Mikhail Lermontov’s "Princess Ligovskaya," a summary

This book is an early novella, written in 1836. It introduces readers for the first time to officer Grigory Pechorin, whose actions are driven by selfishness and cold calculation. The author juxtaposes the glittering social life of St. Petersburg with the grim poverty of petty government officials.

Clash on Voznesensky Prospekt

December 1833. Stanislav Krasinsky, a civil servant, is walking down Voznesenskaya Street. He’s returning home from his department. A bay trotter charges straight at him. The shaft strikes the young man in the chest, sending him sprawling onto the stone sidewalk. The carriage’s owner, with a flash of white plume, disappears. The official escapes with a fright, but he transfers all his hatred to the bay trotters.

The owner of the carriage, officer Grigory Pechorin, returns to his luxurious apartment on the Fontanka. He is twenty-three years old. The young man is fabulously wealthy — his parents own three thousand serfs. His appearance lacks classical appeal. His face is swarthy, his gestures are abrupt, and his gait is lazy. The physiognomist Lavater would find his features extremely curious. Pechorin despises the Russian submissiveness to the opinions of others. His office is decorated with Persian carpets, Turkish guns, and alabaster caricatures by Rossini and Paganini. On the wall hangs a gloomy painting, which the owner calls a portrait of Lara.

The servant Fedka brings a calling card. It was left by Prince Stepan Ligovsky and his wife, Vera. Confused, Pechorin throws the paper into the blazing fireplace, but then snatches up the charred fragment. The name Vera Ligovskaya stirs a deep emotion in him. His sixteen-year-old sister, Varenka, enters the study. The brother and sister exchange caustic barbs. Pechorin writes a secret letter to Elizaveta Negurova, orders it delivered to the post office, and departs.

Intrigues and secular masks

The opera "Fenella" is being performed at the Alexandrinsky Theater. Pechorin buys an expensive seat in the second row. He notices the Negurovs’ box. Elizaveta smiles at the officer. Pechorin ignores her, aiming his lorgnette at the empty box. Soon, an unfamiliar woman appears. Her face is completely hidden by a huge double lorgnette, revealing only her graceful hand on the crimson velvet.

A disappointed Pechorin goes to the Phoenix restaurant. Krasinsky is sitting at the next table. This blond man has the perfect profile of Apollo Belvedere. Pechorin tells the artillery officers about the pedestrian who was run over on the Voznesensky Bridge. Krasinsky stands up and throws a tray of teacups onto the floor. Pechorin pays triple for the broken dishes. The officers laugh at the unfortunate official.

In a dark theater corridor, Krasinsky demands satisfaction. Pechorin proposes a fatal shootout. Krasinsky refuses. He confesses to utter poverty. The young man supports his elderly, infirm mother. His death would condemn the old woman to certain death by starvation. Pechorin proposes flogging his coachman. The official flees in utter despair.

After the performance, Elizaveta Negurova returns home. She’s twenty-five years old, though society passes her off as seventeen. She’s been attending balls for a long time, but her hopes of marriage are fading. She managed to refuse a suitor, paralyzed by a stroke, with an income of twenty thousand rubles.

A year ago, Pechorin had chosen her as the target of a cruel social game. He was seeking a scandalous reputation. The officer began inviting Elizaveta to dances. She believed in his love. Her parents warned their daughter about the treachery of the young guards. Soon, Pechorin began neglecting Elizaveta. He courted young beauties in front of her, scaring off other suitors.

In Negurov’s bedroom, she finds an anonymous letter delivered. The unknown author informs her that Pechorin is unworthy of her attention. The author claims the treacherous officer loves another woman. The letter is signed in a strange Egyptian scrawl. In the morning, Pechorin arrives for a visit. Elizabeth orders her footman to chase the officer away.

A visit to Morskaya Street

Pechorin goes to Morskaya Street. He visits the Ligovskys’ house. Pechorin finds Vera Dmitrievna in the living room. Her husband, Prince Stepan Stepanovich, is sitting nearby. He is old and bald, with bloodshot eyes and a wide smile. Also present is a fat baron, a relative of the Prussian ambassador. The conversation is sluggish. The prince brings out a morocco box and boasts of the cheap earrings he bought for his wife for seventy-five rubles. Pechorin values them at one hundred and fifty. The prince blushes with embarrassment.

Vera’s manner is strained. She asks him to send a thousand kisses to Varenka. Pechorin leaves with a heavy premonition. The former trusting intimacy is gone; he doesn’t understand this woman.

A Moscow love story

The author shifts the action to the past. Nineteen-year-old Pechorin lives in Moscow. The student attends the capital’s festivities. At a children’s party, he meets seventeen-year-old Verochka R-va.

