"Where it is thin, there it breaks": the main idea of the work of Ivan Turgenev, in common with a folk saying, the opinions of critics

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The relationship between a man and a woman is an attractive material for poets and writers, psychologists and philosophers. The art of subtle emotional relationships has been studied throughout the life of mankind. Love is simple in its essence, but often unattainable due to selfishness and selfishness of a person. One of the attempts to penetrate the secret of the relationship between lovers was the one-act play by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev “Where it is thin, it breaks there.”

Summary of the play

The action takes place on the estate of Madame Libanova, who has a 19-year-old daughter, Vera. The hospitality of a we althy landowner allowed a large number of people to live in her house and be guests. Vera Nikolaevna, a we althy heiress and marriageable girl, had natural beauty and intelligence. The young man Vladimir Petrovich Stanitsyn, a neighbor of Madame Libanova, courted the enviable bride. But its simplicitytimidity and clumsiness hindered the establishment of mutual affection between the girl and the boy.

Vera Nikolaevna was in no hurry to respond to Stanitsa's feelings for another reason. Her mother had another neighbor - Gorsky Evgeny Andreevich, a prominent man of 26 years old, who was more attractive to Vera as a spouse than his friend and rival Stanitsyn. By the way, the latter, in his naivety, did not even suspect about the tender feelings between Vera and Gorsky. However, Gorsky was in no hurry to make a marriage proposal, and Vera Nikolaevna needed clarity in their relationship.

One evening, Eugene, full of lyrical feelings, reads Lermontov's poems to her in a boat in the middle of the pond, so much so that the girl understands his feelings. But the next day he is mocking and sarcastic, hiding his timidity, he behaves awkwardly towards Vera. The girl is offended by such a dual nature of Gorsky, and in the end she agrees to the marriage proposal made by Stanitsy.

Folk wisdom

The proverb “Where it is thin, it breaks there” means that things in which there is no clarity and clarity, left to chance, at the most inopportune moment can bring trouble or lead to disaster.

The allegory with the thread is very revealing. A good housewife will not use thread with thinned sections in sewing, which will obviously break. She will either take another thread or remove the damaged section. A negligent hostess, relying on chance (and suddenly she will blow it), using poor-quality thread, risks wasting time andget a bad result.

In life, we often encounter such a phenomenon, especially when it comes to human relationships, when a person, because of his complexes, does not solve psychological problems, but leaves them to chance - maybe everything will be resolved by itself. Yes, it can resolve itself, but the result, as a rule, is the opposite of the expectations of such a person. Turgenev subtly described this feature of human relationships in his play.

Relationship of the play with the proverb

“Where it is thin, it breaks there” - the writer gave such a name to the work in order to focus readers' attention on the internal psychological problem of the protagonist. Avoiding an honest dialogue with Vera, and above all with himself, he lost his relationship with the girl he liked. Fear of the changes in life that should follow the marriage did not allow Gorsky to make a final decision. The weakness of the hero's character allowed him to agree and even rejoice at Vera's decision to marry Stanitsyn.

Yevgeny Gorsky's tossing between "I want" and "I'm afraid" shows his inability to take responsibility, which cultivates the behavior of avoiding failure. The relationship was vague and incomprehensible for Vera: whether Eugene loves her or not, she never got a definite answer. Therefore, such a sad outcome - where it is thin, it breaks there.

Reason for breakup

The main character of the play - a young girl Vera Nikolaevna - is only 19 years old. But she demonstrates worldly wisdom and the ability to make decisions with a coldhead. When the night before, while walking in the garden, Yevgeny gave free rein to his emotions, succumbing to the innocent charm of the youth of the main character, it seemed to Vera that Gorsky was in love with her, and she was glad of this, since she herself was attracted to him.

However, the next day, Evgeny seemed to have been replaced - he was timid, mumbled, made excuses, avoided direct answers to direct questions. He, perhaps, over time, would have decided to marry, but Stanitsyn, with his proposal, forced Gorsky to make a choice immediately, which the hero was not ready for. Faith was embarrassed by this behavior, because this proves that Eugene doubts his feelings. And she made a seemingly hasty decision: let it tear where it is thin.

Young but smart

The behavior of the heroine from the outside may seem spontaneous and frivolous. “In spite of that, I will marry the first one who calls,” such behavior of young ladies has become a classic. In a state of resentment, they are ready to punish the negligent groom, and as a result, they themselves and their unfortunate chosen ones suffer.

But Vera Nikolaevna approached the issue of marriage seriously. She agreed to Stanitsyn's proposal not out of resentment at Gorsky's indecisiveness, but in spite of him. She understood that if she waited for Eugene, where was the guarantee that in married life he would not let her down. And Stanitsyn is reliable, caring and madly in love with her. So it's an arranged marriage. Is it good or bad?

Choice between bad and very bad

Life is a series of choices, somewhere successful, but somewhere not. And the expression let it be betterbreaks where it is thin” points to particularly bad decisions. Vera Nikolaevna had to make a choice that would decide her future fate.

In the play “Where it is thin, it breaks there” in the content, the author does not describe Vera Nikolaevna as a romantic girl whose heart stops at the mere sight of her lover. On the contrary, Gorsky does not always feel comfortable under Vera's gaze. The relationship of young people had a subjunctive character. Vera had sluggish feelings for Eugene, the same as he did for her.

