Narcissism and Pechorin’s Seduction Techniques
Narcissism and ego play a vital role in Pechorin’s pursuit of Mary. Pechorin is a wicked person and he knows how to make a woman fall in love with him. He always gets the women he wants and he is well aware of how to manipulate a woman in order to get their attention and make them fall for him. Pechorin attempts to seduce Mary because Mary didn’t show interest in him or give him attention at the very beginning and it hurt his ego. Besides that, he found it interesting to pursuit her.
Pechorin is a Casanova type of womanizer. Casanova type of womanizers are those types of persons who observe women very carefully and notice what is lacking in her life. After careful observance, they try to offer those things to women and eventually women fall in love with them. Pechorin did the same thing with Princess Mary too. At first, he noticed Princess Mary from a distance. Princess Mary didn’t even give attention to him at all. But then Pechorin started to play mind games to get her attention and love and Mary eventually fell for him. He seeks attention from women because he wants every woman to pay attention to him and admire him. ” ambition with me has been suppressed by circumstances, but it has manifested itself in another form, since ambition is nothing else than thirst for power, and my main pleasure – which is to subjugate to my will all that surrounds me, and to excite the emotions of love, devotion, and fear in relation to me – is it not the main sign and greatest triumph of power? “(116) This quote shows how Pechorin looks for women’s love and attention to satisfy his ego and desires.
Pechorin observed Mary very carefully and played mind games to seduce her. At first, he saved her from getting embarrassed. A part of the story says, ” ‘Yes, such was my lot since my very childhood! Everybody read in my face the signs of bad inclinations which were not there, but they were supposed to be there – and so they came into existence. I was modest – they accused me of being crafty: I became secretive. I felt deeply good and evil – nobody caress’d me, everybody offended me: I became rancorous. I was gloomy – other children were merry and talkative. I felt superior to them – but was considered inferior: I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world – none understood me: and I learned to hate.”(119) This quote shows how Pechorin told Mary emotional and sad stories of his life to gain sympathy from her. This sympathy, later on, turned to her love for him. Besides that Pechorin ignored her for two days on purpose so that her weakness for him increased. This teaches us that one can easily manipulate an innocent person by playing mind games. This also teaches us that love may develop from sympathy. If one person is not careful enough and trusts another person blindly, they may end up getting hurt emotionally.
