Test. N. M. Karamzin. “Poor Liza” The peculiarity of the language of Karamzin’s works is that: and the writer brought it closer to living colloquial speech

In Russian literature there are many authors who wrote their works in different style, using the features and richness of the Russian language. Despite the fact that most writers adhered to the existing canons, without going beyond accepted standards, there were those who acted as innovators, giving readers works of a completely different direction. For example, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin can be called an innovator in literature. What is innovative in the work of this writer? It is not difficult to answer this question; it is enough to get acquainted with the works of his contemporaries and compare them with the works of Karamzin, which is what we did in one of our literature lessons.

What is Karamzin’s innovation?

Having studied the author's stories, we can answer the question of what his innovation is. It turns out that before Karamzin, writers in their works never touched on the feelings of their heroes, their inner world, while Karamzin endows the heroes with a sensitive nature. His characters know how to analyze their feelings. Such works were a novelty to eighteenth-century readers who were accustomed to strict classicism. Karamzin brought sentimentalism into his works. So, the work tells about a poor peasant woman and her love. The story of how she was seduced, abandoned, and the story of her suicide becomes a real sensation in the literature of the 18th century. The story shocked the audience with its innovative side, where the heroes turned out to be sensual people. At the same time, Karamzin’s innovation in Poor Liza was also the fact that the writer for the first time opens the topic female destiny. And Karamzin managed to show that peasant women also have souls, feelings, and know how to love. And in other works, Karamzin manages to reveal the inner world of his heroes, creating images sensitive people. The narrator himself treats the characters with sympathy, expressing his emotions towards the main characters of the works.

The language of narration in Karamzin’s stories was also innovative. He was close to the colloquial speeches of educated people, where in some places the simplicity of the conversation could be seen, which made the writer’s work clear and easy. With the help of comparisons and other techniques, Karamzin manages to better convey the sensory world of people and their inner experiences. After Karamzin, all literature of the nineteenth century begins to speak using natural language. This is Karamzin’s innovation, which manifested itself in his works.

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In 1791, after the publication of the revolutionary book by A. N. Radishchev, a description of the journey of another author began to be published, which played a very important, but completely different role in the development of Russian literature. These were “Letters of a Russian Traveler” by the young writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin.
Karamzin, although much younger than Radishchev, belonged to the same era of Russian life and literature. Both were deeply concerned about the same events of our time. Both were innovative writers. Both sought to bring literature down from the abstract mythological heights of classicism and to depict real Russian life. However, in their worldview they differed sharply from each other, their assessment of reality was dissimilar, and in many ways opposite, which is why all their work was so different.
The son of a poor Siberian landowner, a student of foreign boarding schools, and for a short time an officer in a capital regiment, Karamzin found his true calling, only after retiring and becoming close to the founder of the “Printing Company” N.I. Novikov and his circle. Under the leadership of Novikov, he participates in the creation of the first in our country children's magazine “Children's reading for the heart and mind.”
In 1789 Karamzin travels around the countries Western Europe. The trip served as material for him for “Letters of a Russian Traveler.” There has never been a book in Russian literature that spoke so vividly and meaningfully about life and customs European peoples, O Western culture. Karamzin describes his acquaintances and meetings with outstanding figures of European science and literature; talks enthusiastically about visiting the treasures of world art.
The sentiments of a “sensitive traveler” found in “Letters of a Russian Traveler” were a kind of revelation for Russian readers. Karamzin considered a special sensitivity of the heart, “sensitivity” (sentimentality), the main quality necessary for a writer. IN final words“Letters...” he seemed to outline the program of his subsequent literary activity.
The sensitivity of Karamzin, frightened French revolution, which he felt as a harbinger of a “worldwide rebellion,” ultimately led him away from Russian reality into the world of imagination.
Returning to his homeland, Karamzin began studying the Moscow Journal. In addition to “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” it published his stories from Russian life—“Poor Liza” (1792), “Natalia, boyar's daughter” and the essay “Flor Silin”. These works most forcefully expressed the main features of the sentimental Karamzin and his school.
Very important had Karamzin’s creativity for development literary language, spoken language, book speech. He sought to create one language for books and for society. He freed the literary language from Slavicisms, created and introduced into use big number new words, such as “future”, “industry”, “public”, “love”.
IN early XIX century, when literary youth fought for Karamzin’s language reform - Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Pushkin the lyceum student, he himself increasingly moved away from fiction.
In 1803, in his own words, Karamzin “was tonsured as a historian.” He devoted the last twenty-odd years of his life to a grandiose work - the creation of “The History of the Russian State.” Death found him working on the twelfth volume of “History...”, telling about the era of “times of troubles”.

