The theme of love in the novel “Fathers and Sons” is revealed through the example of the relationships of the following four couples: Bazarov and Odintsova, Pavel Petrovich and Princess R., Arkady and Katya, Nikolai Petrovich and Fenechka. In this article we will briefly describe the feelings of these heroes. The theme of love in the novel “Fathers and Sons” helps to understand the character of the characters. The experience of this feeling reveals the personality traits of each of them.
The most striking character of the work is Bazarov. The author puts this hero at the center of the story, and the history of his relationship with Anna Sergeevna is given significant space. Therefore, we will start with it.
Bazarov's feelings for Odintsova
Statements about Bazarov’s love and his feelings for Odintsova reveal contradictions in Evgeny’s nature. Perhaps, to some extent, the author’s irony is the depiction of the victory over nihilism of the flared romantic feeling. However, the real meaning of this situation seems to be the opposite. The fact is that for Turgenev, true love has always been the criterion of a high personality. The author did not at all seek to humiliate Eugene; on the contrary, he wanted to elevate him. Turgenev tried to show that in callous and dry nihilists there is hidden a powerful force of feeling, one that Arkady is not capable of in his relationship with Katya.
However, love in the fate of common democrats rarely played a fatal role, as, for example, in the life of Pavel Petrovich. What happened to Evgeniy is rather an exception. That is why Turgenev in his work assigns a secondary role to the love plot.
At the beginning of the novel, Bazarov treats this feeling as romantic nonsense. He believes that this is “emptiness” and “licentiousness.” The story about the feeling that R. Pavel Petrovich had for Princess R. was introduced by Turgenev as a warning to Bazarov, this arrogant young man. Love in the life of the heroes of the novel by I.S. Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" becomes fatal.
Scientific views
Arkady Kirsanov
“You should arrange your life in such a way that every day is significant.”
“When a maple leaf falls to the ground, it looks like a butterfly, and this is strange - because the driest and deadest is similar to the most cheerful and lively.”
“There must be something special, some kind of vanity, in the feeling of a person who knows and says that he is poor.”
Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov
“Either I’m stupid, or this is all nonsense. I must be stupid."
". as soon as he had passed his eighteenth year, and placed him in the university. "
". In 1835, Nikolai Petrovich left the university as a candidate. "
". Nikolai Petrovich was afraid of the young “nihilist”. "
. And he looked around, as if wanting to understand how one could not sympathize with nature. "
Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov
“Personality, dear sir, is the main thing; The human personality must be as strong as a rock, for everything is built on it.”
“They [the Russian people] sacredly honor traditions, they are patriarchal, they cannot live without faith.”
“A thought occurred to me; Why not express it?”
“Without self-esteem, without self-respect - and in an aristocrat these feelings are developed - there is no solid foundation. public building. "
“Let us do our duty; and look, we will also get happiness into the bargain.”
The image of Anna Sergeevna
Anna Sergeevna is the culprit of the big changes that happened to the main character. She is a beauty, an aristocrat, a young widow of 28 years old. Odintsova experienced and felt a lot. She is a proud, independent and intelligent woman who has a decisive and free character. Of course, Eugene struck her imagination. And Anna Sergeevna interested the hero with her freedom of judgment, serene calm, erudition, originality, and democracy. However, Odintsova cannot respond to Bazarov with the same strong feeling. Of course, in the eyes of the reader she loses to Eugene, who turns out to be taller than her.
We can say that thanks to her, a turning point occurred in the soul of Evgeny Bazarov. Love for her is the beginning of tragic retribution for Bazarov. This feeling seems to split his soul into two halves.
Relationship between Evgeny and Anna Odintsova
Bazarov is certainly a charismatic person, and Anna could not help but become interested in him. She even decides to invite him to visit her, and Evgeniy comes to her. In Nikolskoye, he and Bazarov spend a lot of time walking, talking, arguing. Odintsova appreciates Evgeniy’s extraordinary mind.
What about Bazarov? The main character's attitude towards love changes completely, for him this feeling ceases to be nonsense and art, now he really loves. He does not dream of reciprocity, but only waits for some favor from the chosen one of his heart.
