The artistic originality of the “Garnet Bracelet” by Alexander Kuprin
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was a man of amazing destiny. He had a huge thirst for life, a desire to know everything, to be able to do everything, to experience everything for himself. He had a strong, ebullient nature; he was a kind, sympathetic, broad-hearted man. The great love for Russia, which the writer carried throughout his entire life, and rich life experience helped him in his work. Alexander Ivanovich was a very talented writer, a recognized master of the short story, and the author of wonderful stories. “Man came into the world for immense freedom of creativity and happiness,” these words of Kuprin could easily be taken as an epigraph to his entire work. A great lover of life, he believed that life could be better and dreamed that the time would come when all people would be happy. And this dream of happiness, of beautiful love became the main theme of his works.
Kuprin writes about love in amazing language, with high artistic taste, and with a subtle understanding of the psychology of his heroes. Perhaps the writer’s most poetic work is “The Garnet Bracelet” - a beautiful story about unrequited love, about that love “which is repeated only once in a thousand years.” “All love is great happiness, even if it is not shared,” these words of Ivan Bunin very accurately reflect the meaning of this work by Kuprin. This story is filled with those experiences that were inherent in the work of earlier poets and writers who created inspired hymns of love. These artists very often assumed that love is something that causes people nothing but suffering and unhappiness. It captures all a person’s thoughts, all his strength. But something always gets in the way, and the lovers are forced to part. They live in constant anticipation of love, search for it, and most often, scorched by it, die. Kuprin has his own opinion about love. To assess his attitude to this feeling, in my opinion, it is enough to understand and understand: was love happiness for the main character of the story “The Garnet Bracelet”, the theme of which is very consonant with Pushkin’s lines:
I loved you, love, perhaps, has not completely died out in my soul, But let it no longer disturb you, I don’t want to sadden you with anything.
In Kuprin, like in Pushkin, a loving person is capable of sacrifice, of death for the sake of the peace and happiness of a loved one.
This story, written in nineteen hundred and eleven, is based on a real event - the sad story of the love of a telegraph operator for the wife of an important official, in whose family this incident is remembered as strange and curious. But the writer’s pen turns it into a tragic story of the life of a little man who was elevated and destroyed by love. She destroyed him because she was undivided, but we cannot say that she was unhappy. This rare gift of high and unrequited love, on the contrary, is “tremendous happiness,” the only content, the poetry of Zheltkov’s life. The romantic phenomenality of his experiences, thanks to the author’s talent, raises the image of this young man above all other characters in the story. Not only the rude Tuganovsky, the frivolous Anna, but also the smart Shein, the kind Anosov, the beautiful Vera Nikolaevna, unlike the hero, are in an ordinary everyday atmosphere, the influence of which the main character is trying to overcome. Kuprin writes not about the birth of Vera’s love, but about the awakening of her soul. The complexity of his plan - to reveal a rapid spiritual metamorphosis - predetermines the poetics of the entire story, which is full of specific, lively sketches. And the artistic originality of this work lies in the fact that almost every such sketch takes on the character of a symbol, and together they form the foundation of the narrative and carry the ideological meaning of the story.
“In mid-August, before the birth of the new month, disgusting weather suddenly set in, which is so typical of the northern coast of the Black Sea” - this beginning of the story can be considered the first symbol. Describing cloudy, damp weather, and then changing it for the better, is of great importance. If by “new month” we mean the main character Vera Nikolaevna, and by the weather throughout her life, then we get a gray but very real picture. “But by the beginning of September the weather suddenly changed dramatically and completely unexpectedly. Quiet, cloudless days immediately arrived, so clear, sunny and warm, which were not even in July.” This change in the weather is a symbol of that very sublime and fatal love that is discussed in the story. It is impossible not to say here about the subject of this love. Kuprin describes Vera Nikolaevna as an independent, royally calm, cold beauty. But this noble, amazing woman, according to the author, symbolizes a person worthy of true, holy love. The writer assigns considerable importance to the “fat, tall, silvery old man” - General Anosov. It is he who is given the task of making Vera take the feelings of a mysterious admirer more seriously. With his thoughts about love, the general helps his granddaughter to look at her own life from different angles. He owns the prophetic words: “Perhaps your path in life, Verochka, has been crossed by precisely the kind of love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of.” The image of General Anosov is a symbol of the wisdom of the older generation. The author trusts him to draw a very important, significant conclusion: “In nature, true, holy love is extremely rare and is available only to a few and only to people worthy of it.” Love, in his opinion, should be based on sublime feelings: mutual respect, sympathy, trust , fidelity, sincerity, honesty and truthfulness. She must strive for the ideal. “Have you ever seen such love, grandfather?” - Vera asks him. The old man answers negatively, but despite the fact that in his entire life he has never met such love, Anosov continues to believe in it and betrays this confidence to Vera Nikolaevna.
