The theme of love in “A Hero of Our Time” is one of the central themes that the author explores. There really are a lot of love conflicts in the novel. Even main character- outwardly cold and selfish Pechorin is looking for love, he finds it in the hearts of three women Vera, Mary Ligovskaya and Bela, but the love of these beautiful women does not bring Pechorin happiness.
In this novel, love generally does not bring joy to anyone; it is a test for each of the characters, and often their love experiences end tragically.
Let's try to consider the main love lines of this work.
Pechorin – Bela – Kazbich
One of the literary scholars, analyzing the content of this work, rightly noted that the compositional structure of the novel is built on endless love triangles.
Indeed, there are a lot of love triangles here.
In the first part of the novel “Bela” we learn that Pechorin kidnaps the young Circassian Bela from his own father and makes her his mistress. Proud Bela is smart, beautiful and kind. She fell in love with the Russian officer with all her heart, but realized that in his soul there was no reciprocal feeling for her. Pechorin kidnapped her for fun and soon lost all interest in his captive.
As a result, Bela is unhappy, her love brought her nothing but deep sorrow.
During one of her walks near the fortress in which she lives with Pechorin, she is kidnapped by the Circassian Kazbich, who is in love with her. Seeing the chase, Kazbich mortally wounds Bela, and she dies two days later in the fortress in the arms of Pechorin.
As a result, this love triangle does not bring satisfaction or joy to any of the characters. Kazbich, having seen his beloved, is tormented by remorse; Pechorin understands that Bela’s love could not awaken him to life and realizes that he destroyed the young girl in vain, driven by a sense of pride and selfishness. In his diary he later wrote: “I was wrong again, the love of a savage is little better than the love of a noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one is just as annoying as the coquetry of the other.”
Pechorin – Mary – Grushnitsky
The theme of love in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is represented by another love triangle, in which there are Pechorin, Princess Mary Ligovskaya and Grushnitsky, who is in love with her, whom Pechorin, unwittingly, kills in a duel.
This love triangle is also tragic. It leads all its participants either to endless grief, or to death, or to the realization of their spiritual worthlessness.
We can say that the main character of this triangle is Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin. It is he who constantly makes fun of the young man Grushnitsky, who is in love with Mary, which ultimately leads the latter to jealousy and a fatal challenge to a duel. It is Pechorin, having become interested in Princess Ligovskaya, who brings this proud girl to the point that she herself confesses her love to him. And he rejects her proposal, which causes on her part a feeling of melancholy and disappointed hopes.
Pechorin is dissatisfied with himself, but, trying to explain the motives for his behavior, he only says that freedom is more valuable to him than love, he simply does not want to change his life for the sake of another person, even such a girl as Princess Mary.
Pechorin - Vera - Vera's husband
Love in Lermontov's work “A Hero of Our Time” finds its expression in another passionate love triangle.
It includes Pechorin, a secular married lady Vera and her husband, whom the novel only mentions. Pechorin met Vera back in St. Petersburg; he was passionately in love with her, but her marriage and fear of the world interfered with the further development of their romance.
In Kislovodsk, Vera and Pechorin meet by chance, and the old relationship flares up again with its former strength.
Pechorin shows Vera tenderness when she suddenly leaves Kislovodsk, he drives his horse to death in order to keep up with her, which, however, he fails. However, this love relationship does not bring happiness to either Vera or Pechorin. This is confirmed by the words of the heroine: “Since we have known each other,” she said, “you have given me nothing but suffering.”
In fact, this love triangle anticipates the love conflict described in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. There, too, a secular married lady meets a young officer, falls in love with him and understands that her husband has become unpleasant to her. Unlike Vera, Anna Karenina breaks up with her husband, goes to her lover, but finds only misfortune, which leads her to suicide.
Pechorin – Ondine – Yanko
And finally, the last love triangle of the novel is the story that happened to Pechorin in Taman. There he accidentally uncovered a gang of smugglers, who almost took his life for this.
This time, the participants in the love triangle were Pechorin, the girl whom he nicknamed “undine,” that is, the mermaid, and her beloved smuggler Yanko.
However, this love conflict was more of an adventure in which Pechorin decided to escape from his experiences. Ondine was not in love with him, but lured him only in order to drown him as an unwanted witness. The girl took such a dangerous step, obeying a feeling of love for Yanko.
Pechorin realized the danger of his position and came to the conclusion that he had exposed himself to such a risk in vain.
As we can see, the love theme in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” is presented quite vividly. At the same time, there are no examples of happy love in the work. And this is not surprising, because love and friendship in Lermontov’s works are always tragic themes. According to the writer and poet, a person can never find true love on earth, because he himself bears the stamp of imperfection. Therefore, people will love and suffer from the fact that their love cannot bring them happiness, joy, or peace.
It will be useful for 9th grade students to familiarize themselves with the description of the main love lines of the novel before writing an essay on the topic “The theme of love in the novel “A Hero of Our Time”.”
Work test
Love... Such a beautiful and sublime feeling, which Pechorin treats so thoughtlessly. He is selfish, and beautiful girls who see their ideal in him suffer from this. Bela and Princess Mary, Vera and Undine are so different, but equally painfully hurt by Pechorin, who himself admits: “And what do I care about human joys and troubles...”.
When Pechorin saw the beautiful Circassian Bela for the first time, he thought that love for her would bring him healing from melancholy and disappointment. Bela was endowed with more than just beauty. She was a passionate and tender girl, capable of deep feelings. Proud and bashful Bela is not devoid of consciousness of her dignity. When Pechorin lost interest in her, Bela, in a fit of indignation, says to Maxim Maksimych: “If he doesn’t love me, who’s stopping him from sending me home?.. If this continues like this, then I’ll leave myself: I’m not a slave, I’m a prince’s daughter!” .
The story with Bela showed Pechorin that he was in vain looking for happiness in a woman’s love. “I was wrong again,” says Pechorin, “the love of a savage is little better than the love of a noble lady; the ignorance and simple-heartedness of one is just as annoying as the coquetry of the other.”
Princess Mary, like Bela, is a victim of the restless Pechorin. This proud and reserved aristocrat became deeply interested in the “army ensign” and decided not to take into account the prejudices of her noble relatives. She was the first to admit her feelings to Pechorin. But at the moment of a decisive explanation with Princess Pechorin, he felt unable to give up his freedom to anyone. Marriage would be a “safe haven.” And he himself rejects Mary’s love. Offended in her feelings, the sincere and noble Mary withdraws into herself and suffers.
Love for Vera was Pechorin's deepest and most lasting affection. Among his wanderings and adventures, he abandoned faith, but returned to it again. Pechorin caused her a lot of suffering. “Since we have known each other,” Vera said, “you have given me nothing but suffering.” And yet she loved him. Ready to sacrifice both her self-esteem and the opinion of the world to her loved one, Vera becomes a slave of her feelings, a martyr of love. Parting with her, Pechorin realized that Vera was the only woman who understood him and continued to love him, despite his shortcomings. Pechorin experiences the final separation from Vera as a catastrophe: he gives in to despair and tears. Nowhere is Pechorin's hopeless loneliness and the suffering it generates, which he hid from others under his usual firmness and composure, so clearly revealed.
The relationship with the undine was simply an exotic adventure for Pechorin. She is an undine, a mermaid, a girl from a forgotten fairy tale. This is what attracts Pechorin. Undoubtedly, his interest was influenced by the mysterious situation. For him, this is one of the turns of fate; for her, this is life where everyone fights for their place, for their business.
Thus, Pechorin did not know how to truly love. He could only make those who treated him so devotedly and reverently suffer.
