Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is an outstanding Russian writer of the early 20th century. In his works, he sang love: genuine, sincere and real, not demanding anything in return. Far from every person is given to experience such feelings, and only a few are capable of seeing them, accepting and surrendering to them in the midst of the abyss of life events.
A. I. Kuprin - biography and creativity
Little Alexander Kuprin lost his father when he was only a year old. His mother, a representative of an old family of Tatar princes, made a fateful decision for the boy to move to Moscow. At the age of 10, he entered the Moscow Military Academy, the education he received played a significant role in the writer's work.
Later, he will create more than one work dedicated to his military youth: the writer's memoirs can be found in the stories "At the Break (Cadets)", "Army Ensign", in the novel "Junkers". For 4 years, Kuprin remained an officer in an infantry regiment, but the desire to become a novelist never left him: the first known work, the story "In the Dark", Kuprin wrote at the age of 22. The life of the army will be reflected more than once in his work, including in his most significant work, the story "Duel". One of the important themes that made the writer's works classics of Russian literature was love. Kuprin, masterfully wielding a pen, creating incredibly realistic, detailed and thoughtful images, was not afraid to demonstrate the realities of society, exposing its most immoral sides, as, for example, in the story "The Pit".
The story "Garnet Bracelet": the history of creation
Kuprin began work on the story in difficult times for the country: one revolution ended, the funnel of another began to spin. The theme of love in Kuprin's work "Garnet Bracelet" is created in opposition to the mood of society, it becomes sincere, honest, disinterested. "Garnet Bracelet" became an ode to such love, a prayer and a requiem for it.
The story was published in 1911. It was based on a real story, which made a deep impression on the writer, Kuprin almost completely preserved it in his work. Only the final was changed: in the original, Zheltkov's prototype renounced his love, but remained alive. The suicide that ended Zheltkov's love in the story is just another interpretation of the tragic ending of incredible feelings, which makes it possible to fully demonstrate the destructive power of the callousness and lack of will of the people of that time, which is what the "Garnet Bracelet" tells about. The theme of love in the work is one of the key ones, it is worked out in detail, and the fact that the story is based on real events makes it even more expressive.
The theme of love in Kuprin's work "Garnet Bracelet" is at the center of the plot. The main character of the work is Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, the wife of the prince. She constantly receives letters from a secret admirer, but one day a fan presents her with an expensive gift - a garnet bracelet. The theme of love in the work begins precisely here. Considering such a gift indecent and compromising, she told her husband and brother about it. Using their connections, they easily find the sender of the gift.
It turns out to be a modest and petty official Georgy Zheltkov, who, having accidentally seen Sheina, fell in love with her with all his heart and soul. He contented himself with allowing himself to occasionally write letters. The prince appeared to him with a conversation, after which Zheltkov felt that he had let down his pure and immaculate love, had betrayed Vera Nikolaevna, having compromised her with his gift. He wrote a farewell letter, where he asked his beloved to forgive him and listen to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 2 in parting, and then shot himself. This story alarmed and interested Sheina, she, having received permission from her husband, went to the apartment of the late Zheltkov. There, for the first time in her life, she experienced those feelings that she had not recognized for all eight years of the existence of this love. Already at home, listening to that very melody, she realizes that she has lost her chance for happiness. This is how the theme of love is revealed in the work “Garnet Bracelet”.
Images of the main characters
The images of the main characters reflect the social realities not only of that time. These roles are characteristic of humanity as a whole. In pursuit of status, material well-being, a person again and again refuses the most important thing - a bright and pure feeling that does not need expensive gifts and big words.
The image of Georgy Zheltkov is the main confirmation of this. He's not rich, he's unremarkable. This is a modest person who does not require anything in return for his love. Even in his suicide note, he indicates a false reason for his act, so as not to bring trouble to his beloved, who indifferently refused him.
Vera Nikolaevna is a young woman accustomed to living exclusively in accordance with the foundations of society. She does not shy away from love, but does not consider it a vital necessity. She has a husband who was able to give her everything she needed, and she does not consider the existence of other feelings possible. This happens until she encounters the abyss after the death of Zheltkov - the only thing that can excite the heart and inspire turned out to be hopelessly missed.
The main theme of the story "Garnet Bracelet" is the theme of love in the work
Love in the story is a symbol of the nobility of the soul. Callous Prince Shein or Nikolai does not have this; Vera Nikolaevna herself can be called callous - until the moment of the trip to the apartment of the deceased. Love was the highest manifestation of happiness for Zheltkov, he did not need anything else, he found the bliss and magnificence of life in his feelings. Vera Nikolaevna saw only a tragedy in this unrequited love, her admirer only aroused pity in her, and this is the main drama of the heroine - she was not able to appreciate the beauty and purity of these feelings, this is noted by every essay based on the work "Garnet Bracelet". The theme of love, interpreted in different ways, will invariably be found in every text.
Vera Nikolaevna herself committed the betrayal of love when she took the bracelet to her husband and brother - the foundations of society turned out to be more important for her than the only bright and disinterested feeling that took place in her emotionally meager life. She realizes this too late: that feeling that occurs once every few hundred years has disappeared. It touched her lightly, but she couldn't see the touch.
Love that leads to self-destruction
Kuprin himself earlier in his essays somehow expressed the idea that love is always a tragedy, it contains equally all emotions and joys, pain, happiness, joy and death. All these feelings were placed in one little man, Georgy Zheltkov, who saw sincere happiness in unrequited feelings for a cold and inaccessible woman. His love had no ups and downs until brute force in the person of Vasily Shein interfered with it. The resurrection of love and the resurrection of Zheltkov himself symbolically takes place at the moment of Vera Nikolaevna's insight, when she listens to the very music of Beethoven and cries at the acacia tree. Such is the "Garnet Bracelet" - the theme of love in the work is full of sadness and bitterness.