The reason for the denouement of the story, which lasted about eight years, is a gift for the heroine’s birthday. This gift is a new symbol of the very love that General Anosov believes in - a garnet bracelet. It is valuable to Zheltkov because his mother wore it. In addition, the ancient bracelet has its own history: according to family legend, it has the ability to impart the gift of foresight to the women wearing it. Zheltkov’s gift evokes painful forebodings in the heroine. Kuprin compares the five garnets of the bracelet with “five scarlet, bloody lights,” and the princess, looking at him with alarm, exclaims: “Exactly blood!” She has a presentiment of an imminent tragedy. Zheltkov is a poor petty official, and Vera Nikolaevna is a princess. But this circumstance does not bother the hero, and he goes against all the foundations of society, but it does not forgive this. Perhaps that is why he commits suicide so as not to cause inconvenience to his beloved. If he had stayed alive, he would have had to stop writing to her and mentioning his existence. But the hero is unable to force himself to do this. After all, the letters he writes support hope in his soul and give him strength to endure suffering. Death does not frighten Zheltkov. Love is stronger than death. He is grateful to the one who aroused this wonderful feeling in his heart, which elevated him, a little man, above the huge, vain world in which anger and injustice reign. That is why, when leaving this life, the hero blesses his beloved: “Hallowed be thy name.”
Unfortunately, Vera Nikolaevna understands and accepts this man’s high feelings too late. After his suicide, Vera’s emotional tension reaches its limit, and it is resolved in the romantic scene of farewell to the deceased. Everything about it is unusual, mysterious: a coffin upholstered in black velvet, the flickering of candles, Zheltkov’s suicide note. And it is here that the heroine realizes that the love that every woman dreams of has passed her by. The man who loved her so selflessly passes away, leaving with great love in his heart. But the symbol of a great, undefeated feeling remains in this cruel world - a garnet bracelet.
This wonderful story by Kuprin serves as confirmation of those moral and spiritual qualities that the author saw in real life of people obsessed with a high feeling of love, capable of rising above the surrounding vulgarity and lack of spirituality, ready to give everything without demanding anything in return. The writer sings of love, contrasting it with hatred, enmity, mistrust, and indifference. In a letter to Batyushkov, he states: “Love is the brightest and most understandable reproduction of my “I.” Individuality is not expressed in strength, not in dexterity, not in intelligence, not in talent, not in creativity. But in love."
The world of human feelings in A. I. Kuprin’s story “The Garnet Bracelet”
Today in class we:
· Let us trace the history of the creation of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin’s story “The Garnet Bracelet”.
· Let's reflect on the characters and symbolism of this story.
· Let's find out how the theme of love is revealed in Kuprin's works.
The story “The Garnet Bracelet” was written by Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin in 1910.
Work on the story took only three months, but according to the writer, it was difficult. The work grew and went beyond the original plan. The story “The Garnet Bracelet” was first published in 1911 on the pages of the almanac “Earth”.
We call “The Garnet Bracelet” a story after the author. This is exactly how Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin defined the genre of his work. But from the point of view of literary criticism, “The Garnet Bracelet” is a story. The volume of this work is too large for a story. 13 chapters in “The Garnet Bracelet”
. In addition, The Garnet Bracelet contains several insert short stories that form microplots within the main plot. These include love stories told by General Anosov. And in general the story of his life, described in such detail by Kuprin.
The composition of the story is quite simple. On display
we meet Vera Nikolaevna Sheina and her entourage.
begins
with Princess Sheina’s sudden receipt of a gift from Zheltkov, who is in love with her.
The climax
of the story is Zheltkov’s conversation with Vera Nikolaevna’s husband and brother.
In this conversation, the telegraph operator admits that his love can only be stopped by death. And the denouement
occurs when, after Zheltkov’s death, Vera Nikolaevna listens to a Beethoven sonata.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin wrote the story “The Garnet Bracelet” when he lived by the sea, in Odessa. And the writer made the seaside town the setting for the story.
The basis for the plot, as often happened with Kuprin, was a real story. what he heard from his friends. It is interesting that the writer conveyed it very accurately and in detail in his work, changing only the ending of the story and some names.
The main character of the real story was not called Vera Nikolaevna, but Lyudmila Ivanovna Lyubimova. At the same time, the writer retained his heroine’s princely title, Tatar roots and even a double surname. Compare: Tugan-Baranovskaya is Lyudmila Ivanovna’s maiden name. And the heroine of the story bore the surname Bulat-Tuganovskaya. As in the story, Lyudmila Ivanovna’s brother’s name was Nikolai. A telegraph operator named Yellow was in love with Lyudmila Ivanovna. The writer only slightly changed it.
