What I liked about Asya's story. Composition “The theme of love in the story of I.S. Turgenev Asya

Almost every famous Russian classic in his work turned to such a literary genre as a story, its main characteristics are the average volume between a novel and a story, one detailed plot line, a small number of characters. The famous prose writer of the 19th century, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, turned to this genre more than once throughout his entire literary career.

One of his most famous works, written in the genre of love lyrics, is the story "Asya", which is also often referred to as an elegiac genre of literature. Here readers find not only beautiful landscape sketches and a subtle, poetic description of feelings, but also some lyrical motifs that smoothly turn into plot ones. Even during the life of the writer, the story was translated and published in many European countries and enjoyed a great polarity of readers both in Russia and abroad.

History of writing

The story "Asya" Turgenev began to write in July 1857 in Germany, in the city of Sinzeg am Rhein, where the events described in the book take place. Having finished the book in November of the same year (writing the story was a little delayed due to the author’s illness and overwork), Turgenev sent the work to the editors of the Russian journal Sovremennik, in which it had long been expected and published in early 1858.

According to Turgenev himself, he was inspired to write the story by a fleeting picture he saw in Germany: an elderly woman looks out of the window of the house on the first floor, and the silhouette of a young girl is seen in the window of the second floor. The writer, thinking about what he saw, comes up with a possible fate for these people and thus creates the story "Asya".

According to many literary critics, this story was personal for the author, since it was based on some events that took place in Turgenev's real life, and the images of the main characters have a clear connection both with the author himself and with his inner circle (the prototype for Asya could be the fate of his illegitimate daughter Polina Brewer or his half-sister V.N. Zhitova, also born out of wedlock, Mr. N.N., on behalf of whom the story is told in Asya, has character traits and a similar fate with the author himself) .

Analysis of the work

Plot development

The description of the events that took place in the story is conducted on behalf of a certain N.N., whose name the author leaves unknown. The narrator recalls his youth and his stay in Germany, where on the banks of the Rhine he meets his compatriot from Russia Gagin and his sister Anna, whom he takes care of and calls Asya. A young girl with her eccentricity of actions, constantly changing disposition and amazing attractive appearance makes N.N. great impression, and he wants to know as much as possible about her.

Gagin tells him the difficult fate of Asya: she is his illegitimate half-sister, born from his father's relationship with the maid. After the death of her mother, her father took the thirteen-year-old Asya to him and raised her as a young lady from a good society should. Gagin, after the death of his father, becomes her guardian, first he sends her to a boarding house, then they leave to live abroad. Now N.N., knowing the unclear social status of the girl who was born to a serf mother and a landowner father, understands what caused Asya's nervous tension and her slightly eccentric behavior. He becomes deeply sorry for the unfortunate Asya, and he begins to have tender feelings for the girl.

Asya, like Pushkinskaya Tatyana, writes a letter to Mr. N.N. asking for a date, he, unsure of his feelings, hesitates and promises Gagin not to accept his sister's love, because he is afraid to marry her. The meeting between Asya and the narrator is chaotic, Mr. N.N. reproaches her that she confessed her feelings for his brother and now they cannot be together. Asya runs away in confusion, N.N. realizes that he really loves the girl and wants her back, but does not find it. The next day, having come to the Gagins' house with the firm intention of asking for the girl's hand, he learns that Gagin and Asya left the city, he tries to find them, but all his efforts are in vain. Never again in his life N.N. does not meet Asya and her brother, and at the end of his life, he realizes that although he had other hobbies, he truly loved only Asya and he still keeps the dried flower that she once gave him.

Main characters

The main character of the story, Anna, whom her brother calls Asya, is a young girl with an unusually attractive appearance (a thin boyish figure, short curly hair, wide-open eyes bordered by long and fluffy eyelashes), a direct and noble character, distinguished by an ardent temperament and a difficult, tragic fate. Born from an extramarital affair between a maid and a landowner, and raised by her mother in strictness and obedience, after her death, she cannot get used to her new role as a mistress for a long time. She perfectly understands her false position, therefore she does not know how to behave in society, she is shy and shy of everyone, and at the same time proudly wants no one to pay attention to her origin. Left early alone without parental attention and left to herself, Asya, beyond her years, thinks early about the life contradictions surrounding her.

