Katerina fell in love passionately, that at the slightest hindrance and misunderstanding, which could put her in happiness, she found a solution, and not always a moral one. So with a light hand, she poured her father-in-law, who promised to flog her, and send her lover to jail, rat poison. Sergey, alas, had only a mercantile interest in Katerina, and quickly realized that this woman was ready for anything for him. Therefore, he began to play on her feelings, talking about his jealousy and love, about how he would like to break this sinful connection and would like to become Ekaterina Vasilyevna's husband "before the holy eternal temple". The merchant's wife was so flattered by her lover's words that she easily committed another crime, and with the help of her lover, she killed her husband Zinovy ​​Borisovich.

They began to conduct business together, and the clerk, in the lordly manner, began to be called Sergei Filippovich. And it seems to be - here it is happiness: the beloved is near, under the heart of a child, things are going well. But ... it turns out that Ekaterina Lvovna is not the only successor to the merchant's capital, there is also an heir - a little boy Fedor Lyamin. And, again, Sergei, under the guise of love and care for Katerina, tells how unhappy this boy makes him, and how much sorrow he will bring to their union. Ekaterina Lvovna, as a passionate and purposeful nature, kills an innocent child. And at the trial she confesses and says that she did everything in the name of love.

Love at main character painful, selfless and passionate. She, like an obsession, blinds her, and even Katerina refuses her own child. There is only one annoying idea in her head - to be with her Seryozhka, and it doesn’t even matter that these dates will take place in hard labor.

Every crime is always punished. And in this situation, Katerina paid not with hard labor, but with a broken heart from exposing Sergei. Having gone with his beloved along the stage, the man stopped paying attention to her, and showed only hostility. Izmailova endured for a long time, and even deceived herself until Sergei openly began to seek the favor of other women, betraying the love of Ekaterina Lvovna. And before the tragic death of a woman, he in every possible way belittled her dignity, and even beat her.Therefore, seized by jealousy and a sense of hopelessness, Katerina takes her own life.

Ekaterina Lvovna truly evokes a feeling of pity, despite all the atrocities committed, the woman was blinded by love. And I would like to think that if she had met a more moral and worthy person than Sergei, everything could have turned out differently.

"The first song blushing to sing."

Chapter first

Sometimes in our places such characters are set that, no matter how many years have passed since meeting with them, some of them will never be remembered without spiritual trepidation. Among these characters is the merchant's wife Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, who played a once terrible drama, after which our nobles, from someone's easy word, began to call her Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district.

Katerina Lvovna was not born a beauty, but she was a very pleasant woman in appearance. She was only twenty-four years of age; She was short, but slender, with a neck as if carved from marble, round shoulders, a strong chest, a straight, thin nose, black, lively eyes, a high white forehead and black, almost blue-black hair. They gave her in marriage to our merchant Izmailov with Tuskari from the Kursk province, not out of love or any attraction, but because Izmailov was courting her, and she was a poor girl, and she did not have to sort out suitors. The Izmailovs' house was not the last in our city: they traded grain, kept a large mill in the district for rent, had a profitable garden near the city and a good house in the city. In general, the merchants were wealthy. Their family, moreover, was quite small: father-in-law Boris Timofeevich Izmailov, a man already in his eighties, had long been a widow; his son Zinovy ​​Borisych, Katerina Lvovna's husband, a man also in his fifties, and Katerina Lvovna herself, and nothing more. Katerina Lvovna had no children for the fifth year since she married Zinovy ​​Borisych. Zinovy ​​Borisych had no children even from his first wife, with whom he lived for twenty years before he was widowed and married Katerina Lvovna. He thought and hoped that God would give him, even from his second marriage, an heir to the merchant's name and capital; but again he had no luck in this and with Katerina Lvovna.

This childlessness distressed Zinovy ​​Borisych very much, and not only Zinovy ​​Borisych alone, but old Boris Timofeyitch, and even Katerina Lvovna herself, it was very sad. Since the unreasonable boredom in the locked merchant’s chamber with a high fence and lowered chain dogs more than once made the young merchant’s wife feel melancholy, reaching the point of stupor, and she would be glad, God knows how glad she would be to babysit the little girl; and she was tired of the other reproaches: “What was she going for and why was she getting married; why did she bind a man’s fate, non-native,” as if she really committed a crime against her husband, and before her father-in-law, and before all their honest merchant family.

