! And besides suffering, he can bring nothing to either Pechorin or those around him.

The comedy conceived by Pechorin turns into a tragedy. Defending the honor of the slandered Mary, he challenges Grushnitsky to a duel. And here, in a duel, he conducts such an experiment on the cadet, which not everyone will dare to do. He stands at gunpoint, wanting to test how subservient Grushnitsky is to evil, whether he has the strength and meanness to kill an unarmed man (we know that the young man’s pistol was not loaded). Miraculously, he survives. However, he finds himself forced to kill the cadet. Grushnitsky dies.

"Princess Mary" shows us the true tragedy of Grigory Pechorin. After all, he spends such a remarkable nature and enormous energy on trifles, on petty intrigues. Isn't this tragic?! This is especially noticeable in last episode, when Pechorin, before leaving, went to the Litovsky house, where the princess invited him to marry her daughter. Pechorin talked with Mary in private, admitted that he laughed at her: “No matter how much I looked in my chest for even a spark of love for dear Mary, my efforts were in vain.”

So, in “Princess Mary” the human soul is revealed to us. We see that Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a contradictory, ambiguous person. Before the duel, he himself says: “Some will say: he was a good fellow, others - a scoundrel. Both will be false.” And indeed, this story shows good qualities a young man (poetic nature, extraordinary intelligence, insight), and bad traits of his character (terrible selfishness). Really, real man is not exclusively good or bad.

This chapter plays the most important, central role in the novel, as it allows the reader to independently trace the development of the protagonist’s character, to learn about the formation of his nature, “selfish and dry,” as A.S. would say. Pushkin. And here are his words from Mary’s confession: the young man confesses to her that the Grushnitsky society has made him a “moral cripple.” It is clear that this “disease” is progressing: a debilitating feeling of emptiness, boredom, and loneliness increasingly takes possession of the main character. At the end of the story, being in the fortress, he no longer sees those bright colors that made him so happy in the Caucasus. “Boring,” he concludes.

All the main issues of the novel - social, psychological and philosophical - are raised precisely in this story (which is why it occupies a central position in the novel) and smoothly transition into the final short story "Fatalist", where the hero again tries to solve an important riddle: what is the true purpose of man, what is the meaning of existence, what role does freedom, fate, faith play in human life? It becomes clear that Pechorin owes much of his behavior to the absence of moral commandments developed by faith in some higher idea.

Reading the novel, we understand that Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin, as it were, held up a mirror to his entire generation. Honestly, it would be nice for us to look in this mirror, especially since we live in a time when, having destroyed old principles, we have not yet developed new ones, when disappointment and unbelief reign. Are we losing our humanity? Are we becoming “moral cripples”? Isn't it worth looking for the answer in the novel "A Hero of Our Time", and especially in the chapter "Princess Mary"?..

The chapter “Princess Mary” is central in “Pechorin’s Journal,” where the hero reveals his soul in his diary entries. Their last conversation - Pechorin and Princess Mary - logically ends storyline complex relationships, drawing a line over this intrigue. Pechorin consciously and prudently achieves the love of the princess, building his behavior with knowledge of the matter. For what? Just so that he “doesn’t get bored.” The main thing for Pechorin is to subordinate everything to his will, to show power over people. After a series of calculated actions, he achieved that the girl was the first to confess her love to him, but now he is not interested in her. After the duel with Grushnitsky, he received orders to go to fortress N and went to the princess to say goodbye. The princess learns that Pechorin defended Mary's honor and considers him noble man, she is most concerned about her daughter’s condition, because Mary is sick from worries, so the princess openly invites Pechorin to marry her daughter. One can understand her: she wishes Mary happiness. But Pechorin cannot answer her: he asks permission to explain to Mary herself. The princess is forced to give in. Pechorin has already said how afraid he is of parting with his freedom, and after a conversation with the princess, he can no longer find in his heart a single spark of love for Mary. When he saw Mary, pale and emaciated, he was shocked by the change that had occurred in her. The girl looked in his eyes for at least “something resembling hope” and tried to smile with her pale lips, but Pechorin was stern and unforgiving. He says that he laughed at her and Mary should despise him, drawing a logical, but such a cruel conclusion: “Consequently, you cannot love me...” The girl suffers, tears shine in her eyes, and all she can barely whisper clearly - “Oh my God!” In this scene, Pechorin’s reflection is especially clearly revealed - the splitting of his consciousness, which he said earlier, that two people live in him - one acts, “the other thinks and judges him.” The acting Pechorin is cruel and deprives the girl of any hope of happiness, and the one who analyzes his words and actions admits: “It became unbearable: another minute and I would have fallen at her feet.” He explains in a “firm voice” that he cannot marry Mary, and hopes that she will replace her love with contempt for him - after all, he himself is aware of the baseness of his act. Mary, “pale as marble,” with sparkling eyes, says that she hates him.