The main conclusions from the work
Perhaps the main line is the theme of love in the work. Kuprin demonstrates the depth of feelings that not every soul is able to understand and accept.
Love for Kuprin requires the rejection of morals and norms forcibly imposed by society. Love does not need money or a high position in society, but it requires much more from a person: disinterestedness, sincerity, complete dedication and selflessness. I would like to note the following, finishing the analysis of the work "Garnet Bracelet": the theme of love in it makes one renounce all social values, but in return it gives true happiness.
Cultural heritage of the work
Kuprin made a huge contribution to the development of love lyrics: "Garnet Bracelet", analysis of the work, the theme of love and its study became mandatory in the school curriculum. This work has also been filmed several times. The first film based on the story was released 4 years after its publication, in 1914.
Them. N. M. Zagursky in 2013 staged the ballet of the same name.
Loyalty and betrayal
What does loyalty mean to you? I think that if we ask this question to different people, we will get very different answers to it. For example, according to some, fidelity is, first of all, the ability to follow one's principles and be completely sure of the correctness of one's personal convictions, according to others, fidelity is devotion to one's soul mate, one's friend, business, according to others, fidelity is tantamount to the concept "patriotism".
Is it possible to say that any of these definitions is not true? No, just loyalty is a very broad concept that affects all spheres of public life. A more accurate answer to the question: "What is fidelity?", I want to find by examining it on the example of love relationships between people.
Many writers of world and foreign literature thought about this issue in their works. For example, M.A. Sholokhov in the epic novel "Quiet Flows the Don" revealed the concept of fidelity through the main characters of the work. Natalya Korshunova marries Grigory Melekhov as a young girl. She falls in love with him at first sight, hoping to build a strong family with him. But she does not have time to enjoy her new position, as she soon finds out that Grigory is cheating on her with her neighbor Aksinya. Natalya, knowing about her husband's adventures, did not try to reproach him in word or deed, she waited for him at home and received him whenever he returned to her from another woman. Natalya was a truly faithful, loving wife of Gregory, so the thought of trying to find happiness on the side never visited her. She could not change Gregory, thereby hurting him, disgracing his name. Natalya chose to remain faithful to her beloved, remaining deeply unhappy, in the hope that he would come to his senses, understand how she loves him and is always ready to love. Using the example of Natalia, we see that fidelity does not always bring happiness, it also makes people suffer. But devotion is able to overcome a lot: both resentment and betrayal, in the hope that one day it will be rewarded with the same loyalty in return.
The question: "What is fidelity" and A.I. Kuprin in the work "Garnet Bracelet" did not bypass. The hero of the story, G.S. Zheltkov, loved Princess Vera for seven years - someone else's wife. He did not even have the opportunity to speak with her, but an unshakable feeling of devoted love for this woman settled in his heart. He collected things left by Vera in theaters and kept them as real treasures. Once, he ventured to send a present to the princess for her birthday - a garnet bracelet. Vera's husband and brother were outraged by his act and came to his house with the intention of asking him to leave Vera forever. Zheltkov asked them for permission to write the last letter to Vera and, having written it, committed suicide. Love for Vera and devotion to her were the meaning of this man's life, and if the opportunity to love her was taken away from him, then he considered his further life without the princess to be devoid of any meaning and preferred to die. Zheltkov did not blame Vera for anything in his letter, on the contrary, he wrote that he was insanely glad that fate sent him happiness to love her. And dying, he said: "Hallowed be thy name." The protagonist of the story "Garnet Bracelet" showed readers how strong and disinterested loyalty is. It can arise in relation to that person who does not even know about your existence, but still be infinitely strong. It's so amazing, Zheltkov could remain faithful to Vera, without even talking to her once, without hugging her, and many, having a loving person next to them, do not see his devotion and cannot keep it to him in return.
After analyzing all of the above, I can say that loyalty is a moral quality inherent in truly strong people, because in order to remain faithful for many years, you need a lot of spiritual work, fortitude. You need to be faithful first of all to yourself, and then you can talk about loyalty to others.
Updated: 2018-05-20
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This aspect of the problem will obviously resonate the most. Love as a feeling that reveals the true moral character of the characters is traditionally the topic of literature lessons in high school. Here are just a few quotes to help start thinking about the nature of loyalty and betrayal:
His love disgusted me.
I'm bored, my heart asks for will...
(Zemfira. A.S. Pushkin "Gypsies").
The heroines of Pushkin's poem Zemfira and Mariula have no moral obligations to men and children. They blindly follow their desires, obey passions. Pushkin deliberately created the image of mother Zemfira, who left her daughter for a new love. In a civilized society, this act would have caused general censure, but Zemfira does not condemn her mother. She does the same. Gypsies do not consider betrayal a sin, because no one is able to keep love. For an old man, the act of a daughter is common. But for Aleko, this is an attack on his rights, which cannot go unpunished. “You only want freedom for yourself,” Zemfira’s father accuses the killer. Considering himself free, Aleko does not want to see others free. For the first time, Pushkin depicted the expulsion of a romantic hero not only from civilized society, but also from the world of freedom. Aleko betrays not traditions, but universal values.
