Many works of Russian classics are devoted to the theme of love; one of the outstanding ones on this list is the story “Asya” by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. However, every work of the author is devoted to the theme of love relationships to one degree or another. He believed that this feeling is the basis of all foundations.
The test of love is the main obstacle in Turgenev’s work. It stands at the forefront and is the most difficult. But thanks to him, the entire inner essence of a person is clearly visible.
In the story, the two main characters are doomed to love - and Anna. They met by chance while traveling in a provincial German town on the banks of the Rhine. Between Asya and N.N. Friendships arose, which then grew into higher and warmer feelings.
The girl is bolder and firmer in her actions and intentions; she openly confesses her love to her chosen one, entrusting his fate. There are no barriers for her: everything is simple and clear. The hero is closed, like a cocoon, by fears and prejudices. He cannot plunge into the abyss of engulfing feelings.
Mr. N.N. was the culprit behind the separation of the heroes. He had feelings, there was no doubt about it, but he didn't want to take responsibility. An equally important point was public opinion, which the hero valued and adhered to. He pushed Asya away without telling her just one single word. And even if he later regrets what he did, nothing can be corrected. The Gagins have left. He missed his chance. In his farewell note he puts an end to it and once again emphasizes that it depended only on him whether they would be happy or not.
He tries to console himself with the fact that he was right, that Asya would not be a very good wife. But the fact remains: the family of N.N. never created it. There were many women in his life after Asya, but none of them aroused similar feelings in him. Only this emotional seventeen-year-old girl left a deep mark on his soul, a mark that would last a lifetime.
Thus, it turns out that the test of love N.N. could not resist. I couldn't pass this "exam". Only he is to blame for the way his fate turned out. The hero is petty and pathetic in comparison with the self-confident girl; he is not old enough for love, he is not ready for it.
He is afraid of the difficulties that may await him, N.N. chooses the easiest and most convenient path, but the unlucky one. Moreover, with his choice he makes another person unhappy.
N.N. I'm used to easy affairs and frivolous hobbies. He is a secular man. And he always liked this kind of life. High feelings associated with deep experiences are too difficult for him. He retreats without even putting up a fight. He lost heart, got scared, and refused.
Mr. N.N. afraid of change, unable to give up a comfortable and measured life. This prospect does not so much please him as it frightens and upsets him. This weakness of the young man stands out so clearly against the backdrop of the determined girl Asya. She is firmly confident in what she wants, a real “Turgenev girl.” She is ready to do anything for the sake of her loved one, even sacrifice herself. Which is what ultimately happens.
Many writers pay great attention to the topic of love. And it has always been relevant in literature. After all, love is the purest and most beautiful feeling that has been sung since ancient times. Love never gets old. And poets and writers have always tried to show its true place in human life and relationships between people.
The story “Asya” by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev also touches on the theme of love. The writer believes that this feeling is “stronger than death and the fear of death.”
Mr. N. and Asya are the main characters of the story.
N. is a young man who loves to travel. While traveling in Germany, he meets his brother and sister Gagin. Mr. N. and Gagin quickly find their common language and become friends. They start spending a lot of time together. Asya at first seems to N. quiet and withdrawn, but then, getting to know her better, she turns out to be an intelligent, kind, honest girl.
Communicating with an extraordinary girl, N. becomes more and more attached to her and soon realizes that he is in love. Later N. finds out that Asya loves him too. Her brother is worried about her. He is afraid that Mr. N. will not want to take her as his wife. On a date with Asya, he behaves cautiously, afraid of offending or hurting her. And she only wants to hear one word from him. And N. didn’t say it, but very soon he realized how dear Asya was to him, how much he loved her.
Was N.’s love for Asa real? If we consider these people individually, they appear as two opposites. Mr. N.N. - funny. Asya is sad. He “not only didn’t think about the future, he didn’t think about yesterday.” She “thought about a lot of things all night,” etc.
N 
N.’s feelings for the young widow and for Asya are different. As for the first one, he thought he loved her. When she left him, he wasn't particularly upset. N.N. I made myself sad. It was as if he was trying to convince himself that he loved her. But as soon as Asya appeared, N.N. I no longer remembered the young widow. This means that N.N. has feelings for Asya. were strong. They were real.
