Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов
1814-1841

• Born Oct. 2 or 3, 1814 in Moscow
• His mother was a member of the wealthy Stolypin family whose descendant would become one of the most notable pre-Revolutionary politicians.
• His father was a retired army officer and estate owner, of lower social rank and, according to legend, of Scottish origin and descended from Thomas the Rhymer, alleged bon vivant .
• Lermontov's maternal grandmother considered the marriage a mismatch and disliked his father.
• They lived on his mother's estate.
• Lermontov's parents didn't get along well. His father may have been unfaithful. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1817 at age 22 when the poet was three.
• There ensued a custody fight between father and grandmother, which the grandmother won.
• Lermontov was well-educated at home by his grandmother, and also well-spoiled.
• He became fluent in French and German, played several instruments, and was a good painter.
• He suffered serious childhood illnesses and suffered emotionally from the conflict of his father and grandmother
• In his youth he visited the Caucasus three times.
• In 1827 (age 13) he moved to Moscow with his grandmother to enter the preparatory school for Moscow University
• In this period he spent two years at the school, began his literary activity, and in 1830 (at age 16) made his first appearance in print.
• With the aid of an English tutor he learned English and read Byron in the original
• In 1830 he entered the University.
• In 1831 His father died
• In 1832 he left Moscow Uuniversity hoping to enroll in Petersburg but his two years were not accepted for transfer credit so he enrolled in the prestigious Guards' School (a military institute), horrified at the idea of repeating the first year, much to his grandmother's distress.
• He was commisioned an officer in the Life Guard Hussars in Nov. 1834
• Stationed in Petersburg, he explored society, unsuccessfully trying to advance his reputation
• He continued his literary activities as well
• On learning of Pushkin's death in January, 1837, he wrote a poem called "The Death of the Poet," which was circulated in manuscript and gained Lermontov a literary reputation.  The poem included a sixteen line addendum which was interpreted as a call to revolution
• The poem also caused Lermontov to be arrested
• In Feb. he was assigned to a unit engaged in active fighting in the Caucasus
• Among his Caucasian adventures on the way to meeting his regiment was an encounter with smugglers, which episode shows up in A Hero of Our Time.
• He never met his regiment, and was again sent to Petersburg
• There he resumed his literary activities
• In 1840, possibly because of participation in a secret literary society, he was again ordered from the capital
• The nominal pretext was his duel with the son of the French ambassador (though no-one was hurt)
• He was transferred, again, to a line unit in the Caucasus which was in imminent danger of destruction
• Lermontov distinguished himself in battle, although he was denied the commendations for which he was repeatedly recommended
• Returning to his unit from leave, Lermontov visited the resort of Piatigorsk
• There he got himself put on the sick-list and stayed for some time, engaged in the social activities of the resort
• He met up with his old school mate, one N. S. Martynov; Lermontov found Martynov, with his affected manners, vanity and local native clothing, ridiculous; he lampooned Martynov
• Martynov ultimately challengesd Lermontov to a duel; it took place - and
• Lermontov was killed - on July 15, 1841.

• 3. Lermontov's writing
• Lermontov began writing early
• He was primarily a poet but he began to write more prose toward the end of his career
• He wrote a great deal of "juvenalia," poetry of less value in comparison with the rest of his work
• He also wrote a large body of "mature" poetry (he was 26 when he died) which was immensely popular and has been influential on subsequent writers, e. g., Pasternak, who dedicated My Sister Life (his autobiography) to Lermontov and always spoke of him as a profound influence.
• Lermontov is considered the foremost Russian "Romantic" writer
• A Hero of Our Time began to appear serially in 1839 in Notes of the Fatherland, a "thick journal," and appeared in book form in 1840
• Vissarion Belinskii (1811-1848), the greatest Russian literary critic of the time, reviewed it favorably, but others panned it, viewing it as autobiography or a celebration of Pechorin's immorality
• The second edition, including the “Author's Preface” (which you should read if you haven't), appeared in 1841
• A Hero of Our Time is often listed as the first "realist" or "psychological" novel; the American critic John Mersereau calls it "the first modern novel of psychological realism in Russian literature" (76-7).