novel A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" contains many problematic issues: marital fidelity, responsibility and fear of being responsible. The characters at the beginning of the novel are completely different people. Eugene is an urban heartthrob who does not know how to entertain himself in order to escape from boredom. Tatyana is a sincere, dreamy, pure soul. And this first feeling for her is by no means entertainment. She lives, breathes it, therefore it is not at all surprising how a modest girl suddenly takes such a bold step as a letter to her beloved. Eugene also has feelings for the girl, but he does not want to lose his freedom, which, however, does not bring him joy at all. After three years, the heroes meet again. They have changed a lot. Instead of a closed dreamy girl, now she is a sensible, secular lady who knows her worth. And Eugene, as it turned out, knows how to love, write letters without an answer and dream of a single look, a touch on the one that was once ready to give him her heart. Time has changed them. It did not kill love in Tatyana, but taught her to keep her feelings under lock and key. And as for Eugene, he, perhaps for the first time, understood what it is to love, what it is to be faithful. Tatyana Larina did not choose the path of betrayal. She is honest:
“I love you (why lie?)
But I am given to another;
I will be faithful to him forever.
Who does not remember these lines? You can argue for a long time: is the heroine right? But in any case, her fidelity to the duty of a wife, fidelity to her obligations causes both admiration and respect.
“We part forever, but you can be sure that I will never love another: my soul has exhausted all its treasures, its tears and hopes on you” (Vera. M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time") Bela and Princess Mary, Vera and Undine - so different, but equally hurt by Pechorin, who survived both love for him and his betrayal. Princess Mary, a proud and restrained aristocrat, was deeply carried away by the “army ensign” and decided not to reckon with the prejudices of her noble relatives. She was the first to confess to Pechorin her feelings. But the hero rejects Mary's love. Offended in her feelings, the sincere and noble Mary withdraws into herself and suffers. Can she trust anyone now? Bela is endowed not only with beauty. This is an ardent and tender girl, capable of a deep feeling. Proud and bashful Bela is not devoid of consciousness of her dignity. When Pechorin lost interest in her, Bela, in a fit of indignation, says to Maxim Maksimych: “If he doesn’t love me ... I’ll leave myself: I’m not a slave, I’m a prince’s daughter!” Relations with the undine were just an exotic adventure for Pechorin. She is a mermaid, a girl from a forgotten fairy tale. This is how she attracted Pechorin. For him, this is one of the coils of fate. For her - a life where everyone is fighting for their place. Love for Vera was Pechorin's deepest and most lasting affection. No more! Among his wanderings and adventures, he left Vera, but returned to her again. Pechorin caused her a lot of suffering. He gave her nothing but mental anguish. And yet she loved him, ready to sacrifice her own dignity, and the opinion of the world, and the honor of her husband in sacrifice to her beloved. Faith became the slave of her feelings, the martyr of love. Her husband finds out about her betrayal, she loses her reputation, good relations with her husband went wrong. Pechorin experiences the final separation from Vera as a catastrophe: he indulges in despair and tears.
Nowhere is the hopeless loneliness of the hero and the suffering he engendered, which he hid from others, being constantly unfaithful in relations with women, so clearly revealed. “After all, this is not good, this is a sin, Varenka, why do I love another?” ( A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm") Loyalty and betrayal - it is always the choice of their behavior in a relationship with a loved one. And not one is responsible for this choice, but both - He and She. The heroine of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" cheated on her husband. With all her heart she fell in love with Boris, a weak, weak-willed man. Katerina's secret meetings with him are a desire for love, mutual understanding. She realizes the sinfulness of her behavior and suffers from it. Suicide is a mortal sin, Katerina knows it. But she goes for it for various reasons, including not being able to forgive herself for betrayal. Can the reader justify the heroine? He can understand, he can sympathize, but he can hardly justify. And not only because the commandment is broken - betrayal is difficult to forgive.
“I am tormented only by the evil that I did to him. Just tell him that I ask him to forgive, forgive, forgive me for everything ... ". (Natasha Rostova about Andrey. L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace").
The story of the quarrel between Natasha and Prince Andrei, the collapse of a seemingly ideal love story outrages, plunges one into bewilderment, makes one again and again look for the answer to the question: “How did the vile, narrow-minded Anatole Kuragin eclipsed the brilliant, refined, intelligent Bolkonsky in the eyes of young Rostova”? What pushed Natasha into the arms of the "vile, heartless breed"? The reader experiences the fall of Natasha, her tears and pain with all his heart and, without noticing it himself, makes his choice in favor of fidelity, sympathizing, nevertheless condemns the betrayal of the heroine.
“No, Nikolai Alekseevich, I didn’t forgive. Since our conversation touched upon our feelings, I will say frankly: I could never forgive you. Just as I had nothing more precious than you in the world at that time, so I didn’t have it later either. That's why I can't forgive you." (Hope. I.A. Bunin "Dark alleys").
Bunin's works about love are tragic. For a writer, love is a flash, a sunstroke. His love cannot be extended. If the heroes are true to this love, it is only in their souls, in their memories. The heroine of the novel "Dark Alleys" managed to keep in her memory the fidelity of her first and only love for Nikolai in her life, somewhere in the depths of her soul there is a spark of this wonderful feeling, which she experienced so much in her youth for "Nikolenka", which, as the heroine says , she gave away "her beauty". And what about a hero? For him, a relationship with Nadezhda is a fleeting hobby of a handsome master maid. He did not even understand that he had betrayed his beloved, changed their love when he simply forgot about her. But it turned out that it was this love that was the main thing in his life. Nikolai has no happiness: his wife cheated on him and left him, and his son grew up "without a heart, without honor, without a conscience." The betrayal of love makes both unhappy, and loyalty to the beloved warms the heart of the heroine, although at the meeting she accuses him, not forgiving him for betrayal.
