Poor Lisa's work read the summary. Poor Lisa (story)

A trusting, pure-hearted peasant woman falls in love with a nobleman. The young rake deceives the girl, and she, unable to bear the betrayal, commits suicide.
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Very briefly

After the death of her father, Lisa is forced to work hard. She becomes the only breadwinner for an old, sick mother. The girl is hardworking, modest, well-bred. In the summer she sells berries and flowers on the streets of Moscow, and in the winter she weaves canvases and knits stockings.

Selling flowers, Lisa meets a young rich boy named Erast. He is fascinated by the beautiful Lisa, and henceforth promises to buy flowers only from her. A day later, Erast visits Lisa in her modest house. He enters into the confidence of his mother, and meets the girl without hindrance.

Lovers make plans for the future, promising each other eternal love. Erast admires the purity and chastity of a young peasant woman, her untouched beauty. Once Lisa informs him that a rich peasant is wooing her. Erast categorically forbids her to marry him. In a fit of feelings, the young man even promises to marry Lisa. The girl believes him, and that very evening they become close.

Erast quickly grows cold to Lisa. He reports that he is leaving for the war, and disappears from the girl's life. After a while, she accidentally meets him in Moscow. Erast reports that he married an elderly rich noblewoman of convenience.

XVIII century, which glorified many wonderful people, including the writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. Towards the end of this century, he published his most famous creation - the story "Poor Lisa". It was it that brought him resounding fame and immense popularity among readers. The book is based on two characters: the poor girl Liza and the nobleman Erast, which appear in the course of the plot in their attitude to love.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin made a huge contribution to the cultural development of the fatherland at the end of the 18th century. After numerous trips to Germany, England, France and Switzerland, the prose writer returns to Russia, and while vacationing at the dacha of the famous traveler Pyotr Ivanovich Beketov In the 1790s, he undertakes a new literary experiment. The local surroundings not far from the Simonov Monastery strongly influenced the concept of Poor Liza, which he nurtured during his travels. Nature was of great importance for Karamzin, he truly loved her and often changed the city bustle for forests and fields, where he read his favorite books and plunged into thought.

Genre and direction

"Poor Liza" is the first Russian psychological story, which contains the moral disagreement between people of different classes. Liza's feelings are clear and understandable to the reader: for a simple bourgeois woman, happiness is love, so she blindly and naively loves. Erast's feelings, on the contrary, are more confused, because he himself cannot understand them in any way. At first, the young man simply wants to fall in love, just like in the novels he has read, but it soon becomes clear that he is not able to live by love. City life, full of luxury and passion, had a huge impact on the hero, and he discovers a carnal attraction that completely destroys spiritual love.

Karamzin is an innovator; he can rightfully be called the founder of Russian sentimentalism. Readers took the work with admiration, since society has long been wanting something like this. The audience was exhausted by the moral teachings of the classicist direction, the basis of which is the worship of reason and duty. Sentimentalism, on the other hand, demonstrates the emotional experiences, feelings and emotions of the heroes.

About what?

According to the writer, this story is "a very simple tale." Indeed, the plot of the work is simple to the point of genius. It begins and ends with the outline of the area of \u200b\u200bthe Simonov Monastery, which evokes in the memory of the narrator the thoughts of a tragic turn in the fate of poor Liza. This is the love story of a poor provincial woman and a wealthy young man from a privileged class. The acquaintance of the lovers began with the fact that Lisa was selling lilies of the valley collected in the forest, and Erast, wanting to strike up a conversation with a girl he liked, decided to buy flowers from her. He was captivated by the natural beauty and kindness of Lisa, and they began to meet. However, soon the young man was fed up with the charm of his passion and found a more profitable party. The heroine, unable to withstand the blow, drowned herself. Her lover regretted it all his life.

Their images are ambiguous, first of all, the world of a simple natural person, unspoiled by city bustle and greed, is revealed. Karamzin described everything in such detail and picturesquely that readers believed in this story and fell in love with his heroine.

The main characters and their characteristics

  1. The main character of the story is Lisa, a poor country girl. At an early age, she lost her father and was forced to become the breadwinner for her family, agreeing to any job. The industrious provincial is very naive and sensitive, she sees only good features in people and lives by her emotions, following the call of her heart. She looks after her mother day and night. And even when the heroine decides on a fatal act, she still does not forget about the family and leaves her money. Lisa's main talent is the gift of love, because for the sake of her loved ones she is ready to do anything.
  2. Liza's mother is a kind and wise old woman. She very hard experienced the death of her husband Ivan, as she loved him faithfully and lived happily with him for many years. The only joy was her daughter, whom she tried to marry off to a worthy and wealthy man. The character of the heroine is internally whole, but a little bookish and idealized.
  3. Erast is a wealthy nobleman. He leads a riotous lifestyle, thinking only of fun. He is smart, but very fickle, spoiled and weak-willed. Without thinking that Lisa is from a different class, he fell in love with her, but still he cannot overcome all the difficulties of this unequal love. Erast cannot be called a negative hero, because he admits his guilt. He read and was inspired by novels, was dreamy, looking at the world with pink glasses. Therefore, his real love could not stand such a test.
  4. Subject

