Chapter 8. Landscape as a dominant hero in “Bezhin Meadow” by I. S. Turgenev
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Maria M. Langleben
Abstract
The plot of “Bezhin Meadow” (BM) consists of three almost independent narratives loosely connected to each other. The story does not fall apart owing to continuous flow of time accompanied by ever-present landscapes, changing in concert with the motion of time, and merging with it. The collateral motion of time and landscapes (T&L) provides a reliable thread tying the story together. Due to the steady motion of T&L, an undercurrent, continuous plot arises, in which the union of T&L is endowed with the qualities of animated antagonist clashing with people and suppressing them. The two plots interlace to produce a fatalistic, mystically tinged message. While changing its appearance and character, T&L retains its domineering attitude to human beings, gradually increasing its pressure. Benevolent at its first appearance, T&L becomes evil, aggressive, sends mysterious signals to fearful people, warns and finally annihilates the chosen victim. Being a unique and consummate device connecting the otherwise disunited plot, the undercurrent plot has also a deeper symbolic meaning in the context of Turgenev’s Weltanschauung. The mutable, fast-moving, implacable T&L in BM is a close kin to a formidable natural force in his life-long dark reflections. It seems safe to suggest that the line of T&L in BM is a covert image of the inexorable elemental force ruling over all life.
Abstract
The plot of “Bezhin Meadow” (BM) consists of three almost independent narratives loosely connected to each other. The story does not fall apart owing to continuous flow of time accompanied by ever-present landscapes, changing in concert with the motion of time, and merging with it. The collateral motion of time and landscapes (T&L) provides a reliable thread tying the story together. Due to the steady motion of T&L, an undercurrent, continuous plot arises, in which the union of T&L is endowed with the qualities of animated antagonist clashing with people and suppressing them. The two plots interlace to produce a fatalistic, mystically tinged message. While changing its appearance and character, T&L retains its domineering attitude to human beings, gradually increasing its pressure. Benevolent at its first appearance, T&L becomes evil, aggressive, sends mysterious signals to fearful people, warns and finally annihilates the chosen victim. Being a unique and consummate device connecting the otherwise disunited plot, the undercurrent plot has also a deeper symbolic meaning in the context of Turgenev’s Weltanschauung. The mutable, fast-moving, implacable T&L in BM is a close kin to a formidable natural force in his life-long dark reflections. It seems safe to suggest that the line of T&L in BM is a covert image of the inexorable elemental force ruling over all life.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. The role of analogy in Charles Dickens’ Pictures from Italy 21
- Chapter 3. Listing and impressionism in Charles Dickens’s description of Genoa in Pictures from Italy 31
- Chapter 4. Immersed in imagined landscapes 45
- Chapter 5. The blind tour 61
- Chapter 6. “How Others See …” 81
- Chapter 7. The poems of Edward Thomas 95
- Chapter 8. Landscape as a dominant hero in “Bezhin Meadow” by I. S. Turgenev 123
- Chapter 9. A social landscape 153
- Chapter 10. The agency of The Hungry Tide 191
- Name index 233
- Subject index 235
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. The role of analogy in Charles Dickens’ Pictures from Italy 21
- Chapter 3. Listing and impressionism in Charles Dickens’s description of Genoa in Pictures from Italy 31
- Chapter 4. Immersed in imagined landscapes 45
- Chapter 5. The blind tour 61
- Chapter 6. “How Others See …” 81
- Chapter 7. The poems of Edward Thomas 95
- Chapter 8. Landscape as a dominant hero in “Bezhin Meadow” by I. S. Turgenev 123
- Chapter 9. A social landscape 153
- Chapter 10. The agency of The Hungry Tide 191
- Name index 233
- Subject index 235