Follow me, reader! Who told you that there is no true, true, eternal love in the world? May the liar be cut off his vile tongue!” ( M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita"). This is a novel about the love of two people who, before meeting each other, were each alone and unhappy in their own way. Margarita will look for her Master, and when she finds him, they will never part again, because it is love that is the power thanks to which one can survive all the hardships and hardships of life without losing such qualities as loyalty, hope, kindness and sympathy! The purity of Margarita's moral character, her fidelity, devotion, disinterestedness, courage in the performance of duty are the eternal features of Russian women who are able to stop a galloping horse and share with their beloved all the hardships and hardships that fall to their lot. She is faithful to her Master to the end.
But let's not forget that Margarita also commits a betrayal. Due to their sympathy for the heroine, writers never emphasize that, having fallen in love with the Master, Margarita cheated on her husband. But her love was a betrayal in relation to him. For the sake of the Master, the heroine betrays herself to some extent, because she agrees to sell her soul to the devil, to be at Woland's ball, hoping that he will help her return her beloved, which she probably would not have done under other conditions. Such is the nature of Margarita - she is ready for anything for the sake of love. The intrigues of the devil are tempting: Bulgakov's heroine is subconsciously tormented by her betrayal of her husband and acutely feels her guilt.
There are other perfidy in the novel by M. Bulgakov. Judas betrays Yeshua. Pilate betrays justice. The master betrays his life's work. There are traitors among the guests at the ball. And also Baron Meigel, Berlioz. It is terrible when a person consciously gives himself to the service of imaginary values, realizing their falsity. Here she is, betraying herself! The writer is convinced that the conformity of those who understand evil and are ready to condemn it is more terrible than open evil, but does not do this because of cowardice, that everyone who has ever been led by cowardice, one way or another, comes to betrayal.
The history of foreign literature gives us another example of the amazing property of the human soul - the ability to faithfully wait for that very minute, that very meeting ...
Love that cannot be forgotten
For those of us who truly loved.
(Dante Alighieri. "The Divine Comedy").
Dante and Beatrice. She was out of reach for Dante during her lifetime. But he remained faithful to her and after her death, openly, without hiding, lavished the most sublime praise of his beloved. His Beatrice rose in the poem, lost her earthly features, became a dream, an ideal of life, a light on the poet's mournful path: "If my life lasts a few more years, I hope to say something about her that has never been said about a single woman." Dante fulfilled his promise, he wrote a great poem in which he sang his muse. It is no coincidence that in Paradise Dante and his companion Virgil meet those who were faithful and virtuous: Saint Lucia, the biblical prophets. They are next to her, his divine Beatrice. Is this not an example of the amazing fidelity of a beloved?
Treason to the motherland, beloved, friends ... What could be worse? Therefore, in the ninth, most terrible circle of Hell, according to Dante, there were traitors to the motherland, traitors. There is the first murderer on earth - Cain, there is Lucifer, who rebelled against God, there is Judas, who betrayed Christ, there is Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Julius Caesar. This is where the path of the traitor leads - to hell!
It is impossible not to recall the tragic outcome of another love story:
No, don't swear by the deceiving moon
In love to the grave of a young maiden!
Or you will be, like the moon, fickle...
(Juliet. W. Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet").
The love of Romeo and Juliet, literally love to the grave, is touching and boundless. But were not two young hearts “traitors”? After all, they betrayed the traditions of the family, violated the unshakable (until then!) Truth: the Montagues and the Capulets are enemies forever. But who will raise his hand to condemn the lovers. Their loyalty to each other makes them tremble, and death puts an end to the age-old enmity of "two equally respected families."
We can talk about fidelity and betrayal by analyzing episodes from the works of such authors as:
M. Gorky "The Traitor's Mother", fairy tales "No. IX, No. XI" from "Tales of Italy";
L. N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina";
A.I Kuprin "Olesya", "Pomegranate bracelet", "Shulamith";
V. Bykov "Sotnikov";
M.A. Sholokhov "Quiet Don".
Loyalty, trust, love, respect, support are the basic concepts that make up the majority of eternal human values. But even in such a seemingly indisputable issue, depending on the conditions and circumstances, certain contradictions may arise.
Is loyalty always good? The question, it would seem, is obvious, and in certain periods of our history, the concept of "fidelity" as an exceptional value and the main component of human relations has never been questioned and has always been elevated to a cult. But “desperate times call for desperate measures,” and the more unhappy a person becomes, the more often he looks back and thinks about the meaning of his life, the more reverently he treats his own choice and what may or may not make him happy. If we take, for example, the heroes of the novel by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" and analyze the love line of Eugene and Tatyana, then we can conclude that it was Tatyana's loyalty to her husband that became one of the reasons for the unhappiness of the two heroes. We learn about Tatyana's love for Yevgeny at the beginning of the novel, but Yevgeny's readiness to give himself entirely into the hands of this girl arose too late and very suddenly. At that moment, when, after a long absence, Eugene returns to Tatyana and confesses his feelings to her, the girl was already the general's wife. Of course, Tatyana would not have lost her feelings for Yevgeny in a year, and in tens of years, but respect, love and loyalty to her husband did not allow the girl to reciprocate Yevgeny. Outcome: two unfortunate souls doomed to mental suffering. Did Tatyana love her husband? Of course not, she felt only gratitude for him and was faithful to him out of respect, because betrayal in those years was equated with a stigma for the rest of her life. Would Tatyana be happy if she decided to stay with Eugene, accepting his love? I think so, and this is exactly the case when loyalty interfered with human happiness.
