Relationships in Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago

3486 Words14 Pages
Impossible Love Relationships in Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago (1958) has been called by many the great masterpiece of 20th century Russian literature, often likened to Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Indeed, it is an extremely ambitious work, its scope covering the tumultuous period of the first half of the 20th century – starting from the Russian Revolution of 1905, through the First World War and the Revolution of 1917, and up to the Second World War. This, however, is not the most remarkable trait of the novel. What forms its true value is that the historical events serve as a backdrop for the development of the life story of individual characters, which are numerous and many of them are marginal, but among which the most prominent is the main protagonist Yury Andreyevich Zhivago. According to Peter Levi, “Doctor Zhivago is about the world, … and about real life though more about life’s interaction with the individual and with his soul, and of course with his poetry.”[1] It is precisely this interaction of life with the individual and its subsequent influence on the many relationships occurring in the course of the story that will be the focus of this essay. Are we always in control of our lives or are we merely like leaves blown about by the wind? Is life planned in advance or arbitrary? How is it possible that two people like Yury and Lara, so obviously destined for each other, cannot ultimately remain together but are separated by the events that seem to be much larger than them and sweep mercilessly across Russia? And so it is with the many other relationships – Yury and Tonya, Lara and Pasha, Yury and Marina. In the chaos caused by social and revolutionary upheaval, there is simply no place for love and happiness in the long run. Pasternak’s characters are more like leaves in the wind; their story is special
Open Document