The consciousness that Pechorin played with her feelings, wounded pride turned Mary’s love into hatred. Insulted in her first deep and pure feeling, Mary is now unlikely to be able to trust people again and regain her former peace of mind. Pechorin’s cruelty and immorality are revealed quite clearly in this scene, but it also reveals how difficult it is for this man to live according to the principles he has imposed on himself, how difficult it is not to succumb to natural human feelings - compassion, mercy, repentance. This is the tragedy of a hero who himself admits that he cannot live in a quiet peaceful harbor. He compares himself to a sailor of a robber brig who languishes on the shore and dreams of storms and wrecks, because for him life is a struggle, overcoming dangers, storms and battles, and, unfortunately, Mary becomes a victim of this understanding of life.

“I shook her hand twice... the second time she pulled it away without saying a word.

“I won’t sleep well this night,” she told me when the mazurka ended.

Grushnitsky is to blame for this.

Oh no! - And her face became so thoughtful, so sad that I promised myself that evening I would definitely kiss her hand.

They began to leave. Putting the princess into the carriage, I quickly pressed her small hand to my lips. It was dark and no one could see it.

I returned to the hall very pleased with myself."

This scene, like a drop of water, reflected Pechorin’s entire plan regarding Princess Mary and Grushnitsky. Here the flying psychologism of M. Yu. Lermontov himself was superbly expressed. Each phrase, despite their external emptiness, implies a whole line of thought and hidden desires. Before our eyes, secular play is intertwined with real feelings. Pechorin directs the princess’s thoughts and feelings “from the opposite direction,” forcing her to first pull out her hand and then deny her words. By this he disguises his own leadership of events, recognizes the extent of the princess’s immersion in the game he proposed and emphasizes the name of Grushnitsky as undesirable. At the same time, it does not matter at all that the princess did not agree with his statement; it was important to indirectly point out Pechorin’s rivalry with Grushnitsky, to convince the girl at the level of almost NLP programming that Pechorin was actually involved in the fight for her heart.

Pechorin and Vera are the heroes with whom the love line is connected in the novel by M. Yu. Lermontov “A Hero of Our Time”. Pechorin's attitude towards Vera most fully reveals his personality central character and his attitude towards women in general.

Start of a relationship

Vera and Gregory met even before the moment of the story. The author does not describe in detail what happened before, but says that the relationship between Pechorin and Vera was filled with passion. From the conversation between the characters, it is clear that they met when Vera was married. The heroine admits that Pechorin brought her only misfortune: “Since we have known each other, you have given me nothing but suffering.” He only tormented her with “empty doubts and feigned coldness.”

Meeting of heroes

Pechorin learns that a woman with a mole on her cheek has arrived in the Caucasus. He immediately understands that this is Vera. The news of her appearance made Pechorin think about his true emotions: “Why is she here? And is she? And why do I think it's her?

And why am I even so sure of this? Are there not enough women with moles on their cheeks?

Grigory Alexandrovich meets with Vera, and their feelings flare up with renewed vigor. The heroes see each other in secret from everyone, because Vera is married to a man whom she does not love, but respects.

Vera tells Pechorin that she loved him and still loves him: “You know that I am your slave; I never knew how to resist you.”

As a result, Vera's husband learns about the relationship between Pechorin and Vera, and a quarrel occurs between him and his wife. However, Vera doesn’t even remember what they talked about, what she answered. Vera says that perhaps she told him that she still loves Pechorin.

All this forces Vera’s husband to decide to leave Kislovodsk. Vera writes a farewell letter to Pechorin and leaves. In the letter, the heroine admits to Pechorin that she will never love anyone else again, because her soul has “exhausted” all “its treasures, its tears and hopes” on him.

Lyubov Pechorina

Pechorin confesses his feelings to Werner: “I recognize in your portrait a woman whom I loved in the old days...”.