A similar situation is described in his story “Garnet Bracelet” by A.I. Kuprin. The reader becomes aware of the story of a very happy, sincere, true love, which was not destined to become mutual. The main character, Zheltkov, made love for a married woman the meaning of his life, he enjoyed this feeling in full, lived it and was happy, while realizing that it, quite possibly, would remain non-reciprocal. In turn, Vera Nikolaevna, reading Zheltkov’s letters, perfectly understood that she was the object of sincere love, and, it seems to me, looking back at her relationship with her husband, at this usual affection, she in the depths of her soul wanted to experience something more vivid and saturated, she wanted to love in the same way as the author of the letter sent to her loves. After Zheltkova's suicide, Vera Nikolaevna, realizing that "great love, which is repeated only once in a thousand years", passed her by, sheds bitter tears, because she, being faithful to her husband, missed the only opportunity to be happy.
A person is happy when he feels complete satisfaction from life. Beautiful is the family in which love and mutual understanding reign, in which the word "fidelity" is at the base of everything and at the same time does not appear on the surface of the things discussed. However, in the event that this concept itself serves as a link and almost the only thing that can keep two people, it loses its true purpose and any meaning. It seems to me that loyalty and love should always be nearby, in other words, there is nothing worse than loyalty to an unloved person.
The theme of love in the story "Garnet Bracelet"
"Unrequited love does not humiliate a person, but elevates him." Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich
According to many researchers, “everything is masterfully written in this story, starting with its title. The title itself is surprisingly poetic and sonorous. It sounds like a line of a poem written in iambic trimeter.
The story is based on a real case. In a letter to the editor of the journal “The World of God” F. D. Batyushkov, Kuprin wrote in October 1910: “Do you remember this? - the sad story of a small telegraph official P.P. Zholtikov, who was hopelessly, touchingly and selflessly in love with Lyubimov's wife (D.N. is now the governor in Vilna). So far, I just came up with an epigraph ... " (L. van Beethoven. Son No. 2, op. 2. Largo Appassionato). Although the work is based on real events, the ending of the story - Zheltkov's suicide - is the writer's creative conjecture. It was not by chance that Kuprin ended his story with a tragic ending, he needed such a ending to more strongly emphasize the power of Zheltkov's love for a woman almost unfamiliar to him - a love that happens "once in a thousand years."
Work on the story greatly influenced the state of mind of Alexander Ivanovich. “Recently I told a good actress,” he wrote in a letter to F. D. Batyushkov in December 1910, “I’m crying about the plot of my work, I’ll say one thing that I haven’t written anything more chaste yet.”
The main character of the story is Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. The action of the story takes place in the Black Sea resort in the fall, namely on September 17 - the day of the name day of Vera Nikolaevna.
The first chapter is an introduction, whose task was to prepare the reader for the desired perception of subsequent events. Kuprin describes nature. In describing nature, Kuprin has many sounds, colors, and especially smells. The landscape is highly emotional and unlike anyone else's. Thanks to the description of the autumn landscape with its deserted dachas and flower beds, you feel the inevitability of the withering of the surrounding nature, the withering of the world. Kuprin draws a parallel between the description of the autumn garden and the inner state of the main character: the chilly autumn landscape of fading nature is similar in essence to the mood of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. According to him, we predict her calm, impregnable character. Nothing attracts her in this life, perhaps that is why the brightness of her being is enslaved by routine and dullness.
The author describes the main character as follows: “... she went to her mother, a beautiful Englishwoman, with her tall, flexible figure, gentle, but cold and proud face, beautiful, albeit rather large hands, and that charming sloping of her shoulders, which can be seen in old miniatures ... ". Vera could not be imbued with a sense of beauty to the world around her. She was not a natural romantic. And, seeing something out of the ordinary, some peculiarity, I tried (albeit involuntarily) to ground it, to compare it with the outside world. Her life flowed slowly, measuredly, quietly, and, it would seem, satisfied the principles of life, without going beyond them.
The husband of Vera Nikolaevna was Prince Vasily Lvovich Shein. He was the leader of the nobility. Vera Nikolaevna married the prince, an exemplary, quiet person like herself. Vera Nikolaevna's former passionate love for her husband turned into a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship. Spouses, despite their high position in society, barely made ends meet. Since she had to live above her means, Vera, imperceptibly for her husband, saved money, remaining worthy of her title.
On the day of the name day, her closest friends come to Vera. According to Kuprin, "Vera Nikolaevna Sheina always expected something happy, wonderful from the name day." Her younger sister, Anna Nikolaevna Friesse, arrived first. “She was half a head shorter, somewhat broad in the shoulders, lively and frivolous, a mocker. Her face is of a strongly Mongolian type with rather noticeable cheekbones, with narrow eyes ... captivated by some elusive and incomprehensible charm ... ". She was the complete opposite of Vera Nikolaevna. The sisters loved each other very much. Anna was married to a very rich and very stupid man who did absolutely nothing, but was registered with some charitable institution. She could not stand her husband, Gustav Ivanovich, but she gave birth to two children from him - a boy and a girl. Vera Nikolaevna really wanted to have children, but she did not have them. Anna constantly flirted in all the capitals and resorts of Europe, but she never cheated on her husband.