• The "Superfluous Man" reading
• This is a political interpretation of the novel
• It is the one favored by Belinsky and by the critics who followed him – the "Civic Critics" who believed that literature should critique the ills of society and if possible offer radical solutions
• These critics held sway in Russia from the 1840s until the 1880s when, after the assassination of the Tsar there was a rise in censorship – and also a genuine disgust with radicalism and political literature
• In the "Superfluous Man" reading (as noted last time) Pechorin is among the first in a long line of intelligent, sensitive men whose talents are wasted in Russia
• These men become cynical and find other, often destructive outlets for there energy and imagination
• The first example in the tradition (according to this view) is Evgenii Onegin, the protagonist of Pushkin's  novel-in-verse by the same name
• Like Pechorin he is a bored young aristocrat whose name is derived from a body of water in Russia (Lake Onega, the Pechora River)
• He passes his time toying with the affections of the main female character in the novel, Tatiana Larina
• Ultimately, however, he falls in love with her, but too late because she has been married off to a general that she doesn't love
• The novel ends when Tatiana refuses to shirk her marital responsibility, although she is still in love with Onegin
• The novel thus raises the question of personal responsibility – which brings us to Pechorin
• What are his explanations for his character and behavior? See 106, 110, 131
• To what does Pechorin ascribe his personality and behavior, with all its consequences for the people he meets?
• Alternately to "fate," which he constantly invokes, and other people, who, he says, have always misunderstood him
• Do You Agree?
• Does the implied author agree?
• No; quite often Pechorin invokes fate just after an action the he has taken for no other reason than to cause mischief and involve himself in other people's business (see p. 69).
• How does this relate to the Russian project in the Caucasus?
• It suggests that the Russians bear responsibility for their actions.

The three narrators

• Who are they?
• The un-named "Russian Traveler" (the ostensible author of the "travel notes"), Maksim Maksimych (who takes over during long sections of "Bela"), and Pechorin (whose journals we read).
• Why do we have three narrators?
• To provide three views of the same events, including (and most important for our purposes) three views of the Caucasus.
• Do the author's views come through?
• Yes (see below)
  

The order of events

• What is there order in the plot of the story?
• "Bela," "Maksim Maksimych," "Taman," "Princess Mary," "The Fatalist."
• What is the actual chronological order of the events described in the story?
• Taman, Princess Mary, Bela and Fatalist, Maksim Maksimych
• Why does Lermontov use the device of the diary to order them in this way?
• To present events as they appear to an outside observer, and then provide Pechorin's rationale

The narrators' attitudes toward the Caucasus

• What is each narrator's attitude toward the Caucasus and its people?
• Maksim Masimych: outright bigotry; a belief, founded on nothing, that he thoroughly understands the people of the Caucasus; a belief in the superiority of the Russians and their inherent right to rule the region
• Pechorin: self-interest; he takes what he wants, either by outright theft or by bargaining to his own considerable advantage (Bela for the horse, Bela's affections for some fabric and trinkets), and constructs rationales after the fact (e. g., God is the same for all people, as he tells Bela)
• The Russian Traveler: views the natives as noble savages, as part of nature, and also rationalizes and justifies the presence of the Russians (pp. 25, 26); he represents the more "enlightened" view of how the Caucasus should be ruled.

What is Lermontov's attitude?

• He criticizes each view in turn, suggesting that the Russians should not be in the Caucasus at all.
• He does this by using a technique called "metaparody" (Gary Saul Morson).  Maksim Maksimych is a very obvious parody of Russian attitudes; The reader congratulates himself for being, like the Russian traveler, much more sophisticated – but then realizes that this "sophisticated" attitude is also condescending and racist.  The reader who really is sophisticated should see himself in the Russian Traveler and see the error of this view.