The main character of the story, like other female images in Turgenev's works, is distinguished by an amazing purity of soul, morality, sincerity and openness of feelings, a craving for strong feelings and experiences, a desire to perform feats and great deeds for the benefit of people. It is on the pages of this story that such a common concept for all the heroines of the Turgenev young lady and the Turgenev feeling of love appears, which for the author is akin to a revolution invading the lives of the heroes, testing their feelings for stamina and ability to survive in difficult living conditions.

Mr. N.N.

The main male character and narrator of the story, Mr. N.N., has the features of a new literary type, which in Turgenev replaced the type of "superfluous people". This hero completely lacks the typical “extra person” conflict with the outside world. He is an absolutely calm and prosperous person with a balanced and harmonious self-organization, easily gives in to vivid impressions and feelings, all his experiences are simple and natural, without falsehood and pretense. In love experiences, this hero strives for peace of mind, which would be intertwined with their aesthetic completeness.

After meeting Asya, his love becomes more tense and contradictory; at the last moment, the hero cannot fully surrender to feelings, because they are overshadowed by the disclosure of the secret of feelings. Later, he cannot immediately tell Asya's brother that he is ready to marry her, because he does not want to disturb the feeling of happiness that overwhelms him, and also fearing future changes and the responsibility that he will have to take on someone else's life. All this leads to a tragic denouement, after his betrayal, he loses Asya forever and it is too late to correct the mistakes he made. He has lost his love, rejected the future and the very life that he could have, and pays for it throughout his life devoid of joy and love.

Features of compositional construction

The genre of this work refers to an elegiac story, the basis of which is a description of love experiences and melancholic discussions about the meaning of life, regrets about unfulfilled dreams and sadness about the future. The work is based on a beautiful love story that ended in a tragic separation. The composition of the story is built according to the classical model: the beginning of the plot is a meeting with the Gagin family, the development of the plot is the rapprochement of the main characters, the emergence of love, the culmination is a conversation between Gagin and N.N. about Asya's feelings, the denouement is a date with Asya, an explanation of the main characters, the Gagin family leaves Germany, an epilogue - Mr. N.N. reflects on the past, regrets unfulfilled love. The highlight of this work is Turgenev's use of the old literary technique of plot framing, when a narrator is introduced into the narrative and the motivation for his actions is given. Thus, the reader receives a "story within a story" designed to reinforce the meaning of the story being told.

In his critical article “A Russian Man at a Rendezvous,” Chernyshevsky sharply condemns the indecisiveness and petty, timid selfishness of Mr. N.N., whose image is slightly softened by the author in the epilogue of the work. Chernyshevsky, on the contrary, without choosing expressions, sharply condemns the act of Mr. N.N. and pronounces his sentence in the same way as he did. The story "Asya", due to the depth of its content, has become a real gem in the literary heritage of the great Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. The great writer, like no one else, managed to convey his philosophical reflections and thoughts about the fate of people, about that time in the life of every person when his actions and words can forever change it for better or worse.

Turgenev's unusual and beautiful story "Asya" tells about pure love. This story has a poetic charm, tenderness and purity.

Mr. N.N. and Asya met by chance abroad, she lives there with her half-brother. The author does not describe Asya's appearance. We see it as if through the eyes of Mr. N. N. All his life he lived in contentment and prosperity. He was satisfied with a measured and calm life. And suddenly - Asya. Such a young, sweet and unusual girl. N.N. did not suddenly realize that he had fallen in love with Asya. From the first meeting he was drawn to her.

He perceives Asya's eccentricities not as mental deviations, but as sincerity of actions, readiness for self-denial. It is no coincidence that in a conversation with N.N. she says that she would like to be like Tatyana Larina. Asya's image is similar to a clear spring day. Everything is green, blooming and fragrant. But somewhere in the distance, a cloud suddenly appears, which causes anxiety.

In all Turgenev's works about love there is some kind of mystery, tragedy, a shadow of unrequited love. Asya also has a secret. Her parents, mother - a serf peasant woman, father - a landowner, died early. Living in a boarding house, she did not receive a decent education. She learns the world herself, sometimes doing strange things, which is why she cannot find friends for herself.

Asya is seventeen years old, and like any girl she dreams of love, she is ready to accomplish a feat in the name of a high feeling.

Love comes to her in the form of N.N. Never before had she experienced such a palette of feelings. It seems to her that life is filled with meaning. She associates her future with N.N., and she sees it bright and filled with love. It seems to her that they will only do good deeds together.