With all the contentment and kindness, Katerina Lvovna's life in her mother-in-law's house was the most boring. She did not go to visit much, and even then, if she and her husband go along with her merchant class, it will not be a joy either. The people are all strict: they watch how she sits down, but how she passes, how she gets up; and Katerina Lvovna had an ardent character, and, living as a girl in poverty, she got used to simplicity and freedom: she would run with buckets to the river and swim in a shirt under the pier, or sprinkle sunflower husks through the gate of a passer-by; but here everything is different. The father-in-law and her husband would get up early, drink tea at six o'clock in the morning, and go about their business, and she alone wanders the elephants from room to room. Everywhere is clean, everywhere is quiet and empty, the lamps are shining in front of the images, and nowhere in the house is there a living sound, not a human voice.

Like, like, Katerina Lvovna walks through the empty rooms, begins to yawn out of boredom and climbs the stairs to her matrimonial bedchamber, arranged on a high small mezzanine. Here, too, she will sit, stare, how they hang hemp at the barns or pour grains, - she will yawn again, she is glad: she will take a nap for an hour or two, and wake up - again the same Russian boredom, boredom merchant's house, from which it is fun, they say, even hang on. Katerina Lvovna was not a huntress to read, and besides, there were no books in the house besides the Kyiv Patericon.

Katerina Lvovna lived a boring life in a rich mother-in-law's house for five whole years of her life with an unkind husband; but no one, as usual, paid her the slightest attention to this boredom.

Katerina Izmailovna young married woman. She is fiery and passionate. A fragile, pleasant outdoor girl becomes a criminal because of her love for an unworthy person. Tired of boring life in the rich merchant's house She decides to cheat. Almost immediately, the girl falls in love with the fatal handsome Sergei, in whose hands she becomes a toy. She changes outwardly, becomes more cheerful, behaves more confidently, although before that she did not feel like a mistress in the house. Her inner world is changing. She had a joy in life - a date with a loved one. For her there is no law, no doubts and remorse. Love completely blinded the heroine, she became cruel, heartless. Even according to the cook, the main character is “a fickle scoundrel” and “whatever woman you want, now he is her scoundrel, he will flatter and flatter and lead to sin.”

Katerina Lvovna ignored these almost prophetic words, but became interested in the new clerk.

Sergei is a young clerk in a merchant's house. Despite rumors about his adventures, Zinoviy Borisovich takes him to work. Sergey is very sociable, knows how to find an approach to any woman. Main character felt that Katerina Lvovna was lonely, she lacked love. She is easy prey for him, so he is too intrusive and bold. In the beginning, he is driven by lust, not love. Subsequently, he only dreams of wealth. Sergey is a very arrogant and self-confident person. Coming for the first time without an invitation to the hostess, he has no doubt that she will not drive him away. Although the risk was great that Katerina would call her father-in-law and then she would not greet the clerk. And the heroine spends the night as a completely unfamiliar person. After that, she treasures their relationship more than anything else. She spits on her reputation, having completely lost her fear. Real love cannot bring people together so quickly, in this case it is passion.

Katerina Izmailova married by calculation, although the author tries to justify her from the first pages of the book, that she would be a poor girl, and the rich merchant Zinovy ​​\u200b\u200bmarried - and they gave her away. Perhaps an unequal marriage is a common occurrence for the reality of that time, but still, even Katerina Kabanova, the heroine of Ostrovsky, married, albeit not for love, but not for a man who was suitable for her father. Zinovy ​​Borisovich is a widower who decided to marry a second time, rather not even because he needed a wife and mistress, or Katerina liked him, but in order for him to have offspring, in particular an heir. Most likely, Zinovy ​​Borisovich did not like Katerina. The merchant does not worry about how she spends all day and night alone. He did not rush at that fateful moment when his wife cheated on him. loving husband, usually in a hurry to his wife, And Zinovy, on the contrary, lingered. By nature, he is a cold and reasonable person. Most likely, once a man is in his sixth decade, then you can hardly wait for passionate feelings from him. He is no longer young for this. But Katerina wanted love, she wanted admiration. But Zinovy ​​and the father-in-law only condemned that she life together did not give birth to a child. Katerina Lvovna herself was glad to give birth in order to find at least some occupation for herself.