  • The main theme in sentimental literature is the sincere feelings of a person in the face of the indifference of the real world. Karamzin was one of the first to decide to write about the spiritual happiness and suffering of the common people. He reflected in his work the transition from the civic theme, which was widespread in the era of the Enlightenment, to a personal one, in which the main subject of interest is the spiritual world of the individual. Thus, the author, describing in depth inner world characters, together with their feelings and experiences, began to develop such a literary device as psychologism.
  • Love theme. Love in Poor Lisa is a test that tests the characters for strength and loyalty to their word. Lisa completely surrendered to this feeling, her author elevates and idealizes for this ability. She is the embodiment of the female ideal, the one that completely dissolves in the adoration of her beloved and is faithful to him until her last breath. But Erast could not stand the test and turned out to be a cowardly and miserable person, incapable of self-giving in the name of something more important than material wealth.
  • Contrasting city and village. The author prefers the countryside, it is there that natural, sincere and kind people who do not know temptation are formed. But in big cities, they acquire vices: envy, greed, selfishness. Erast's position in society was more precious than love, he was fed up with it, because he was not able to experience a strong and deep feeling. Liza, on the other hand, could not live after this betrayal: if love died, she follows her, because she cannot imagine her future without her.
  • Problem

    Karamzin in the work "Poor Liza" touches upon various problems: social and moral. The problematic of the story is based on opposition. The main characters differ both in quality of life and character. Lisa is a pure, honest and naive girl from the lower class, and Erast is a spoiled, weak-willed, thinking only about his pleasures, a young man belonging to the nobility. Lisa, having fallen in love with him, cannot even a day without thinking about him, while Erast, on the contrary, began to move away as soon as he received what he wanted from her.

    The result of such fleeting moments of happiness for Liza and Erast is the death of the girl, after which the young man cannot stop blaming himself for this tragedy and remains unhappy until the end of his life. The author showed how class inequality led to an unhappy ending and served as a pretext for the tragedy, as well as what responsibility a person bears for those who trusted him.

    the main idea

    The plot is far from the most important thing in this story. The emotions and feelings that awaken during reading are worthy of more attention. The narrator himself plays a huge role, because he tells with sadness and sympathy about the life of a poor rural girl. For Russian literature, the image of an empathic narrator who knows how to empathize with the emotional state of the heroes turned out to be a discovery. Any dramatic moment makes his heart bleed as well as sincerely shed tears. Thus, the main idea of \u200b\u200bthe story "Poor Liza" is that one should not be afraid of one's feelings, love, worry, compassion with full breast. Only then will a person be able to conquer immorality, cruelty and selfishness in himself. The author begins with himself, because he, a nobleman, describes the sins of his own class, and gives sympathy to a simple village girl, urging people of his position to become more humane. Inhabitants of poor huts sometimes overshadow the masters of old estates with their virtue. This is the main idea of \u200b\u200bKaramzin.

    The attitude of the author to the main character of the story also became an innovation in Russian literature. So Karamzin does not blame Erast when Liza dies, he demonstrates the social conditions that served as the reason tragic event. Big city influenced the young man, destroying his moral principles and making him depraved. Liza, on the other hand, grew up in the countryside, her naivety and simplicity played a cruel joke on her. The writer also demonstrates that not only Lisa, but also Erast was subjected to the hardships of fate, becoming a victim of sad circumstances. The hero experiences feelings of guilt throughout his life, never becoming truly happy.

    What does it teach?

    The reader has the opportunity to learn something from other people's mistakes. The clash of love and selfishness is a hot topic, since anyone at least once in his life experienced unrequited feelings, or experienced betrayal of a loved one. Analyzing Karamzin's story, we gain important life lessons, become more human and responsive to each other. The creations of the era of sentimentalism have a single property: they help people to enrich themselves mentally, and also bring up the best humane and moral qualities in us.

    The story "Poor Liza" has gained popularity among readers. This work teaches a person to be more responsive to other people, as well as the ability to compassion.

    Interesting? Keep it on your wall!

In the vicinity of Moscow, not far from the Simonov Monastery, once lived a young girl Liza with her old mother. After the death of Liza's father, a rather wealthy peasant, his wife and daughter became impoverished. The widow became weaker day by day and could not work. Liza alone, not sparing her tender youth and rare beauty, worked day and night - weaving canvases, knitting stockings, picking flowers in spring, and selling berries in Moscow in summer.