But she is wrong. N.N. afraid of his love, he was not ready to bear responsibility for his beloved. Asya's confession frightened him, and he decides to leave. How often N.N. then reproached himself for this mistake. He never could be happy. For many years he searched for her, but could not find his lost happiness. Unlike her beloved, Asya turned out to be stronger and more mature and was able to leave the city forever.

When reading Turgenev's story, questions about happiness arise. Is it possible? Does happiness have a future? Turgenev's thought: "Happiness has no tomorrow..." sounds sad, but it is the truth of life. But if happiness has no tomorrow, then you need to live today, now. And let it be only a short moment, but it is in our life and heart.

Option 2

Is there a specific time for happiness? Or is it something short-term, something that you need to grab onto, enjoy while it lasts? This question is answered by the main character of the story I.S. Turgenev "Asya".

The story begins with the fact that already an elderly man, under circumstances unknown to us, most likely in a friendly conversation, tells a story that happened to him in his youth.

As a young man he traveled throughout Europe. When he was in a small town in Germany, he also met Russian travelers: his brother and sister. It took a little time for him to befriend them and fall in love with the girl. But Asya was a half-sister to a young man, they had one father, but her mother was a simple woman. The girl, realizing her social position, suffered greatly from this. And when she realized that she was in love with N., she was well aware of the chances for their marriage. An unsuccessful explanation, the decision to confess the feelings of the protagonist postponed until later, eventually led to the fact that the brother and sister left in an unknown direction, and the protagonist, although he tried to find them, could not do it.

Perhaps one of the main tragedies of this story is that happiness between Asya and N. was possible. But the people themselves either do not notice this, or destroy it with their own hands.

It is quite obvious almost from the very beginning the mutual sympathy of the characters. A bright, strong feeling arises in both of them, but in fact, understatement, a banal decision to leave the matter for tomorrow, destroys the possibility of this. The doubts of the heroes in their mutual future are understandable, they are forced to reckon with the opinion of society, and they are young. But how bitter it is from the thought that if the hero, leaving the Gagins' house, when he realized with all his being that he loves Asya strongly enough to marry, despite her origin, would return, they could be together. One decision that had such an impact on their fate.

Happiness has no past, no present, it exists only now, at present. The protagonist through bitter experience realized this. Even after many years, when, it would seem, he saw a lot and met many interesting women, he still remembers Asya. This is the love that does not repeat itself, the love of a lifetime, the happiness that he never knew.

Essay 3

Turgenev's story "Asya" beautifully tells about the first, pure love. It contains poetic charm and purity.

Two young people Mr. N.N. and Asya meet abroad, she travels with her half-brother. The appearance of the girl is not described by the author. We see it through the eyes of Mr. N. N. He lived his life in abundance. Such a life suited him. And suddenly Asya appears. She was a young, sweet girl. N.N. fell in love with her. From the very first meeting, he feels that he is drawn to her.

Asya wants to be like Tatyana Larina. Asya is light, young, blooming. In this work there is a secret that lies as a stain on the girl. She was left an orphan early, did not receive a decent education. She herself goes through life, filling herself with bumps.

In the story, Asya is 17 years old, she wants love, she is ready for exploits in the name of her beloved. In the person of N.N. she finds love. She had never had such feelings for anyone. For her, life was full of meaning. She dreams of marrying him. She hopes the feeling is mutual, but she was wrong. The young man is afraid of his love, he is not ready to take responsibility for his beloved. After Asya confesses, he leaves. Then all his life he scolded himself for his weakness. He did not find his happiness.

When you read this story, you involuntarily wonder if it is possible to be happy at all. Does happiness come later or is it momentary. The story teaches that one should not be afraid of one's happiness, but one should go towards it, without thinking about anything. Then it may be too late.

The main character of the story was an impulsive, passionate girl and in love with N.N. , but when they had to explain, he was confused, which hurt the girl, his ostentatious indifference brought misfortune to both of them.

In life, this is usually the case. The theme of unhappy love was touched upon by many authors of the 19th century.

The writer wanted to show with this story that you need to pay attention to your feelings, and if you meet your love, then you need to take a step towards.

From the happiness of the heroes separated only one word, which was never said. He could not talk about his feelings, debugged for later, but this did not happen. He missed his chance, lost the happiness of his life. He wanted to confess everything to her the next morning, to propose to her, but she did not wait, at night she fled with her brother in an unknown direction. The hero searched for her later, but could not find any trace of her.