The author again defends the heroine when he explains the reason that prompted the heroine to cheat on her husband - "Russian boredom, the boredom of a merchant's house." Katerina Kabanova, for example, spun, prayed, went to church. And Izmailova is not interested in anything, does not like to read. And they don't have books. For many years, she decided to go out for a walk once - that's how she met Sergei. Yet her husband respects, to the last not believing rumors of infidelity. The father-in-law, having caught the daughter-in-law's lover, did not even scold and punish her. I left this to my husband. Husband and father-in-law are not Kabanikha, who gnaws at her daughter-in-law from morning to evening. It is not clear why the heroine dealt with them so cruelly. Neither love nor passion can justify the crimes she committed.

When the last most terrible murder was revealed: curious passers-by accidentally saw someone being strangled through the shutters, Fedya Lyamin was already dead. Of all the innocent victims, I felt sorry for the innocent boy the most. It was his only fault that he had more right to the inheritance than Katerina. It is even worse that the heroine, being pregnant, goes to the crime of the child. The unborn son, feeling what a terrible thing his mother was up to: "her own child turned under her heart for the first time."

After the trial, changes occur in the lives of the heroes. Sergei blames Katerina for everything, despite her pregnancy. Dissolute parents are not happy with the child. Izmailova refuses him immediately, but Sergei does not remember him at all. The only heir to the entire Izmailovo capital is now being raised by a relative of Zinovy ​​​​Borisovich, it is noteworthy that Katerina's relatives do not take the child to themselves. They apparently abandoned it.

For Katerina, the most important thing is neither money, nor freedom, Small child, but the opportunity to see a lover on the way to hard labor. Sergey is an idol for her even now. Having lost his love, the heroine loses the meaning of life. But perhaps she would have come to terms with the betrayal of her lover, if not for the constant mockery of her and the recognition that he never loved her. Katerina could not survive this, she was crushed by it. She sent so many people to the next world, she committed so many sins for his sake, but he is unhappy. He only blames her for everything, although he himself plays an important role in this matter. In desperation, the heroine throws herself into the river, taking with her a lovebird. Sonetku is not the same innocent victim here as her husband, father-in-law and nephew. Beautiful and impregnable, she becomes Sergey's new girlfriend. She is a prisoner, she also committed a crime, but what is not mentioned in the work. There is neither kindness, nor pity, nor even elementary female solidarity in it. She is no less cruel than Katerina, but cruelty here is manifested not because of love, but as a personal trait of Sonetka's character. She laughs wickedly at the monstrous scene of revenge on Katerina, when several men beat Katerina under the direction of Sergei. The scene is no less vile than the murders, the former clerk beats the unfortunate. He knows about her physical strength. He is an insignificant person who cannot cope with weak woman. Sonetka does not see his essence, she, too, is blinded by love. Sergei decided on a new lover, whom he may actually have fallen in love with for the first time. Although it seems to me that a person like Sergey will quickly console himself and blame Katerina for everything, but not himself.

The story "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" was published in January 1865. It was published under the title "Lady Macbeth of our county" by the magazine Epoch. According to the original idea, the work was to be the first in a cycle dedicated to the characters of Russian women. It was assumed that several more stories would follow, but Leskov never realized these plans. Probably not least due to the closure of the Epoch magazine, which intended to publish the entire cycle. The final title of the story appeared in 1867, when it was published as part of the collection "Tales, Essays and Stories by M. Stebnitsky" (M. Stebnitsky is Leskov's pseudonym).

The character of the main character

In the center of the story is Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, a young merchant's wife. She married not out of love, but out of need. For five years of marriage, she failed to make children with her husband, Zinovy ​​Borisovich, who was almost twice her age. Katerina Lvovna was very bored, languishing in the merchant's house, like a bird in a cage. Most of the time she just wandered from room to room and yawned. However, no one noticed her suffering.

