I.S. Turgenev had a huge influence not only on literature, but also on the perception of the world among his readers, it is not for nothing that the term "Turgenev's girl" has tightly entered the speech of educated people and has become a household name for the canonical female image V national culture. This author has created a wide variety of works, but they are united by deep poetry in every word. She is also imbued with his "First Love".

In 1844, I.S. Turgenev met French singer Pauline Viardot and fell in love. As it turned out, forever. They quarreled, reconciled, the writer followed his beloved everywhere. But this love was doomed, and at the same time selfless. It was this feeling that gave rise to a number of lyric-philosophical stories with a tragic love story, among which "First Love", published in 1860. In these works, feeling is a disease that affects a person and deprives him of will and reason.

The book was written in January-March 1860. At the core plot collision lay real story the writer's family: a love triangle between the young writer, his father and Princess Ekaterina Shakhovskaya. The author noticed that he had nothing to hide, and as for the condemnation of Turgenev's frankness by acquaintances, he did not care.

Genre: short story or short story?

A story is a small prose work that has a single storyline, one conflict and reflecting a separate episode of the life of the characters. The story is an epic genre, standing between the novel and the short story in terms of volume, has a more complex and branched plot, and the conflict is a chain of episodes.

“First Love” can be called a story, since there are several main characters (in a story, most often one or two). The work depicts not a single episode, but a chain of events connected with the development of a love conflict. Also, the genre feature of the story can be called the fact that it is a story within a story. Narrator, he main character, recalls episodes of his youth, so the introduction refers to the situation that led the narrator to memories: he and his friends talked about first love, and his story turned out to be the most entertaining.

What is the piece about?

In the company of friends, the narrator recalls his youth, his first love. As a 16-year-old boy, Vladimir was fascinated by his neighbor in the country, 21-year-old Zinaida. The girl enjoyed the attention of young people, but did not take anyone seriously, but spent the evenings with them in fun and games. The heroine laughed at all admirers, including Vladimir, and did not take life seriously at all. But once…

The main character noticed a change in his beloved, it soon dawned on him: she fell in love! But who is the rival? The truth turned out to be terrible, this is the father of the protagonist, Pyotr Vasilyevich, who married his mother by calculation, treats both her and his son with disdain. Pyotr Vasilievich is not interested in the scandal, because love ends quickly. Soon he dies of a stroke, Zinaida marries and also dies in childbirth.

Main characters and their characteristics

The description of the heroes of the story "First Love" is dramatic and in itself gives rise to a conflict of interest. In a family where there is no harmony, love was perceived by men as a means to forget, or to feel needed. However, in pursuit of personal happiness, they did not delve into the hidden depths of Zinaida's personality, and did not discern her essence. She poured out all the heat of her heart into an ice vessel and destroyed herself. Thus, the main characters of the work became victims of their own blindness, inspired by passion.

  1. Vladimir- A 16-year-old nobleman, still under family care, but striving for independence and adulthood. He is embraced by dreams of love, happiness, harmony, he idealizes all feelings, especially love. However, for the main character himself, love became a tragedy. Vladimir forgot about everything, he was ready to be constantly at the feet of Zinaida, he was absorbed only by her. And after a dramatic denouement, he mentally aged, all dreams of a brilliant future were shattered, only the ghost of unfulfilled love remained.
  2. Zinaida- 21-year-old impoverished princess. She was in a hurry and longed to live, as if she had a premonition that there was not much time left. The main character of the story "First Love" could not appease all her inner passion, around, despite the large selection of men, there was no beloved. And she chose the most unsuitable, for the sake of which she despised all prohibitions and decency, and for him she was just another entertainment. She married in a hurry to hide her shame, died giving birth to a child from an unloved one ... So ended a life full of only one, also unfulfilled love.
  3. Petr Vasilievich is the father of the protagonist. He married a woman who was 10 years older, because of the money, managed and pushed her around. He watered his son with cold contempt. The family was completely superfluous in his life, all the same it did not cause him satisfaction. But the young neighbor, having fallen in love with him with all her heart, caused a taste for life for a short time. However, he could not leave his wife, it is unprofitable, to allow a scandal too. That is why the hero simply left his mistress to the mercy of fate.