On the name day, the younger sister presented Vera with a small notebook in an amazing binding as a gift. Vera Nikolaevna liked the gift very much. As for Vera's husband, he gave her earrings made of pear-shaped pearls. writer kuprin story love
The guests arrive in the evening. All the characters, with the exception of Zheltkov, the main character in love with Princess Sheina, Kuprin gathers the Shein family at the dacha. The princess receives expensive gifts from the guests. The name day celebration was fun until Vera notices that there are thirteen guests. Since she was superstitious, this alarms her. But so far, there are no signs of trouble.
Among the guests, Kuprin singles out the old General Anosov, a comrade-in-arms of the father of Vera and Anna. The author describes him like this: “A fat, tall, silver old man, he was heavily climbing off the footboard ... He had a large, rough, red face with a fleshy nose and with that good-naturedly majestic, slightly contemptuous expression in his narrowed eyes ... which is characteristic of courageous and ordinary people…”
Also present at the name day was Vera's brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich Mirza-Bulat-Tuganovsky. He always defended his opinion and was ready to stand up for his family.
Traditionally, the guests played poker. Vera did not join the game: she was called by the maid, who handed her a package.. Unfolding the package, Vera discovers a case containing a gold bracelet with stones and a note. “... a gold, low-grade, very thick ... on the outside, all completely covered ... with garnets” bracelet. He looks like a tasteless trinket next to the expensive elegant gifts that guests gave her. The note tells about the bracelet, that it is a family heirloom with magical powers, and that it is the most expensive thing the donor has. At the end of the letter were the initials G.S.Zh., and Vera realized that this was the secret admirer who had been writing to her for seven years. This bracelet becomes a symbol of his hopeless, enthusiastic, selfless, reverent love. Thus, this person is somehow trying to connect himself with Vera Nikolaevna. It was enough for him only that her hands touched his gift.
Looking at the thick red grenades, Vera felt alarmed, she felt something unpleasant approaching, she saw some kind of omen in this bracelet. It is no coincidence that she immediately compares these red stones with blood: “Just like blood!” she exclaims. The tranquility of Vera Nikolaevna was disturbed. Vera considered Zheltkov "unfortunate", she could not understand the tragedy of this love. The expression "happy unhappy person" turned out to be somewhat contradictory. Indeed, in his feeling for Vera, Zheltkov experienced happiness.
Until the guests leave, Vera decides not to talk about the gift to her husband. Meanwhile, her husband entertains guests with stories in which there is very little truth. Among these stories is the story of an unfortunate lover in Vera Nikolaevna, who allegedly sent passionate letters to her every day, and then became a monk, after dying, bequeathed to Vera two buttons and a bottle of perfume with his tears.
And only now we learn about Zheltkov, despite the fact that he is the main character. None of the guests has ever seen him, does not know his name, only it is known (judging by the letters) that he serves as a petty official and in some mysterious way always knows where he is and what Vera Nikolaevna is doing. Almost nothing is said about Zheltkov himself in the story. We learn about it thanks to small details. But even these minor details used by the author in his narrative testify to a lot. We understand that the inner world of this extraordinary person was very, very rich. This man was not like the others, he was not mired in a miserable and dull everyday life, his soul aspired to the beautiful and sublime.
Evening comes. Many guests are leaving, leaving General Anosov, who talks about his life. He tells his love story, which he will remember forever - short and simple, which, in retelling, seems like just a vulgar adventure of an army officer. “I don’t see true love. And I didn’t see it in my time!” - says the general and gives examples of ordinary, obscene unions of people concluded for one reason or another. “Where is the love? Love disinterested, selfless, not waiting for a reward? The one about which it is said - "strong as death"? .. Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No comforts of life, calculations and compromises should concern her.” It was Anosov who formulated the main idea of the story: "Love must be ..." and to some extent expressed Kuprin's opinion.
Anosov talks about tragic cases similar to such love. The conversation about love led Anosov to the story of a telegraph operator. At first he suggested that Zheltkov was a maniac, and only then he decided that Zheltkov’s love was real: “... maybe your life path, Verochka, crossed exactly the kind of love that women dream of and that men are no longer capable of.”
When only Vera's husband and brother remained in the house, she spoke about Zheltkov's gift. Vasily Lvovich and Nikolai Nikolaevich treated Zheltkov's gift extremely dismissively, laughed at his letters, mocked his feelings. The garnet bracelet causes stormy indignation in Nikolai Nikolaevich, it is worth noting that he was extremely annoyed by the act of the young official, and Vasily Lvovich, by virtue of his character, took it more calmly.
Nikolai Nikolaevich is worried about Vera. He does not believe in Zheltkov's pure, platonic love, suspecting him of the most vulgar adultery. If she accepted the gift, Zheltkov would brag to his friends, he could hope for something more, he would give her expensive gifts: "... a diamond ring, a pearl necklace ...", wasting government money, and subsequently everything could have ended court, where the Sheins would be called as witnesses. The Shein family would have fallen into a ridiculous position, their name would have been disgraced.
Vera herself did not attach special importance to the letters, she did not have feelings for her mysterious admirer. She was somewhat flattered by his attention. Vera thought that Zheltkov's letters were just an innocent joke. She does not attach the same importance to them that her brother Nikolai Nikolayevich does.
The husband and brother of Vera Nikolaevna decide to give a gift to a secret admirer and ask him to never write to Vera again, to forget about her forever. But how to do this if they did not know either the name, or the surname, or the address of the admirer of the Faith? Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Lvovich find a fan by their initials in the lists of city employees. Now they become aware that the mysterious G.S.Zh. is a petty official Georgy Zheltkov. Vera's brother and husband go to his house for an important conversation with Zheltkov, who subsequently decides the whole fate of Georgy.