The social position of the hero of the story and his prototype, as well as many facts, coincide. For example, letters, a description of a name day gift and a visit that the heroine’s husband and brother paid to the unhappy lover, and even their behavior during this visit. They even laughed at the lover’s letters exactly as described in Kuprin’s story. Only the ending is different. In real life, the telegraph operator in love promised not to write any more letters and disappeared somewhere so that nothing was heard of him again. In the story, he commits suicide, which everyone learns about from the newspapers.
Why did the writer, conveying the details of the story in such detail, change its ending?
Can Zheltkov’s love for Princess Sheina really be called great?
What role does Beethoven's music play in the story?
And why is so much attention in the story paid to General Anosov, who does not influence the development of the plot?
Main topics
What worries the writer in this story is
the theme of love and the theme of crushing human feelings
. And each character reveals them in one way or another.
The guests of the Sheins are typical representatives of the high society of a small Russian city. The writer paints their portraits with strokes, resorting to irony and even sarcasm. For example, all we know about Vasyuchka is that he is a rogue and a reveler. Professor Speshnikov is shaven, fat and ugly huge. It is known about Colonel Ponamarev that he is “a prematurely aged, thin, bilious man, exhausted by backbreaking clerical work.”
And Lieutenant Bakhtinsky is an unsurpassed dancer and ball manager.
The writer gives a devastating characterization to Gustav Ivanovich Friessa, the husband of Vera’s sister, Anna Nikolaevna. Gustav Ivanovich is very rich and very stupid, and “his thin face, smoothly covered with shiny skin, with slicked, thin, blond hair, with sunken eye orbits, looked like a skull, revealing very nasty teeth in laughter.”
Another thing is General Anosov, whom the writer calls “a fragment of antiquity.” And also “a gigantic and unusually picturesque figure.” He was at war, looked death in the face. Being a desperately brave warrior, the general calmly admits that he was scared in battle. Anosov knew different people from all walks of life. Dramatic and tragic stories of other people unfolded before his eyes. And in the “grandfather’s” own life there were family dramas.
In addition, Kuprin characterizes his hero as a warm-hearted person - his sisters Anna and Vera still love him dearly and affectionately call him grandfather. In addition, General Anosov is a man of honor. His moral character is impeccable, and his sense of justice is beyond doubt.
General Anosov
- This is a kind of
hero-reasoner
. A character who expresses the author's views.
Let's think, if the writer put his thoughts about love and human feelings into the mouth of any other character in the story, would they sound so weighty?
The passion of the Shein spouses has long faded, giving way to calm friendship. And for Gustav Friesse, those around him often feel “both sorry and embarrassed” because of the complacency in his courtship of his wife. Is self-satisfaction compatible with sublime feelings?
There was no love in Anna Nikolaevna's life. And in general, the sisters are too young and inexperienced to talk about life and love.
General Anosov condemns society, talking about the crushing of feelings. Condemns the vulgarity of marriage, into which people enter, driven by self-interest and illusions. The general laments that “people’s love has taken such vulgar forms and has descended simply to some kind of everyday convenience, to a little entertainment.”
And the blame for this, according to the old man , is “men who are jaded at twenty years old, with chicken bodies and hare souls, incapable of strong desires, heroic deeds, tenderness and adoration before love.”
It is General Anosov who owns the key phrase in the story. “Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No life conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.”
And with such love the poor telegraph operator Zheltkov loves Vera Nikolaevna. This is “the love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of”
, according to General Anosov.
At first glance, Zheltkov’s story is similar to the tragic love stories from Anosov’s army past. One of which the old man calls stupid, and about the second he says “so... some kind of acid... just a pity.”
A hopelessly in love telegraph operator bombards Vera with letters, literally chasing her. He commits embezzlement to give her a gift, replacing the antique silver in the family bracelet with cheap gold. And in the end he commits suicide.
Where does the opinion come from that Zheltkov’s love is a grandiose, tragic and sublime feeling? The author tells the reader about this. And very often in the words of other characters. General Anosov speaks about this, and his words about “real, selfless, true love” are repeated in Vera’s memoirs. This idea is confirmed by Vera’s husband, Prince Vasily Shein. Vasily Lvovich is sure that such a person is not capable of lying. And there is essentially nothing to blame Zheltkov for: “... is he to blame for love and is it really possible to control such a feeling as love - a feeling that has not yet found an interpreter.”
The image of Zheltkov itself is very poetic. This is reflected by his angelic appearance: “very pale, with a gentle girlish face, blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin.”
The poor, quiet telegraph operator cannot even get close to the circles of society to which his beloved belongs. His lot is poverty and a miserable life in squalid rooms. Zheltkov is the image of a “little man”, familiar to Russian literature. The telegraph operator is timid and lost when two princes come to him. Important gentlemen, Vera's husband and brother.