    4. Subject

  • The main theme of the story is Love. She is different here. And the humiliating feeling of Vladimir's mother for her husband: a woman is ready for anything, just not to lose her husband, she is afraid of him, afraid to admit to herself that he does not love her. And the hopeless, sacrificial love of Vladimir: he agrees to any role in order to be next to Zinaida, even a page, even a jester. And Zinaida herself has a passionate obsession: for the sake of Pyotr Vasilyevich, she becomes the same slave as his son before her. And love on occasion with the father of the protagonist: women liked him, a neighbor - a new hobby, an easy affair.
  • The result of love is the following theme - loneliness. And Vladimir, and Zinaida, and Pyotr Vasilyevich are broken by this love triangle. After the tragic denouement, no one remained the same, they all ended up alone forever, died morally, and failed lovers later physically.
  • Family Theme. Of particular importance in the work is the unfavorable climate in the home of the protagonist. It was he who made him beg for love. The complexes received from the cold rejection of the father were expressed in relation to Zinaida. This slavish worship destroyed his chances of success.

    • Issues

    Moral problems are revealed in the work in several aspects. Firstly, does Zinaida's life deserve understanding, the crowd of admirers around her, with whom she plays like pawns? Secondly, can forbidden love, transgressing all moral norms, be happy? The plot development of events answers these questions in the negative: the main character is punished for her neglect of her admirers by the disdainful attitude of her beloved, and their relationship inevitably leads to a break. And indirectly led to the death of both. However, the reader sympathizes with Zinaida, she is full of a thirst for life, this causes involuntary sympathy. In addition, she is capable of a deep feeling that commands respect.

    The problem of power in love is most fully expressed in the relationship between Zinaida and Pyotr Vasilyevich. The girl ruled over her past gentlemen and felt very cheerful. But came real love and with it suffering. And even suffering from a loved one is sweet. And no power is needed. Pyotr Vasilyevich hit her with a whip, and she gently raised the reddened place to her lips, because this was a trace from him.

    Idea

    The main idea of ​​the story is the all-consuming power of love. Whatever it is, happy or tragic, it is like a fever that suddenly seizes and does not let go, and if it goes away, it leaves devastation. Love is powerful and sometimes destructive, but this feeling is wonderful, you cannot live without it. You can only exist. The protagonist remembered his youthful emotions forever, his first love revealed to him the meaning and charm of being, even if distorted by suffering.

    And the writer himself was unhappy in love, and his hero too, but even the most tragic passion is the best discovery in human life, because for the sake of those moments when you are in seventh heaven with happiness, it is worth enduring the bitterness of loss. In suffering, people are cleansed, revealing new facets of their souls. Taking into account the autobiographical nature of the story, we can say that the author, without his fatal and sad muse, as well as the pain caused by her, could not have penetrated so deeply into the essence of romantic relationships. The main idea of ​​"First Love" would be far from him, and it is necessary to suffer and learn from one's own experience, since only the one who experienced it will write convincingly about the tragedy of love.

    What does the story teach?

    The moral lessons in Turgenev's story consist of several points:

    • Conclusion: "First Love" inspires us to be bold in expressing our emotions. There is no need to be afraid of love, because the most unrequited affection is the most beautiful memory. It is better to experience happiness for a moment than to be unhappy all your life because you preferred peace to spiritual torment.
    • Moral: Everyone gets what they deserve. Zinaida played with men - and now she is a pawn in the hands of Pyotr Vasilyevich. He himself married by calculation, rejected a neighbor - died of a stroke, "burned out." But Vladimir, despite the tragedy, received the brightest memory in his life, and at the same time his conscience is calm, because he did not injure anyone and sincerely gave himself to tender affection.

    "First Love" has been around for over 150 years. However, this work does not lose its relevance. How many people it was the first feelings that broke their hearts forever! But, nevertheless, everyone carefully keeps these emotions in the soul. And the beauty with which this book is written makes you re-read it many times.