Reading I.S. Turgenev’s story “Asya”, we see that when Asya fell in love with N.N., she was ready to forget about herself. The author writes that for her love “there is no tomorrow”. In addition, she has “no feeling is ever half.”
The author shows that for the first time in her life Asya is faced with such a feeling. She wants to make her life meaningful, strives to "go ... to a difficult feat." It seems to her that her wings seem to have grown and she, like a bird, can rise up. It seems to her that N.N. an extraordinary person, a real hero. Asya dreamed of such a person who “would” be able to accomplish a feat for her. She asks N.N.: “How to live? Tell me what should I do? I will do whatever you tell me…”

Reading the story, we see that N.N. educated, knows literature well, loves and understands music. At the same time, he is only concerned with himself. And although he also loved Asya, he could not make a quick decision. I.S. Turgenev shows the hero as weak-willed and indecisive. He cannot contain his happiness.
The first love of the heroine is unhappy.

All her expectations were in vain. N.N. scared and retreated.

I read the story of I.S. Turgenev "Asya". I really liked this piece. I'm so sorry Asya. But on the other hand, it seems to me that they are different people and Asya would not be happy with him anyway.

The story "Asya" is about love and only about love, which, according to Turgenev, is "stronger than death and the fear of death" and which "holds and moves life." This narrative has an extraordinary poetic charm, beauty and purity. The story is on...

N. N. - the hero-narrator of the story. Embodies the features of a new literary type for Turgenev, who replaced the "superfluous people". First of all, in "Ace" there is no conflict with the outside world, which is common for Turgenev's "superfluous people": the hero of the story is portrayed ...

By genre, this work can be attributed to the story. It is based on a beautiful love story, which, unfortunately, ended in separation. The plot is an acquaintance with the Gagins. Action development - relationships between young people. The climax is the explanation...

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev had the ability to clearly see and deeply analyze the contradictions of that psychology and that system of views that was close to him, namely, the liberal one. These qualities of Turgenev - an artist and a psychologist - manifested themselves in ...

Why is it so painful and so difficult for me? Waiting for what? do I regret anything? M. Yu. Lermontov The main theme of the story "Asya". (The favorite theme of Turgenev's work is the study of a love story outside the social and political background, the image of the life of Russians abroad.) ...

Ivan Turgenev not only made a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature within the existing areas, but also discovered new original features of the national culture. In particular, he created the image of the Turgenev young lady - he revealed the unique character of the Russian girl on the pages of his books. To get acquainted with this special one, it is enough to read the story "Asya", where the female portrait acquired unique features.

The writer was busy writing this work for several months (from July to November 1857). He wrote heavily and slowly, because illness and fatigue were already making themselves felt. Who is the prototype of Asya is not exactly known. Among the versions, the point of view that the author described his illegitimate daughter prevails. Also, the fate of his sister on the paternal side could be reflected in the image (her mother was a peasant woman). Based on these examples, Turgenev knew well how a teenager who found himself in such a situation felt, and reflected his observations in the story, showing a very delicate social conflict, to 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: once 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 could be, and embodied these fantasies in the form of a book.

Why is the story called that?

The work got its name in honor of the main character, whose love story is the focus of the author. His main priority was the disclosure of the ideal female image, called "Turgenev's young lady." To see and evaluate a woman, according to the writer, is possible only through the prism of the feeling that she experiences. Only in it, its mysterious and incomprehensible nature is fully revealed. Therefore, Asya experiences the shock of his 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 reincarnation shows Turgenev. At the end of the book, we say goodbye to Asya the child and get acquainted with Anna Gagina, a sincere, strong and self-aware woman who does not agree to compromises: when N.N. afraid to surrender to the feeling completely and immediately recognize it, she, overcoming pain, left him forever. But in memory of the bright time of childhood, when Anna was still Asya, the writer calls his work this diminutive name.

Genre: novel 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 characters depicted in the book is smaller than in the novel, but longer than in the smallest form of prose. Turgenev also held this opinion about the genre nature of his creation.

Traditionally, there are more characters and events in the story than in the story. In addition, it is the sequence of episodes that becomes the subject of the image in it, in which cause-and-effect relationships are revealed, which lead the reader to realize the meaning of the finale 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. learns about the origin of Anna, she confesses her love to him, he is afraid to take her feelings seriously, and in the end all this leads to a break. 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 piece about?

