That will be fun to read. And my point was not that she's only important once found, but that Turgenev allows her to be something other than what Bazarov complains about, and other than the beautiful and intelligent Anna. She's a regular girl, which means she doesn't have to be something special. But it turns out that she could be, if anyone took the time to find out. I thought that was interesting, for what we've seen of Russian literature so far.

I didn't get that Turgenev had such a low opinion of women. In fact, Bazarov's low opinion of women seemed to be one of the obnoxiously false original stances he took. Then Turgenev introduced us to other options.

I don't know, my impression is simply different, I suppose. He does mention that Arkady and she share an interest in frivolities, so you could be right- I just put that down to the fact that she was young, and as yet undamaged by life (unlike Anna). Especially if you look back - when we meet her, one of the first comments is about how young and "green" she is. In my opinion, that doesn't mean she's worthless, or waiting to be shaped by a man. It just means she's young, and has been overshadowed by her powerful sister. In fact, Bazarov's comment that she will be something, and will take Arkady in hand underlined that for me (he says she's not falsely clever). She is the unruined Anna (and I don't mean to be so harsh on Anna, but she's obviously learned things during her years/marriage/etc).