Throughout many years in literature women are described as delicate, naïve, and gullible. Several works of literature have created female characters that overcome obstacles by establishing their power as women. However, depicting women as the vulnerable and weak sex is still a dominant theme in literature. Ivan Turgenev in First Love represents women as beings that are meant to be subdued by a male even if they attempt to establish their power as females. Moreover, Turgenev demonizes women through the depiction of sadomasochism in the female protagonist, Zinaiida Alexandrovna. Sadomasochism is when an individual is a sadist as well as a masochist and uses sadism to exploit other people and is a masochist to feel pleasure by seeking domination or humiliation by another individual. Moreover, in Russian literature masochistic/sadist characters were often associated with male characters while women were given the role of nurturers and providers of inconditional love. However, Turgenev created a female character that opposed these ideas and used men for her own benefit to establish herself as the dominant sex yet still in search for dominance in a man.

The first encounter the reader has with the character Zinaiida is when “four young men were close round her, and she was slapping them by turns on the forehead… the young men pressed their foreheads so eagerly” (Turgenev 142). In her article Judith Mills argues Zinaiida’s character and states that “she is the feminine egotist whose world revolves around her. None but her equal should approach her” (437). Mills’s interpretation states from the beginning of the story the type character Zinaiida will be. Additionally, this scene depicts Zinaiida’s power and how Turgenev uses this imagery of authority to provide the reader with an idea of  the amount of power she has and how recklessly she uses it to dominate men and humiliate them. Turgenev depicts females as reckless and in want of superiority in his other works of literature as well. For instance, in Torrents of Spring Turgenev makes his lead female character, Maria Nikolaevna, a sadist as well as Zinaiida. For instance, Maria has the young gentleman Dmitri Sanin under her control and tells him “Why, because I’ve been tormenting you. Wait a little, you’ll see there is worse to come” (Turgenev 111). Maria’s confession is similar to the scene where Zinaiida strucks her adorers with a flower in the head, even though Maria says it instead of acting it, she let’s Sanin know of his upcoming pain and it demonstrates her superiority. Moreover, Maria’s desire to dominate individuals is because she was oppressed continuously as a child, and the oppressors were all men, and she wants to project the inferiority she felt when she was younger. Social psychologist Roy Baumeister compares the dominant behavior of males and women and states that “males have long had superior social status to females, so dominant males do not need to humiliate or degrade their partners whereas females do” (489). This analysis represents that Turgenev wants to present women as beings that want to overthrow the superiority of men and establish themselves as alpha.

 Turgenev’s word choice for Zinaiida’s character demonstrate a passive humiliation towards her suitors, for instance, when she addresses one of her suitors, Vladimir, she emphasizes his age which is an insecurity of his and calls him a “child” but he wanted to “show her that she had not a mere boy to deal with” (Turgenev 147). As a result, Vladimir goes to the highest limits to show her the contrary and that he is worthy of her love. Moreover, Zinaiida gains control of her suitors by allowing them to have small pleasures of getting to kiss her hand, or sit close to her which are actions that violate gender conventions since a lady could not let the man know of her interest or show any type affection. These actions demonstrate her sadist side since she plays mental games to keep them under her dominance. Additionally, Turgenev emphasizes her recklessness during a scene of the story where the suitors play forfeits at Zinaiida’s house and the one who draws the winning lot gets “to have the privilege of kissing her hand” (Turgenev 155). The act of having to torment the suitors to her is rewarding since she needs that attention to feel the pleasure that she is control. As a result, in this scene Turgenev illustrates Zainaiida as a femme fatale which translates to “deadly woman.” This type of female character in literature stated that female sexuality was dangerous and even deadly and that the only power women have is their sensuality. Hence, Turgenev implies that women are people that a man has to be careful since they can not only lose their sanity but their life as well.

Zinaiida is a masochist as well as a sadist because she inflicts pain on herself since she chooses to be dominated. Consequently, provoking a sense of satisfaction in her. This type of pain is pleasing to the individual since they only want it from the one person that is inflicting it. Zinaiida’s masochism can be seen in several scenes of the story which depict her as a character that even though she wants to inflict pain in others, she wants pain inflicted on her by someone that can be worthy of it. Zinaiida’s wish to be dominated is Turgenev’s way to demonstrate that women, even though they attempt to be dominant they will always be dominated by a male, by a stronger sex. Therefore, he implies that women cannot exist without being ruled. Moreover, Zinaiida acquires sexual pleasure out of her masochism. For instance, the narrator of the story which is also the male protagonist of the story, Vladimir, describes Zinaiida’s romantic encounter with his father and states how after an exchange of offensive words “Zinaiida sat up and stretched her arm… and I heard a sharp blow on that arm, bare to the elbow… and slowly raising her arm to her lips kissed the streak of red upon it” (Turgenev 195). This scene depicts Zinaiina being hit or “punished” by her beloved and also illustrates that this type of situation is not new to Zianaiida since she already knows what to do and what to expect which causes an erotic response from her. Baumeister also argues different aspects of masochism and explains that in some “masochistic fantasies, that intense pain becomes indistiguishible from pleasure” (486). This scene illustrates that Zinaiida is a woman that craves pain to obtain sexual pleasure.

