First Love (novella)
Encyclopedia
First Love is a novella
by Ivan Turgenev
, first published in 1860. It is one of his most popular pieces of short fiction.
Three of Turgenev's stories, Torrents of Spring
, Asya, and First Love work well when read in combination; they are often found published together and deal with similar topics and take place in similar contexts.
. The beginning starts with the protagonist, Vladimir Petrovich, in a party. The party guests are taking turns recounting the stories of their first loves. When Vladimir's turn comes to tell his story, he suggests that he write down the story in a notebook because it is a rather long, unusual tale. The story within the story
then continues from his notebook, which recounts the memory of his first love.
Vladimir Petrovich, a 16-year-old, is staying in the country with his family and meets Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina, a beautiful 21-year-old woman, staying with her mother, Princess Zasyekina, next door. This family, as with many of the Russian minor nobility with royal ties of that time, were only afforded a degree of respectability because of their titles; the Zasyekins, in the case of this story, are a very poor family. The young Vladimir falls in love with Zinaida, who has a set of several other (socially more eligible) suitors whom he joins in their difficult and often fruitless efforts for the young lady's favour. Zinaida, as is revealed throughout the story, is a thoroughly capricious and somewhat playful mistress to these rather love-struck suitors. She fails to reciprocate Vladimir's love, often misleading him, mocking his comparative youth in contrast to her early adulthood. But eventually the true object of her affections and a rather tragic conclusion to the story is revealed.
adapting the Turgenev's novella was released on 1970.
The film "Lover's Prayer" combining Turgenev's novella and Chekhov's "The Peasant Woman" was released in 1999.
The Tamil Tamil language
movie Sindhu Samaveli Sindhu Samaveli
is an adaptation of First Love. In literal context, Sindhu Samaveli is the Tamil name for Indus Valley Civilization
and Mumu.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...
, first published in 1860. It is one of his most popular pieces of short fiction.
Three of Turgenev's stories, Torrents of Spring
Torrents of Spring
Torrents of Spring, also known as Spring Torrents , is a novel written by Ivan Turgenev during 1870 and 1871 when he was in his fifties. The story is about a young 22-year-old Russian landowner named Dimitry Sanin who falls deliriously in love for the first time while visiting the German city of...
, Asya, and First Love work well when read in combination; they are often found published together and deal with similar topics and take place in similar contexts.
Plot summary
First Love is an example of a frame storyFrame story
A frame story is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories...
. The beginning starts with the protagonist, Vladimir Petrovich, in a party. The party guests are taking turns recounting the stories of their first loves. When Vladimir's turn comes to tell his story, he suggests that he write down the story in a notebook because it is a rather long, unusual tale. The story within the story
Story within a story
A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
then continues from his notebook, which recounts the memory of his first love.
Vladimir Petrovich, a 16-year-old, is staying in the country with his family and meets Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina, a beautiful 21-year-old woman, staying with her mother, Princess Zasyekina, next door. This family, as with many of the Russian minor nobility with royal ties of that time, were only afforded a degree of respectability because of their titles; the Zasyekins, in the case of this story, are a very poor family. The young Vladimir falls in love with Zinaida, who has a set of several other (socially more eligible) suitors whom he joins in their difficult and often fruitless efforts for the young lady's favour. Zinaida, as is revealed throughout the story, is a thoroughly capricious and somewhat playful mistress to these rather love-struck suitors. She fails to reciprocate Vladimir's love, often misleading him, mocking his comparative youth in contrast to her early adulthood. But eventually the true object of her affections and a rather tragic conclusion to the story is revealed.
Conclusion and outcome
Vladimir discovers that the true object of Zinaida's affection is his own father, Pyotr Vasilyevich. In the tragic and devastatingly succinct closing two chapters, Vladimir secretly observes a final meeting between Pyotr and Zinaida at the window of her house in which his father strikes her arm with a riding crop. Zinaida kisses the welt on her arm and Pyotr bounds into the house. Eight months later, Vladimir's father receives a distressing letter from Moscow and tearfully begs his wife for a favor. Pyotr dies of a stroke several days later, after which his wife sends a considerable sum of money to Moscow. Three or four years later, Vladimir learns of Zinaida's marriage to a Monsieur Dolsky and subsequent death during childbirth.Vladimir Petrovich
The storyteller, at the time of narration a 16-year old boy; the protagonist of the story.Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina
The object of Vladimir's affections. Capricious, mocking and difficult, she is inconsistent in her affections towards her suitors, of which Vladimir is the one to whom she shows (outwardly) the most affection. However, it is the affection of sister to brother rather than between lovers.Pyotr Vasilyevich
Vladimir's father, a stoic symbol of 19th century masculinity; very 'British' in outlook and apparently unreceptive to emotion.The importance of First Love
The story First Love is a true Russian 'classic' (for want of a better phrase). It remains an important book for young Russians. The ending itself is of some interest - clearly designed as a surprise of sorts but, crucially, it encourages the reader to reassess what he thought of the characters and causes the reader to muse a little over the content. The text is regularly used in the teaching of Russian at schools and colleges.English translations
- Turgenev, Ivan. Turgenev's Novels, v. 11 ("The Torrents of Spring." "First Love." "Mumu."). Trans. Constance Garnett. London: Heinemann, 1897. Out of print.
- Turgenev, Ivan. First Love. Trans. Isaiah Berlin. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1950. Out of print. Now available in Penguin Classics, 1978. ISBN 0-14-044335-5.
- Penguin edition includes an introduction by V.S. Pritchett.
- Turgenev, Ivan. First Love and Other Stories, Oxford World's Classics. Trans. Richard Freeborn. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-283689-7.
- The translation is based on the text from I.S. Turgenev, Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy i pisem. Moskva-Leningrad, Vol. IX, 1965, pp. 7-76. This edition also contains The Diary of a Superfluous Man, Mumu, Asya, King Lear of the Steppes, and The Song of Triumpant Love.
- Turgenev, Ivan. First Love. New York: Penguin Books, 2007.
Film adaptation
A German filmFirst Love (1970 film)
First Love is a 1970 film, written, directed, and starred in by Austrian director Maximilian Schell. It is an adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's homonymous novella starring Schell, Dominique Sanda, and John Moulder-Brown.-Cast:*John Moulder-Brown as Alexander...
adapting the Turgenev's novella was released on 1970.
The film "Lover's Prayer" combining Turgenev's novella and Chekhov's "The Peasant Woman" was released in 1999.
The Tamil Tamil language
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
movie Sindhu Samaveli Sindhu Samaveli
Sindhu Samaveli
Sindhu Samaveli is a 2010 Tamil drama film directed by Samy. The film featured debutants Anaka , Harish and Ghajini in the lead roles. The story revolves around an illicit relationship between a girl and her father-in-law. The film became Samy's third controversial film in succession, achieving an...
is an adaptation of First Love. In literal context, Sindhu Samaveli is the Tamil name for Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...
External links
Trans. Constance Garnett. Includes First Love along with two other Turgenev stories, Torrents of SpringTorrents of Spring
Torrents of Spring, also known as Spring Torrents , is a novel written by Ivan Turgenev during 1870 and 1871 when he was in his fifties. The story is about a young 22-year-old Russian landowner named Dimitry Sanin who falls deliriously in love for the first time while visiting the German city of...
and Mumu.
- Free audiobook from LibriVox