Bela
HERO OF OUR TIME
Roman (1839-1840)
Bela is a Circassian princess, the daughter of a peaceful prince and the sister of young Azamat, who kidnaps her for the Russian officer Pechorin. In the name of B., as main character, the title of the first story of the novel. The simple-minded Maxim Maksimych talks about B.
B. - mountain weed; she retained the natural simplicity of feelings, spontaneity of love, a living desire for freedom, and inner dignity. Insulted by the kidnapping, she withdrew, not responding to signs of attention from Pechorin. However, love awakens in her, and, like a whole nature, B. surrenders to it with all the power of passion. When B. got bored with Pechorin and he was satisfied with the love of the “savage,” she resigns herself to her fate (“I don’t force him”) and dreams only of freedom, proudly saying: “I will leave myself: I am not his slave, I am a princess, princely daughter!
Traditional situation romantic poem- the “flight” of the intellectual hero into a “simple” society alien to him - Lermontov turns it upside down: the uncivilized heroine is forcibly placed in an environment alien to her and experiences the influence of the intellectual hero. Love on short time brings them happiness, but ultimately ends in the death of the heroine. Love story is built on counterfeelings: ardent Pechorin - indifferent B., bored and cooled Pechorin - passionately loving B. The collision of two dissimilar worlds ends tragically. A person endowed with a more developed consciousness imposes his will, but his victory turns into a moral defeat. In the end, he gives in to the integrity of “simple” nature and is forced to admit his moral guilt. The healing of his sick soul turns out to be imaginary.
The situation is complicated by the appearance of a third person - the mountaineer Kazbich - who is also attracted to the heroine. But the power of custom exceeds the power of love, and Kazbich cruelly takes revenge for the insult inflicted on him. Returned to her native soil, B. is sacrificed to the bloody law of the mountaineers and the offended sense of honor
Kazbich. Consequently, returning “home” to the usual way of life for B. is just as tragic as life outside it. B. appears hostage to incompatible cultural and historical communities and perishes under the pressure of different, but more powerful than the people themselves, forces that play with her, embodied in Kazbich and Pechorin.
All characteristics in alphabetical order:
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The first part of the novel “A Hero of Our Time” will tell the reader about the tragic and beautiful fate of the young mountain woman Bela. The oriental beauty in Lermontov's novel personifies the love of freedom, innocence of feelings, purity of thoughts and passion until the last breath. The main character is only sixteen years old, she is the daughter of a peaceful prince. Bela is tall and thin, like a reed, graceful and dark-eyed, like a wild chamois. The girl knows how to embroider in gold, and she has no equal in song and dance.
Bela and Pechorin
Having only once looked at the beauty, Pechorin could not forget her eyes and decided to steal the girl from her father’s house. Helped him realize his plans brother Bela Azamat, in exchange for help in appropriating the purebred horse of another admirer of Kazbich’s sister. After the abduction, proud Bela withdrew and coldly responded to Pechorin’s attempts to win her over. The freedom-loving mountain woman yearned for her native land in the Russian fortress, and the fate of a captive weighed heavily on her. But after Pechorin promised to let Bela go home, she opened up to him and completely surrendered to passion. Unfortunately, Pechorin quickly became fed up with the obedient “savage.” This love was built on a contradiction: indifferent Bela - Pechorin, burning with love, and vice versa.
Bela's death
Realizing the indifference of her captor, proud Bela intends to leave, not wanting to burden him with her presence. She is a princess, not a slave. But the girl hesitates, wanting to be sure of her lover’s complete cooling towards her. The story ends tragically - the offended highlander Kazbich appears and kidnaps Bela from the fortress. Pechorin gives chase, but he fails to save the girl. The vengeful highlander, realizing that he cannot escape, seriously wounds Bela and leaves her to die. The oriental beauty dies in Pechorin’s arms two days later and forever remains a stone of guilt on his neck. Death for the heroine is not the worst way out, because sooner or later a cold lover would leave her - unhappy, dishonored, deprived of home and homeland.
Quotes about Bel
The eyes were black, like those of a mountain chamois, and looked into your soul.
She was good-looking: tall, thin.
The first days she silently and proudly pushed away the gifts that then went to the perfumer and aroused her eloquence.
I am not his slave - I am a prince’s daughter!
She used to be so cheerful, and she kept making fun of me, the prankster.
I'll be cheerful. - And with laughter she grabbed her tambourine, began to sing, dance and jump around me.
The novel by M. Yu. Lermontov contains several stories, one of them is “Bela”. In this story, Lermontov reveals the image of a mountain girl, a young beautiful princess.
Bela was born into the family of a wealthy Tatar prince, a native of the Caucasus. Besides her, the family also has an older sister and a younger brother. Bela – young beautiful girl, she is sixteen years old. She has a flexible, slender figure and eye-catching black eyes. Bela spent her entire life among the mountains and mountain streams, surrounded by wild nature, and she herself is wild and free, an honest, sincere daughter of an independent people.