Karamzin had a huge influence on Russian literature, he transformed the Russian language, removing it from the stilts of Latin construction and heavy Slavism and bringing it closer to living, natural, colloquial Russian speech...

Under him and as a result of his influence, heavy pedantry and scholasticism were replaced by sentimentality and secular lightness, in which there was much that was strange, but which were an important step forward for the literature of society. V. G. Belinsky

At the end of the 18th century, Russian nobles experienced two major historical events - peasant revolt led by Pugachev and the French bourgeois revolution. Political oppression from above and physical destruction from below - these were the realities facing the Russian nobles. Under these conditions, the former values ​​of the enlightened nobility underwent profound changes.

In the depths of Russian enlightenment is born new philosophy. Rationalists, who believed reason to be the main engine of progress, tried to change the world through the introduction of enlightened concepts, but at the same time they forgot about a specific person, his living feelings. The idea arose that it was necessary to enlighten the soul, to make it heartfelt, responsive to other people’s pain, other people’s suffering and other people’s concerns.

Karamzin and his supporters argued that the path to people's happiness and the common good is in the education of feelings. Love and tenderness, as if flowing from person to person, turn into kindness and mercy. “The tears shed by readers,” wrote Karamzin, “always flow from love for good and nourish it.”

On this basis, the literature of sentimentalism arose, for which the main thing is the inner world of man with its simple and simple joys, close friendly society or nature. In this case, a very close connection is established between sensitivity and morality. Conflicts between ordinary people, “sensitive” heroes and the prevailing morality in society are quite sharp. They can end in the death or misfortune of the hero.

In prose, the story and the journey became typical forms of sentimentalism. Both genres are associated with the name of Karamzin. An example of the genre of the story for the Russian reader was “ Poor Lisa”, and travel - his “Letters of a Russian Traveler”.

The popularity of “Poor Lisa” has not waned for several decades. It is still read with keen interest. The story is written in the first person, which implies the author himself. Before us is a story-memory. The hero-author first reports in detail about himself, about his favorite places in Moscow that attract him and which he willingly visits. This mood includes romance (“a magnificent picture, especially when the sun shines on it; when its evening rays glow on countless golden domes, on countless crosses ascending to the sky!”), and pastoral (“Below, there are plump, densely green , flowering meadows”), and gloomy forebodings inspired by the monastery cemetery and giving rise to thoughts about man’s mortal fate.

The sad story of Lisa is told through the lips of the author-hero. Recalling Liza’s family and patriarchal life, Karamzin introduces the famous formula “even peasant women know how to love!”, which sheds new light on the problem of social inequality. Rudeness and bad manners of souls are not always the lot of the poor.

Karamzin describes with completeness and detail the change in Liza’s moods from the first signs of flaring love to deep despair and hopeless suffering that led to suicide.

Lisa had not read any novels, and she had never experienced this feeling before, even in her imagination. Therefore, it opened stronger and more joyfully in the girl’s heart when she met Erast. With what extraordinary sublime feeling the author describes the first meeting of the young people, when Lisa treats Erast with fresh milk. “The stranger drank - and the nectar from Hebe’s hands could not have seemed tastier to him.” Lisa falls in love, but with love comes fear, she is afraid that thunder will kill her like a criminal, for “the fulfillment of all desires is the most dangerous temptation of love.”

