What is the relationship of Pechorin to Mary in the novel "The Hero of Our Time"

The novel "Hero of Our Time" M.Yu. Lermontov is considered one of the best works of classical Russian literature. Talk about it can be very long - interesting topics for discussion are more than enough. Today we will focus on one of them - we will try to understand what Pechorin's attitude towards Mary was.

The nature of Pechorin

First you need to understand the character of the protagonist. One can not but admit that this is a person, in its development, higher than the society surrounding it. However, he failed to find an application for his talents and abilities. 1830 years - a difficult period in Russian history. The future of the young people of that time was "il empty, il dark." Lermontov in Pechorin captured the features of the younger generation of those years. The portrait of his hero is made up of the vices of all time. It seems to be two people. The first of them acts, and the second observes his actions and discusses them or, rather, condemns them.

Negative character traits of Pechorin

In Pechorin, you can see a lot of negative features, including selfishness. Although Belinsky could not agree with this. He said that selfishness "does not blame itself," "does not suffer." Indeed, Pechorin suffers from the fact that he is bored among people belonging to the "water society". The desire to escape from it is that the hero is wasting himself on various small matters. Pechorin risks his life, seeking oblivion in love, substituting Chechen bullets for himself. He is very afflicted with boredom and realizes that it is wrong to live the way he lives. The hero is ambitious and vindictive. Wherever it appears, misfortunes happen everywhere.

Why did the hero deceive Mary?

A deep spiritual wound was inflicted on this hero by Princess Mary. He deceived this girl, betrayed her love for him. What purpose did he pursue? Exclusively own satisfaction. In this completely different were Pechorin and Princess Mary. Relations between heroes are characterized by the fact that the princess seeks to make her beloved happy, and he thinks only of himself. However, Pechorin is well aware of the ungrateful role played in the life of this girl.

The development of relations between Pechorin and Mary

In order to understand what was the true attitude of Pechorin to Mary, we will briefly trace the history of the development of their very unusual novel. Mary is a young and beautiful daughter of Princess Ligovskaya. However, she is too naive, and also overly gullible to other people, including Pechorin. At first the girl did not pay attention to the main character, however he did everything to interest her. He lured the admirers of Mary to him, telling them funny stories. After Pechorin won her attention, he tried to impress the princess with stories and stories from his life. His goal was that the girl began to see him as an extraordinary person, and he achieved his goal. Pechorin gradually conquered the girl. During the ball, he "saved" the princess from the drunken impudent who was sticking to her. Pechorin's caring attitude to Princess Mary did not go unnoticed by the girl. She believed that the hero is sincere in his actions. However, the girl was cruelly mistaken. He just wanted to conquer her, she was another toy for him. One evening Pechorin and Mary went for a walk. Their mutual relations by that time had already developed enough for what happened during it. Princess felt bad, crossing the river. Pechorin embraced her, the girl leaned her elbows on him, and then he kissed her.

Was Pechorin in love with Mary?

Pechorin asserted and tried to convince himself that Mary's passion for nothing means that he achieves this girl's love only for his own pleasure. However, in reality Pechorin's attitude toward Mary was somewhat different. The soul of the hero craved true love. Pechorin begins to doubt: "I really did not really fall in love?". However, he immediately catches himself at the thought that attachment to this girl is a "pathetic habit of the heart." Pechorin's love for Mary died and died in the bud, because the hero did not allow her to develop. A pity - perhaps he would have found happiness, falling in love.

Thus, Pechorin's attitude toward Mary is contradictory. The hero assures himself that he does not love her. Before the duel, he tells Werner that he brought out only a few ideas from a storm of life, but he could not bear a single feeling. He confesses that he has long lived a head, not a heart. His own actions and passions he weighs, parses "with strict curiosity," but "without participation." At first glance, how Pechorin relates to Mary, confirms this representation of the protagonist about himself, which indicates the cruelty, the ruthless coldness of his game. However, the protagonist is not as dispassionate as he tries to seem. Several times he feels that he is carried away, even becomes agitated. The main character reproaches himself for the ability to feel: for he assured himself that for him happiness is not in love, but in "rich pride." His nature is distorted by the inability to find a high goal in life and eternal discord with others. However, Pechorin vainly believes that this "rich pride" will bring him happiness. Both Mary and Vera love him, but this does not bring him satisfaction. And relations with these heroines are developing not only at the will of Pechorin.

While the hero sees in the princess spoiled by the worship of a secular young lady, he brings pleasure in insulting the pride of the girl. However, after the soul shows through it, the ability to truly suffer, rather than just play love, reveals itself, the protagonist changes his mind. However, the author does not finish the story with a happy ending - Pechorin and Princess Mary remain alone. The relationship between these two heroes did not lead to anything. To reject Mary's feeling makes him fear, not indifference.

How should we treat Pechorin?

Probably, Pechorin forever ruined the life of this girl. He disappointed her in love. Now Mary will not trust anyone. Pechorin can be treated differently. Of course, he is a scoundrel unworthy of the love of another person and even of respect for himself. However, it justifies that it is a product of society. He was brought up in an environment where true feelings were taken to hide under the guise of indifference.

Did Mary deserve her fate?

And what about Mary? To her, too, can be treated differently. The girl saw the persistence of the protagonist. And from this came the conclusion that he loves her. Mary heard what kind of strange speech this hero uttered, and realized that this is an extraordinary person. And she fell in love with him, disregarding the laws of society. After all, Mary first dared to say about her love. This means that she believed that the hero would reciprocate her. However, he was silent.

What was Mary's fault

We can assume that Mary herself is to blame for everything, since she was both naive and arrogant, self-assured and blind. In it there is no reckless devotion, peculiar to the Faith, there is no sincerity and passionate power of Bela's love. But the main thing is that she does not understand Pechorin. She fell in love not with him, but with a fashionable hero. Her feeling for him can be compared to the feeling for Grushnitsky - Mary sees in the same different people the same thing: Pechorin's tragedy of disappointment does not differ for her from Grushnitsky's disillusioned mask. If the protagonist had not come to the waters, most likely the girl would have fallen in love with Grushnitsky, married him, despite the mother's resistance, and would have been happy with him.

What justifies Mary

But is it possible to blame the heroine so unconditionally? After all, it is not her fault that she is young, that she is looking for a hero and is ready to find him in the first person he meets. Like any woman, Mary dreams of being loved by a lonely and strong person for whom she is ready to become a whole world, warm him and comfort him, bring him peace and joy. In this sense Pechorin and Princess Mary were the productions of their environment and time. Relations between them are characterized by the fact that everyone played a role. And if the hero invented it herself, the heroine played the natural role of a woman whose purpose is love.

Perhaps, not appearing in her life Pechorin, she would have found her happiness. The girl would have lived her whole life with the illusion that Grushnitsky is a special being, that she saved him from loneliness and misery with her love.

The complexity of human relationships

The complexity of human relationships lies in the fact that even in love, which is the greatest spiritual closeness, people are often unable to fully understand each other. In order to remain calm and confident, we need illusions. Mary and Grushnitsky could have had the illusion of needing a loved one, and that would have been enough for a quiet home, love and devotion to the princess. Something similar, perhaps, would have happened if Pechorin and Mary had not parted. The relationship between them, of course, is unlikely to last long due to the nature of the protagonist, but a misunderstanding in this pair, of course, would also take place.