But Zheltkov’s behavior changes dramatically when Nikolai Tuganovsky begins to threaten him with government intervention. Zheltkov laughs. From that moment on, he feels confident and free, as if changing places with the prince. Now he, a poor official, is taller than a brilliant prince who does not understand how stupid, ridiculous and petty these threats are. As if the police can make a person stop loving. Zheltkov simply ignores Tuganovsky, turning only to Vasily Lvovich Shein. A sensitive, intelligent and understanding person. With whom Zheltkov now feels on an equal footing.
Love exalts Zheltkov. She is his only meaning in life. “It so happened that I am not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people - for me, my whole life lies only in you.”
“, he admits in a farewell letter to his beloved.
Saying goodbye to life and his beloved, Zheltkov repeats the words of the prayer: “Hallowed be thy name.”
. But these words are not addressed to God. Zheltkov writes this to an earthly woman who has become for him the embodiment of divinity and all the beauty of the earth. For the hero Kuprin, love is above all.
Leaving this life, Zheltkov does not complain, does not reproach his beloved for coldness, or the world for injustice. He is grateful to Vera for being “the only joy in life, the only consolation, the only thought.”
And after death, Zheltkov’s peaceful face makes Princess Vera remember the death masks of “the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon”
. With this comparison, the writer raises his hero to their level.
Please note that Kuprin wrote the story “The Garnet Bracelet” in the fall of 1910. And the beginning of the 20th century in Russian literature is associated with the flourishing of symbolism. We see the influence of symbolism in this story by Kuprin.
The gifts given to Vera Nikolaevna are symbols. For example, my husband’s gift was pearl earrings in the form of drops. Pearls in folk culture are a symbol of tears. And indeed, at the end of the story the heroine cries. My sister's gift was a notebook made from a prayer book. The pages beneath the elegant cover are now blank. And Vera Nikolaevna feels emptiness in her life. Strong feelings do not fill her life; the Sheins have no children. Vera also speaks to her sister about the oppressive emptiness of the sea at the beginning of the story, when Anna admires the beauty of the water surface. Moreover, after Zheltkova’s suicide, Vera Nikolaevna will acutely feel the emptiness of her calm, measured life. She will understand that “... a great love passed by her, which is repeated only once in a thousand years.”
The beauty of luxurious autumn flowers is a reflection of the cold beauty of Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. The withering of the garden is the cooling feelings of the spouses, and the seeds are the hope for revival.
Even the change in weather is symbolic. At the beginning of the work, it talks about storms and storms, then the weather becomes cloudy, and then suddenly changes to clear and warm. This is a symbol of the variability of life. An unexpected gift for her name day also suddenly changes Vera’s life.
The grenades in Zheltkov’s bracelet symbolize blood and passion, that is, they are associated with love and death. And a rare green garnet in a cheap frame becomes the personification of the rare gift of sublime love that blooms in the soul of a poor telegraph operator. Vera Nikolaevna rejects both Zheltkov’s gift and his love. But the garnet bracelet, which according to legend gives women the gift of foresight, still binds the telegraph operator and the princess in love. Vera Nikolaevna has a presentiment of Zheltkov's suicide.
The most important symbol in Kuprin’s work is not even the decoration that gives the story its name, but the music. In the story “The Garnet Bracelet,” music becomes an element of the composition. An excerpt from Beethoven's second sonata appears at the very beginning of the story. Kuprin uses it as an epigraph. Thus, the story seems to have a musical accompaniment that reveals the secrets of the unsaid, shows the power of love and enhances the ideological content of the text. At the end of the story, this melody is played by Jenny Reiter.
And in this episode the only real meeting between Vera Nikolaevna and Zheltkov takes place. Their souls seem to connect for a moment through music. Faith even hears his words addressed to her - words of prayer and words of consolation. Music transforms Bepa's soul and makes her realize what is happening in a new way.
It is interesting that the mood of the finale is not painfully tragic, but elegiac. Full of light sadness. Music awakens Vera to life, gives her hope and a sense of miracle. Music also reveals the transformation of Zheltkov, who speaks the language of music with his beloved, comforting her. Sacrificing his life for the peace of Princess Vera, Zheltkov still defeats death with the help of music. Beethoven's Second Sonata
creates an image of ideal love in the story.
Selfless, selfless, sublime and tragic. The one that General Anosov spoke about.
If we talk about the transformative power of love, not only Zheltkov and Vera Nikolaevna change. Her husband, Prince Vasily Shein, accustomed to making fun of love, can no longer do this. “... I feel that I am present at some enormous tragedy of the soul, and I cannot clown around here”
“, he admits. And he also rethinks his life.
The theme of absolute, sublime love is one of the most important in the work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. In a letter to his friend Fyodor Dmitrievich Batyushkov, Kuprin once wrote:
“Individuality is not expressed in strength, not in dexterity, not in intelligence, not in talent, not in creativity. But in love."