Karamzin deliberately equated Erast and Liza in a universal human sense - they are both natures capable of rich emotional experiences. At the same time, Karamzin did not deprive the heroes of their individuality. Lisa is a child of nature and patriarchal upbringing. She is pure, naive, selfless and therefore less protected from the external environment and its vices. Her soul is open to natural impulses of feelings and is ready to indulge in them without thinking. The chain of events leads to the fact that Erast, having lost at cards, must marry a rich widow, and Lisa, abandoned and deceived, throws herself into the pond.

Karamzin's merit was that in his story there is no villain, but an ordinary “guy” belonging to a secular circle. Karamzin was the first to see this type of young nobleman, to some extent the predecessor of Eugene Onegin. “Erast was quite a rich nobleman, with a fair intellect and kind hearted, kind by nature, but weak and flighty. He led an absent-minded life, thought only about his own pleasure, looked for it in secular amusements, but often did not find it: he was bored and complained about his fate.” Erast’s naturally kind heart makes him and Lisa in common, but unlike her, he received a bookish, artificial upbringing, his dreams are lifeless, and his character is spoiled and unstable.

Without removing the guilt from Erast, the writer sympathizes with him. The hero’s vices are rooted not in his soul, but in the mores of society, Karamzin believes. Social and wealth inequality separates and destroys good people and becomes an obstacle to their happiness. Therefore, the story ends with a pacifying chord.

“Poor Liza” caused a whole wave of imitations: “Poor Masha” by Izmailov, “Alexander and Yulia” by Lvov, “Seduced Henrietta” by Svechinsky and many others. Diverse in nature, these works are grouped according to the way they express “sensibility.” Some authors prefer to open their hearts, diverting from any plot. Others, on the contrary, use a plot with many conflicts and collisions. “Speculative” works also appeared, in which the benefits of sentimental education were substantiated. An example of such works was Georgievsky’s story “Eugene, or Letters to a Friend.” The hero writes letters to a friend, in which he reports how he got married, how he and his wife talk about raising their son. The letters convey not so much the external outline of events as the tense inner life hero.

In the 18s, signs of a crisis of sentimentalism were revealed. Many imitators and epigones have appeared, simplifying philosophical meaning representations of Karamzin and his supporters. False sensitivity, pompous and pompous language increased the readers' dissatisfaction with the sentimental story.

However, it must be said that stylistic cliches and ornate style are characteristic of all writers this direction. Prose in those years was still searching for its own style. Expression psychological states person was a huge difficulty due to the rawness of the Russian literary language.

Under these conditions, the language of poetry served as a model for expressing emotional states. Therefore, the features of the language of poetry were directly transferred to prose, and writers tried to write prose the way they write poetry. But this gave rise to a “sweetness” of style, which the writers themselves mocked. Thus, the author of “mass” sentimentalism was P. Shalikov. The poet Tumansky wrote about him:

Child of a shepherd's nature

The writer Nulikov sings so sweetly,

It's time for him to tell me his name without any hassle

Confectioner of literature.

But the life of the genre is not over. As for the journey, which included a story, history, memoirs, a political essay, and an everyday story, it acquired other literary forms: adventure novel, travel novel, travel essay. The depth of the travel content was now determined by the entire spiritual world of the author. Best works Russian writers in the travel genre - “Letters of a Russian Officer” by F. Glinka, travel journalism by V. Kuchelbecker, “Journey to Arzrum” by A. Pushkin, “Frigate Pallada” by I. Goncharov - meet new reader expectations, since they present the personality of the traveler - interlocutor.

The sentimental story contributed to the humanization of society; it aroused genuine interest in man. Love, faith in the salvation of one’s own feelings, the coldness and hostility of life, the condemnation of society - all this can be encountered if you leaf through the pages of works of Russian literature, and not only of the 19th century, but also of the twentieth century.

Karamzin is a theorist of a new literary movement—sentimentalism—who practically developed its principles in his works.