I believe that on the one hand Asya could be with Mr. N.N., but on the other hand they are very different.
The story “Asya” by I. A. Turgenev is a real legacy of Russian literature about love. It tells about the impossibility of love, happiness, unfulfilled dreams and unjustified hopes. To some extent, the theme of love can be seen in all of Turgenev’s works.
Most of Turgenev's heroes are subject to the test of love and feelings.
It is this that turns out to be the most important and difficult, sometimes even insurmountable, but this test largely determines the moral fortitude and character of a person.
In the story “Asya,” love arises between the main characters: Mr. N. and the young, charming seventeen-year-old girl Asya. Having met in a German town, the heroes realize that there may be something more between them than friendly communication. Emotional and open, Asya sees no obstacles on her path to happiness with Mr. N., however, he becomes a victim of weakness, cowardice, prejudice and fear.
Mr. N. travels around Europe and in many cities he starts relationships with girls, but does not take it seriously. Asya stood out among her surroundings with her bold Russian spirit, extraordinary intelligence, and impetuosity.
The author draws attention to the girl’s originality: her activity, plasticity, emotionality, desire to live every minute as if it were the last minute in her life. It was precisely such a heroine that attracted the attention of Mr. N. Having met Asya, he felt that all the loves before this girl were just a game, a falsehood, a stupid feeling. Asya helped Mr. N. fall in love sincerely and tenderly.
But what then prevented the heroes from being together? It seems to me that the impossibility of happiness is Mr. N’s fault. Indeed, he loved Asya, but he was afraid of the changes in his life. Asya tells Mr. N. about her love for him, but the hero, in turmoil, rejects the girl too. Prejudice and dependence on the opinion of society force him to betray Asya, who was ready to stay with her loved one, despite his shortcomings. Later, the hero regrets this act and wants to fix everything, but Asya does not give him another chance.
Asya understood that Mr. N. had not yet gained enough experience to make such an important decision, and in the future he would regret his choice. Fate decreed that Mr. N. did not find Asya and did not say goodbye to her. This was the best ending for him, as he later admitted.
Mr. N. could not stand the test of love. He lost love through his own fault: at the first serious difficulties, he becomes a coward and subsequently retreats. Probably, Mr. N. has not yet matured into love; he is afraid of strong experiences and changes in his measured life. Mr. N. appears before us as an indecisive, cowardly, weak man, against whose background the courage, bravery, and dedication of the “Turgenev girl” - Asya stands out clearly.
Love is invariably present in Turgenev's stories. However, it rarely ends happily: the writer introduces a touch of tragedy into the love theme. Love, as depicted by Turgenev, is a cruel and capricious force that plays with human destinies. This is an extraordinary, frantic element that equalizes people, regardless of their position, character, intelligence, or internal appearance. A variety of people often find themselves defenseless in the face of this element: the democrat Bazarov and the aristocrat Pavel Petrovich are equally unhappy (“Fathers and Sons”), it is difficult for a young, naive girl, Liza Kalitina, and an experienced, mature man, nobleman Lavretsky, who is ready to come to terms with their fate. was to a new life in his homeland (“Noble Nest”).
Mr. N.N., the hero of the story “Asya,” remains lonely, with broken hopes and a vain dream of happiness. When you read the story, it seems that its whole meaning is contained in the famous Pushkin phrase - “And happiness was so possible, so close...” It is pronounced in “Eugene Onegin” by Tatyana, forever separating her fate from the fate of her chosen one. Turgenev’s hero finds himself in a similar situation. All that remains of his unfulfilled dream is a farewell note and a dried geranium flower, which he sacredly treasures.
Let us remember the content of the story: during a trip to Germany, Mr. N.N. I accidentally met a Russian family - Gagin and his sister Asya. Friendships began between new acquaintances. And soon Asya fell in love with N.N., but he could not reciprocate her feelings because he was not completely sure of his feelings. Mr. N.N. considered it his duty to tell Gagin about everything. When the “clear consciousness... of love” flared up in the hero’s soul “with uncontrollable force,” Asya was already far away - Gagin took her away from the city. Subsequently N.N. tried to find her, but all his attempts ended in failure.