Zheltkov lived under a roof in one poor house: “The spit-stained staircase smelled of mice, cats, kerosene and laundry ... The room was very low, but very wide and long, almost square in shape. Two round windows, quite similar to ship portholes, barely illuminated her. Yes, and all of it was similar to the wardroom of a cargo steamer. Along one wall stood a narrow bed, along the other a very large and wide sofa, covered with a beautiful tattered Teke carpet, in the middle - a table covered with a colored Little Russian tablecloth. Such an accurate detailed description of the atmosphere in which Zheltkov lives, Kuprin notes for a reason, the author shows the inequality between Princess Vera and the petty official Zheltkov. Between them there are insurmountable social barriers and barriers of class inequality. It is the different social status and Vera's marriage that make Zheltkov's love unrequited.
Kuprin develops the theme of the “little man”, traditional for Russian literature. An official with the funny surname Zheltkov, quiet and inconspicuous, not only grows into a tragic hero, he rises above petty fuss, life's conveniences, and decency with the power of his love. He turns out to be a man in no way inferior in nobility to aristocrats. Love lifted him up. Love gives Zheltkov "tremendous happiness." Love has become suffering, the only meaning of life. Zheltkov did not demand anything for his love, his letters to the princess were just a desire to speak out, to convey his feelings to his beloved being.
Once in Zheltkov's room, finally, Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Lvovich see Vera's admirer. The author describes him as follows: “... he was tall, thin, with long fluffy, soft hair ... very pale, with a gentle girlish face, blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle; he must have been about thirty, thirty-five…” Zheltkov, as soon as Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Lvovich introduced themselves, became very nervous and frightened, but after a while he calmed down. The men return Zheltkov his bracelet with a request not to repeat such things again. Zheltkov himself understands and admits that he did something stupid by sending Vera a garnet bracelet.
Zheltkov confesses to Vasily Lvovich that he has been in love with his wife for seven years. Vera Nikolaevna, by some whim of fate, once seemed to Zheltkov an amazing, completely unearthly creature. And a strong, vivid feeling flared up in his heart. He was always at some distance from his beloved, and, obviously, this distance contributed to the strength of his passion. He could not forget the beautiful image of the princess, and he was not at all stopped by the indifference on the part of his beloved.
Nikolai Nikolaevich gives Zheltkov two options for further action: either he forever forgets Vera and never writes to her again, or, if he does not give up the persecution, measures will be taken against him. Zheltkov asks to call Vera to say goodbye to her. Although Nikolai Nikolaevich was against the call, Prince Shein allowed it to be done. But the conversation did not go well: Vera Nikolaevna did not want to talk to Zheltkov. Returning to the room, Zheltkov looked upset, his eyes were filled with tears. He asked permission to write a farewell letter to Vera, after which he will disappear from their lives forever, and again Prince Shein allows this to be done.
The close princesses of Vera recognized Zheltkovo as a noble person: brother Nikolai Nikolaevich: “I immediately guessed a noble person in you”; husband Prince Vasily Lvovich: "this man is incapable of deceiving and lying knowingly."
Returning home, Vasily Lvovich tells Vera in detail about the meeting with Zheltkov. She was alarmed and uttered the following phrase: "I know that this man will kill himself." Vera already had a premonition of the tragic outcome of this situation.
The next morning, Vera Nikolaevna reads in the newspaper that Zheltkov committed suicide. The newspaper wrote that the death occurred due to the waste of public money. So the suicide wrote in a posthumous letter.
Throughout the story, Kuprin is trying to inspire readers with “the concept of love on the verge of life”, and he does this through Zheltkov, for him love is life, therefore, there is no love - there is no life. And when Vera's husband persistently asks to stop love, his life also stops. But is love worthy of losing life, losing everything that can be in the world? Everyone must answer this question for himself - does he want this, what is more precious to him - life or love? Zheltkov answered: love. Well, what about the price of life, because life is the most precious thing we have, it is we who are so afraid of losing it, and on the other hand, love is the meaning of our life, without which it will not be life, but will be an empty sound. I involuntarily recall the words of I. S. Turgenev: “Love ... is stronger than death and the fear of death.”
Zheltkov complied with Vera's request to "stop this whole story" in the only way possible for him. That same evening, Vera receives a letter from Zheltkov.
Here is what the letter said: “... It so happened that nothing interests me in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people - for me, all life lies only in you ... My love is not illness, not a manic idea, it is a reward from God... If you ever think of me, then play the L. van Beethoven sonata. Son No. 2, op. 2. Largo Appassionato…” Zheltkov also deified his beloved in a letter, his prayer was addressed to her: “Hallowed be thy name.” However, with all this, Princess Vera was an ordinary earthly woman. So her deification is a figment of the imagination of poor Zheltkov.
It is a pity that in life he was not interested in anything but her. I think you can’t live like this, you can’t just suffer and dream about your beloved, but inaccessible. Life is a game, and each of us must play our part, manage to do it in such a short period of time, manage to become a positive or negative hero, but in no case remain indifferent to everything except her, the only beautiful one.
Zheltkov thinks that this is his destiny - to love madly, but unrequitedly, that it is impossible to escape from fate. If not for this latter, then he would undoubtedly try to do something, to escape from a feeling doomed to death.
Yes, I think I should have run. Run without looking back. Set yourself a long-term goal and plunge headlong into work. I had to force myself to forget my crazy love. It was necessary to at least try to avoid its tragic outcome.