Karamzin’s aesthetic principles, which formed the basis of his prose, were reflected both in programmatic works and in the writer’s theoretical articles. According to Karamzin, feeling, and not the rationalistic task characteristic of the poetics of classicism, should prevail in literary work. Depicting a person’s life with all its joys and sorrows, conveying his intimate experiences, the writer must be able to “touch our heart,” “fill it with sad or sweet feelings,” and lead the reader to moral perfection.

Karamzin is characterized by attention not only to English and German poetry, but also to antiquity.

In theoretically substantiating the aesthetics of sentimentalism, Karamzin also relied on Rousseau, in whose works he was close to sensitivity, psychologism and a subtle understanding of nature. However, Rousseau's criticism of false-enlightened absolutism and his revolutionary sermons were alien to Karamzin. “Rousseauism” became for Karamzin not a stimulus for the destruction of the feudal system, but a method of justifying freedom from politics.” Moderate liberalism, the desire to solve social issues in a moral and ethical sense, the desire to achieve the “common good” through the gradual development of enlightenment were characteristic of Karamzin’s worldview.

The surrounding reality, the objective world, were refracted through the prism of the author’s, subjective “I” of the writer. Karamzin believed that only a truly humane person, capable of compassion for the misfortunes of others, could take up a pen. The writer argued that only what is pleasant and “graceful is actually worthy of depiction, for only it is capable of delivering aesthetic pleasure to the reader.

Subjective experiences, subjective emotional perception and assessment of life phenomena, and not reality itself, unlike Radishchev, occupy the main place in Karamzin’s work. The author must “paint a portrait of his soul and heart,” while at the same time helping “fellow citizens to think and speak better.”

The most complete features of Karamzin's sentimental prose: the pathos of humanity, psychologism, subjectively sensitive, aestheticized perception of reality, lyricism of the narrative and simple “elegant” language - were manifested in his stories. They reflected increased attention the author to the analysis of love feelings, emotional experiences of the heroes, increased attention to the analysis of the love experiences of the heroes, increased attention to psychological actions. The name of Karamzin is associated with the birth of Russian psychological prose.

An important and progressive point in creative activity writer was the recognition of individual rights, regardless of class affiliation for implementation inner freedom. From here ideological basis the story “Poor Liza” was the writer’s statement “even peasant women know how to love.” Karamzin has no harsh assessments, no pathos of indignation, he seeks consolation and reconciliation in the suffering of the heroes. Dramatic events are intended to evoke not indignation or anger, but a sad, melancholy feeling. Despite the vitality of the situation, the author's subjective and emotional perception of reality prevented genuine typification. The life of Lisa and her mother bore little resemblance to the real life of peasants. Lisa, like the heroines of sentimental idylls, lives in a hut.

The lyrical manner of narration creates a certain structure. This in the story is served by the landscape against which the action develops, a landscape in tune with the moods of the heroes, and a special intonation structure of speech that makes Karamzin’s prose melodic, musical, caressing the ear and affecting the soul of the reader, who could not help but empathize with the heroes.

For the first time in Karamzin's prose, landscape became a means of conscious aesthetic influence. Readers of the story believed in the authenticity of the story, and the surroundings of the Simonov Monastery, the pond in which Lisa died, became a place of pilgrimage.

Success prose works Karamzin largely depended on the stylistic reform of the writer. Levin, speaking about Karamzin’s vocabulary, writes: “The stylistic coloring of the word here is not determined by the subject, but is superimposed on the subject, poeticizing it - and often the closer the subject is to everyday life, the less poetic it is in itself, the more necessary it is to poetize it with the help of displayed word".

What is the essence of Karamzin’s literary reform? In an effort to create a new Russian literary language to replace the three “calms” adopted by classicism, Karamzin set himself the task of bringing the literary language closer to the spoken language. He believed that any ideas and “even ordinary thoughts” could be expressed clearly and “pleasantly.”

Karamzin put forward a requirement to write “as they say,” but he focused on the colloquial speech of the educated noble class, clearing the language not only of archaisms, but also of common words. He considered it legitimate to enrich the Russian language through the assimilation of individual foreign words and new forms of expression. Karamzin introduced many new words: love, humane, public, industry, etc., which remained and enriched the vocabulary of the Russian language.

