SOURCE: "Lermontov's 'Play' with Romantic Genre Expectations in A Hero of Our Time," in Russian Literature Triquarterly, No. 10, Fall, 1974, pp. 299-315.

In the following excerpt, Eagle argues that Lermontov undercuts romantic literary conventions in each segment of A Hero of Our Time.

The criticism and confusion of Lermontov's contemporaries about the intent of A Hero of Our Time is indirect evidence that it contains innovative elements. In his reply to his critics (in the introduction to the second edition) Lermontov laments the fact that his reading public was not subtle enough to understand what he was doing, not clever enough to solve the riddle of a new form:

Our reading public is still so young and simple-minded that it does not understand a fable unless it finds a moral at the end. It cannot comprehend jests or feel irony; it is simply poorly educated. It still does not...