Russian and British literature's genre of the manor novel and the perception of I.Turgenev's work in England allows us to judge not only the readiness for intercultural dialogue, but also reveals differences dictated by the discrepancy in mentality, national traditions and socio-social character of Russian and Western European civilizations. The English manor text included the author's concept of the concept of moral duty, which was not an obstacle to individual preferences and did not cancel the right to personal happiness. In the works of I. Turgenev, the category of debt was associated with the socio-social component, and the achievement of personal happiness becomes possible with the rejection of debt, understood in this sense.