What is the reason for such a ending, when the lovers found themselves separated forever? Let's try to analyze the content of the story.
Mr. N.N. young, cheerful and carefree. He doesn’t have any special problems, he’s rich, he’s not concerned about anything - he lives “without looking back”, does what he wants. He is observant and receptive to new impressions. He is especially interested in people, their behavior, speeches, etc. He liked Asya at first sight, he saw something special, graceful in her. She amazed him with her mobility, variability, and spontaneity. After the first meeting with her, the hero felt unaccountably happy.
After the second meeting N.N. feels a strange heaviness in his heart. It seems to him that he misses his homeland, but nostalgic feelings suddenly turn into bitter and burning excitement. And soon the true reason for the hero’s mood is revealed - jealousy. N.N. suspects that Asya is not Gagina’s sister.
At the third meeting, the narrator notes the naturalness of the girl’s behavior, the absence of affectation and coquetry in her. Asya becomes more and more interested in him. N.N. tries to unravel her nature, find out about her past, about the upbringing she received, but the girl says almost nothing about herself.
Gagin unexpectedly reveals the “secret” of his sister, dedicating the hero to her life story. Here, together with the narrator, we learn a lot about Asa, about the origins of her character. Her isolation and willfulness, variability of behavior, and dissimilarity from those around her become clear.
Asya is illegitimate, she is the daughter of a landowner and a maid. The girl very soon realized her “false position”, “conceit developed strongly in her, mistrust too, bad habits took root, simplicity disappeared.” Feeling ashamed, she “wanted... to make the whole world forget its origin.” More than anything in the world, Asya wanted to be “no worse than other young ladies,” but in all her movements there was “something restless,” in her views there was distrust and wariness. As the hero noted, “this wild one has recently been vaccinated.”
When, after the death of her father, Gagin placed her in a boarding school, she read books, “studied excellently,” and was not “inferior to anyone.” Despite all this, her character was unbalanced, she remained “savage”, stubborn, “in no way wanted to fit in with the general level.”
However, despite all the “oddities” of the heroine, her imbalance, painful pride, “her heart did not deteriorate,” “her mind survived.” Telling the hero about the fate of his sister, Gagin notes that her heart is “very kind” and she has never had a single feeling “halfway.” Asya has a highly developed imagination, fantasy, and impressionability. Gagin tells Mr. N.N. that she “needs a hero, an extraordinary person - or a picturesque shepherd in a mountain gorge.”
Having heard Gagin’s story, N.N. he was frankly delighted: he felt at ease when he found out the truth. “I felt some kind of sweetness - exactly sweetness in my heart; It’s as if they poured honey into it on the sly,” the narrator noted. Now he not only learned the truth, now he began to understand a lot about Asa. His own feelings also became clearer: the hero realized that he was attracted to Asa not only by her originality, “semi-wild charm,” but also by her soul. He felt the exciting closeness of extraordinary happiness, “happiness to the point of satiety.” N.N. already loves Asya, but does not yet realize it.
But Gagin interferes in the relationship between the heroes. Having learned about his sister’s feelings, he decides to have a frank conversation with N.N. This conversation becomes to some extent decisive, determining for the hero. Gagin forces him to express in words what is barely emerging in his soul, of which he himself is not aware. Gagin turns a ghostly, beautiful dream into rough reality, poetry of exciting feeling into the prose of life. That is why N.N. is so annoyed with his friend and angry with Asya.
All further actions of the hero were only a consequence of his conversation with Gagin. During a date with Asya, N.N. does not understand himself well. He reproaches Asya for devoting her brother to her feelings, he is angry with her, and annoyed with himself. In his mind there is always the thought of his duty, of his own image in the eyes of Gagin. It seems to the hero that everything is “distorted, discovered,” he feels bound by the promise given to Gagin. The date ends in “nothing”: Asya runs away from Frau Louise’s house in tears.