One spring, two years after her father's death, Liza came to Moscow with lilies of the valley. A young, well-dressed man met her on the street. When he learned that she was selling flowers, he offered her a ruble instead of five kopecks, saying that "beautiful lilies of the valley, plucked by the hands of a beautiful girl, are worth a ruble." But Lisa refused the proposed amount. He did not insist, but said that henceforth he would always buy flowers from her and would like her to pick them only for him.

Arriving home, Liza told her mother everything, and the next day she picked the best lilies of the valley and again came to the city, but this time she did not meet the young man. Throwing flowers into the river, she returned home with sadness in her soul. The next evening a stranger came to her house himself. As soon as she saw him, Liza rushed to her mother and excitedly announced who was going to them. The old woman met her guest, and he seemed to her a very amiable and pleasant person. Erast - that was the name of the young man - confirmed that he was going to buy flowers from Lisa in the future, and she did not have to go to the city: he himself could call in to them.

Erast was a fairly wealthy nobleman, with a fair mind and a naturally kind heart, but weak and windy. He led an absent-minded life, thought only of his own pleasure, looked for it in worldly amusements, and not finding it, he was bored and complained about fate. The immaculate beauty of Lisa at the first meeting shocked him: it seemed to him that in her he had found exactly what he had been looking for for a long time.

This was the beginning of their long dates. Every evening they saw each other either on the banks of the river, or in a birch grove, or under the shade of centenary oak trees. They hugged, but their embrace was pure and innocent.

Several weeks passed in this way. It seemed that nothing could interfere with their happiness. But one evening Lisa came to a date sad. It turned out that the groom, the son of a rich peasant, was wooing her, and mother wanted her to marry him. Erast, comforting Liza, said that after the death of his mother he would take her to him and would live inseparably with her. But Lisa reminded the young man that he could never be her husband: she is a peasant, and he is of a noble family. You offend me, said Erast, for your friend the most important thing is your soul, a sensitive, innocent soul, you will always be closest to my heart. Liza threw herself into his arms - and in this hour purity must perish.

Delusion passed in one minute, giving way to surprise and fear. Lisa cried, saying goodbye to Erast.

Their meetings continued, but how everything changed! Liza was no longer an angel of purity for Erast; platonic love gave way to feelings that he could not "be proud of" and which were not new to him. Lisa noticed a change in him, and this saddened her.

Once, during a meeting, Erast told Lisa that he was being drafted into the army; they will have to part for a while, but he promises to love her and hopes to never part with her upon his return. It is not difficult to imagine how hard Liza experienced separation from her beloved. However, hope did not leave her, and every morning she woke up with the thought of Erast and their happiness upon his return.

About two months passed in this way. Once Liza went to Moscow and on one of the large streets she saw Erast passing by in a magnificent carriage, which stopped near a huge house. Erast left and was about to go to the porch, when he suddenly felt himself in Lisa's arms. He turned pale, then, without a word, led her into the study and locked the door. Circumstances have changed, he announced to the girl, he is engaged.

Before Lisa could recover, he took her out of the office and told the servant to see her out of the yard.

Finding herself on the street, Liza went wherever she looked, unable to believe what she had heard. She left the city and wandered for a long time, until suddenly she found herself on the bank of a deep pond, under the shade of ancient oak trees, which a few weeks before had been silent witnesses her enthusiasm. This memory shocked Lisa, but after a few minutes she plunged into deep thought. Seeing a neighbor's girl walking along the road, she called her, took all the money out of her pocket and gave it to her, asking to give it to her mother, kiss her and ask her to forgive her poor daughter. Then she threw herself into the water, and they could no longer save her.

Liza's mother, having learned about the terrible death of her daughter, could not withstand the blow and died on the spot. Erast was unhappy for the rest of his life. He did not deceive Lisa when he told her that he was going to the army, but instead of fighting the enemy, he played cards and lost his entire fortune. He had to marry an elderly rich widow who had been in love with him for a long time. Having learned about Lisa's fate, he could not console himself and considered himself a murderer. Now, maybe they have already reconciled.

Summary of "Poor Lisa" Karamzin

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Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin wrote his story "Poor Liza" in 1792, during the heyday of serfdom in Russia. In this work, Karamzin emotionally, in colors and details, describes the story of the deep and unhappy love of a young peasant girl for the nobleman Erast.

We can safely say that it was this work, in which human emotions and the real life of the main characters surrounded by everyday life were so vividly and vividly described, had a significant impact on further development Russian classical literature.

