Water Society
Who does Pechorin call the water society and why? The epithet becomes clear after reading the chapter “Princess Mary”. The local nobility here mixes with guests arriving from the capital. This mixture gives an interesting picture of morals. Who will outdo whom in terms of immorality? Both societies are “already good”; together they are even stronger. Why does he call it water? Because their goal is to improve health on the waters of Kislovodsk. Climate and healing water are not able to cure people's souls. It is here that it becomes clear that Pechorin’s disease is incurable. The man is trying to change something else around him, but everything is consumed by his selfishness and thirst for adventurism.
The water society has gathered near a clean source, but it resembles a swamp, drawing in and growing very quickly. Who does Gregory divide all the representatives of the new community into, and how does he treat them? These are steppe husbands, landowners, mistresses of local houses, vacationing dandies, numerous ladies and officers.
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Steppe landowners
Fathers of families arrive in Pyatigorsk to find a successful match for their daughters. Their desire is to strengthen their financial condition. The St. Petersburg guards are mostly the sons of successful businessmen. The fate of the daughters is just an excuse. Landowners seek profit in any of their actions. The steppe husbands have worn out old-fashioned frock coats, but their daughters and wives are smart and sophisticated. In every man who passes by, they see the opportunity to create a couple. The sight of Pechorin at first evokes tender curiosity, but it quickly disappears and indignation appears. It is caused by army epaulets. This scene makes the reader smile bitterly.
Water society in the novel Hero of Our Time by Lermontov essay
The novel “Hero of Our Time” by Mikhail Yuryevich wrote about the conflict between one character and society.
In one of the chapters of this work, Lermontov showed how Pechorin fights with all his might against the water society. In this work, the reader observes how people’s opinions and views on life collided. According to the writer himself, the water society represents the nobility, people who show the whole essence of social life. Pechorin is a hero who opposes this community. A society where envious people constantly gossip about each other. For Pechorin all this was alien. This was precisely the reason to resist them. But despite all this, society plays a significant role in the work. Thanks to this, the reader is better able to get to know the main character of the novel.
One of the representatives of the water society was Grushnitsky. In the novel he is presented as a worthless copy of Pechorin. His society mocks him, despite the fact that he went out of his way to be noticed. Despite the fact that the hero is romantic, all his feelings are imbued with falsehood. In order not to lose his pride, he agrees to a duel.
Princess Mary was very smart, despite her young age. Her purity shows us Gregory's true selfishness. Who is trying to lock up all her kindness. But it is with Princessa that he shares all his experiences and thoughts. However, even in this heroine, the reader is betrayed by her unnatural behavior.
Werner is the only person from society who confronts Pechorin openly. Despite the fact that their views were somewhat similar. Werner turns out to be a more practical person. He is very passive by nature. He openly shows his indifference to the world. This becomes noticeable before the duel with Pechorin, when he asks if Pechorin left a will.
Vera helps the reader understand how unhappy Pechorin was. It is with her appearance that it becomes clear that Pechorin is incapable of sincerity and love. Even though he needs it. When Vera leaves, he tries to catch up with her. Having failed, he becomes hysterical.
In addition to all the above-listed heroes of the work, who in some way belonged to the “water” society, the military and youth can also be included. Who are also interested in intrigue and gossip. They are united by reverence for rank and the idleness of their lives. All the characters in the work are comical and funny. Nevertheless, it was thanks to this society that Lermontov managed to more clearly express the image of the main character Pechorin.
With this work, Mikhail Yuryevich managed to accurately describe the high society, exactly as it was in the 19th century.
dandies
There are crowds of such men. They have no faces or personality. Pechorin says that they drink a lot and not water. That is, their goal of staying in the Caucasus is not to improve their health. As befits dandies, they hold a glass of healing water, choosing a picture pose - “academic”. They are all lazy, the dandies “drag around in passing,” looking for someone to gossip with, playing and complaining about the boredom that they themselves create. The dandies express contempt for provincial women, suffering about the capital's young ladies. But the reader understands that when they get to Moscow or St. Petersburg, their position changes. There they miss the ladies from the outback, expressing contempt for the aristocrats.
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“Water Society” and Pechorin in the novel “Hero of Our Time”
“A Hero of Our Time” is a socio-psychological novel in which the author set himself the task of revealing the inner world of the hero, “exploring the human soul.”