Faith played a huge role in Pechorin’s life, because she alone was able to understand the true essence of the hero: “This is the one woman who understood me completely, with all my minor weaknesses and bad passions.” That is why his relationship with her is not similar to love affairs with other women. We can say that Vera was the only woman whom Pechorin loved in his life.

Although Vera said that Pechorin “loved her as property, as a source of joys, anxieties and sorrows, replacing each other, without which life is boring and monotonous,” he cannot live without her love. He thinks why she doesn’t want to see him, because “love, like fire, goes out without food.”

When Vera leaves, he tries to catch up with her and drives his horse to death. This suggests that Faith was of great importance to him. This is not a short-term romance, but a long-term feeling.

After parting, the main character of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” understands that he has lost his happiness, that her “bitter farewell kiss” cannot bring joy, because then it will be even more painful for them to part. Pechorin sincerely experiences the tragic ending of the relationship. However, many of his actions towards Vera speak of his selfishness and pride. The hero was unable to build a relationship with the woman who loved him, because he was alone in the whole world, and he understood it. The relationship with Vera was a past for him, which he was destined to part with.

This article, which will help you write an essay on the topic “Pechorin and Vera,” will examine in detail the history of the relationship between the characters in the novel “A Hero of Our Time.”

Work test

Pechorin's love for Vera is a great and sincere feeling. The consciousness that he is losing Faith forever causes an irresistible desire to retain the “lost happiness.” Pechorin's sincere impulse, his excitement, forcing the hero to madly drive his horse, determines the nature of the story. Everything here is movement! Pechorin is in a hurry, worried, he has no time for the pictures flashing before his eyes, he does not write about them because he does not notice the surrounding nature. One thought dominates him: to catch up with Vera at all costs. The choice of words and the nature of sentences expresses this desire. Pechorin acts, moves and does not describe anything, and therefore there are no adjective definitions in the text, but it is maximally saturated with verbs (there are thirteen verbs for five sentences).

Since the hero has no time to think, the general syntactic structure of the passage being analyzed turns out to be natural: simple and laconic sentences, often interrupted by ellipses, as if Pechorin, in a hurry, does not have time to think out or finish the thought. The hero’s excitement determines the emotionality of intonations; many sentences end exclamation marks. There are repetitions that emphasize the strength of Pechorin’s experiences: “one minute, one more minute to see her...”, “.... Faith has become dearer to me than anything in the world, more valuable than life, honor, happiness." Emotionality manifests itself not only in exclamatory intonations, but also in the selection of words. Most of them mean human feelings and experiences. These are the nouns “impatience”, “worry”, “despair”, “happiness” and the verbs “cursed”, “cried”, “laughed”, “jumped, gasping for breath”.

The expressiveness of this passage is great, although there are almost no epithets, metaphors, comparisons here, except for a very convincing and weighty metaphorical comparison: “The thought... hit my heart with a hammer.” The description of the race, the hero's despair, his tears is one of the most moving places in the story. And how much this scene means for understanding Pechorin! Not a cold and calculating egoist, not a skeptic indifferent to himself and others, but a living, deeply feeling, endlessly suffering from loneliness and the inability to maintain happiness - such is the hero here.

The episode of farewell to Mary is also important for understanding Pechorin. It is often misconstrued as the hero consistently completing a cruel game, enjoying the opportunity to once again torture his victim. Indeed, Pechorin speaks merciless words to Mary and explains himself “frankly and rudely.” But, if you think about it, would it be better for Mary if he, not considering it possible to marry, left the girl with doubt about whether she was loved? In this case, it would have been much more difficult for Mary to overcome her love for Pechorin because he would have remained a mystery in her eyes, a noble hero who stood up for her honor, but for some reason unknown to her, refused her hand. A hard truth is more likely to cure her than a kind lie. Maybe Pechorin understands this? His words are hardly accidental: “You see, I play the most pathetic and disgusting role in your eyes, and I even admit it; that’s all I can do for you.” Is it possible to take the hero’s phrase with full faith: “Princess... you know... that I laughed at you!...”

After all, he laughed at Grushnitsky, but in his relationship with Mary there was a conscious game, which often captivated Pechorin himself, but not mockery. Contrary to this external cruelty is the feeling of pity and excitement that took possession of Pechorin when He saw the pale, emaciated Mary. “... Another minute and I would have fallen at her feet,” writes the hero.