Analysis of “Garnet Bracelet” Kuprin. Analysis of the story “Garnet Bracelet” How can you interpret the ending of the story “Garnet Bracelet”

How does Kuprin draw the main character of the story, Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina?

(The outward inaccessibility and inaccessibility of the heroine is stated at the beginning of the story by her title and position in society - she is the wife of the leader of the nobility. But Kuprin shows the heroine against the backdrop of clear, sunny, warm days, in silence and solitude, which Vera enjoys, reminding, perhaps, of love for the solitude and beauty of nature of Tatyana Larina (also, by the way, a princess in marriage). We see that the princess is outwardly regal, “cold and haughtily kind” to everyone, with a “cold and proud face” (compare with the description of Tatyana in St. Petersburg). , chapter eight, stanza XX “But an indifferent princess, / But an unapproachable goddess / Of the luxurious, royal Neva”) - a sensitive, delicate, selfless person: she tries to quietly help her husband “make ends meet”, observing decency, still saving , since “I had to live above my means.” She dearly loves her younger sister (their obvious dissimilarity in both appearance and character is emphasized by the author himself, Chapter II), with “a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship” she treats her husband, childishly affectionate with “grandfather General Anosov, a friend of their father.)

(Kuprin “gathers all the characters in the story, with the exception of Zheltkov, for the name day of Princess Vera. A small society of people who are pleasant to each other cheerfully celebrates the name day, but Vera suddenly notes that there are thirteen guests, and this alarms her: “she was superstitious.”)

What gifts did Vera receive? What is their significance?

(The princess receives not just expensive, but lovingly chosen gifts: “beautiful earrings made of pear-shaped pearls” from her husband, “a small notebook in an amazing binding ... the labor of love of the hands of a skillful and patient artist” from her sister.)

How does Zheltkov’s gift look against this background? What is its value?

(Zheltkov’s gift - “a gold, low-grade, very thick, but exaggerated and on the outside completely covered with small old, poorly polished garnets” bracelet looks like a tasteless trinket. But its meaning and value lie elsewhere. Deep red garnets light up alive under electric light lights, and it occurs to Vera: “It’s like blood! - this is another alarming omen. Zheltkov gives the most valuable thing he has - a family jewel.)

What is the symbolic meaning of this detail?

(This is a symbol of his hopeless, enthusiastic, selfless, reverent love. Let us remember the gift Olesya left for Ivan Timofeevich - a string of red beads.)

How does the theme of love develop in the story?

(At the beginning of the story, the feeling of love is parodied. Vera’s husband, Prince Vasily Lvovich, a cheerful and witty man, makes fun of Zheltkov, who is still unfamiliar to him, showing the guests a humorous album with the “love story” of the telegraph operator for the princess. However, the end of this funny story turns out to be almost prophetic: “Finally he dies, but before his death he bequeaths to give Vera two telegraph buttons and a perfume bottle filled with his tears.”

Further, the theme of love is revealed in inserted episodes and acquires a tragic connotation. General Anosov tells his love story, which he will remember forever - short and simple, which in the retelling seems to be just a vulgar adventure of an army officer. “I don’t see true love. I haven’t seen it in my time either!” - says the general and gives examples of ordinary, vulgar unions of people concluded for one reason or another. “Where is the love? Is love unselfish, selfless, not waiting for reward? The one about which it is said “strong as death”?.. Love should be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! Anosov talks about tragic cases similar to such love. The conversation about love brought up the telegraph operator’s story, and the general felt its truth: “maybe your path in life, Verochka, was crossed by exactly the kind of love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of.”)

(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, with the power of his love, rises above the petty vanity, life’s conveniences, decency. He turns out to be a man, not at all inferior in nobility to aristocrats. Love elevated him. Love became suffering, the only meaning of 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, life is all about. only in you - he writes in his farewell letter to Princess Vera. As he passes away, Zheltkov blesses his beloved: “Hallowed be your name.” Here one can see blasphemy - after all, these are the words of a prayer for a hero, it is above all earthly things, it is of no divine origin. “decisive measures” and “appeals to the authorities” cannot make one stop loving. Not a shadow of resentment or complaint in the hero’s words, only gratitude for the “tremendous happiness” - love.)

What is the significance of the image of a hero after his death?

(The dead Zheltkov acquires deep importance... as if, before parting with life, he had learned some deep and sweet secret that resolved his entire human life." The face of the deceased reminds Vera of the death masks of "the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon." So Kuprin shows the great talent of love, equating it to the talents of recognized geniuses.)