He strives to create a single syllable “for books and for society, to write as they speak, and to speak as they write.” And in contrast to Trediakovsky, Karamzin accomplishes this. It frees the vocabulary from excessive bookishness, remarkably simplifies the syntax, creates a “new syllable” that is logical and at the same time light, elegant, and equally convenient in pronunciation and writing. All this had very important consequences. “His style amazed all readers, it affected them like an electric shock,” writes N. I. Grech, hot on the heels. “Scholastic grandeur, half-Slavic, half-Latin,” Pushkin notes about the Lomonosov language, “became a necessity: fortunately Karamzin freed the language from the alien yoke and returned it to freedom, turning it to the living sources of the people’s word.”

Opponents of Karamzin's stylistic reform cruelly reproached him for the Frenchization of the Russian language - for excessive contamination with Gallicisms. Karamzin’s orientation towards the French language in the first period of his literary activity, indeed, sometimes took on the character of a mechanical transfer to the Russian language French words, expressions and phrases that littered it no less than the previous Slavicisms and Latinisms. However, later Karamzin himself tried to free himself from this

The disadvantage of Karamzin’s literary language reform was the departure from the rapprochement of the Russian literary language with the language common people. The limitations of Karamzin’s reform were due to the fact that his language was far from folk basis. Pushkin was able to understand and correct this. At the same time, Karamzin’s merit was the desire, carried out by him in his literary practice, to expand the boundaries of the literary language, liberate it from archaisms, and bring the literary language closer to the living spoken language of an educated society.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was a significant personality in the field of education, especially history and linguistics. He was the head of the sentimentalist movement in literature and created new trends in the Russian language. His work became known as the Karamzin language reform.

The essence of language reform

What did Nikolai Mikhailovich want to achieve with his reform? In those days, the Russian language was similar to Church Slavonic, and some features of the syntax made it “heavy”. The writer's goal was to remove most of the Latin and Slavic words in order to add words from French, which was considered the language of enlightened and educated people.

Principles of Karamzin's language reform

The writer saw his main task as ensuring that in noble society they began to write the way they speak. To create a “new syllable”, Karamzin started from linguistic features Lomonosov. His odes often used difficult, outdated words, which put some writers in a difficult position. One of the principles of Nikolai Mikhailovich’s work was the desire to bring the writers’ language closer to colloquial.

To do this, it was necessary to remove all Old Church Slavonicisms from the language. But it was also impossible to completely abandon them - this would mean depriving the Russian language of its roots, wealth and special charm. Therefore, the following types of Old Church Slavonicisms were retained:

• having a poetic connotation;
• used for artistic purposes;
• used to recreate a certain historical era.

Another principle of the “new” syllable was the simplification of sentences, that is, the replacement of ponderous, long, “Lomonosov” constructions with more simplified sentences. It was decided to replace all unions of Old Church Slavic origin. Karamzin sought to use as many Russian conjunctions as possible, mainly of a coordinating nature. He also changed the order of words on a straight line, which seemed to him more natural for a person.

And the third principle of Karamzin’s language reform was neologisms. Nikolai Mikhailovich tried not only to introduce a foreign word into Russian speech, but also to adapt it to the peculiarities of Russian grammar. Sometimes, his neologisms remained untranslated because he believed that they sounded more complete that way. But later, the writer reconsidered his views on borrowing and began to use more words of Russian origin.

Reaction to Shishkov's reform

Of course, such important changes could not but cause mixed reactions from society. There were also those who did not approve of Karamzin’s language reform. So, among his opponents was Shishkov - a prominent statesman that time. He was not a philologist, so his arguments were mainly patriotic in nature.

He considered Karamazin a freethinker, a lover of everything foreign. Shishkin believed that they were only spoiling the Russian language and distorting its essence. Only the use of Slavic words contributes patriotic education. Therefore, he proposed replacing already established foreign expressions with Slavic ones. So, for example, replace the word “actor” with “actor”.