While her husband was away for a long time, Katerina Lvovna fell in love with the clerk Sergei, who works for Zinovy ​​Borisovich. Love broke out instantly and completely captured the woman. In order to save both Sergei and her social position, Izmailova decided on several murders. Consistently, she got rid of her father-in-law, husband and young nephew. The further the action develops, the more the reader becomes convinced that Katerina Lvovna has no moral barriers capable of holding her back.

Love passion at first completely absorbed the heroine, and in the final ruined it. Izmailova, together with Sergei, was sent to hard labor. On the way there, the man showed his true colors. He found himself a new love and began to openly mock Katerina Lvovna. Having lost her lover, Izmailova also lost the meaning of life. In the end, she only had to drown herself, taking Sergei's mistress with her.

As noted by the literary critics Gromov and Eikhenbaum in the article “N. S. Leskov (Essay on creativity)”, the tragedy of Katerina Lvovna “is completely predetermined by the well-established and steadily regulating the life of the individual, the everyday life of the merchant environment”. Izmailov is often contrasted with Katerina Kabanova, the heroine of Ostrovsky's play The Thunderstorm. Both women live with unloved spouses. Both are burdened by merchant life. Both Kabanova and Izmailova's life changes dramatically due to illegal love. That's just in similar circumstances, women behave differently. Kabanova perceives the passion that has gripped her as a great sin and eventually confesses everything to her husband. Izmailova rushes into the pool of love without looking back, becoming determined and ready to destroy any obstacles that stand in her way with Sergei.

Characters

The only character (besides Katerina Lvovna) who receives much attention in the story and whose character is described in more or less detail is Sergei. Readers are presented with a handsome young man who knows how to seduce women and is distinguished by frivolity. He was fired from his previous job because of an affair with the owner's wife. Apparently, he never loved Katerina Lvovna. Sergei struck up a relationship with her, as he hoped with their help to get a better job in life. When Izmailova lost everything, the man behaved meanly and lowly with her.

The theme of love in the story

The main theme of the story "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" is the theme of love-passion. This kind of love is no longer spiritual, but physical. Pay attention to how Leskov shows the pastime of Katerina Lvovna and Seryozha. The lovers hardly speak. When they are together, they are mainly occupied with carnal pleasures. Physical pleasure is more important to them than spiritual pleasure. At the beginning of the story, Leskov notices that Katerina Lvovna does not like to read books. Sergey is also difficult to call the owner of a rich inner peace. When he first comes to seduce Izmailova, he asks her for a book. This request is due solely to the desire to please the hostess. Serezha wants to show that he is interested in reading, intellectually developed, despite his low social status.

The love-passion that seized Katerina Lvovna is destructive, because it is base. It is not capable of elevating, spiritually enriching. On the contrary, something that bears an animal, primitive character awakens from it in a woman.

Composition

The story consists of fifteen short chapters. In this case, the work can be conditionally divided into two parts. In the first, the action takes place in a limited space - the house of the Izmailovs. Here Katerina Lvovna's love is born and develops. After the start of an affair with Sergei, the woman is happy. She seems to be in paradise. In the second part, the action takes place on the way to hard labor. Katerina Lvovna seems to fall into hell, serving her sentence for her sins. By the way, the woman is absolutely not remorseful. Her mind is still eclipsed by love. At first, next to Seryozha for Izmailova, "and hard labor blooms with happiness."

Genre of the work

Leskov called "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" an essay. The main feature of the genre is "writing from life", but there is no information about the prototypes of Katerina Lvovna. Perhaps, when creating this image, Leskov partially relied on the materials of criminal cases, to which he had access while serving in the Oryol Criminal Chamber.

The genre of the essay was not chosen by the writer by chance. It was important for him to emphasize the documentary nature of "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District". Known to be based on true events works of art often have a greater impact on the public. Apparently, Leskov wanted to take advantage of this. The crimes committed by Katerina Lvovna are more shocking if you think of them as real.

• "The Man on the Clock", an analysis of Leskov's story