The novel "Hero of our time" M.Yu. Lermontov is considered one of the best works of classical Russian literature. You can talk about it for a very long time - there are more than enough interesting topics for discussion. Today we will focus on one of them - we will try to understand what Pechorin’s attitude towards Mary was.
Pechorin's character
First you need to understand the character of the protagonist. It is impossible not to admit that this is a man, in his development above the society surrounding him. However, he could not find application for his talents and abilities. The 1830s are a difficult period in Russian history. The future of the young people of that time was "il empty, il dark." Lermontov in Pechorin captured the features of the young generation of those years. The portrait of his hero is made up of vices of all time. It seems to be two people. The first one acts, and the second one observes its actions and discusses them or, rather, condemns them.
Negative character traits of Pechorin
In Pechorin, one can notice many negative traits, including selfishness. Although Belinsky could not agree with this. He said that selfishness "does not blame itself", "does not suffer." Indeed, Pechorin suffers from the fact that he is bored among people belonging to the "water society". The desire to break out of it lies in the fact that the hero wastes himself in various small matters. Pechorin risks his life, seeking oblivion in love, substituting Chechen bullets for himself. He is very suffering from boredom and realizes that living the way he lives is wrong. The hero is ambitious and vindictive. Wherever he appears, misfortunes happen everywhere.
Why did the hero deceive Mary?
This hero inflicted a deep spiritual wound on Princess Mary. He deceived this girl, betrayed her love for him. What was his purpose? Exclusively own satisfaction. In this, Pechorin and Princess Mary were completely different. Relations between the heroes are characterized by the fact that the princess seeks to make her beloved happy, and he thinks only of himself. However, Pechorin is well aware of the ungrateful role he played in the life of this girl.
The development of relations between Pechorin and Mary
In order to understand what Pechorin’s true attitude towards Mary was, we briefly trace the history of the development of their very unusual novel. Mary is the young and beautiful daughter of Princess Ligovskaya. However, she is too naive, and also overly trusting in other people, including Pechorin. At first, the girl did not pay attention to the protagonist, but he did everything to interest her. He lured Mary fans to him, telling them funny stories. After Pechorin won her attention, he tried to impress the princess with stories and stories from his life. His goal was to make the girl see him as an extraordinary person, and he achieved his goal. Pechorin gradually conquered the girl. During the ball, he "saved" the princess from a drunken impudent, pestering her. Pechorin's caring attitude towards Princess Mary did not go unnoticed by the girl. She believed that the hero is sincere in his actions. However, the girl was cruelly mistaken. He just wanted to conquer her, she was another toy for him. One evening Pechorin and Mary went for a walk. Their relationship by that time had already developed enough for what happened during her. The princess felt ill, crossing the river. Pechorin hugged her, the girl leaned on him, and then he kissed her.
Was Pechorin in love with Mary?
Pechorin asserted and tried to convince himself that the passion of Mary does not mean anything to him, that he seeks the love of this girl only for his own pleasure. However, in reality, Pechorin’s attitude towards Mary was somewhat different. The hero's soul longed for true love. Pechorin begins to doubt: "Could I really fall in love?" However, he immediately catches himself thinking that attachment to this girl is a "miserable habit of the heart." Pechorin’s love for Mary died in the bud, because the hero did not allow her to develop. What a pity - perhaps he would have found happiness by falling in love.
Thus, Pechorin’s attitude towards Mary is controversial. The hero assures himself that he does not love her. Before the duel, he tells Werner that he took out only a few ideas from the storm of life, but he could not stand a single feeling. He admits that he has long lived with his head, not his heart. He weighs his own actions and passions, parses them “with strict curiosity”, but “without participation”. At first glance, the way Pechorin relates to Mary confirms this idea of the main character about himself, which testifies to the cruelty and ruthless coldness of his game. However, the main character is not so impassive as he is trying to seem. Several times he feels that he is carried away, even becomes excited. The protagonist reproaches himself for his ability to feel: after all, he assured himself that for him happiness lies not in love, but in "intense pride." His nature is distorted by the inability to find a high goal in life and eternal discord with others. However, Pechorin in vain believes that this "intense pride" will bring him happiness. Both Mary and Vera love him, but this does not bring him satisfaction. And relations with these heroines are developing not only by the will of Pechorin.
While the hero sees the princess spoiled by worship as a secular young lady, he is pleased to offend the pride of the girl. However, after the soul appears in it, the ability to truly suffer, and not just play love, comes to light, the main character changes his mind. However, the author does not end the story with a happy ending - Pechorin and Princess Mary are lonely. The relationship of these two heroes did not lead to anything. Fear, not indifference, makes him feel Mary.
How should relate to Pechorin?
Probably Pechorin forever ruined the life of this girl. He disappointed her in love. Now Mary will not trust anyone. Pechorin can be treated differently. Of course, he is a scoundrel, unworthy of another person's love and even self-respect. However, he is justified by the fact that he is a product of society. He was brought up in an environment where true feelings were usually hidden under the mask of indifference.
Did Mary deserve her fate?
But what about Mary? It can also be treated differently. The girl saw the persistence of the protagonist. And from this I concluded that he loves her. Mary heard what kind of strange speech this hero made, and realized that this was an extraordinary person. And she fell in love with him, neglecting the laws of society. After all, Mary was the first to dare to say about her love. This means that she believed that the hero would reciprocate. However, he was silent.
What was Mary to blame
We can assume that Mary herself is to blame for everything, since she was both naive and arrogant, self-confident and blind. There is no boundless devotion inherent in Faith, no sincerity and passionate power of Bela's love. But the main thing is that she does not understand Pechorin. The girl did not fall in love with him at all, but a fashionable hero. Her feelings for him can be compared with feelings for Grushnitsky - Mary sees the same thing in such different people: the tragedy of Pechorin’s disappointment is no different for her from the mask of Grushnitsky’s disappointment. If the main character had not come to the waters, most likely, the girl would have fallen in love with Grushnitsky, married him, despite the resistance of her mother, and would be happy with him.
What justifies Mary
However, is it possible to blame the heroine so unconditionally? After all, it’s not her fault that she is young, that she is looking for a hero and is ready to find him in the first comer. Like any woman, Mary dreams of being loved by a lonely and strong man, for whom she is ready to become a whole world, warm him and console him, bring him peace and joy. In this sense, the creatures of their environment and time were Pechorin and Princess Mary. The relationship between them is characterized by the fact that everyone played a role. And if the hero invented it himself, then the heroine played the natural role of a woman, whose mission is love.
Perhaps, if Pechorin hadn’t appeared in her life, she would have found her happiness. The girl would have lived her whole life with the illusion that Grushnitsky is a special creature, that she saved him from loneliness and misfortune with her love.
The complexity of human relationships
The complexity of human relationships lies in the fact that even in love, which is the greatest spiritual closeness, people are often unable to fully understand each other. In order to maintain calm and confidence, illusions are needed. Mary and Grushnitsky could have kept the illusion of need for a loved one, and that would have been enough for a quiet home, love and loyalty of the princess. Something like this would probably have happened if Pechorin and Mary had not split up. The relationship between them, of course, was unlikely to last long because of the character of the protagonist, however, a misunderstanding in this pair would certainly also take place.