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

What Turgenev wrote about in Asa is familiar to the reader since 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. for the Gagins. Only the heroine in the story does not look like Tatyana. She is very changeable and fickle: either she laughs all day long, or she walks gloomier than a cloud. The reason for this mood lies in the difficult history of the girl: she is the illegitimate sister of Gagin. In high society, she feels like a stranger, as if unworthy of the honor that she has been given. Thoughts about her future situation constantly weigh on her, so Anna has a difficult character. But, in the end, she, like Tatiana from "Eugene Onegin", decides to confess her love to N.N. ridicule. Asya, having heard 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, as the next morning he finds out that the Gagins have left, leaving him a note:

Goodbye, we won't see each other again. I'm not leaving out of pride - no, I can't do otherwise. Yesterday, when I was crying 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!

Main characters and their characteristics

The reader's attention is attracted, first of all, by the main characters of the work. It is they who embody the author's intention and are the supporting images on which the narrative is built.

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, distrust too; bad habits took root, simplicity disappeared. She wanted (she herself confessed this to me once) to make the whole world forget her origin; she was ashamed of her mother, and ashamed of her shame, and proud of her. She grew up in nature on the estate, studied at the 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 matured yet, 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 sometimes too lively, sometimes sad. Changing images, she unconsciously sought to attract the attention of a gentleman, but her intentions were absolutely sincere. She even fell ill with a fever from a feeling that overwhelmed 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 outlined her description: “The girl whom he called his sister seemed to me very pretty at first sight. There was something of her own, special, in the make-up of her swarthy, round face, with a small, thin nose, almost childish cheeks, and black, bright eyes. She was gracefully built, but as if not yet fully developed. The somewhat idealized image of Asya was repeated in the faces of other famous heroines of the writer.

N.N.- a narrator who, 20 years after the event described, takes up a pen to ease his soul. He can never forget his lost love. He appears before us as a selfish and idle rich young man who travels from nothing to do. He is lonely and afraid of his loneliness, because, by his own admission, he loves to be in the crowd and look at people. At the same time, he does not want to get acquainted with the Russians, apparently, he is afraid of disturbing his peace. He ironically remarks 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 in him the weaknesses of nature: he is insincere, false, superficial, looking for an excuse for his idleness in fictitious and far-fetched suffering. It is impossible not to note his impressionability: thoughts about his homeland angered him, a meeting with Anna made him feel happy. The protagonist is educated and noble, lives "as he wants", and he is characterized by inconstancy. Understands art, loves nature, but cannot find application for his knowledge and feelings. He likes to analyze people with his mind, but he 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, indecision, selfishness.

Gagin- Anna's older brother, who takes care of her. This is how the author writes about him: “It was just a Russian soul, truthful, honest, simple, but, unfortunately, a little sluggish, without tenacity and inner heat. Youth did not seethe in him; she shone with a quiet light. He was very nice and smart, but I could not imagine what would become of him as soon as he matured. The hero is very kind and sympathetic. He honored and respected the family, because he honestly fulfilled the last will of his father, and loved his sister like his own. Anna is very dear to him, so he sacrifices friendship for her peace of mind and leaves N.N., taking the heroine away. In general, he willingly sacrifices his interests for the sake of others, because in order to raise his sister, he resigns and leaves his homeland. Other characters in his description always look positive, he finds an excuse for all of them: both the secretive father and the compliant maid, masterful 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 person), his brother, who arranged for his nephew to serve in St. Petersburg, Asya's mother (Tatyana Vasilyevna is a proud and impregnable woman), Yakov (the butler of Gagin the elder) . The description of the characters given by the author allows a deeper understanding of the story "Asya" and the realities of the era that became its basis.

Subject

Theme of love. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote many stories about this. For him, feeling is a test of the souls of heroes: “No, love is one of those passions that breaks our “I”, makes us forget about ourselves and our interests,” the writer said. Only a real person can truly love. However, the tragedy is that many people do not cope with this test, and it takes two to love. When one fails to truly love, the other undeservedly remains alone. So it happened in this book: N.N. could not pass the test of love, but Anna, although she coped with it, still could not stand the insult of neglect and left forever.

The theme of the superfluous person in the story "Asya" also occupies an important place. The main character can not find a place 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 case. His failure is also manifested in love, because he is afraid of the direct recognition of the girl, afraid of the strength of her feelings, so he cannot realize in time how dear she is to him.