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Year of writing: Publication: in Wikisource

"First love"- a story by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, which tells about the feelings and emotional experiences of a young hero associated with them, whose semi-childish love came into an insoluble clash with the drama and sacrifice of adult love. First published in 1860 in the Russian Empire.

History of creation

Written by Ivan Turgenev in January-March 1860 in St. Petersburg. Written on the basis of personal emotional experience and events in the writer's family. As Turgenev himself put it about the story: The real incident is described without the slightest embellishment ... I portrayed my father. Many condemned me for this, and in particular they condemned me for the fact that I never hid it. But I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I have nothing to hide» .

Summary

Artistically, the story is made as a recollection of an elderly man who talks about his first love. The protagonist of the work, sixteen-year-old Vladimir, arrives with his family at a country estate, where he meets the beautiful twenty-one-year-old Zinaida Aleksandrovna Zasekina. Vladimir falls in love with Zinaida, but besides him, there are a number of other young people around the heroine seeking her favor. The hero's feelings are not reciprocated, Zinaida, who has a capricious and playful character, plays the hero, sometimes mocks him, ridiculing his comparative youth. Later, Vladimir discovers that the true object of Zinaida's love is his own father, Pyotr Vasilyevich. Vladimir secretly observes the meeting between his father and Zinaida and realizes that his father is leaving her and leaves the estate. A little later, Pyotr Vasilievich dies of a stroke. Some time later, Vladimir learns about the marriage of Zinaida with Mr. Dolsky and subsequent death during childbirth.

Heroes and prototypes

Screen adaptations

  • First Love (1968) - directed by Vasily Ordynsky; Cast: Vadim Vlasov, Irina Pechernikova, Innokenty Smoktunovsky
  • First Love (1995) - directed by Roman Balayan; with Anna Mikhalkova, Andrey Ishchenko, Marina Neyolova

Notes

Literature

N. V. Bogoslovsky. Life of wonderful people. Turgenev. - Moscow: Komsomol Central Committee "Young Guard", 1964.


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See what "First Love (story)" is in other dictionaries:

    - (film) several films of the same name. First love (novel) literary work Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev ... Wikipedia

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    Date of birth: 1906 Date of death: 1976 Citizenship: USSR Occupation: writer Genre: historical novel Works on the Lib website ... Wikipedia

    Lyubov Voronkova Date of birth: 1906 Date of death: 1976 Citizenship: USSR Occupation: writer Genre: historical novel Works on the site Lib ... Wikipedia

    - "THE STORY ABOUT A REAL MAN", USSR, MOSFILM, 1948, b/w, 94 min. Heroic drama. Based on the story of the same name by Boris Polevoy. Screen adaptation of Boris Polevoy's story, popular in the post-war years, about the pilot Alexei Maresyev, who lost in battle with ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia

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    Branch Genre: short story

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Vladimir Petrovich - (Volodya / Voldemar) - the main character of Ivan Turgenev's story "First Love". It is from his face and about his first love that the story is told.

First, we see an adult Vladimir Petrovich, who, being a guest, agrees to record and then tell his story of first love.

He was then only 16 years old, and he had just parted ways with his French tutor. He and his parents moved to the dacha, where he was slowly preparing for the university. At the dacha, he liked to ride a horse and shoot crows with a gun.

Zinaida Zasekina is a princess, the main character of Ivan Turgenev's story "First Love". We meet her when she is 21 years old, she is not yet married. She had just arrived with her mother at a modest dacha. They have high-profile titles, but have no money, and live in need. Despite this, she has many admirers, whom she plays as she pleases.

A young man named Volodya, her neighbor, who is only 16 years old, falls in love with her and joins the ranks of fans. Usually, she gathers everyone at her place, and they play different games, such as forfeits or a rope, or even invent their own.

Volodya's father (Pyotr Vasilyevich) is a handsome, calm and self-confident man who married Volodya's mother, who is 10 years older than him. He does not love his wife, as well as his son, practically does not educate him, but sometimes he can play with him or talk.

