SOURCE: Lagerberg, Robert. “The Open Frame and the Presentation of Time in Turgenev's First Love.” Australian Slavonic and East European Studies 10, no. 2 (1996): 111-20.

In the following essay, Lagerberg provides a stylistic analysis of First Love, focusing on the novella's framework.

In terms of structure Turgenev's story First Love is unusual, if not unique, in Russian literature, since the frame used to open the story is not repeated at its end, as would normally be expected. A brief summary of the story's structure will make this clearer. First Love is told from the viewpoint of a middle-aged bachelor, Vladimir Petrovich, who sits after dinner late at night with his host and another acquaintance, Sergei Nikolayevich. The host asks each of his guests to tell the story of his first love. Sergei Nikolayevich confesses that he has little of interest to tell, his first (and last) love being his nanny...