5 MAIN 'Don Juans' of Russian literature (PICS)

1. Erast from ‘Poor Liza’ by Nikolai Karamzin

The 1792 sentimental tale was groundbreaking for its time and made a lot of noise. The public received it with delight, although Karamzin depicted a dramatic plot from ordinary life (probably for the first time in Russian literature, where big historical tragedies were pictured before).

Young Liza labors to feed herself and her mother after the death of her father. One day, she meets a handsome nobleman named Erast, who captivates and seduces her. But, after the initial intimacy, the young man loses interest in Lisa and, after a few days, leaves town with his regiment. After a while, Lisa finds out that he is engaged to another woman. Unable to endure the grief and shame, she drowns herself.

2. Don Juan from ‘The Stone Guest’ by Alexander Pushkin

In a short play from the ‘Little Tragedies’ collection of plays, Pushkin literally recreated the image of the Spanish seducer. And he was inspired by Mozart's opera of the same name. 

Banished from Madrid for murder, Don Juan secretly sneaks back into the city and hides in the cemetery. There, he accidentally meets Dona Ana sitting on the grave of her husband. And falls in love. Except, it turns out that it was he who killed her husband. At the same time, jealous of his former mistress, Don Juan manages to kill her suitor. 

In the Soviet adaptation of the play, Don Juan was passionately played by legendary actor Vladimir Vysotsky. By the way, Pushkin himself can safely be called a ‘Don Juan’. Before marriage, he had many affairs (and many are reflected in his poems) and there is even a legend about his so-called 'Don Juan list', where the poet wrote down all his love victories (and there are more than 30 names).

3. Grigory Pechorin from ‘A Hero of Our Time’ by Mikhail Lermontov

Tired of life, the cynic Pechorin is actually an anti-hero. He does not know how to love nor how to be a friend. And, all his life, he seems to be looking for death, playing with fate, risking himself and not thinking about the feelings of others. 

By deceit, he kidnaps Bela, the daughter of a Caucasian prince (to be more precise, he exchanges her for a horse) and lives with her out of wedlock, not thinking at all about her future fate. And once she finally begins to fall in love with her captor, he grows cold and starts leaving her alone all the time.

One day, Bela is kidnapped from his house and fatally wounded in a shootout. 

Then, at a resort, Pechorin meets a married lady with whom he once had an affair. Without knowing why, he makes another girl named Mary fall in love with him. And his friend dreams of her! The dramatic triangle ends in a duel (Just like the life of the author himself).

4. Anatole Kuragin from ‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy

Questions of morality occupied Tolstoy most of all. The writer himself struggled all his life with lust and based thoughts (as reflected in his diary). Therefore, the characters and events associated with extramarital affairs or adultery in his novels appear truly dramatic. 

Anatole Kuragin has a reputation as a seducer and takes advantage of Natasha Rostova's youth and naivety. The girl is engaged to noble Andrei Bolkonsky, but they postpone the wedding and are separated for a year.

The roguish and handsome Anatole charms Natasha and literally seduces her (kisses her!). 

The lovers even prepare a plan of escape and a secret wedding, but the seducer is stopped and forced to retreat. But, the girl's honor is shamed and her engagement to Bolkonsky is broken.

5. Grigory Melekhov, 'And Quiet Flows the Don' by Mikhail Sholokhov

In Russian literature, there are not many characters who indiscriminately change women one after another. However, there are plenty of love triangles. Someone loves two women at the same time, like Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago. And someone experiences a strong dizzying passion and can not understand himself, like Cossack Grigory Melekhov. 

The entire saga of 'And Quiet Flows the Don' unfolds against the backdrop of World War I, the Revolution and the Civil War in Russia.

Grigory endlessly swings between the Red and White, as well as between his wife and mistress Aksinya. Several times leaving one for the other. And this tossing and turning is described dramatically, as part of his passionate nature, which does not find the right path.