With all his desire, he could not be in control of his soul, in which the image of the princess occupied too much place. Zheltkov idealized his beloved, he did not know anything about her, therefore he painted in his imagination a completely unearthly image. And this also shows the eccentricity of his nature. His love could not be discredited, tarnished precisely because it was too far from real life. Zheltkov never met his beloved, his feelings remained a mirage, they were not connected with reality. And in this regard, the enamored Zheltkov appears before the reader as a dreamer, romantic and idealist out of touch with life.
He gave the best qualities to a woman about whom he knew absolutely nothing. Perhaps if fate had given Zheltkov at least one meeting with the princess, he would have changed his mind about her. At the very least, she would not seem to him an ideal being, absolutely devoid of flaws. But, alas, the meeting was impossible.
Anosov said: "Love must be a tragedy ...", if you approach love with just such a yardstick, then it becomes clear - Zheltkov's love is just that. He easily puts his feelings for the beautiful princess above all else. In essence, life itself has no special value for Zheltkov. And, probably, the reason for this is the lack of demand for his love, because the life of Mr. Zheltkov is not decorated with anything other than feelings for the princess. At the same time, the princess herself lives a completely different life, in which there is no place for the enamored Zheltkov. And she does not want the flow of these letters to continue. The princess is not interested in her unknown admirer, she is fine without him. All the more surprising and even strange is Zheltkov, who consciously cultivates his passion for Vera Nikolaevna.
Can Zheltkov be called a sufferer who lived his life uselessly, giving himself up as a victim of some amazing soulless love? On the one hand, he appears to be just that. He was ready to give his life to his beloved, but no one needed such a sacrifice. The garnet bracelet itself is a detail that even more clearly emphasizes the entire tragedy of this man. He is ready to part with a family heirloom, an ornament that is inherited by the women of his family. Zheltkov is ready to give the only jewel to a completely stranger woman, and she did not need this gift at all.
Can Zheltkov's feelings for Vera Nikolaevna be called madness? Prince Shein answers this question in the book: “... I feel that I am present at some huge tragedy of the soul, and I cannot play around here ... I will say that he loved you, but was not at all crazy ... ". And I agree with his opinion.
The psychological culmination of the story is Vera's farewell to the deceased Zheltkov, their only "date" - a turning point in her inner state. On the face of the deceased, she read “deep importance, ... as if, before parting with life, he had learned some deep and sweet secret that resolved his whole human life”, “blissful and serene” smile, “peace”. “At that moment, she realized that the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by.”
You can immediately ask the question: - did Vera love anyone at all. Or the word love in its understanding is nothing but the concept of marital duty, marital fidelity, and not feelings for another person. Vera probably loved only one person: her sister, who was everything to her. She did not love her husband, not to mention Zheltkov, whom she had never seen alive.
But was it necessary for Vera to go look at the dead Zheltkov? Perhaps it was an attempt to somehow assert herself, not to torment herself for the rest of her life with remorse, to look at the one she refused. To understand that in her life there will be nothing like this. From what we pushed off, we came to that - before he was looking for meetings with her, and now she came to him. And who is to blame for what happened - he himself or his love.
Love dried him up, took away all the best that was in his nature. But she gave nothing in return. Therefore, the unfortunate person has nothing else to do. Obviously, by the death of the hero, Kuprin wanted to express his attitude towards his love. Zheltkov, of course, is a unique person, very special. Therefore, it is very difficult for him to live among ordinary people. It turns out that there is no place for him on this earth. And this is his tragedy, and not his fault at all.
Of course, his love can be called a unique, wonderful, amazingly beautiful phenomenon. Yes, such unselfish and surprisingly pure love is very rare. But still, it's good that it happens this way. After all, such love goes hand in hand with tragedy, it breaks a person's life. And the beauty of the soul remains unclaimed, no one knows about it and does not notice it.
When Princess Sheina came home, she fulfills Zheltkov's last wish. She asks her pianist friend Jenny Reiter to play something for her. Vera has no doubt that the pianist will perform exactly the place in the sonata that Zheltkov asked for. Her thoughts and music merged into one, and she heard as if the verses ended with the words: "Hallowed be thy name."
"Hallowed be Thy name" - sounds like a refrain in the last part of the "Garnet Bracelet". A man has passed away, but love has not gone away. It seemed to dissipate in the surrounding world, merging with Beethoven's sonata No. 2 Largo Appassionato. Under the passionate sounds of music, the heroine feels the painful and beautiful birth of a new world in her soul, she feels a deep gratitude to the person who put love for her above everything in his life, even above life itself. She understands that he has forgiven her. The story ends on this tragic note.
However, despite the sad denouement, Kuprin's hero is happy. He believes that the love that illuminated his life is a truly wonderful feeling. And I no longer know if this love is so naive and reckless. And maybe she really is worth it to give her life and desire for life for her. After all, she is beautiful like the moon, pure like the sky, bright like the sun, constant like nature. Such is Zheltkov's chivalrous, romantic love for Princess Vera Nikolaevna, which swallowed up his whole being. Zheltkov passes away without complaints, without reproaches, saying, as a prayer: "Hallowed be thy name." It is impossible to read these lines without tears. And it is not clear why tears roll from the eyes. Either this is just pity for the unfortunate Zheltkov (after all, life could be beautiful for him too), or admiration for the magnificence of the great feeling of a small person.
I so wish that this tale of all-forgiving and strong love, created by I. A. Kuprin, penetrated into our monotonous life. I so wish that cruel reality could never defeat our sincere feelings, our love. We must multiply it, be proud of it. Love, true love, must be studied diligently, as the most painstaking science. However, love does not come if you wait for its appearance every minute, and at the same time, it does not flare up from nothing.