 Zinaiida desiring pain could also have a psychological reason since when an individual inducing pain upon oneself is to attempt to escape reality. Zinaiida’s family reputation did not have the best education as other noble families in Russia and noble families were known because of the level of education they attained. Mills states that “Zinaiida imaginates herself as a princess” (438) which indicates how she wants to escape from her current situation since it is something she cannot control or govern. As a result, she goes to pain as therapy because it provides pleasure. For instance, Beaumeister states that “pain shrinks the world to the immediate temporal and spatial present: other places, other ideas, and other meanings of self cease to be real” (38). This represents how Turgenev creates her as a character who readers want to empathize with her despite the cruelties she performs because she embodies femininity which in 19^th century also meant pureness or innocence. However, this empathy is not to last long since she begins to play with her suitors to entertain herself. Therefore, she embodies the female sex as individuals who use the men to be able to forget issues and live a life with no consideration towards the feelings of another person. Additionally, realtionships like the one Zinaiida has established with her adorers could be tiring for her because she is not receiving the attention from a dominant individual. For instance, British psychiatrist Neel Burston states that for the “masochist, taking on a role of subjugation and helplessness can offer a realese from stress or the burden of responsibility or guilt.” This analysis illustrates that Zinaiida allows herself to be dominated to feel the power her adorers cannot offer since she is the master of the relationship, the duty and responsibility of being the dominant figure is not active when she is being ruled which aids her desire to feel pleasure. Also, Zinaiida goes to pain because she feels guilty about what she does to her suitors. Her guilt is her motivation to seek pain, she feels badly for what she does. This psychological behavior represents the complex character Turgenev created since despite she is being used, Zianiida is still acquiring pleasure to herself yielding to her partner because she seeks relief as well.

Furhtermore, another aspect in which Turgenev depicts Zianiida’s masochism and recklessness is through her affair with Valdimir’s father, Petr Vasil’ic. Zianiida is aware that he is a married man and cannot give her more than the love a mistress was given: residual love, or deprived love. As a result, “she herself, her face, shoulders, and arms, were pale to whiteness” (Turgenev 177). This description matches with the early stages of lovesickness (symptoms one shows when love is unconsummated which causes physical and mental disorder). Nonetheless, Zinaiida remained to meet with Petr which illustrates that Turgenev demonstrates women as beings that cheat and succumb to the power of men forgetting about their responsabilities to society. A woman having an affair with a man was a significant violation to gender conventions since a female had to chaste and pure before getting married. However, Zinaiida risks not only her reputation but her future life as well since women could not have romantic relationships before marriage, otherwise they were considered not marriageable. In 19^th century Russia women had to be “innocent” before having a husband to be considered worthy of having a family and being a respected female in society. Moreover, throughout the story, Turgenev demonstrates certain scenes that depict how Zinaiida interacts with the men of the story which illustrate how she guarantees her superiority by inducing physical pain and performing psychological schemes such as letting them believe she loves each and one of them when they accomplish one of her requests.

            Although Turgenev at the beginning of the story gives brief introductions of the pain Zinaiida’s adorers will suffer, Zinaiida’s manipulation over men is thoroughly explained when Vladimir describes her suitors that were all at “her mercy” (Turgenev 162). Each men under her domain had a purpose for her goals. Vladimir represented her easiest way to exploit her manipulative talents such as making him believe she loves him as a man and not a child when she implies “And you? Don’t I love you?” (Turgenev 163), or Lushin, the poet, who read poetry to her and served as entertainment. Essayist David Galef, describes these type of individuals as the third type of sadists that “make others dependant on onself and to have absolute and unrestricted power over them, so as to make of them nothing but instruments, ‘clay in the potter’s hand’ ” (Galef 86). Turgenev demonstrates an evil imagery on women. His choice of words for Zinaiida’s dialogue demonstrate his desire to present women as individuals that are hard to please. As a result, men try to accomplish every demand to acquire the love they long for which can bring mental imbalance since they are attempting to do the impossible to possess their beloved. For instance, Zinaiida states “I can’t care for people I have to look down upon” (Turgenev 163). This depicts Turgenev’s main idea to present women as indiduals that think of men as inferior and a female desire to be the dominant figure.

