Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, sometimes translated more literally as Fathers and Children, is a work of literary fiction first published in 1862. The novel describes Russia’s emerging class divisions and the political divides within the nobility in the 1860s. After the novel’s publication, radicals embracing nihilism turned their support for science and rationality into a defense of Marxism and its emphasis on the objective laws of history and the inevitability of revolution. In literary terms, the novel is a classic of Russian realism, with lucid, lyrical descriptions of pastoral landscapes and the turmoil within the hearts and minds of its characters.

Ivan Turgenev, a prolific Russian novelist and short story writer, was a significant contributor to the literary canon. His works are considered classics. Turgenev was born into a noble family in 1831 in the city of Oryol; he attended Moscow and St. Petersburg universities, and also studied at the University of Berlin. Throughout his life, he was a liberal critic of the tsarist system’s more troubling aspects, and an ardent supporter of Western Europe as a model for Russia. He left the country in the 1860s, and died in France in 1883.

Plot Summary

Arkady Nikolaevich Kirsanov returns home from the university in St. Petersburg, bringing with him a radical friend, Evgeny Bazarov, who plans to be a doctor. Bazarov considers himself a “nihilist”—a man who believes in nothing except empirical science and who acknowledges no established authority. Arkady sees that his father Nikolai’s estate in poor shape, with preparations for the peasant emancipation threatening the family’s economic security. He also finds that his father is in a relationship with Fenechka, the daughter of his housekeeper—a relationship that is a minor scandal and a source of shame for Nikolai.

Bazarov’s radical ideas immediately offend Arkady’s anglophile uncle, Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, who defends his own pro-European views and traditionalism. Pavel has retreated to the family estate after an unhappy love affair. Nikolai is upset at the growing generational clash and distance from his son. Arkady publicly sides with Bazarov, whom he idolizes, but privately defends his family to Bazarov.

To escape the tension and boredom of being on Nikolai’s estate, Bazarov and Arkady visit nearby town society, which includes a young radical feminist named Kukshina and another follower of Bazarov, Sitnikov. They attend a ball with local officials, and Arkady is particularly taken with Anna Sergeevna Odintsova, the young, beautiful, and wealthy widow, who invites them to her estate, Nikolskoe.

Bazarov puts off a visit to his aging parents to go to Nikolskoe, in part because he also finds Odintsova attractive. The young men spend a few weeks there. Bazarov falls passionately in love with her. Anna and Bazarov discuss his nihilist views and love of science, and her desire for a more passionate, engaged life. She ultimately rejects Bazarov, however, as a threat to her tranquil existence. Arkady spends time with Anna Sergeevna’s sister Katya, who loves music and nature, as he does, though Arkady claims he is still smitten with Anna. After Bazarov’s failed confession of love, Bazarov and Arkady leave for a brief visit to Bazarov’s parents, who hope Bazarov will join his father’s medical practice and are terrified of alienating their son. Bazarov grows bored, however, and decides to return to the Kirsanov estate.

Arkady is still drawn to Nikolskoe, and, after he finds some correspondence between his mother and Anna, he decides to return there. Bazarov suspects that Arkady is going to court Anna, so he remains behind, annoyed. Bazarov spends time with Nikolai’s servants, including Fenechka, whom he attempts to seduce. This enrages Arkady’s uncle Pavel, who challenges Bazarov to a duel. Pavel is wounded but survives, and Bazarov must leave in disgrace. Pavel tells his brother Nikolai that Nikolai must marry Fenechka and that his classism should no longer be an obstacle. Pavel privately resolves to leave for Europe.

After departing the Kirsanov home, Bazarov briefly stops at Nikolskoe, where he attempts to convince Anna that Arkady is in love with her. She briefly considers this, still considering Bazarov a trustworthy confidant, but they soon discover that Arkady has actually proposed to Katya. Bazarov bids his friend a bitter farewell, accusing Arkady of being an irredeemable product of his class who cannot aid the revolutionary project.

Bazarov returns to his parents, who are delighted to see him, but he is depressed and distracted, still consumed by his failed love for Anna. During an autopsy, he cuts himself, and soon the wound becomes infected. He attempts to resign himself to his coming death and urges his parents to do so as well, though he summons Anna one last time. He tells her he truly did love her, and then dies. Arkady and Katya marry, as do Nikolai and Fenechka, and all of them lead happy lives. Only Bazarov’s devoted parents remember him and visit his grave.

Further Reading:

European Romanticism: A Brief History with Documents. Edited and with an introduction by Warren Breckman. (2nd ed., Hackett Publishing, 2015.)

A History of Russia: Peoples, Legends, Events, Forces, Since 1800 by Catherine Evtuhov and Richard Stites. (Houghton Mifflin, 2004.)

Understanding Imperial Russia by Marc Raeff. (Columbia University Press, 1984.)