The theme of the family is also raised by the author. Gagin raised Asya as his sister, although he understood the complexity of her situation. Perhaps it was this circumstance that prompted him to travel, where the girl could be distracted and hide from sidelong glances. Turgenev emphasizes the superiority of family values over class prejudices, urging his compatriots to care more about family ties than about the purity of blood.

Nostalgia theme. 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: is it worth taking responsibility for such a young and offended creature? Is he ready to say goodbye to single life and tie himself to one single woman? Besides, she had already taken away his choice by telling her brother. He was annoyed that the girl took all the initiative, and therefore accused her of being too frank with Gagin. N.N. was confused, and even 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 are opposed to each other. Asya loves N.N., but after his hesitation and reproaches, she realizes that he is not sure of his feelings. The duty of honor commands her to leave and not see 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. In the time of Turgenev, 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 badly children live, whose origin is outside the law. 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 transition. Asya at the time of the events described is only 17 years old, she has not yet formed as a person, so her behavior is so unpredictable and eccentric. It is very difficult for a brother to deal with her, because he does not yet have experience in the parental 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, therefore she does not say the 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 broken in it. In indecision N.N. she read the sentence to herself, which her brother had mentioned earlier in a conversation with a friend: in such a position she cannot count on a good match. Few will agree to marry her, no matter how beautiful or funny she is. She had seen before that people despise her for her unequal origin, but now the person she loves hesitates and does not dare to bind himself with a word. Anna interpreted this as cowardice, and her dreams crumbled to dust. She learned to be more selective in boyfriends and not to trust them with her heart secrets.

Love in this case opens up the adult world to the heroine, literally pulling her out of her blissful childhood. Happiness would not be a lesson for her, but a continuation of a girl's dream, it would not reveal this contradictory character, and Asya's portrait in the gallery of female characters in Russian literature was greatly impoverished from a 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 as an edification to 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 encourages the reader to be more attentive and more determined than he is, 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 attempt.

What does the story teach?

Turgenev, showing the idle and empty lifestyle of his hero, says that the 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: “Then it never occurred to me that a person is not a plant and he cannot flourish for a long time.” He realizes with bitterness that this “blooming” did not bear fruit. Thus, morality in the story "Asya" reveals to us the true meaning of being - you need to live for the sake of the goal, for the sake of loved ones, for the sake of creativity and creation, no matter what it is expressed in, and not for the sake of oneself alone. After all, it was egoism 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 Asa is the assertion that one should not be afraid of one's feelings. The heroine gave herself completely to them, burned her first love, but she learned a lot about life and about the person to whom she wanted to dedicate it. Now she will be more attentive to people, will learn to understand them. Without this cruel experience, she would not have revealed herself as a person, would not have understood herself and her desires. After breaking up with N.N. she realized what the man of her dreams should be. So do not be afraid of the sincere impulses of the 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 singled out a new type of heroine - the “Tugenev young lady”. Chernyshevsky, Turgenev's ideological opponent, studied the image of the protagonist with particular attention. He dedicated an ironic article to him called “Russian man on rendez-vous. Reflections after reading the story "Asya". In it, he condemns not only the moral imperfection of the character, but also the poverty of the entire social group to which he belongs. The idleness and selfishness of noble offspring destroys real people in them. It is in this that the critic sees 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 participation, with painful trepidation, he himself suffers and rejoices along with the faces created by him, he himself is carried away by the poetic atmosphere 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 terms:

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

Annenkov was a close friend of Turgenev and his most important critic. In a letter to the author, he 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 assesses Turgenev’s work) informed the writer: “Now I have come from the Tyutchevs, where there was a dispute about Asya. And I like it. They find that Asya's face is strained, not alive. I said the opposite, and Annenkov, who arrived in time for the dispute, completely supported me and brilliantly refuted them.

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

One remark, personally mine, and that is unimportant: in the scene of a meeting at the knees, the hero suddenly showed an unnecessary rudeness of nature, which you do not expect from him, bursting into reproaches: they should have been softened and reduced, I wanted to, but I did not dare, especially since Annenkov 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 a Russian person of the 19th century” with an honest worker - a bourgeois businessman. He was also extremely worried about the historical fate of the "superfluous people", posed by the author of Asya.

The story is clearly not for everyone. 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 look. There is nothing to say about other people. As a lyricist, Turgenev can only express well what he experienced ... ". The famous poet, the addressee of the letter, was in solidarity with his friend and recognized the image of the main character as far-fetched and lifeless.

