The Fortunes of Nigel by W. Scott and prose works by M.Yu. Lermontov. Article One

Lermontov's reception of Scott's novel and its role in the formation and development of the Russian writer's realistic works is investigated on the basis of comparative and typological analysis of W. Scott's The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) mentioned in the draft of A Hero of Our Time and two novels (Princess Ligovskaya and A Hero of Our Time). Lermontov's interest in W. Scott's novel was conditioned by historicism and objectivity of the writer's artistic thinking that resulted in a chain of content and poetics peculiarities of the novel. The Fortunes of Nigel, traditionally regarded as a historical novel, implies the author's concept aimed at revealing the sense of contemporary social life as exemplified in the life of the 17th-century England, thus broadening the scope of the genre. In Princess Ligovskaya and A Hero of Our Time Lermontov turned to portraying the heroes representing Saint-Petersburg aristocrats and poor bureaucrats. Thus, the contrasts of the London society life (grand people and habitants of beggarly and Alsace robber's area) as well as the type of Scott's narration, notable for accuracy and completeness of its epic word-painting as an expression of the author's standpoint, might be the subject of the Russian writer's particular attention. Lermontov's proximity to W. Scott was revealed in stating the problem of a hero as a representative of the young generation coming to take the place of the ''broke'' fathers and searching for ways to use their spiritual power. Lermontov, as well as W. Scott, investigates the dramatic nature of his characters' spiritual quest and finds new artistic forms of psychological analysis of the worn-out soul (inner monologue, portrait, symbols). The cyclic organization of A Hero of Our Time seems important. It was "foreseen" by W. Scott, who was guided by the works by Lesage and Smollett remarkable for the authors' interest in their heroes' ''adventures'' and ''escapades'' on their way to spiritual truth rather than by Fielding's epic novel.

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