Mikhail Lermontov - Russian Literature Greatest Writer

Research Report

Subject: Mikhail Lermontov

Mikhail Lermontov is considered one of the Russian Literature greatest writers – after Pushkin. I have decided to do my final paper about this character because after reading his story about Princess Mary, I became interested in learning more why the protagonist, Pechorin, behave they way he does in the novel.

I believe that in order to have a better understanding about the stories from Lermontov, it is important to understand his background. Most of the time, it is the environment that surrounds the writer that influences what they actually write.

After reading more about Mikhail Lermontov I understood that he is a Russian Romantic writer, painter and poet. After Alexander Pushkin’s death in 1837, he became the most important Russian poet. His influence on later Russian literature is still felt in modern times.

He was born in Moscow on October 15th, 1814.  He is the son of Yuri Petrovich, a poor army officer, and Maria Mikhailovna Lermontova who belonged to the prominent Stolypin family. His parents’ marriage was proved ill-suited and it barely lasted four years. A biographer, Pavel Viskovatov, suggested that the couple had problems because Petrovich had an affair with other woman. Affected by this infidelity, Mikhailovna fell ill and at the age of 21, when Lermontov was only 3-years-old, she died of tuberculosis. After her death, her grandmother, Mikhailovna’s mother, promised to disinherit Lermontov if his father took the boy away. Eventually Lermontov’s father agreed that his son should stay with his wealthy grandmother, who from the beginning regarded Mikhailovna’s marriage as a mismatch and deeply disliked her son-in-law, until the age of 16. Afterwards, Lermontov began a luxurious life with his wealthy grandmother and relatives, who formed part of Lermontov’s early drama called Menschen und Leidenschaften. Since Lermontov’s grandmother spared no expense to provide him with the best schooling and lifestyle, he received an extensive education at home. He became fluent in French and German and learned to play several instruments. He also proved to be a gifted painter. Due to the intellectual atmosphere in which he was surrounded, he grew up resembled that experienced by Pushkin. However, his lifestyle included doubtful aspects, for example, in his childhood he was dressed in a girl’s frock to act as a model for a painter. And besides this, he did not have very good health. He suffered from scrofula and rickets, and in consequence, he moved several times looking for a better climate and treatment.

Since Lermontov’s grandmother feared that his father will claim his son, she limited the contact between them, which caused him a lot of pain and remorse. Therefore, he grew up lonely and withdrawn.

Lermontov’s intellectual atmosphere was a little bit different than Pushkin’s intellectual atmosphere. Gendrot – a French man, educated him. However, his grandmother thought that this was not enough education for him and decided to move him to Moscow, so he can prepare for gymnasium. He was an excellent student. At the gymnasium, he became interested in poetries written for Katerina Hvostovaya, Pushkin, and Zhukovsky. He was friend with Katerina, and therefore, he dedicated to her some of his earliest poems.  By that time, he developed an inclination for cruel and sardonic humor.

After the gymnasium, Lermontov entered the Moscow University. He always attended the lectures. However, he was never part of the student life there. By that time, some dramatic thing happened – related to his family. He was affected by his son’s alienation, and his father’s death. In consequence, he reflected this in some of his poems – “Forgive Me, Will We Meet Again?” and “The Terrible Fate of Father and Son” – and he also considered suicide. Because of this, in some of his novels he ends them by making the protagonist kill himself. He had some problems at the University and he decided to leave it on June 1832 and received a two-year-graduate certificate.

After this, in 1832 he tried the Saint Petersburg University; however, because there were possibilities that he had to repeat his first year, he decided that it was better to enroll the School of Cavalry Junkers and Ensign of the Guard. Afterwards, he joined Life-Guard Hussar regiment. However, this army career became a challenge for Lermontov.  

Death of the Poet

Lermontov was mostly recognized in 1837 when he wrote a poem called “On the Death of the Poet” – after Alexander Pushkin’s death. This poem caused uproar because the last 16 lines of it were directed towards the inner circles at the court. They addressed an attack on Russian society. They were accusing the Russian society for complicity in Pushkin’s murder. When this poem reached the tsar’s ears, Lermontov was sent to Caucasus for his first exile.

First Exile

After he was sent to Caucasus, Lermontov found himself comfortable and quite at home. Fortunately, this place was the place he loved when he was a child. Because he really liked it, he was trying to learn everything he could about it. Therefore, he decided to learn its local languages and studied its culture. Since he felt really comfortable at this place, he wrote there some of his best poems and painted extensively.

This first exile in Caucasus was short because soon after he was transferred to the Grodno regiment. He completed his most important novel, the one that describes a duel just like the one he would later on lose his life, A Hero of Our Time. This novel allowed Lermontov to be recognized as the founding fathers of Russian prose.

A Hero of Our Time

When Lermontov arrived at Novgorod to start working with his new regimen, he also started working on this famous novel. It had mainly parts of Lermontov’s life, this is the reason it is considered as autobiographical. It also described the duel in which Lermontov lost his life later on. It also was considered a classic of Russian psychological realism.

Second Exile

Lermontov had bad temper, however, this bad temper was growing even worse. Since he was popular for two of the most desired society girls of that time, some men really started to hate Lermontov for this reason. One of those man challenged Lermontov for a duel in which Lermontov resulted slightly injured; however, he was arrested and jailed.  He received a punishment not really bad. Lermontov went back to the exile in Caucaus. He was actively working in Chechnya, he was a brave man and he had among officers his admirers and others that did not really like him. Some of the people with whom Lermontov worked in Saint Petersburg said that he was very happy there and he would write some verses and recite them to the people in the evening.