But Tolstoy was the most indignant of all critics, who assessed the work as follows: “Asya” by Turgenev, in my opinion, is the weakest thing of all that he wrote” - this remark was contained in a letter to Nekrasov. Lev Nikolayevich connected the book with the personal life of a friend. He was unhappy that he arranged for the illegitimate daughter Pauline in France, forever separating her from her own mother. Such a “hypocritical position” was sharply condemned by the count, he openly accused his colleague of cruelty and improper upbringing of his daughter, which was 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 rendez-vous"

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The main characters of I.S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” are the young traveler N.N., on whose behalf the story is being told, his friend Gagin and Gagin’s sister, Asya. Having certain funds in hand, N.N. travels the world, stopping where he wants and watching the lives of people in different countries. In one small German town, he meets compatriots, a young man who introduced himself as Gagin, and his sister, Asya. This acquaintance develops into friendship, and after a while N.N. realizes that he is in love with Asya.

But one day N.N. learns from Gagin the life story of Asya, who turned out to be Gagin's half-sister. Gagin's father, a few years after the death of his wife, got along with her former maid, Tatyana, who gave birth to Asya. Gagin's father was a noble man and offered Tatyana to marry him. But she, realizing the difference in their social status, refused. Tatyana raised her daughter on her own in her sister's house. When Asya was in her ninth year, her mother died, and Asya was brought up in a manor house. The mother raised her daughter in strictness, and her father loved her and spoiled her in every possible way. But Asya, despite the good living conditions in her father's house, remembered her origin, and the inconsistency of her position had a very strong effect on her character.

Gagin, who periodically came to visit his father's estate, the father did not tell the truth, but introduced Asya as a pupil. And just before his death, he told his son that he had a half-sister. So the twenty-year-old boy was forced to take care of the upbringing of his half-sister, who by that time was already thirteen years old. He took her to St. Petersburg and placed her in the best boarding school in which Asya was brought up until she was seventeen. After that, Gagin retired and left with his sister for a long trip abroad, in which they met N.N.

The story told by Gagin did not at first affect the attitude of N.N. to Asa. But over time, he began to think about his feelings for the girl. On the one hand, N.N. had never experienced such a feeling before and had to admit that he was sincerely in love with a girl. On the other hand, the revealed circumstances of her origin and the peculiarities of her upbringing cast doubt on the possibility of marriage with Asya.

At some point, events began to develop rapidly. N.N. received a note from Asya asking for a date. And soon after that, Gagin came to him, saying that his sister was in love with N.N. He tries to find out from N.N. whether he is ready to marry Asya, taking into account the circumstances known to him. N.N. does not give a direct answer, but from a conversation with him, Gagin concludes that there is no question of marriage. Young people agree among themselves that N.N. will meet Asya for a final explanation and the next day Gagin and Asya will leave forever.

N.N. agrees to this plan. He meets Asya and talks to her about the need to leave, after which the girl leaves. After the conversation N.N. tormented by doubts about the correctness of their act. He goes to the house where Gagin and Asya lived. There he learns that the girl is missing. Together with Gagin, they unsuccessfully search for her. By evening, Asya was found. By this moment, exhausted by thoughts, N.N. decides that he will marry the girl. He decided to inform Gagin and Asya of his intention the next morning.

But in the morning he found the house where Asya lived with her brother empty. N.N. rushes to search. First, he learns that they have gone to Cologne and is heading there. In Cologne, with great difficulty, he receives information that his brother and sister have left for London. In London, N.N. lost track of Gagin and Asya. He never met them again, but all his life, which he lived as a bachelor, he kept notes from Asya and a dried flower that a girl had given him a long time ago.

This is the summary of the story.

The main meaning of the story "Asya" is that class prejudices often became the cause of the collapse of sincere, mutual love.

The story "Asya" teaches not to give in to doubts when it comes to a real, sincere feeling. Don't put off important things for later. N.N. decided to postpone until the morning his announcement of his intention to marry Asa and, as a result, lost his love forever.

I liked Asya in the story. This is a sincere, cheerful nature, who is interested in everything in the world around her. And it is not her fault that Asya was born at a time when class prejudices were strong. The far-fetched restrictions that were generated by these prejudices led to the fact that the girl had to part with the man she sincerely loved.

What proverbs are suitable for Turgenev's story "Asya"?

Where the heart lies, there the eye looks.
To delay is not to be avoided.
Old love is remembered for a long time.