Lermontov is a romantic, therefore the problem of personality is the central problem of romanticism and, naturally, the poet’s work. However, the innovation of “A Hero of Our Time” lies in the fact that the conflict between the individual and the surrounding world is resolved using a variety of means, both romantic and realistic. Pechorin, the main character of the novel, is a social type. Traditionally, following Onegin, he is placed in the gallery of “extra people.” The images of Pechorin and Onegin have a lot in common, from details, character traits, to the situations in which they find themselves. However, the conflict between the individual and society in “A Hero of Our Time” is more acute than in “Eugene Onegin,” since Pechorin “frantically chases after life,” but receives nothing from it, and Onegin simply “goes with the flow.” The composition of the novel is subordinated to the main task that the author set for himself - solving the problem of personality. In Pechorin’s journal, the central story is “Princess Mary,” in which the character of the hero is revealed from the inside, that is, Lermontov uses such an artistic device as confession. All artistic means - portrait, landscape, dialogue, details - are psychological in nature. In the story, with the help of an expanded figurative system, the secret of the hero’s character is revealed. Lermontov, like many romantics, contrasts personality and society, and he places his hero in different environments, pitting him against different people. We can see this in the stories “Bela”, “Taman” and “Princess Mary”. In the psychological story “Princess Mary,” Pechorin’s personality is contrasted with the “water society”; the hero’s attitude towards this society and society in general is shown. “Water Society” is a collective image of representatives of the local and metropolitan nobility, in whose behavior and life all the characteristic features of the described era can be traced. The conflict between the individual and society is embodied not only in revealing the character of the main character, but also in the depiction of the “water society”, their life, interests, and entertainment. Pechorin notes with slight contempt the carefully hidden envy of each other, the love of gossip and intrigue. The life and customs of visitors to the Caucasian mineral waters, which both the author and the main character are ironic about, are determined by history and traditions. The image of the “water society” is also given in parallel with the image of the secular society, which Pechorin mentions and which has more than once been the object of study in the works of Griboedov and Pushkin. In general, the entire “water society” is opposed to Pechorin. However, it is still possible to identify heroes who are not only opposed to Pechorin, but also compared with him. Grushnitsky is a kind of parody of Pechorin. What for Pechorin constitutes the essence of character, for Grushnitsky it is a pose designed to produce an effect, an impression on others. Grushnitsky is an anti-romantic hero. His penchant for romanticization is carried to the point of caricature. He shows off and often behaves inappropriately to the situation. In everyday life he looks for romantic circumstances, but in truly romantic situations he gets lost. Grushnitsky's participation in the duel is ignoble and vile, but he cannot refuse it, since he is very proud. There are many external details in his image (overcoat, crutch, limp, ring with the date he met and the name Mary). Obviously, the image of Grushnitsky was not created without the influence of the image of Lensky: both are romantics, both were killed in a duel, both are younger than their friend-enemy. Werner is the only male character who is compared with Pechorin, and not opposed. Their similarities are manifested in their relationships with society, skepticism, and wit. But along with common features, there are many differences in their characters. Pechorin is “madly chasing after life,” while Werner is passive. Werner is a less deep and complex nature than Pechorin. Before the duel, Pechorin admires nature, and Werner asks if he wrote his will. Werner's appearance shows romantic traits, but he is a contradictory nature. All female images presented in the novel are also subordinated to the main task - revealing the image of Pechorin and showing his attitude towards love. Of all the female characters, Princess Mary is depicted most fully. Like Grushnitsky, she is passionate about romanticism, she is young, smart, witty. The princess's purity and naivety makes Pechorin's selfishness even more obvious. The story of Mary's seduction is the reason for deep introspection and extensive internal monologues in Pechorin's diary. In a conversation with Mary, Pechorin talks about his fate (relationships with society, inclinations, quirks of character). Faith is the most obscure image, incompletely outlined, and given only by hints. This is the only female image that is compared with Pechorin. It is in his relationship with Vera that the tragedy of Pechorin’s situation is most fully felt, his inability to deeply and truly love: he doesn’t even need Vera. This emphasizes the hero’s loneliness, his inability to truly feel, and reveals the hero’s internal conflict. Romantic irony illuminates the relationship between Pechorin and Vera: Pechorin drives his horse, trying to catch up with Vera, and then falls asleep to Napoleon at Waterloo. In addition, Lermontov pays attention to a large number of other, less noticeable, but also very important for creating a more complete picture of society, heroes who, without exception, are subject to the principle of typification, which indicates the realism of the novel. At the same time, the author proceeds from traditional types, relying on the creative experience of his predecessors, Griboyedov and Pushkin. As soon as Pechorin arrives in Pyatigorsk, he becomes acquainted with the customs of the families of the steppe landowners: “...the St. Petersburg cut of the frock coat misled them, but soon recognizing the army epaulettes, they turned away indignantly.” Here we learn about the wives of local bosses, “mistresses of the waters”: “...they pay less attention to the uniform, they are accustomed in the Caucasus to meet an ardent heart under a numbered button and an educated mind under a white cap.” A special class in the “water society” is made up of men, civil and military (Captain Dragunsky, who with his participation in the duel resembles Zaretsky). The “water youth” stands out separately. In general, it is difficult to imagine anything new that has not yet been depicted in the works of Griboyedov and Pushkin. The same passion for rank, sycophancy, the same balls, gossip, idle pastime, emptiness, which dominate not as the vices of society, but as the elements of social life. Everything is the same, only with the difference that there we saw a secular society, and here a provincial one, which is trying with all its might to resemble the capital. Against the background of all this, it is impossible not to note with what irony not only specific images are drawn, but also the entire atmosphere. Thus, the “water society” is not an accidental theme in the novel. The problem of personality, its relationships with others are the main task of all Lermontov’s work. At the same time, he is a continuator of the traditions of Russian literature of the 19th century.