When his son was 16 years old, Peter started an affair with his first love - Princess Zinaida Zasekina, their neighbor in the country. The wife of Peter Vasilyevich found out about this novel, but he managed to convince her to forgive him, after which they had to urgently leave the country house for the city.

Volodya's mother(Maria Nikolaevna) - minor character, mother of Volodya and wife of Pyotr Vasilyevich. Despite the fact that Volodya had her only child, she did not pay attention to him. Often worried and constantly jealous of her husband. Immediately she began to treat the new neighbors Zasekin negatively. She said about the princess that she was very rude and impudent, and she called Zinaida a proud and adventuress. She forgave her husband's betrayal with Princess Zinaida.

Princess Zasekina- a minor character, the mother of Zinaida. An unpleasant and ill-mannered person. She spent all her money and is now asking everyone to stand up for her, begging for money in debt. ­

Belovzorov- a minor character, a hussar, one of Zinaida's admirers. I could move mountains for her. He constantly asked her to marry him.

Malevsky- a minor character, a count, one of Zinaida's admirers. He was smart and good-looking. Volodya considered him a fake. He wrote an anonymous letter to Volodya's mother, where he reported on her husband's connection with Zinaida.

Lushin- a minor character, a doctor, one of Zinaida's admirers. A direct and cynical person, he could tell the truth in person, including Zinaida.

Maidanov- a minor character, a poet, one of Zinaida's admirers. He loved to sing it in verse, his own composition.

Nirmatsky- a minor character, a retired captain, one of Zinaida's admirers.

Sergey Nikolaevich- an episodic character, together with the owner, listened to the story of the main character Vladimir Petrovich about his first love. Sergei Nikolaevich did not have his first love, according to him, he immediately began with the second.

Turgenev, reviews of which are given in this article, was first published in Russia in 1860. It tells about the emotional experiences of the young protagonist, his first true love, which had to face dramatic and sacrificial relationships between adults.

History of creation

The story "First Love" by Turgenev, with reviews can be found in this article, was written by the author in St. Petersburg in early 1860.

As the writer himself admitted, the work was created by him on the basis of his own emotional experience, as well as events that actually took place in the writer's family. Turgenev later admitted that he described everything as it was, trying not to embellish anything. One of the main characters was his father. Later, many condemned the writer for such frankness, and especially for the fact that he did not hide the fact that all these were real events, and not fiction.

Turgenev himself was firmly convinced that there was nothing wrong with this, since he had nothing to hide from the public.

The plot of the story

Turgenev's story "First Love" received mostly positive reviews. Both from readers and literary critics.

The plot of the story "First Love" by Turgenev, reviews of which are in this article, is a memoir of an elderly person. At the end of his life, he recalls the very first romantic feeling that visited him in his youth.

In the center of the story is the main character named Vladimir. He is only 16 years old. Together with his family, he lives in the country estate of his parents. There he meets the charming 21-year-old Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasekina, a princess who settles in the neighborhood. He immediately falls in love with beautiful girl, which also gives him signs of attention.

On his way there are many obstacles. Firstly, Zinaida is surrounded by a large number of other young people, each of whom seeks to achieve her location. And secondly, his feelings are not mutual. Zinaida is capricious, has a playful character, she often taunts the hero, ridiculing him for various reasons. For example, for his comparative youth.

Secret of Zinaida

The story "First Love" by Turgenev, "reviews of which are given in this article, captivates the reader. Especially when it turns out who was the true object of love of Zinaida herself. This is Vladimir's father, whose name is Peter Vasilyevich.

The protagonist secretly observes the scene of a romantic meeting between his father and Zinaida, which, however, ends in a break. Pyotr Vasilyevich decides to leave the young girl. However, his wife becomes aware of the affair of the spouse. The family leaves the estate.

Soon Pyotr Vasilyevich dies. He suffers from a stroke. At the end of the story, the main character learns that Zinaida has married Mr. Dolsky. He is going to see her, but does not have time. Princess Zinaida dies during childbirth.

Prototypes of the heroes of the story

As already mentioned, Turgenev's story "First Love" is based on real events. In the reviews of the work, you can find direct indications of the prototypes of the main characters.

