(246 words) Karamzin’s novel “Poor Lisa” was written at the end of the 18th century, when the era of sentimentalism triumphed in Russia. Previously, the story aroused sympathy among readers, many shed tears over the fate of the heroine. Such books were an excuse for a wave of suicides motivated by love failures. How do modern readers look at “Poor Lisa”?
As a rule, now, if readers pick up Karamzin’s “Poor Liza,” they don’t take the heroine’s experience so close to her heart. Perhaps they will sympathize with her grief, but the girl’s fatal step does not seem to be an excuse at all, eliminating suffering, but a stupid and frivolous step. Today's readers can be understood, because the idea that suicide is a way out of problems is wrong. This illusion lived on before, and now people are trying to look at things more objectively. That is why many modern readers condemn Lisa for her act. The current generation lives on different moral ideas: when a person refuses to live on because of unsuccessful love, he risks looking ridiculous. Feeling is not the only thing worth living for, especially in the modern era. The same Lisa can find herself a calling and heal the wound. In addition, she left no less poor mother in need of her help.
It must be understood that this story is the visiting card of sentimentalism, it served as a kind of bridge from strict classicism to rebellious romanticism. It was important to emphasize that feelings are no less important than the mind, therefore, in the years of the writing of “Poor Liza,” readers understood the heroine. Undoubtedly, feelings should be taken seriously, but you should not put them at the head of all the values of being - the modern reader understands this, therefore he looks at “Poor Lisa” differently.
