difficult childhood
The writer’s mother, Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva (née Lutovinova), was born on December 30, 1787. The father died shortly before the birth of his daughter, and her mother did not raise her and gave it to her aunts. When Varvara was eight years old, her mother married and took her with her.
For the next eight years, the girl lived in a terrible environment – her stepfather beat and humiliated her. At the age of 16 he began to show sexual interest in Varvara and she decided to settle down with her uncle Ivan Lutovinov.
“He met his nephew without much joy, but nevertheless took his position and left him to him,” writes Yuri Lebedev in his biographical book Turgenev from the Life of Remarkable People series. – Ivan Ivanovich, a dry and callous man who did not know warm family feelings in his lonely life, did not care for his nephew at all and did not love him. Three more years passed in complete solitude for Varvara Petrovna, and she had periodic conflicts with a demented old man obsessed with her wealth.
It is known that her uncle trained Varvara, but at the same time controlled and even locked up her every step.
Heritage
In 1813, Lutovinov choked to death in a peach seed, and Varvara became the heir to his great fortune.
“She was 26 years old when an evil fate finally took pity on her and unexpectedly generously made her the sole and sovereign mistress of a great fortune: only Oryol estates had 5 thousand serf souls, and besides Oryol there were also villages. In the provinces of Kaluga, Tula , Tambov, Kursk. There were only 60 pounds of silverware and 600 thousand rubles of capital accumulated by Ivan Ivanovich, ”Lebedev writes in Spassky.
Wealth came to Barbara with freedom and power. He quickly took control of the property into his own hands: with him various crops and fields with flax were planted, logging operations and a staff of walnut furniture craftsmen worked. Varvara had a water mill, an oil mill and a groats crusher for the production of buckwheat, pearl barley and oatmeal.
Despite his wealth, no one was willing to marry the young landowner for a long time. Potential suitors were frightened by Varvara’s unenviable appearance and difficult nature.
“He was ugly, small in build, slightly hunched, a long nose that was also wide, and had deep pores in his skin, which made him look like he had been carved out of smallpox. His eyes were black, angry, unpleasant, ”described his contemporaries.
They also recalled that Varvara had “male” hobbies at that time, such as shooting guns and playing pool.
Marriage with Sergei Turgenev
According to the author, her father, Sergei Turgenev, married Varvara in a reckoning. He was an officer 10 years younger than the chosen one and began to communicate with him as part of the purchase of horses for the army. The wedding took place on January 14, 1816.
“My father, still a young and very handsome man, married him by calculation: he was ten years older than him. My mother led a sad life: she was constantly worried, jealous, ”wrote Turgenev in the story“ First Love ”.
At first the couple lived in Orel, where their son Nikolai was born in 1816 and Ivan in 1818. Then the family moved to the Spasskoe-Lutovinovo estate for a long time. It is known that the Turgenevs cheated on each other, and in 1833 Varvara gave birth to a daughter from the family doctor Andrei Bers. The landowner named the girl after herself – many years later the writer became known as Varvara Zhitova.
power over subordinates
Among Varvara’s numerous servants, the most difficult was the courtyard, which was often flogged with sticks and long separated from their families, sent to distant errands. The requesting landlord had planned everything by the hour, and violation of this order was fraught with severe penalties. As the children recalled, Varvara often uttered the phrase “I want – I fulfill, I want – dear.”
More often than not, Varvara’s wishes seemed like senseless whims that no one dared to oppose. One day he read that cholera is transmitted “by the air” and said to the assistant: “Set something for me so that I can see all the objects around me as I walk, but not swallow the infected air!”
When Varvara traveled between estates, her chariot was always followed by the doctor, the laundress, the maid, and the kitchen carriages.
Turgenev’s relationship with his mother
In her memoirs, Varvara Zhitova wrote that her mother “takes out her unhappy childhood from others” and tries to do everything so that others experience the same pain. According to him, this tormented Ivan Turgenev most of all for his kindness. He said that in 1837-1838, during the illness of his mother, the writer spent nights at his bedside, and with him the landlord softened.
“It was completely different with him, and therefore in his presence everything rested, everything lived. Their rare visit was expected to be a blessing. Under him, the mother not only invents any guilt for anyone, but even more tolerant of real guilt; she was good-natured, as if she would notice the expression of delight on her son’s face, ”Wrote Zhitova.
He noted that these moments quickly gave way to tantrums, and that the relationship between mother and son deteriorated over the years. The landowner did not share Ivan’s interest in literature and was disappointed that Nikolai left civil service. In order not to lose his power over the children, he was in no hurry to give even a small part of his property to their control. According to Zhitova, Turgenev once could not stand it and said:
“We’ve always been your respectful sons, but you don’t trust us, you don’t believe in anyone or anything. You only believe in your strength. What gave you? The right to torture everyone.”
Years later, the author admitted that he had “not a single bright memory” from his childhood:
“I was afraid of my mother like fire. I was punished for every little thing – in a word, they pierced me like a beginner. A rare day without fishing line; When I dared to ask why I was being punished, my mother said categorically, “You better know, guess.”
The image of Barbara in the works of her son
Turgenev began to transfer his image to his works after the death of his mother. In the story “his own master’s office”, the landowner ruled his subjects like an autocratic empress, demanding reports from the garden at every opportunity. The image of the grandmother in “Punin and Baburin” is also inspired by Varvara Petrovna. One of the most famous examples of a heroine, whose prototype was Turgenev’s mother, was the landowner from Mumu. The story is told as follows:
“The house did not like it very much when a cheerful hour found a mistress, because, first, she demanded instant and complete sympathy from everyone, and got angry if someone’s face did not shine with pleasure, and secondly, these outbursts did not last long. and often replaced by a gloomy and sour mood … “.
And the prototype of Gerasim, according to Zhitova, was the deaf-mute serf-doorman-hero Varvara Petrovna, named Andrey. The landowner took pride in his subject and dressed him in fine shirts. But unlike Gerasim, Andrei did not leave his mistress and served her until the end of his life.