What mood will the ending of the story have? What role does music play in creating this mood?

(The ending of the story is elegiac, imbued with a feeling of light sadness, and not tragedy. Zheltkov dies, but Princess Vera awakens to life, something inaccessible to her was revealed to her, that very “great love that repeats itself once every thousand years.” The heroes “loved each other only one moment, but forever.” Music plays a big role in awakening the soul of Vera.

Beethoven's second sonata is in tune with Vera's mood; through music her soul seems to connect with Zheltkov's soul.)

An analysis of the work “The Garnet Bracelet” has been done more than once by famous literary scholars. Paustovsky also noted the extraordinary strength and truthfulness that Kuprin was able to impart to a plot that appeared several centuries ago in medieval novels, namely the story of great and unrequited love. You can talk about the meaning and significance of a story in fiction for a very long time, but this article contains only the most important details for understanding and studying it.

Kuprin's creativity

Briefly analyzing the "Garnet Bracelet", we should begin with a description of the general artistic features of the work. The most striking among them are:

• The abundance and variety of themes, images, plots, which are always based on life experience. Almost all of Kuprin's stories are based on events that actually took place in reality. The characters have real prototypes - according to the writer himself, this is Lyudmila Ivanovna Tugan-Baranovskaya, married to Lyubimova, her husband, brother and father I. Ya. Tugan-Baranovsky, a participant in the Caucasian War. The features of Lyubimova’s father are reflected in the image of General Anosov. The Friesse couple is, according to contemporaries, Elena Tugan-Baranovskaya, Lyudmila’s older sister, and her husband, Gustav (Evstafiy) Nikolaevich Nitte.
• The image of a little man, which the writer ideologically inherited from Chekhov. He plays an important role in the analysis of “The Garnet Bracelet”: Kuprin explores the life of this image against the background of the completely vicious, meaningless existence of the rest of society: the writer does not idealize the latter, but creates one ideal to strive for.
• Romanticization, poeticization of a wonderful feeling (this follows from the last words of the previous paragraph). Sublime, “not of this world” love is placed in contrast to everyday life.
• Enrichment with the beginning of events is not the main, but worthy of mention when analyzing “The Garnet Bracelet” feature of Kuprin’s prose. This stylistic feature comes from the authenticity of the plots and characters. The writer does not extract poetry from the world of fiction, but looks for it in the real world, in seemingly ordinary stories.

Vera Sheina

When starting an analysis of the Garnet Bracelet, you should pay attention to the details. The story begins with a description of nature: seaside autumn, fading flowers, calm weather - an even, indifferent calm in everything. The image of Vera Nikolaevna goes well with this weather: her “aristocratic beauty”, restraint, even some arrogance in dealing with people makes the princess alienated, devoid of vitality. This is also emphasized in her relationship with her husband, which has long cooled down and turned into an even friendship unclouded by any feelings. For Kuprin, who considered love one of the most important feelings in human life, its absence in marriage is a clear indicator of the coldness and soullessness of the heroine.

Everything that surrounds Princess Vera Nikolaevna - estate, nature, relationship with her husband, lifestyle, character - is calm, sweet, good. Kuprin emphasizes: this is not life, this is only existence.

In the analysis of "The Garnet Bracelet" one cannot ignore the image of Sister Anna. It is given for contrast: her bright appearance, lively, agile facial expressions and manner of speech, way of life - frivolity, inconstancy, frivolous flirting in marriage - everything is contrasted with Vera. Anna has two children and loves the sea. She is alive.

Princess Vera has no children, and she quickly gets tired of the sea: “I love the forest.” She is cold and reasonable. Vera Nikolaevna is not alive.

Name day and gift

When analyzing Kuprin's "Garnet Bracelet", it is convenient to follow the plot, which gradually reveals the details of the story. In the fifth chapter, the mysterious admirer of Vera Nikolaevna is talked about for the first time. In the next chapter, the reader learns his story: Vera’s husband, Vasily Lvovich, presents her to the guests as a curiosity and mocks the unfortunate telegraph operator. However, Vera Nikolaevna has a slightly different opinion: she first tries to ask her husband not to tell and then feels awkward, judging by the hasty “Gentlemen, who wants tea?” Of course, Vera still considers her admirer and his love to be something ridiculous, even indecent, but she takes this story more seriously than her husband, Vasily Lvovich. About the red garnets on the gold bracelet, she thinks: “Exactly blood!” The same comparison is repeated once again: at the end of the chapter a paraphrase is used - and the stones turn into “scarlet bloody fires.” Kuprin compares the color of garnets with blood to emphasize: the stones are alive, just like the feeling of a telegraph operator in love.