The principles of language reform of Karamzin and Shishkov have a different basis: Nikolai Mikhailovich understood that it was necessary to change the linguistic system from a philological point of view, and Shishkov was guided by patriotism.

Pros and cons of Karamzin's language reform

The introduced innovations, as we said, caused mixed assessments in society. On the one hand, all the changes that have occurred are a natural result of the historical events that Russia has experienced. The Age of Enlightenment had arrived, so it was necessary to simplify the language system and get rid of outdated words. This is natural because it cannot develop unless new words, phrases and expressions appear.

But on the other hand, the French language has become too much. Its active introduction contributed to the fact that the differences between the communication of the common people and the upper classes became simply enormous. And this reform can be called to some extent antisocial and not conducive to the formation of patriotism. But this was an absolutely natural phenomenon in the era

Therefore, despite conflicting assessments, it should be noted that Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamazin had a great influence on the development of the literary language and general culture in Russia.

1. First steps in psychological prose.
2. Artistic features of the story.
3. New techniques used by Karamzin.

N. M. Karamzin, the founder of sentimental-realistic literature, was a recognized master of creating wonderful stories telling about the destinies of his contemporaries. It was in this genre that his talent as a sentimentalist writer was most fully revealed.

Karamzin’s stories: “Frol Silin”, “Poor Liza”, “Natalia, the Boyar’s Daughter”, “Julia”, “A Knight of Our Time”, “Sensitive and Cold”, “Marfa Posadnitsa” - differing from each other in their artistic features and structure, are nevertheless striking examples of psychological prose. Most often, due to their more mobile emotionality and openness of feelings, the main characters of Karamzin’s stories were representatives of the fair sex. At the same time, the author sought to consider the characters of people belonging to completely different classes, which is why his heroes are so diverse: the hawthorn Natalya, the “peasanka” Liza, socialite Julia, mayor Marfa, boyar Lyuboslavsky. The writer does not just talk about the life of this or that person, but tries to reveal his inner world, show his advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps this is why his heroes are very realistic and how ordinary people they suffer and love, do noble and not always worthy deeds. We can say that Karamzin managed to deeply comprehend female soul their heroines, which means creating multifaceted and truthful female images.

The writer’s story “Poor Lisa” became the most popular. It is believed that Karamzin was prompted to create such an image by the work of another well-known writer of his time, M. N. Muravyov, who was one of the first to realize the extra-class value human personality: “I was struck by the reflection that on the same day a simple peasant inspired respect in me, when I looked with contempt at a noble, unworthy of his breed. I felt the full power of personal dignity. It alone belongs to man and elevates every state.” Like the heroes of Muravyov’s prose, Liza, according to literary scholars, lives in the suburbs, “near a birch grove, in the middle of a green ravine,” which allows her to be close to nature.

The main character of "Poor Liza", a young girl, presumably born into a peasant family, was brought up in accordance with strict moral ideals. Her late father “loved work, plowed the land well and always led a sober life.” From childhood, parents instilled in their daughter the rule “to feed yourself by your own labors and not to take anything for nothing.” Lisa's mother, having lost her husband early, remained faithful to his memory for long years, “for even peasant women know how to love!”

Throughout the entire work, Nikolai Mikhailovich’s sympathy for his heroine is noticeable. Perhaps he deliberately does not reveal the true social environment their characters, so Lisa and her mother can be classified as both poor city dwellers and representatives of an impoverished noble family. There is nothing to indicate that women were serfs. However, this is not excluded, since the writer emphasizes that Lisa “worked day and night - weaving canvas, knitting stockings, picking flowers in the spring, and picking berries in the summer - and sold all this in Moscow.” Peasant life and the daily activities of the main characters are also shown by the author in a deliberately pastoral manner: “...helpful Liza... ran to the cellar, brought a clean jar covered with a clean wooden mug, grabbed a glass, washed it, and wiped it with a white towel.”