A turning point in the soul of Evgeny Bazarov
From this moment on, two people live in the hero. The first one is the enemy of romantic feelings. The spiritual nature of love is denied by him. The second is a spiritually and passionately loving person who has encountered the mystery of this feeling. Evgeny usually does not pay much attention to a person’s appearance, but he was struck by Odintsova’s beauty and became fascinated by her. The hero, who previously denied beauty, now becomes captured by it. Bazarov, who rejected love, begins to experience this feeling. Evgeniy himself realizes that fighting oneself is a hopeless task!
Aphorisms about nihilism
“There’s no need to hesitate; Only fools and smart people procrastinate.”
“As for time, why will I depend on it? It’s better to let it depend on me.”
“The only good thing about a Russian person is that he has a very bad opinion of himself. The important thing is that two and two make four, and the rest is all nonsense.”
“When I meet a person who would not give up in front of me, then I will change my opinion about myself.”
“We are not as few as you think.”
Bazarov's loneliness in love
Bazarov is lonely in love. The hero reveals himself in a bitter feeling for Anna Sergeevna as a deep, passionate and strong nature. The author shows how love broke Evgeniy and unsettled him. At the end of the work, this is no longer the same person who was at the beginning. Bazarov is experiencing a severe mental crisis. Everything starts to fall out of his hands. Even the infection seems to be no accident: a depressed person becomes careless. However, Bazarov still does not give up the fight and does not humiliate himself in front of Anna Sergeevna. He tries with all his might to overcome despair and pain.
Quotes about generation gap
“We cannot understand each other;
At least I don’t have the honor of understanding you.” — Kirsanov P. P. “We, people of the old century, believe that without principles... you can’t take a step, you can’t take a breath.” — Kirsanov P. P.
“The young people were happy. And in fact, before they were just idiots, but now they suddenly became nihilists.” — Kirsanov P. P.
“And these young people today are so inflated! You ask someone else: what kind of wine do you want, red or white? “I have a habit of preferring red!” - he answers in a bass voice and with such an important face, as if the whole universe is looking at him at this moment...” - Kirsanov P. P.
“You deny everything, or, to put it more precisely, you destroy everything... But you also need to build.” — Kirsanov N.P.
“Man is a strange creature. When you look from the side and from a distance at the deaf life that the “fathers” lead here, it seems: what’s better?” — E. Bazarov
The similarities between the stories of Evgeny Bazarov and Pavel Kirsanov
Love in the novel by I.S. Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” is shown both in contrast (Arkady’s feeling for Katya and Bazarov’s for Odintsova) and in similarity. You may notice that the stories of Evgeny Bazarov and Pavel Kirsanov are very similar. Both of them meet their lovers at the ball. Both Bazarov and Kirsanov are unhappy in their feelings. Both of them used to be “women hunters,” but suddenly they changed when they fell in love. Pavel Petrovich, accustomed to victories, soon achieved his goal in relation to Princess R. However, this victory did not cool him. Evgeny soon realized that Anna Sergeevna “wouldn’t get you anywhere,” but he couldn’t help but think about her. For both Pavel Petrovich and Bazarov, love is not a simple attraction. It becomes a real torment for them. Over time, Kirsanov not only did not lose interest in the princess, but also became “even more painfully” attached to her. This love story in the novel “Fathers and Sons” runs through his entire life. Bazarov was also “tormented and enraged” by love, from which only death saved him. And here you can find similarities in the stories of the two heroes. In both cases, love is associated with death. Pavel Petrovich could not stop loving the princess even after she died. And Kirsanov lost everything. The author of Pavel Petrovich lay on the pillow like a dead man's head. Having fallen in love with Anna Sergeevna, Bazarov also dies. Not like Pavel Petrovich, but physically.
Evgeny Bazarov
Origin and upbringing
“...This doctor’s son was not only not timid, he even answered abruptly and reluctantly, and in the sound of his voice there was something rude, almost impudent...” “...
My grandfather plowed the land,” Bazarov answered with arrogant pride...”
“...The main thing is not to pay attention to him: he doesn’t like ceremonies...”
“...Everyone in the house got used to him, to his careless manners, to his unsyllabic and fragmentary speeches...”
“...Bazarov, who only occasionally inserted a mocking word into the conversation...”
“...it was only then that the whole bottomless abyss of Bazarov’s pride was revealed to him for a moment...”
