First Love by Ivan Turgenev

First published:Pervaya lyubov, 1860 (English translation, 1884)

Type of work: Psychological realism

Themes: Coming-of-age, love and romance, sexual issues, and death

Time of work: 1833

Recommended Ages: 15-18

Locale: A summer residence of an aristocratic family on the outskirts of Moscow; also St. Petersburg

Principal Characters:

• Vladimir Petrovich, an aristocratic bachelor of forty who tells two friends the story of his unforgettable first love, told from the point of view of the youth, not from that of the mature storyteller
• Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekin, the intelligent, astonishingly beautiful girl of twenty-one, who has many suitors
• Pyotr Vasilyevich, Vladimir’s father, a handsome gentleman and sportsman, ten years younger than his wife
• Marya Nikolaevna, Vladimir’s mother, a high-strung, irritable woman whose hold upon her husband is her immense fortune
• Princess Zasyekin, Zinaida’s mother, a poorly educated merchant’s daughter, now a slovenly widow, earlier married to a cultured prince who gambled away his fortune, leaving his family in financial ruin
• Count Malevsky, ,
• Dr. Lushin, ,
• Maidanov, ,
• Captain Nirmatsky, and
• Belovzorov, all eligible men, Zinaida’s suitors

The Story

First Love is a story of youth and love. Vladimir, at sixteen, falls deeply and hopelessly in love. Princess Zinaida is the second victim of first love. It was customary for wealthy aristocrats to abandon their city houses for cooler residences in the summer. Thus in May of 1833, the overbearing mother of Vladimir, her handsome, carefree husband, and her student son, accompanied by a retinue of servants, find themselves in a spacious home on the outskirts of Moscow.

Vladimir is supposed to be studying for his impending university examinations. His father, Pyotr Vasilyevich, spends his time riding, hunting, or following other pursuits of men of leisure. Vladimir much admires his youthful-looking father, always impeccably dressed, rather indifferent to his jealous wife. Intelligent and self-indulgent, Pyotr Vasilyevich is easily bored and ever seeking new pleasures. The small cottage on the estate grounds is sublet to the impoverished Princess Zasyekin and her lovely daughter. Their situation is not unusual in mid-nineteenth century Russia, when many old families who traced their lineage back six hundred years were without money, though they had famous names. The concept of rank, privilege, and superfluous men—those who had ability but because they were aristocrats had no outlet for their energy—is integral to this story. When Vladimir completes his university education, he also will lead such a life of leisure, unless he seeks a government post. At that time, a gentleman did not work; in fact, under Czar Nicholas I, he was not allowed to work. Thus, when the lovely Princess Zinaida comes to live on the residence grounds, Vladimir, who has tired of daily study, is immediately fascinated by her. Because Zinaida enjoys Vladimir’s company, she encourages him to visit her, along with her bevy of suitors. Soon Vladimir knows he is in love.

Zinaida’s position is not enviable. Though she is beautiful and intelligent, she has little chance to marry a suitable man she could love, for she has no dowry to bring a husband. Surrounded as she is by admirers, she is not interested in them seriously, for they are all somewhat ridiculous. Because she lives on the rim of her social order, she has had little chance to meet an urbane, witty gentleman, until Vladimir’s father comes to call. For his part, Pyotr Vasilyevich, who has never loved his wife, has a long summer ahead with nothing to do. Like his son, he is fascinated by Zinaida.

Vladimir, therefore, is drawn into a net from which he cannot escape. He is happy only when he is in Zinaida’s company. Vladimir cannot study. Every moment his thoughts are occupied by Zinaida. Sometimes she treats him like a child, and then he is downcast, even angry. More often than not, she seems delighted by his company, and he is happy. As summer wears on, however, he notices a subtle change in his princess. She is often depressed; he is also. Then he realizes that she is in love, and he wonders with whom.

Only when his mother, Marya Nikolaevna, receives an anonymous, scurrilous letter—sent by one of the princess’s suitors—does Vladimir learn the truth: Zinaida loves his father. Marya Nikolaevna makes immediate plans to return to the city with her husband and son. One time in Moscow, however, when Vladimir goes riding with his father, he sees Zinaida again. Symbolically, his little horse cannot keep up with his father’s. When he sees his father ride up to a small house and there talk with Zinaida through the window, he knows that the liaison between them has continued. Autumn comes, and Vladimir enters the university at St. Petersburg, where he has moved with his parents. Within six months, his father dies suddenly of a stroke. Just before his death, he had received a letter from Moscow that had troubled him. Vladimir knows only that, after the death of his father, Marya Nikolaevna sent a considerable sum of money to Moscow.

Within four years, Vladimir completes his university studies. He learns by chance that Zinaida has married and is in St. Petersburg. He resolves to call upon the lovely princess again, for all during his university days he has kept her in his memory. He is informed, however, that she has died in childbirth a few days earlier. So ends the story of his first love as told by Vladimir Petrovich to his friends.

Context

First Love is Turgenev’s best-known novella. It is similar to Asya (1858; English translation, 1877) in its evocation of love and the bittersweet moments of life. The story draws upon the reminiscences of the family life of Turgenev’s parents: the elegant gentleman-sportsman father; the older, eccentric, immensely wealthy mother; and Turgenev himself as the young Vladimir.

The story is an appropriate one for young adults, since it speaks of their own concerns: of the emotions one feels in a deep first love, of similar feelings of rejection that young people so often experience. Furthermore, it is a historically accurate account of its time and place, as well as a major artistic work of fiction. Society under the reactionary Czar Nicholas I was divided into three groups: the aristocracy, many of whom had lost wealth through extravagance; the small merchant class, some of whom had money but no social standing; and the vast majority made up of poor peasants, workers, and servants. In this milieu, the reader meets the forty-year-old bachelor, Vladimir Petrovich, who has agreed to tell the story of his memorable first love to two close friends. Through the words of his narrator, Turgenev has given the world a classic account, taken from his own youth, delicately and perfectly woven together.

Bibliography

Hart, Pierre R. “The Passionate Page: Turgenev’s First Love and Dostoevsky’s The Little Hero,” in New Perspectives on Nineteenth-century Russian Prose, 1982.

Mirsky, Dmitry S. A History of Russian Literature, 1949.

Pritchett, V.S. The Gentle Barbarian: The Life and Work of Turgenev, 1977.

Schapiro, Leonard. Turgenev: His Life and Times, 1979.