The young princess is an excellent needlewoman, she sings well and dances wonderfully. At her sister's wedding, she first saw Pechorin, who struck her imagination so much that the wild Circassian woman even sang a song of praise to him. Pechorin also liked the girl, and when he found out that the Circassian Kazbich was ready to give his famous horse for this beauty, he planned something bad.
With the help of Azamat, the princess's brother, he kidnapped a young girl. When he learned that for the sake of Bela, someone was ready to give up the most precious thing, passion awoke in Pechorin, and the officer made every effort to take possession unapproachable beauty. Pechorin showered her with expensive gifts, but the girl did not accept his advances, which provoked the young officer even more. And then he decided to take the last step: Pechorin announced to Bela that she was free and could return to her father. Only then the girl could not stand it, she threw herself on Pechorin’s neck and admitted that she fell in love with him at first sight.
Just as she was previously unapproachable, now Bela is burning with love for the officer, completely dissolving in her sincere feelings. Now that you can no longer hide your love, Bela has become even more beautiful and blossomed, she is happier than ever.
But Pechorin, for whom Bela was just fun, does not share her selfless, all-consuming love. Having achieved the favor of the unapproachable Circassian woman, he quickly loses interest in her, he is already tired of her. Bela still loves Pechorin fiercely, and when she notices his coldness, she suffers deeply. She has no middle ground, everything she doesn’t do, she gives herself completely to her feelings. How strong her love is, so deep is her suffering.
And in her hour of death, Bela only regrets that she belongs to another faith, and will not be able to meet her beloved in another world. Bela's life can be compared to a raging fire. It flared up brightly, scorching those around with its fire, and went out.
Essay about Bela
The daughter of a Caucasian prince is not just one of female images in the work. With the help of Bela, Lermontov shows the difference in the mentality of Russians and Caucasians of that time.
Pechorin meets Bela while driving along the road with Maxim Maximovich. They find themselves as guests at the wedding of the eldest daughter of a Circassian prince. Pechorin liked his youngest sixteen-year-old daughter for her beauty and proud independent character. He begins to court Bela, but is not successful. It is the unapproachable character of the Caucasian princess that kindles desire
Pechorin, accustomed to easy love victories, makes an effort to master her, even if it is unsafe and criminally. Azamat, Bela's brother, steals it and brings it to the officer, for which he helps him steal the horse of the local robber Kazbich, which the prince's son really wanted to own.
Once she gets to Pechorin, the proud beauty demonstrates her character. While he holds her as a prisoner, he cannot win her over with any gifts. However, by freeing Bela, the officer achieves her favor. She also likes Pechorin, and the Circassian woman remains with him of her own free will.
However, Bela was just a toy for the main character, and he soon lost interest in her. Left with Pechorin, she does not behave like the secular women with whom the officer had many affairs. Bela was designed and raised to remain with her man until the end, even if he was not her husband and cannot become one due to different religions. She does not deceive, there is no coquetry and tricks inherent in secular women of that time. In the tradition of Bela’s people, the man in any case remained her master, who must be obeyed unconditionally. Pechorin knew about the customs of the highlanders, but was not going to sacrifice anything for the sake of Bela, or, indeed, for the sake of anyone else. This different attitude to life added tragedy to the work. Bela understood that she was tired of Pechorin. Being disgraced in the eyes of her relatives, the girl could not count on help from her family.
Having made her choice, the Circassian woman remains faithful to the end. She sincerely suffered because of Pechorin's cooling. When Kazbich, who is also not indifferent to Bela, kills a girl out of jealousy, her last wish was Pechorin’s kiss.
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The mysterious mountain peaks of the Caucasus, the nature and life of the peoples inhabiting it, have always been of keen interest to the poets and writers of Russia of past centuries. Caucasian theme was actively touched upon in many works. An important topic Caucasian highlanders also occupies a place in the works of M. Yu. Lermontov. “Hero of Our Time” is the golden link of the poet’s Caucasian cycle.
One of the main characters of this work is a young Circassian woman named Bela, which embodied the image of a mountain woman, hitherto unfamiliar to the Russian reader and unknown. The origin of the name Bela is a mystery; it was presumably invented by Lermontov himself and subsequently became firmly established in the everyday life of Caucasian names.
The leitmotif running through the entire work is the contrast between the images of the St. Petersburg aristocrat Princess Mary, socialite Vera and a young savage, daughter of the Circassian prince Bela. Everyone had only one thing in common: love for the main character of the story, the young ensign Grigory Pechorin, bored with life.
The image of Bela in the novel glorified the purity, innocence and charm of the young oriental beauty, who embodied the traditions and character of her people. The author describes the girl as tall, thin, dark-eyed, with eyes like a mountain chamois, looking straight into the soul. These eyes reflected all the changes in the mood of her soul: the eyes either sparkled like two black coals with joy, or dimmed with sadness. Bela embroidered with gold, sang and danced wonderfully. She was light and graceful, and she moved much more in the dance better than the first beauties of Moscow balls.
The young mountain woman grew up in the natural conditions of untouched nature. She is a nymph of the mountains, the daughter of a proud, passionate, original people, an important feature of which was self-esteem. As it should be, she is uneducated, timid and shuns people who are alien to her society and speak a poorly understood language.