A person who is truly in love, like the same Stanitsyn, is not afraid of the future, does not predict failures - on the contrary, he is happy and thinks that it will always be so. Indecision and fear of making a mistake show that, in fact, neither Vera nor Gorsky had love. Therefore, a girl between two bad options chooses a more acceptable one - if she herself cannot love, then at least they love her. She has yet to go through her bitter lessons, to be punished for her selfish approach to relationships with the opposite sex. But that, as they say, is another story.

Where it is thin, there it breaks

Analyzing Turgenev and his work, one can understand that other works of the classic, such as “A Month in the Country”, “Evening in Sorrenta”, etc., were also devoted to the theme of the relationship between a man and a woman. This indicates the writer’s keen interest in eternal theme of love. This is significant, given that great works are always born from real experiences and experiences. In other words, the author in each work describes himself to some extent.

The play "Where it is thin, there it breaks" is no exception. If you look impartially at the life of Turgenev, then in Gorsky you can guess the personality traits of the author. Let's not be unfounded, but remember the biographical facts.

The writer writes about himself

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born into a we althy noble family. From childhood, I watched how folk wisdom was embodied in life, in particular the saying "Where it is thin, it breaks there." The relationship between the parents was initially flawed: the writer's father, a retired ruined officer, married the money of a powerful landowner. All that young Ivan could observe was a marriage in which not only adults, but also children suffer.

Relationships, in which initially there was no love, no respect, no understanding, but only selfish desires to control each other, led to the fear of the institution of the family, of real responsible relationships.

Turgenev girls

The whole personal life of the brilliant writer seemed to be held under the slogan "Remember: it breaks where it is thin." Proof of this are the actions of Turgenev, committed by him both in his youth and in his mature years.

As expected, young Ivan Turgenev falls in love with the same young and charming young ladies. But the morality of that time did not allow to have a close relationship with the object of sighing from the nobility. Like many, the young Mr. Turgenev had to resort to the help of servants.

Dunyasha, a seamstress, became the mother of an only childwriter. Ivan Sergeevich wanted to marry his beloved when he found out about the pregnancy. But the mother did not allow the unequal marriage to take place, threw a scandal and exiled her negligent son to St. Petersburg, and immediately married Dunyasha.

Life went on, there were some hobbies and even thoughts of marriage, but things did not go beyond dreams. But there was one big, one might even say fatal attraction in the life of the great writer.

Pauline Viardot

The writer, as is typical of the ardent disposition of youth, was so fascinated by the actress that he was not stopped by either the harsh educational measures of his mother (she deprived Turgenev of money for three years), or ridicule, or insult. He followed the Viardot family everywhere. As the writer himself later wrote: “I lived on the edge of someone else’s nest.”

Having met Polina and her husband at the age of 25, the writer will stay with the Viardot family until the end of his life, bequeathing to the actress all his rich inheritance. This woman played a decisive role in Turgenev's life and in his final loneliness, as if summing up: "Let it tear where it is thin!"

We all come from childhood

Psychological trauma received by Turgenev in childhood, struck a blow at the thinnest point. They did not allow Ivan Sergeevich in his adult life to create harmonious happy relationships with the women he loved. He expresses the fear of married life through Gorsky's mouth in the play "Where it is thin, there it breaks":

So what? Less than five years after the marriage, the already captivating, living Maria turned into a plump andnoisy Marya Bogdanovna…

The domineering and despotic mother also influenced the formation of Turgenev's character. He was a gentle person, somewhere even soft-bodied, for the most part he was afraid to make responsible decisions and tried to avoid conflicts, which was later reflected in literary work and civic positions. Turgenev will often be criticized for his weakness of character and called the "tourist of life."

Critic Opinion

But let's get back to the play "Where it's thin, there it breaks". She received acclaim from fellow writers and critics.

P. V. Annenkov noted the simplicity of the characters' characters and Turgenev's skill to interest, in essence, a banal story, without passion and tragedies.

Druzhinin A. V. spoke about the comedy “Where it is thin, it breaks there”: “Let the play be small, but the author of the Hunter’s Notes proved that Russian comedy can be entertaining.”

Despite the positive reviews of the play, theatrical performances of the comedy were a failure, which was immediately reflected in the negative reviews of theater critics. Dejected by the failure, Turgenev banned theatrical performances of the play. The ban was in effect until the writer's death.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, theatrical productions of the comedy "Where it is thin, there it breaks" are resumed. The significance of the play in the cultural heritage of Turgenev is being reviewed, and critics and the public give a positive assessment to the work.

A lesson for the good fellows

Almost 200 years have passed since the play was written, and the world has changed beyond recognition. Feminism has achievedequal freedoms for women. As another wise proverb says: “For what they fought, they ran into that.” As a result, a woman has turned from a weak woman into a strong one, in other words, she has to carry the entire burden of everyday problems on herself. The availability of bodily pleasures leads to increasing irresponsibility on the part of both men and women.

But, despite such radical external changes, the psychology of people does not change. Internal problems have no time limits. And today, very often we are faced with a situation so elegantly described by Turgenev in the comedy "Where it is thin, it breaks there." Let the scenery of the 21st century be different, and young people can be together for a long time and even have children together, but when it comes to formalizing relations in the registry office, many modern Gorsky behave in exactly the same way as Turgenev's prototype. A brilliant story retains its freshness and relevance even through time.