The prototype of Peter Vasilievich is his father, whose name was Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev. His personal life was not entirely successful. He married by calculation on a woman who was much older than him, but more wealthy. The writer's mother is Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova. When they got married, she was 28 years old, and Turgenev's father was 22.

Sergei Nikolaevich never felt love and tenderness for his wife. Therefore, after several years of a relatively happy family life, he began to frankly stare at other women. In this he succeeded, Turgenev's father was popular with the opposite sex. His most famous mistress, with whom he had the longest relationship, Ekaterina Lvovna Shakhovskaya. Shortly after breaking up with her, he died at a relatively young age. He was only 40 years old.

Father Turgenev's mistress

Princess Shakhovskaya became the prototype of Zinaida Alexandrovna in Turgenev's story "First Love". You can find reviews about the work in this article. She was a poetess, the young Turgenev himself was really in love with her, but she preferred his father.

Her fate developed as described in the story. Soon after breaking up with Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, she married Lev Kharitonovich Vladimirov. Six months later, they had a boy. Shakhovskaya had a hard time giving birth, a week after the birth of the child, she died.

Analysis of the work

In the analysis of the work "First Love" by Turgenev, it is worth noting that the author was best able to depict the birth of a bright and great feeling that every person visits, as well as the development of love that emerged from a fleeting youthful enthusiasm.

The author claims that love can give a person a huge range of different feelings. And they may not always be positive. Love gives not only delight or peace, but is also able to settle hatred and anger in the soul.

In this work, you can follow all the stages of love. The protagonist at first experiences moments of happiness and rapture, then a feeling of black jealousy. And also annoyance and disappointment when it turns out that his main rival is his own father.

Narrative Features

Simplicity of presentation is one of the main advantages of Turgenev's entire prose. The reader does not have to constantly build complex facts into a single chain. Instead, a simple plot creates an impression of realism and sincerity. All remarks sound very natural, because everything actually happened in the life of the author. For this reason, working on this story gave him such pleasure.

The story "First Love" by Turgenev, the analysis of which is given in this article, is divided into chapters. Each of them contains a certain, completely independent plot. Thanks to this construction, the writer can more easily convey his ideas to the reader, demonstrate the entire spectrum of the development of the feelings of the characters.

The climax of the story comes in chapter 12. It describes in detail the entire gamut of powerful and conflicting feelings that the main character has for Princess Zinaida. The reader has a unique opportunity to look into the souls of the characters. Find out what they really feel, how they experience the events taking place.

Hero Skins

It is also important that almost all the characters in Turgenev's story are in development. The father of the protagonist is vividly and contrastingly presented. At some point, the reader may even sympathize with him, because his life is doomed. He is married to an unloved woman, and all his relationships on the side are doomed.

Throughout the story, the image also changes dramatically. main character- Princess Zinaida. Her image is undergoing a process of evolution. She transforms from the frivolous girl she was at the very beginning into a truly loving, strong and independent woman.

Interestingly, in the end, she turns out to be not so frivolous as she might seem at the very beginning of the story. Toward the middle of the work, she appears before us in the form of an unfortunate girl who is doomed to suffer in this life because of love. Literally from the inside, she is constantly tormented and gnawed by the thought that her love for married man there is no future. However, she steadfastly and courageously endures all the hardships that befall her. This says only one thing - during the romance with Pyotr Vasilyevich, she turned into a wise woman who knows the value of her feelings.

The main character of the story

In fact, the main character of the story is a real child. Youthful maximalism in it prevails over many rational feelings. For example, he wants to kill his rival, who prevents him from reuniting with Zinaida Alexandrovna.

However, when he learns that he has to compete with his own father, all his stormy mood passes. He forgives everyone around and looks at the situation in which he finds himself in a completely different way. Agree, the act is very naive and childish in its own way.

In 1860, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote the story "First Love". It is interesting that the author treated this work with special trepidation, because many of the moments described in the story were taken from the biography of Ivan Sergeevich and his own father. What is it about?