Turgenev introduces sadism through Zinaiida where she plays with her suitors physically and mentally to obtain pleasure and feed her ego as a manipulator and female alpha. Also, pain to Zinaiida is a tool that serves as an aid to maintain dominance over her suitors since she combines it with sensuality and it causes her adorers to want more. Turgenev stresses her desire to be the dominant sex in a peculiar scene where Zinaiida addresses one of her suitors stating, “Give me your hand then; I’ll stick this pin in it, and you’ll be ashamed of this young man’s seeing it, it will hurt you, but you will laugh for all that, you truthful person” (Turgenev 162). This scene demonstrates Zinaiida’s sadism because she must degrade her suitor’s ego to permit herself full success to execute her phsycological and physical scheme to establish herself as the female alfa. Moreover, Turgenev through these gentlemen presents men as beings that are easily influenced by the idea of obtaining tastes of “easy” love. A love where the rules are not written by them but by their beloved and the idea of playing along mental games motivates them to want more. Additionally, Galef states that a sadistic tendency is that they tend to inflict physicical suffering “but more often it is mental suffering. The aim is to hurt actively, to humiliate, embarrass others, or to see them in embarrassing and humiliating positions” (Galef 86). This illustrates Zinaiida’s intentions to make every suitor of hers feel inferior and succumb to her actions thus causing them to want more due the sensuality that she applies to these actions. As a result, the suitors become eager to perform more requests like these to obtain more of her acclaim and love. However, Zianiida only allows herself to demonstrate a certain amount of affection and then withdraws. When the men notice this withdrawal, they reach a point of despair. For instance, Vladimir describes his misery but he “dared not to go near her-dared not look at her” (Turgenev 164). Turgenev has established Zinaiida as the complete opposite feminine figure that literature has established females to be. Zinaiida represents females as individuals that do not nurture or care for others because if she does, it would demonstrate weakness. Galef explains that “the woman’s emotional withdrawal may be necessary to cut off her nurturing instinct. It may also help establish a position of superiority over the object” (Galef 93). Turgenev utilizes this scene to depict his position of females putting up a façade of femininity and a figure of inconditional love when instead they are individuals that transmite danger and manipulation.

Throughout the story Turgenev stresses Zianiida’s force when he compares her power to Petr’s untamable horse as Vladimir attempts to walk it. Vladimir explains how the horse kept “snorting and neighing, and when I stood still… she conducted herself like a spoilt thorough-bred” (Turgenev 194). A very common literary symbol in Russian literature is horses since it symbolized women. Men only had one horse in their lives and their goal was to tame and gain absolute control over them, hence the connection to women. Turgenev in Valdimir’s futile attempt to tame his father’s horse depicts Zinaiida as intamable, a woman that places a man’s emotional health in jeopardy. However, Turgenev debunks Zinaiida’s powerful image when Vladimir describes that “No one could ride her [the horse] except my father” (Turgenev 193). Petr’s power depicts that eventually a woman will be under the dominance of a man with enough authority. At the very end of the story, Vladimir’s father warns him to “fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison” (Turgenev 196). The comparison Turgenev makes of a woman’s love to poison states that he supports the idea of women giving poison as love and being toxic to the life of man. Furthermore, the common ending a femme fatal is death which Turgernev represents as the ending Zinaiida deserved due to the mayhem she caused.

Women have been and still are passionate theme in literature. Nonetheless, Turgenev wanted to demonstrate in First Love that females can be reackless and meant to be under the power of men and not the type of nurturing character that some writers have depicted women to be. Indeed, Turgenev uses sadomasochism in his main character to emphazise the danger of women, yet he also uses masochism in his lead female character to accomplish his overall purpose of portraying females as beings that are weak. Also, Zinaiida is an example of  what would happen if females start breaking gender conventions and assume the role of men in a society built by men.

Works Cited

Baumeister, Roy. “Masochism as Escape from Self.” The Journal of Sex Research,

Vol.25, No. 1, Feb. 1998, pp. 28-59. JSTOR, url: www.jstor.org/stable/3812869. Accessed 4 April 2019

Baumeister, Roy. “Gender differences in Masochistic Scripts.” The Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 25, No. 4, Nov. 1988, pp. 478-499. JSTOR, url:  www.jstor.org/stable/3812895.

Burton, Neel. “The Psychology of Sadomasochism.” Psychology Today, 2014, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201408/the-psychology-sadomasochism. Accessed 14 April 2019.

Galef, David. Patterns of Women’s Sadism in Literature, State University of New York Press, 2000.

Mills, Judith. “Theme and Symbol in First Love.” The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 1, No. 4, Winter 1971, pp. 433-440. JSTOR, url:  www.jstor.org/stable/306033. Accessed 4 April 2019.

Turgenev, Ivan. Torrents of Spring. Herald of Europe, 1872. Print.