The young couple travel to the Simonov Monastery. They climb to the platform of the western tower. A passionate romance begins. They spend two weeks at the estate of a wealthy aunt near Moscow. The lovers stroll through the shady gardens, swearing eternal fidelity. Their first timid kiss occurs on the balcony.

His family learns of the deception. They decide to send Pechorin to a cadet school in St. Petersburg. The young man tearfully begs for a life-saving transfer to a hussar regiment. Before his imminent departure, Vera swears to be his only love. The officer leaves for the dangerous Polish campaign. Two years later, he learns that Vera has married an old prince.

A lavish dinner party

Pechorin’s mother is hosting a dinner party. Among the guests are the Ligovskys, officer Branitsky, a skinny diplomat, and the unapproachable Baroness Strahl. The dining room is richly decorated. The guests wear hairstyles reminiscent of the Middle Ages and the Roman Emperor Titus.

A heated argument erupts at the table. The diplomat praises St. Petersburg’s enlightenment. Vera defends Moscow’s traditions. Pechorin declares he’s willing to trade his ethereal love for three thousand souls, a distillery, and a count’s coat of arms.

The conversation turns to painting. An antique canvas in the dining room catches the guests’ attention. It depicts a gray-haired man and a young woman, looking back at a dark door with a dagger. Pechorin gives the painting a merciless interpretation. He describes a woman who has abandoned her faithful lover for a rich old man. Pechorin claims she will open the door herself to an armed killer.

Vera understands the cruel hint. She hides in Varenka’s room and cries. Pechorin has achieved his dark goal — a direct insult has provoked violent emotions.

Meanwhile, Prince Stepan Stepanovich is talking with the St. Petersburg businessman Gorshenkov. The prince is complaining about a lawsuit over forest lands. The case is hopelessly stalled at the department. Pechorin promises to find the official Krasinsky and bring him to the prince.

A poor official’s apartment

Pechorin searches for a house near the Obukhov Bridge. The officer makes his way through a fetid courtyard littered with tall piles of firewood. He climbs to the fourth floor. In an empty room, he is met by Krasinsky’s elderly mother. The woman is reading a cheap book about how to become rich. She tells of a lost lawsuit. Her husband, a Polish nobleman, lost his entire fortune. Pechorin leaves the Ligovskys’ exact address and leaves.

In the dark doorway, the officer encounters Krasinsky himself. The men silently part. The official, horrified, recognizes his recent mortal enemy. His mother persuades her son to go to the prince for the sake of a successful career. Krasinsky agrees, seeing this as an excellent chance to get rich. The young man vows to take revenge on Pechorin at the first opportunity.

That evening, Krasinsky arrives at the Ligovskys’ luxurious mansion. Pechorin entertains the ladies with a story about the Polish campaign. He tells of the Polish Countess Rosa and her daughters. Vera’s cousin reproaches the young officer for his inconstancy. Pechorin confesses that he is persistently trying to heal from an old love.

Jealousy and wounded pride

Krasinsky appears. The poor official comports himself modestly, but with undeniable dignity. He pays Vera an elegant, social compliment. Pechorin is overcome with jealousy. The officer begins to ridicule Krasinsky’s dark blue eyes. He predicts the youth’s eternal position as titular councilor. Vera intercedes for the poor guest. Pechorin realizes that his feelings for Vera are deeply mingled with wounded pride. He resolves to once again conquer the princess’s unapproachable heart.

Before leaving, Pechorin reflects on the inexorable transience of happiness. He declares that he prefers one moment of complete bliss to long years of a dull life. Vera replies that there are things in this world that are absolutely impossible to forget. A single tear rolls down her pale cheek.

Ball on Millionnaya Street

The high society of St. Petersburg is gathering at the opulent mansion of Baroness R. Krasinsky stands among the crowd of onlookers in the bitter cold. He gazes with keen envy at the gold-embroidered uniforms and expensive carriages. The young man dreams of untold wealth. The Ligovskys’ glittering carriage pulls up. Krasinsky respectfully doffs his hat. The princess ignores the penniless official. Krasinsky feels profound humiliation. A dark hostility toward the proud aristocrat flares in his suspicious heart.

Loud music blares in the vast ballroom. Pechorin approaches Elizaveta Negurova. The girl attempts to taunt the officer, mentioning an anonymous letter she received. Pechorin guesses that the author of the secret message was Krasinsky. The officer advises Elizaveta to believe every word her unknown friend wrote.

Vera Ligovskaya enters the bright drawing room. The princess is adorned with sparkling diamonds. She is timid before the harsh judgment of the capital’s high society. Vera makes her way through the dense crowd and sits next to Negurova. The ladies renew their old acquaintance, striking up a trivial conversation.