Pechorin first sees Bela at her older sister's wedding, being invited there as a guest. The Circassian woman amazes him with her beauty, modesty and meekness. Bored young man at the sight of the mountain nymph, a new goal appears in his everyday military life, he certainly decides to take possession of Bela by any means, and the young mountain woman practically becomes a bargaining chip in a dispute between two Russian officers.
It is impossible to say for sure whether Pechorin really loved Bela at least a little, or, tired of the education of secular young ladies and bored with the coquetry of the capital's aristocrats, he simply set the goal of achieving the love of this girl in search of something new, unusual, exotic and unknown. It is quite possible that this was an attempt to touch the world of nature, purity and sincerity of feelings, everything that he lacked in his own nature.
The story of this girl's fate is full of tragedy. Her own brother treats her like a thing, exchanging her for the opportunity to take possession of the object of his desire - a thoroughbred horse, paying for it with the life of their father. Pechorin, trying in every possible way to achieve Bela’s love, and having received what he wanted, after a while again falls into boredom and grows cold towards her, admitting to himself that the savage’s love in the end is not much more interesting than feelings a noble person, and that the innocence and ignorance of one becomes boring just as quickly as the coquetry and education of the other.
The whole tragedy is that having grown up in a patriarchal Caucasian family and brought up in the Muslim faith, Bela from an early age absorbed not only boundless devotion to her loved one, but also loyalty to her traditions. She was able to love Pechorin so selflessly and passionately that his reciprocal feelings for her fade, seem empty and worthless. Therefore, when a blow with a dagger gives her only a couple of days of life, the girl refuses the offer to accept Christianity before death in order to reunite with Pechorin in paradise in the future, not wanting to change the faith in which she was brought up, although she continues to passionately love the young man.
Summing up his story about a young Circassian woman, the narrator considers Bela’s death the best way out for her, because he realizes that sooner or later Pechorin would have left this innocent soul, breaking her heart and completely disappointing men and life’s values.
- “Hero of Our Time,” a summary of the chapters of Lermontov’s novel
- The image of Pechorin in Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time”
We first meet Bela, looking at her through the eyes of Pechorin, assessing her by the impression made on the main character of the novel. “Lovely!” - exclaims Pechorin, and we imagine a girl in whom the charm of youth and depth of feelings merge into a unique image, once seen, you want to see again and again.
Brother Azamat also highly appreciates Bela: “How she dances! How he sings! And he embroiders with gold - a miracle! The Turkish padishah never had such a wife...”
Bela is admired by everyone who sees her: she charms, captivates, without making any effort. Brought up in the traditions of her people, she submits to the will of Pechorin, but this is not blind obedience, but a touching concern for the man who captivated her in the literal and figurative sense of the word.
The young, inexperienced heart was touched by her first love, which became destructive for Bela. Having seen Pechorin for the first time and singing a compliment song to him, Bela could not forget the unusual guest and preferred him to all the men she had previously met. Bela’s very choice already does her credit: Pechorin is an extraordinary, rich, mysterious and tragic personality. Bela was seduced not by wealth, not by expensive gifts, not by generous promises - she was captivated by Pechorin’s personality, she intuitively guessed in him a deep and restless nature. Apparently, it was not for nothing that Maxim Maksimych noted her eyes, which could look into the soul.
Bela did not immediately reveal herself to her captor; her upbringing and pride did not allow her to talk about her feelings. Only fear for her loved one, the possibility of losing him, forced Bela to open up and throw herself on Pechorin’s neck. Naive, pure, devoted Bela could really make a man worthy of her happy. For the sake of her beloved, a girl is ready to do anything; to please him is the highest happiness. But this is not blind sacrifice, the annoying obedience of a Circassian woman. This is truly the willingness of a loving heart to bestow happiness on a loved one, the ability to be happy by giving and not by taking.
When Pechorin lost interest in Bela, she did not stoop to complaints and requests, but proudly declared: “If he doesn’t love me, then who’s stopping him from sending me home? I don't force him. And if this continues like this, then I will leave myself: I am not his slave - I am a prince’s daughter! Here Bela is taller than Pechorin: she is honest in her feelings and ready for decisive actions. The young girl’s courage is admirable, her readiness to endure the consequences of her act inspires admiration. What awaited the girl in the Caucasus if she returned home? What would be the attitude towards her? What would her fate be like?
But Bela is ready to accept everything that falls to her lot, just so as not to be a burden to a person who does not love her. One can say about Bela that she is always ready to be a mistress, and not a servant of love.
I would like to argue with Maxim Maksimych, who, feeling sorry for Bela, said: “No, she did well to die. Well, what would have happened to her if Grigory Alexandrovich had left her? And this would have happened sooner or later!”
Bela is an integral and strong nature. Her suffering would have been great if Pechorin had left her. But Bela could suffer with dignity, just as she could love with dignity. “The graceful image of a captivating Circassian woman,” as V. G. Belinsky wrote about Bela, touches and delights at the same time, as it combines the uncontrollability of youthful impulse and the maturity of high feelings.