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Introduction to the work

Karamzin's story "Poor Liza" can be safely called one of the brightest examples of sentimentalism in Russian classical literature. In his work, the author reveals the inner world of each of the heroes, shows all the depth and versatility of the feelings experienced by Liza and Erast. And the very idea of \u200b\u200bthe work can be described as raising human feelings to the rank of the highest life values.

In addition, leading his story on behalf of the narrator in the work "Poor Liza", Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was able to show and describe all the versatility of life and nature surrounding the main characters. It is with a description of the environs of Moscow that the narrator begins his sad narration, and the whole work seems to be penetrated with detailed and vivid descriptions nature and life surrounding the main characters. And the realism of such descriptions allows the reader to find himself, as it were, "inside the work" and feel like a participant in the events.


In his work, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin describes the events taking place with the two main characters:

In addition to the main protagonists, Karamzin also describes other characters in his story.

  • The narrator is a sentimental person who empathizes with Liza and Erast, whose sad story he tells in the work. The character of the narrator is not just kind, he wholeheartedly empathizes with the tragic love of the main character for Erast, considering what happened a real tragedy.
  • Liza's mother is an elderly woman, widowed and living with her daughter in a modest hut near a birch grove. A gentle and kind woman, she dreams of marrying her daughter to a good, kind person.

The whole story can be divided into two main parts: romantic and tragic. Let's consider a brief summary of the content of each of them.

The romantic part


The tragic part of the story

This is just a summary of the work "Poor Liza", reading the full version of the story online or on paper will be much more exciting.

Poor Lisa

The author argues how nice the surroundings of Moscow are, but best of all near the Gothic towers of the Sl ... new monastery, from here you can see the whole of Moscow with an abundance of houses and churches, many groves and pastures on the other side, "further, in the dense green Danilov Monastery ", and even further away, the Sparrow Hills rise on the horizon.

Wandering among the ruins of the monastery, the author imagines its former inhabitants, but more often he is attracted by his memories of the deplorable fate of Lisa: I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow! "Seventy fathoms from the monastery stands an empty, dilapidated hut In it for thirty years "before this" lived a beautiful, kind Liza with an old mother. The father loved work and was a wealthy peasant, but after his death his wife and daughter became poorer. They rented land and lived on this little money. Mother, yearning for her father, wept (for peasant women know how to love.) She was weak and could not work. Liza alone, not sparing her youth and beauty, weaved canvases, knitted stockings, sold forest flowers in the spring, and berries in the summer. was a very grateful and gentle daughter.

Once in Moscow, selling lilies of the valley, Liza met a handsome and kind young man who instead of five kopecks gave her a ruble, but Liza refused and took what was supposed to be. The young man asked her where she lived. Lisa went home. She told her mother about the incident, and she praised her daughter for the fact that Lisa did not take the money. The next day, Liza took the best lilies of the valley to the city, but did not sell them to anyone, but threw them out so that no one would get it, if she did not find the former young man. The next evening the young man visited their poor home. Liza treated him to milk, and his mother managed to tell about her grief. The young man tells his mother to Lisa sell her work only to him. This will save the girl from going to Moscow. For from time to time he will come and buy the products of her labor on the spot. The old woman agreed. The young man introduced himself as Erast.

He was a fairly wealthy nobleman, intelligent and kind. He led an absent-minded life, often bored. Having met Lisa, he was seriously carried away by the girl, decided to leave the "big world" for a while.

Lisa fell in love. She grieved that Erast was not an ordinary peasant. But soon he himself appeared, confessed his love to her and dispersed the girl's melancholy. Lisa wants to tell her mother about her happiness, but the young man asks not to tell her anything, "because old people are suspicious."

Young people see each other every day. Erast is delighted with "his shepherdess", as he calls Lisa.

Liza is wooed by a rich peasant, but she refuses. Lisa and Erast became close. Erast changed to his beloved, she ceased to be a symbol of integrity for him, these feelings were no longer new to him. He began to avoid Lisa. One day they did not see each other for five days, and on the sixth he came and said that he was going to war; he left money for Lisa's mother so that the girl would not go to trade in his absence. When parting, young people cry bitterly. Two months have passed. Lisa went to the city to buy rose water, which her mother used to treat her eyes. In the city, she saw Erast in a magnificent carriage. Lisa caught up with him at the gate of the house and hugged him. Erast says he is engaged and must marry. He gives the girl a hundred rubles and asks to leave him alone. Erast lost in order to pay his debts, he is forced to marry "an elderly rich widow." Liza gives the money to her friend Anyuta so that she can take it to her mother, and she herself throws herself into the waters of the pond. She was buried right there, under an oak tree. The mother, having learned about the death of her daughter, also died. The hut was empty. Erast was unhappy until the end of his life. He considered himself the girl's killer. Erast himself told the author this sad story and led him to the grave of Lisa. The author ends the story with the phrase: "Now, maybe they have already reconciled."