Here he describes the impressions of his first deep feeling and reveals the details of the family drama. As reflected in the story of his own first love, summary, heroes and the main idea is the subject of our article.

The images of the main characters of the work "First Love" are based on real people:

  • Volodya. This hero is the embodiment of the author himself in his youth. The experiences and feelings of Vladimir Petrovich can tell us what Ivan Sergeevich himself once experienced.
  • Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna. This heroine also had a real prototype. This is Ekaterina Shakhovskaya, a poetess with whom the writer was in love.
  • Peter Vasilyevich is the father of the protagonist. The prototype is the father of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev - Sergey Nikolaevich, who did not love his wife, got married because of promising material gain.
    His wife, Varvara Petrovna, was much older. During his lifetime, Sergei Nikolayevich was successful with women, and a stormy romance continued with Shakhovskaya for a long time.

Interesting! The story was filmed four times, not only by Russian directors, but also by foreign ones. For example, in 2013 a French adaptation of the book was released.

Turgenev said that it was important for him to describe everything reliably. There was no resentment either for the former beloved or for the father. The author tried to understand their actions.

The beginning of the story

The action of the story "First Love" by Turgenev takes place in 1833. The main character of the book, Vladimir Petrovich, is 16 years old.

The young man, together with his father and mother, lives in a dacha in Moscow, is preparing to become a university student.

Unexpectedly, an event occurs in the life of the protagonist that dramatically influenced him and the life of his entire family.

Near the dacha of Volodya and his parents there was a poor outbuilding in which Princess Zasekina settled with her daughter.

Volodya accidentally runs into the young princess Zinaida, and he likes the girl. He wants to get to know her better.

This was helped by chance. The princess's mother wrote a letter to Volodya's mother. The message was not very literate and contained a request for help. Zasekina asked for patronage.

The young man's mother was not indifferent to other people's troubles and ordered the young man to go to the Zasekins' house and invite him to dinner.

During this visit, Volodya met Princess Zinaida. It turned out that she was twenty-one years old. The princess at first flirts with the hero of the story, but soon ceases to do so.

At dinner, it becomes clear that Princess Zasekina is not very strong in manners: she sniffs tobacco loudly, cannot sit still in a chair and constantly complains about her difficult financial situation.

The daughter seems to be the complete opposite - she behaves with restraint, proudly. Zinaida Aleksandrovna communicates in French with Volodya's father and at the same time looks at him incredulously. She shows no interest in Vladimir himself at dinner. And, nevertheless, before leaving, in a whisper invites him to visit in the evening.

The birth of first love

Coming to the princess, the young man discovers that the girl has many admirers:

  • poet named Maidanov,
  • Dr Lushin,
  • retired captain Nirmatsky,
  • hussar named Belovzorov.

In this company, the evening was very fun and noisy. The young man even manages to kiss Zasekin's hand. The girl does not let go of Vladimir Petrovich a single step away from her. The young man decides that he is also not indifferent to her.

The next day, Volodin's father asks about the princess and the family, and then he himself went to the Zasekins' wing.

After dinner, the young man also goes to visit the princess, but she does not even come out. From that moment on, the girl seems to ignore him, and because of this, the hero suffers.

When Zinaida reappears, she feels happy.

So the young man becomes dependent on the presence of his beloved, feels jealous of the girl's fans. She soon guesses about the feelings of the hero.

In the house of Volodya's parents, Zinaida Aleksandrovna appears quite infrequently. The young man's mother does not like the princess, and the father sometimes communicates with the girl - little and restrained, in some language they both understand.

Important! Wikipedia, in an article on the story, provides users with not only a summary, but also a lot of interesting facts about the creation of the work.

Secret of Zinaida

Suddenly, the princess changes dramatically - from a coquette she turns into a thoughtful girl. He walks alone for a long time, often refusing to go out when guests come.

Vladimir suddenly realizes that the princess has fallen seriously in love. But at the same time, the hero does not guess who kindled this feeling in the princess.

Once a young man was sitting in the garden, on the wall of a dilapidated greenhouse, and suddenly saw Zinaida.

