The theme of love in Russian literature of the XIX-XX centuries. Examples

The theme of love in Russian literature is one of the main themes. The poet or prose writer opens his soul to the reader, experiences, suffering. And this lyric was always in demand. Indeed, one can not understand the author's relationship to his own work, aspects of philosophical prose, but the words of love in literature are so uttered that they can be used in various life situations. In what works is the theme of love particularly brightly reflected? What are the features of the authors' perception of this feeling? Our article will tell about it.

The Place of Love in Russian Literature

Love in literature has always existed. If we talk about domestic works, then immediately Peter and Fevronia of Murom come to mind from the eponymous story of Ermolai-Erasmus related to Old Russian literature. Recall that other topics then, but Christian, were taboo. This form of art was strictly religious.

The theme of love in Russian literature arose in the 18th century. The impetus for its development was translated by Trediakovsky works of foreign authors, because in Europe they already wrote about the wonderful love feelings and relations between a man and a woman. Then there were Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Karamzin.

The theme of love in the works of Russian literature reaches its peak in the 19th century. This era gave the world Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Turgenev and many other luminaries. Each writer had his own personal relationship to the theme of love, which can be read through the lines of his work.

Pushkin's love lyrics: the genius's innovation

The theme of love in Russian literature of the 19th century reached special heights in Pushkin's work. The lyric that sings this light feeling is rich, multifaceted, and contains a whole series of features. We will analyze them.

• Extra-genres. In love lyrics, Pushkin completely subordinates the form to the content, refuses the existing canons. We will not find his elegy, romance or message. And there will be one work that combines these genres. As an example, we can cite the well-known poem "K ****", dedicated to AP Kern. This, on the one hand, is a message (the genre is clearly traced), but there are features of romance (deeply personal experiences are revealed, the work is incredibly musical and melodious) and even elegy (emotionality).
• A new value system. Romanticism is a phenomenon in Russian literature, where the personality of the author stood in the center, lonely, rebellious, opposed to the world. Pushkin goes in a different direction: his poems are filled with worldly wisdom and humanism. Remember the work "I loved you" - something new has been introduced here than just poems about unrequited love. Pushkin leaves the choice to the woman, even if it does not happen in his favor. In a romantic work, this would be a tragedy, a whirlwind of passions. Pushkin does not curse his beloved (as it would have been a romantic poet) - he thanks her for the light feeling that was presented to him. Alexander Sergeyevich focuses attention on his chosen one, and not on his love for himself.
• Love according to Pushkin is not an anomaly, but a natural state of a person. If it is not mutual, this is no reason to suffer. The poet rejoices even in unrequited love. Example - "There is night haze in the hills of Georgia". These poems about unrequited love are full of "light sadness." The author says that "despondency" does not disturb him. Feels life-affirming nature.

Love as a reflection of personal qualities in "Eugene Onegin"

"Eugene Onegin" is a work where the theme of love in Russian literature sounds particularly expressive. It shows not just a feeling, but its evolution throughout life. In addition, through love, the main images of the novel are revealed.

In the center of the narrative is the hero, whose name is pronounced in the title. The reader is forced throughout the whole novel to be tormented by the question: is Eugene able to love? Brought up in the spirit of the mores of the capital's high society, in feelings he is devoid of sincerity. Being in a "spiritual impasse", he meets Tatyana Larin, who, unlike him, is able to sincerely and unselfishly love.

Tatyana writes Onegin a love letter, he is touched by this act of the girl, but no more. Disappointed, Larina agrees to a marriage with the unloved and leaves for St. Petersburg.

The last meeting of Onegin and Tatiana happens after a few years. Eugene confesses to a young woman in love, but she rejects him. The woman admits she still loves, but is bound by the obligations of marriage.

Thus, the protagonist of the novel Pushkin fails the exam with love, he was afraid of the overwhelming feeling, rejected it. Enlightenment came too late.

Lermontov's Love - an Unattainable Ideal

There was another love for a woman for M. Lermontov. For him, this feeling, which absorbs a person completely, is a power that nothing can conquer. Love for Lermontov is something that will definitely make a person suffer: "Everyone cried, who loved."

This lyric is inextricably linked with women in the life of the poet himself. Katerina Sushkova - a girl, in which Lermontov fell in love as early as 16 years. Poems dedicated to her, emotional, talk about an undivided feeling, the desire to find not only a woman, but also a friend.

Natalia Ivanova, the next woman in Lermontov's life, reciprocated him. On the one hand, there are more happiness in the poems of this period, however, even here the notes of deception are slipping. Natalia in many ways does not understand the deep spiritual organization of the poet. In the subject of such works, there have also been changes: now they are focused on feelings and passions.

Variation in relations with Varvara Lopukhina is quite different . Love is imbued with the whole being of the poet, nature speaks about it, even the Motherland.

Love becomes a prayer in poems dedicated to Maria Shcherbatova. Only 3 works are written, but each of them is a masterpiece, a hymn of love. According to Lermontov, he found the very woman who understands him completely. The love in these poems is contradictory: it is able to heal, but also to injure, execute and return to life.