And only when the girl suddenly disappears, causing everyone to worry and look for her everywhere, the hero’s feelings are finally exposed. “It wasn’t annoyance that was gnawing at me, it was a secret fear that tormented me, and I felt more than one fear... no, I felt remorse, the most burning regret, love - yes! the most tender love,” the narrator notes. The hero breaks up with Gagin in anticipation of future happiness, but this happiness is not destined to come true: Asya disappears forever.
Chernyshevsky in the article “Russian man on render-vous” wrote that the reason for Mr. N.N.’s unhappy love was the pettiness and soullessness of his life, his timidity, indecisiveness, and spiritual infantilism. The critic examined the relationships of the characters in the traditional aspect of Russian literature: “an extraordinary, selfless woman and a weak, indecisive man.”
D. Pisarev also believed that the personal qualities of the hero and heroine became an obstacle to happiness. Asya is proud, Mr. N.N. is timid. In the girl’s ambiguous position, these traits turned out to be fatal.
Of course, the hero’s mental makeup is very important here. However, it seems that the point is not at all in his cowardice and infantilism, but in that specific feature of his nature, which P. Annenkov designated as “voluptuousness.” Mr. N.N. in the story constantly enjoys life - the beauty of nature, communication with people, his soul yearns for new and new impressions. He constantly analyzes and evaluates his feelings. The true value for him is not people and events as such, but the shadow that they cast in his consciousness.
“There is not the slightest sign that he was busy with the truth, the truth of his relationship with the unexpected Juliette who came across him on the road: he was only busy studying her character and studying his impressions. But in the nature of this person there is one important quality: he is able to understand himself and, on occasion, recognize the poverty of his moral being. That’s why he sometimes stops at the very goal to which he recklessly strives,” the critic wrote.
However, the hero’s mental makeup is only one of the reasons for his life drama, and the reason is superficial. The true, deep meaning of events is the inevitability of fate. Turgenev's fate is hostile towards man. Happiness on earth is impossible due to the initial doom of earthly love, the frailty of earthly happiness.
In his novels, the writer almost never depicts happy love. The observations of the pre-revolutionary researcher Andreevsky are very interesting in this regard. He notes that Turgenev is “a poet of girls,” not women. The writer nowhere depicts a marriage union. We see a happy family in Turgenev’s novels either “in the project” (Arkady Kirsanov and Katya Odintsova) or “in old age” (Bazarov’s parents). Lisa (“On the Eve”), Natalya Lasunskaya (“Rudin”), Asya (“Asya”), Marya Pavlovna (“Quiet”), Gemma (“Spring Waters”) - “disappear from the stage as girls.” This is where “Turgenev’s fear of life lies, the fear of happiness due to the fear of death, due to bitter fear and the consciousness that all this happiness will inevitably fade, collapse and disappear,” writes the researcher.
At the same time, Turgenev often contrasts love and death (the story “Enough”), love in the writer’s view is a force equal to death, even defeating it. Through love, beauty and art, man, according to Turgenev, gains immortality. Hence - greater selectivity of feelings, a person’s increased attention to his feelings and impressions.
Turgenev's poetry of love lies in the “impossibility of feeling.” D. Merezhkovsky notes that in his work and worldview the writer contrasts “love-lust” and romantic love. The first type of love is tantamount to personal death, the second - immortality. Therefore, the hero’s love in “Ace” is “unrealizable”; it remains “in love”.
It is worth noting that Turgenev’s worldview was largely formed under the influence of the philosophy of Schopenhauer, who affirmed the unrealizability of the idea of human happiness. “Happiness... always lies in the future, or in the past, and the present is like a small dark cloud that the wind drives over a sunlit plain: in front of it and behind it everything is light, only it constantly casts a shadow from itself. The present therefore never satisfies us, and the future is unreliable, the past is irrevocable. Life... with its disappointed hopes, with its failures and disappointments - this life bears such a clear imprint of inevitable suffering that it is difficult to understand... how one can believe that a person exists in order to be happy,” writes Schopenhauer . It is this idea that lies in the subtext of the story “Asya”.