“I’m happy to deny it, my brain works that way – and that’s it!”
“I’m a poor man, but I still haven’t accepted alms.”
“Every person must educate himself, well, at least like me, for example...
“I don’t share anyone’s opinions; I have mine."
Speech and vocabulary
“...Bazarov answered in a lazy but courageous voice...”
“... in his calm but dull voice...”
“...there was something rough, almost impudent in the sound of his voice...”
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been feeling really bad, as if I’ve read Gogol’s letters to the Kaluga governor.”
“An old joke is death, but a new one for everyone.”
“You will forget me... the dead are not a friend to the living.”
Attitude towards love
“It is better to break stones on the pavement than to allow a woman to take even the tip of a finger.”
“If a woman can hold a conversation for half an hour, that’s a good sign.”
“You can’t undo the past...”
“You have no reason to get excited, I don’t care at all. A romantic would say: I feel that our paths are starting to diverge, but I’m just saying that we’re tired of each other.”
“A man who staked his entire life on a woman’s love and, when this card was killed, became limp and sank to the point that he was incapable of anything, such a man is not a man, not a male.”
“Blow on the dying lamp and let it go out.”
“A woman can’t help but be cunning!”
“Love is rubbish, unforgivable nonsense.”
“I can’t live without you, or with you.”
“Like all women who failed to fall in love, she wanted something, without knowing what exactly. Actually, she didn’t want anything, although it seemed to her that she wanted everything.”
“So know that I love you stupidly, madly... This is what you have achieved.”
“In the still waters... you know! You say she's cold. This is where the taste lies. You love ice cream, don't you?
“You want to love, but you cannot love: that is your misfortune.”
“And I want to be a romantic nowadays!”
Appearance
“...Long and thin, with a wide forehead, a flat upward, pointed downward nose, large greenish eyes and drooping sand-colored sideburns, it was enlivened by a calm smile and expressed self-confidence and intelligence...” “...His dark-blond hair, long and thick, not hid the large protuberances of a spacious skull..."
"... a tall man in a long robe with tassels...”
“...Bazarov spread out his long and stiff fingers...”
“...Bazarov’s eyes sparkled for a moment from under his dark eyebrows...”
“...He slowly ran his long fingers over his sideburns...”
“...With a dusty overcoat on his shoulders, with a cap on his head, he sat on the window...”
“...Bazarov, dressed in an oldish tailcoat...”
Love in the life of Nikolai Petrovich
How is the theme of love revealed in the novel by I.S. Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" in relation to the next hero, Nikolai Petrovich? For him, this feeling is a driving force and support. The theme of love in the novel “Fathers and Sons” by Turgenev receives new coverage when it comes to Nikolai Petrovich or his son. For them, this is not a fatal feeling, as for Pavel Petrovich or Bazarov. This is tender affection, a natural need of the soul, which they do not try to fight.
At first, Nikolai Petrovich felt a deep, tender and touching feeling for his wife Masha. The couple practically never separated. So 10 years passed, and then Kirsanov’s wife died. Nikolai Petrovich could barely bear this blow. 10 years passed before his heart could accommodate new love.
Fenechka is not equal either in social status or age to Nikolai Petrovich. However, this did not stop Kirsanov. The heroine gave birth to his second son. This daughter of Nikolai Petrovich’s former housekeeper was able to fill the house with joy and illuminate Kirsanov’s life in his declining years.
Relationship between Arkady and Katya
The theme of love in the novel “Fathers and Sons” is also represented by the relationship between the son Nikolai Petrovich and Katya. In relation to Arkady, it must be said that before his eyes there was an example of the deep and tender love of his parents. He had a completely different idea of this feeling than Bazarov. Therefore, this hero was indignant when Eugene ridiculed the secret of the relationship between a man and a woman. As soon as Arkady moved away from his friend, the need for a loving and close person began to prevail in him. Unnoticed, Katya entered his life. In the relationship between Katya and Arkady, the author exposes nihilism, which is unusual in the nature of the son Nikolai Petrovich. Katya directly declares that she undertakes to remake it. And the girl manages to put these words into practice. After some time, Arkady abandons the nihilistic ideology and becomes an exemplary family man.