Heavy path to the happiness of the heroes of "War and Peace" by Tolstoy

Considering how love is represented in fiction, one should also focus on the work of L. Tolstoy. His epic "War and Peace" - a product where love one way or another touched each of the characters. After all, the "family idea", which occupies a central place in the novel, is inextricably linked with love.

Each of the images passes a difficult path, but in the end finds family happiness. There are exceptions: Tolstoy puts an original sign of equality between the ability of a person to disinterestedly love and his moral purity. But also to this quality it is necessary to reach a succession of suffering, mistakes that will eventually cleanse the soul and make it crystal, capable of loving.

Let's remember the difficult path to the happiness of Andrei Bolkonsky. Fascinated by the beauty of Lisa, he marries her, but, quickly chilled, disappointed in marriage. He understands that he has chosen his spouse to be empty and spoiled. Next - the war, the sky Austerlitz and the oak tree - a symbol of spiritual prosperity, life. Love for Natasha Rostova is what gave Prince Bolkonsky a breath of fresh air.

Testing with love in the works of IS Turgenev

Images of love in the literature of the XIX century - this is the heroes of Turgenev. The author of each of them conducts through testing this feeling.

The only one who passes it is Arkady Bazarov from Fathers and Children. Maybe that's why he is the ideal hero of Turgenev.

Nihilist, who denies everything around him, Bazarov calls love "foolishness", for him it is only an ailment that can be cured. However, having met with Anna Odintsova and falling in love with her, he changes not only his attitude to this feeling, but his outlook in general.

Bazarov admits Anna Sergeyevna in love, but she rejects him. The girl is not ready for a serious relationship, can not renounce herself for another, even a loved one. Here she suffers a fiasco in the test of Turgenev. A Bazarov - the winner, he became the hero whom the writer sought for himself in the Nobility Nest, Rudine, Ace and other works.

"Master and Margarita" - a mystical love story

The theme of love in Russian literature of the 20th century grows and develops and grows stronger. No writer and poet of this era has bypassed this topic. Yes, it could transform, for example, into a love for people (remember Gorky's Danko) or the Motherland (this, perhaps, most of the work of Mayakovsky or works of the war years). But there is an exceptional literature about love: these are the heartfelt poems of S. Esenin, the poets of the Silver Age. If we talk about prose - this is primarily the "Master and Margarita" M. Bulgakov.

The love that arises between the heroes is sudden, it "jumps out" from nowhere. The master pays attention to Margarita's eyes, so sad and lonely. Lovers do not experience overwhelming passion, rather, on the contrary - it's quiet, calm, home happiness.

However, at the most critical moment, only love helps Margarita save the Master and their feelings, even if not in the human world.

Yesenin's love lyrics

The theme of love in Russian literature of the 20th century is also poetry. Consider in this vein the work of S. Yesenin. The poet inseparably linked this luminous feeling with nature, his love is extremely chaste and strongly attached to the biography of the poet himself. A vivid example is the poem "The Green Hairstyle". Here all the lovely Yesenin features L. Kashina (her work is devoted to) are represented through the beauty of the Russian birch: thin mill, pigtails-branches.

"Moscow Kabatsky" opens us a completely different love, now it is "contagion" and "plague." Such images are connected, first of all, with the emotional experiences of the poet, who feel his uselessness.

Healing comes in the cycle "Love the hooligan". The culprit was A. Miklashevskaya, who cured Yesenin of torment. He again believed that there is true love, inspiring and reviving.

In his last poems Yesenin condemns the falsity and insincerity of women, he believes that this feeling should be deeply sincere and life-affirming, giving man the ground under his feet. Such, for example, the poem "Leaves fall, leaves fall ...".

Poets of the Silver Age about love

The theme of love in the Russian literature of the Silver Age is the work not only of S. Yesenin, but also of A. Akhmatova, M. Tsvetaeva, A. Blok, O. Mandelstam and many others. All of them are united by a very subtle soul organization, and suffering and happiness are the main companions of the poet's muse and poetess.

Examples of love in Russian literature of the 20th century are the great A. Akhmatov and M. Tsvetaeva. The latter is a "quivering doe", sensual, vulnerable. Love for her is the meaning of life, what makes you not only create, but also exist in this world. "I like that you are not ill with me" - her masterpiece, full of light sadness and contradictions. And this is the whole of Tsvetaeva. The poem "Looked yesterday in the eye yesterday" is imbued with such heartfelt lyricism. This is, perhaps, a kind of anthem of all the ladies in love: "My dear, what have I done to you?".

A completely different theme of love in Russian literature in the image of A. Akhmatova. It is the tension of all the feelings and thoughts of man. Akhmatova herself gave this feeling a definition - "the fifth time of the year." But if it were not for him, the other four would not be visible. The poet's love is loud, all-asserting, returning to the natural principles.