The girl also noticed Vladimir and ordered him to immediately jump onto the road to prove his feelings. The young man complied with this request, but falling to the ground, he lost consciousness for a moment.

Because of what happened, the girl is very frightened and, in a fit of emotions, even kisses the young man, but when he comes to his senses, he leaves and does not allow him to go with her. The young man feels inspired. True, the next day, when meeting, the princess keeps aloof.

Later, Volodya and Zinaida meet again in the garden. The young man wants to leave, but the princess does not allow this to be done. The girl behaves kindly and nicely, says that she is ready to be a friend and jokes that Vladimir can become her page.

This joke is picked up by Count Malevsky, who says that the young man must now know every little thing about his "queen" and constantly be there.

Vladimir attaches great importance these words, and goes to the garden at night to guard the girl, taking an English knife with him.

Unexpectedly, he meets his father, gets scared, drops his weapon on the ground and runs away.

The next day, the young man wants to discuss with his beloved what happened. But Zinaida cannot communicate face to face. Her twelve-year-old brother from the cadet school comes to the girl, and she asks the young man to entertain the boy.

In the evening, the princess finds Volodya in the garden and asks what happened and why he is so sad. He replies that he is unhappy that his beloved is not serious about him. The girl asks for forgiveness. Volodya cannot hold a grudge against his beloved, so after a quarter of an hour he is already running around the garden with might and main with a girl and her brother and enjoying life.

The denouement of the story

The hero tries to communicate with his beloved as if nothing had happened, tries not to keep bad thoughts in his head and not to suspect the girl of anything. But a week later, after returning home, he witnesses a scandal between his parents.

The mother says that her husband has a relationship with Princess Zasekina: an anonymous letter has arrived with information about this. The young man cannot believe it.

The next day, the mother declares that she is moving to another city and taking her son with her.

Volodya wants to say goodbye to his beloved before leaving, confesses his love to Zinaida, and says that he will not be able to love anyone else.

After some time, the young man meets again by chance with Zinaida. Together with his father, Vladimir goes on a horseback ride. Suddenly, the father gives him the reins and disappears.

The young man goes after him and finds that he is communicating with the princess through the window, insistently saying something to the girl, and Zinaida suddenly holds out her hand. The father abruptly raises the whip and strikes. The girl is frightened, but silently brings her bruised hand to her lips. Volodya is very alarmed by what he sees and runs away in fright.

Some more time passes. The hero of the story moves to St. Petersburg with his parents, becomes a university student.

Six months later, his father suddenly passes away: he receives a letter from Moscow and then dies of a heart attack. After Volodya's mother sends a substantial sum of money to Moscow.

Four years pass. Suddenly, Vladimir in the theater runs into an old acquaintance, Maidanov.

He told him that Zinaida now also lives in the northern capital. She is married and wants to move abroad.

After a high-profile story with Volodya's father, it was difficult for Zinaida to find a good groom. But since the girl was smart, she was able to do it.

Maidanov even tells the young man exactly where Zinaida lives. Volodya comes to the princess after some time and receives sad news on the spot. His lover died four days ago in childbirth.

Important! Like other works of Turgenev, this story can be read online for free on many resources.

What is the story about?

The story "First Love" almost completely reflects the difficult situation that occurred in the life of the author. It describes the details of the family drama. The work is written in an easy, simple language, and thanks to this, the reader can feel the experiences of the characters and better understand the essence of the work.

It is impossible not to believe in the sincerity of Vladimir Petrovich's feelings and to go through the stages of his growing up with him - from passionate and enthusiastic first love to sympathy.

The work clearly shows how the relationship between Volodya and Zinaida is changing, as well as how his attitude towards his own father is changing.

The story also reveals well the image of Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna. We see how she transforms from a frivolous flirtatious young lady into a devoted and loving woman. In addition, here Turgenev reflects the deep feeling of Father Volodya.

He did not love his wife, married her for money. And Zinaida sincerely fell in love, but he had to crush this feeling in himself.

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Summing up

Despite what the protagonist had to endure, he did not hate either Zinaida or his father. On the contrary, he loved his father even more.

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