The relationship between Lisa and the nobleman Erast is also filled with sentimental, idyllic moods. Moreover, the tragic ending is dictated not by the social inequality of the lovers, but by unfavorable circumstances and the frivolity of the protagonist. This most clearly reveals the ideological difference between Karamzin’s story and the works of Radishchev, who, on the contrary, great value attached to the social environment of his heroes. Even the attitude of Lisa and Erast towards each other bears a touch of a sentimental-romantic mood. The main characters are completely divorced from real life. Moreover, if this is excusable and even characteristic of the rich young man who “read novels,” then, logically, should be completely alien to a peasant girl accustomed to early childhood to deal with real life. Nevertheless, young people often perceive themselves as characters from a pastoral idyll. Even Lisa in her dreams often imagines herself and her chosen one not as who they are in everyday life: “If the one who now occupies my thoughts was born a simple peasant, a shepherd, - and if he were now driving his flock past me: ah! I would bow to him with a smile and say affably: Hello, dear shepherd! Where are you driving your flock? And here grows green grass for your sheep; and here the flowers are red, from which you can weave a wreath for your hat.”

At the same time, the language and speech patterns of the main characters of the story further emphasize the sentimental and romantic mood of the entire work. Words such as “soul”, “dear friend”, “love”, “scarlet flowers” ​​initially set the reader in a more romantic mood. Karamzin comes under close attention primarily to internal state Erast and Lisa. The author, like a skilled artist, subtly shows all the shades of this love. Image main character striving to gain true love, is revealed rather unilinearly. Karamzin here does not seek to somehow break out of the established rules: Liza is sensitive and virtuous, and her “fall” does not go beyond ethical standards. However, this is completely uncharacteristic of this genre. tragic ending works. For the first time in Russian sentimental prose, everything does not end with a wedding and reunion loving hearts, but the death of one of the heroes. Lisa committed suicide. Nevertheless, Nikolai Mikhailovich’s story is distinguished by its humanistic orientation, and this applies not only to the girl, but also to her chosen one. When describing the image of Erast, the author finally decides to move away from generally accepted classical norms, turning to natural laws. The young man, having a noble character, condemned himself. He felt guilty for the girl's death and experienced moral torment for the rest of his life.

About my emotional drama The hero himself tells the author: “Erast was unhappy until the end of his life. Having learned about Lizina’s fate, he could not console himself and considered himself a murderer. I met him a year before his death. He himself told me this story and led me to Lisa’s grave...” Thanks to the deviation from classic norms, Erast’s character looks more lifelike and believable. With his work, Karamzin once again wants to prove that there are no declared villains who do evil only for the sake of love for evil itself and who hate good only because it is good: “People do a lot of evil - without a doubt - but there are few villains; delusion of the heart, recklessness, lack of enlightenment through the guilt of bad deeds... A perfect villain or a person who loves evil because it is evil and hates good because it is good is almost a bad pietistic invention, according to at least a monster outside of nature, a being inexplicable by natural laws.” Using the example of Erast, the author shows that bad deeds are sometimes characteristic of noble people. Complex and multifaceted human nature, according to Karamzin, cannot fit into within strict limits classicism. There was a need to search for new directions in Russian literature artistic expression.

The writer’s work “Poor Liza” was quite favorably received by the literary community. This was largely due to the author’s use of new forms of artistic expression. According to V.V. Sipovsky, Karamzin, like I.V. Goethe, revealed to the Russian reader that “new word” that everyone had long been expecting. The writer continued his literary activity in the field of sentimental-psychological direction.

Soon another of his stories appeared - “Natalya, the Boyar’s Daughter.” Wondering how historical work, it nevertheless tells more about the tender feelings of the main characters than about real historical events. Karamzin's innovation is manifested in his subtle depiction inner world their characters, moreover, the feelings of the main characters are conveyed in development, in dynamics. Natalya, in her essence, turns out to be almost a double of Lisa, since she is endowed with the same attributes as all the heroines sentimental stories the end of the 18th century.