The next day, these thoughts still did not leave my head. I remembered Asya as a small miracle that could rescue me from the loneliness that I could not tolerate. It ate me entirely, turning my life into a sketch of gray shades. I wanted to find her, to find her without fail, no matter what the cost. But where to start? Where to look for it? I did not have exact answers to these questions. I decided to go to the city of L., in which the whole story of my young love took place. Trying not to waste precious time, I went to the station, located a few steps from my house, having bought tickets, I came home with a dazed head, my feelings and thoughts did not give me peace. Two contradictions occurred within me: should I go or not? costs? But, remembering my Asya, all doubts disappeared as if by hand, I confirmed that I had to go to the city of L. Having collected my things, I boarded the long-awaited carriage number 13. The carriage number upset me so much that I even began to doubt my luck trip. But my thoughts didn’t bother me for so long; very soon, having seen enough of the unusually beautiful views of Germany, I fell into a deep sleep that seemed as if I would remain in this carriage forever without waking up from sleep. I woke up from an unexpected push in the back. Opening one eye slightly, I heard the stern voice of the conductor of this ill-fated carriage: “Your station will be in an hour and a half, sir!” Wake up and start making room for yourself! -Yes Yes. Thank you, I'll make room now. I quickly emptied my seat of my meager belongings and again began to think about Asya. The closer the carriage approached its destination, the more trembling I felt in front of the unknown. How would Asya greet me? Will she be glad to see us? Will I ever see her? I felt uneasy. I felt hot and cold. I didn’t feel like eating at all, all food was poison to me. Finally, the fast train arrived in the city of L., I got out of the car, a beautiful and painfully familiar view appeared in front of me, which very quickly grew in my memory, increasingly increasing and reminding me of the events of a happy past life. I decided to stay in a cozy hotel located right on the banks of the majestic Rhine, the name of which again made me shudder, as did the carriage number: “Black Swan,” read the hotel sign. “Today I really have no luck with numbers and names “I thought. Entering the hotel, I was delighted with its interior decoration, everything was thought out to the smallest detail, but I have never seen a more elegant hotel in my life. At the reception desk, I checked into one of the hotel rooms, paying a not very high amount for a view of the Rhine. Taking the keys, I went up to the second floor of the hotel. Opening the door of the room, I was amazed at the simplicity, but at the same time, the beauty of the room. It was small The size of the room, with a view of the Rhine. “What a unique view! How dear this city is to me,” I repeated tirelessly. Having rested a little, I saw a small brochure on the table, it told about all the charms and advantages of the hotel, it turns out it was built quite recently, three months ago. And then the name of the man who owned the “Black Swan” stuck in my eyes: Mr. Gagin. The fog spread before my eyes at incredible speed. “Gagin, Asya, I found them! I have to meet him!” I whispered in panic. I eagerly went down to the first floor, finding the reception desk, I demanded to see the owner. They told me that I could go up to his office right now. With my heart stabbing inside, I opened the door, seeing Gagin, whom I knew, and babbled: “Hello! Maybe you don’t remember me, I’m Mr. N. - Hello, yes, I remember you perfectly. What brought you to the city of L.? - Asya! How is she? I would like to meet her! I realized that she is the love of my life. I know it’s not the right time, sorry... - Here’s the thing, dear sir. I can’t tell you anything now about her. Let's go, maybe you will understand everything without further ado. He gave me his trembling hand, we quickly went down the stairs and left the hotel. The air was choking my voice, I could not utter a word. Misunderstanding grew with every second. Suddenly we began to approach the city cemetery: gravestones and nothing more. - Just don’t... Before I had time to come to my senses, Gagin led me to one of the slabs, it read: “Gagina Anna.” “Not this,” I said these words for the second time and began to cry. Gagin began to cry too, and we hugged so tightly as no one had hugged before. Gagin only said that Asya died three months ago, on June 13. We exchanged a few words about our previous life and our present one, then, wiping away his tears with his hand, he said goodbye to me and left... And I stood for a long time at the grave of my beloved Asya, never knowing the cause of her death. I cried, I reproached myself for not having time to tell her the words that she wanted then. I’m a madman! What a madman I am! Everything could have been different...
My journey ended there. From that day on, I decided that I would be alone forever, because I would never be able to love anyone except my fiery Asya. “My chameleon, forgive me,” I repeated. And on the table lay such a painfully familiar geranium flower, the last thing that reminds me of my beloved.