General Anosov

Next in the plot is the old general's story about love. The reader met him back in the fourth chapter, and then the description of his life took up more space than the description of Vera’s life - that is, the history of this character is much more important. In the analysis of the story “The Garnet Bracelet”, it should be noted: the way of thinking of General Anosov was inherited from Kuprin himself - the writer put his idea of ​​love into the words of the character.

The general believes that “people nowadays have forgotten how to love.” He sees around him only selfish relationships, sometimes cemented by marriage, and cites his wife as an example. Nevertheless, he has not yet lost his ideal: the general believes that that true, selfless and beautiful love exists, but does not expect to see it in reality. What he knows - “two similar cases” - is pitiful and absurd, although in this everyday everyday absurdity and clumsiness a spark of true feeling is visible.

Therefore, General Anosov, unlike Vera Nikolaevna’s husband and Nikolai Nikolaevich’s brother, takes the story of love letters seriously. He respects the feeling of a mysterious admirer, because behind the curiosity and naivety he was able to discern the image of true love - “one, all-forgiving, ready for anything, modest and selfless.”

Zheltkov

The reader manages to “see” Zheltkov only in the tenth chapter, and here in the analysis of “Garnet Bracelet” his characteristics are given. Zheltkov’s appearance complements and reveals his letters and actions. Noble appearance, conversation, and then the most important thing - how he behaves with Prince Shein and Nikolai Nikolaevich. At first, Zheltkov, who was worried, when he learns that Vera Nikolaevna’s brother thinks that this issue can be resolved by force, that with the help of power it is possible to force a person to give up feelings, he is completely transformed. He understands that he is spiritually higher, stronger than Nikolai Nikolaevich, that it is he who can understand feelings. Partly, this feeling is shared with Zheltkov by Prince Vasily Lvovich: he, unlike his brother-in-law, listens carefully to the words of his lover and will later tell Vera Nikolaevna that he believed and accepted the story of Zheltkov, extraordinary in his strength and purity of feeling, and understood his tragedy.

Bottom line

Concluding the analysis of “The Garnet Bracelet,” it is worth saying that if for the reader the question of whether Zheltkov’s feeling was the embodiment of true love or just a manic obsession remains open, then for Kuprin everything was obvious. And in the way Vera Nikolaevna perceived Zheltkov’s suicide, and in the feeling and in the tears that were caused by Beethoven’s sonata from his last letter, there is an awareness of that huge, true feeling that “happens only once in a thousand years.”

"Garnet Bracelet"

Story by A.I. Kuprin's "Garnet Bracelet", published in 1910, is one of the most poetic works of art in Russian literature of the 20th century. It opens with an epigraph referring the reader to the famous work of J1. van Beethoven - sonata "Appassionata". The author returns to the same musical theme at the end of the story. The first chapter is a detailed landscape sketch, revealing the contradictory variability of the natural elements. In it A.I. Kuprin introduces us to the image of the main character - Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, the wife of the leader of the nobility. At first glance, a woman’s life seems calm and carefree. Despite the financial difficulties, Vera and her husband have an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding in their family. Only one small detail alarms the reader: on her name day, her husband gives Vera earrings made of pear-shaped pearls. Doubt involuntarily creeps in that the heroine’s family happiness is so strong, so indestructible.

On Sheina’s name day, her younger sister comes to visit her, who, like Pushkin’s Olga, who sets off the image of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, sharply contrasts with Vera both in character and in appearance. Anna is playful and wasteful, and Vera is calm, reasonable and economical. Anna is attractive but ugly, while Vera is endowed with aristocratic beauty. Anna has two children, but Vera has no children, although she passionately desires to have them. An important artistic detail that reveals Anna’s character is the gift she gives to her sister: Anna brings Vera a small notebook made from an old prayer book. She enthusiastically talks about how she carefully selected leaves, clasps and a pencil for the book. To faith, the very fact of converting a prayer book into a notebook seems blasphemous. This shows the integrity of her nature and emphasizes how much more seriously the older sister takes life. We soon learn that Vera graduated from the Smolny Institute, one of the best educational institutions for women in noble Russia, and her friend is the famous pianist Zhenya Reiter.

Among the guests who arrived for the name day, General Anosov is an important figure. It is this man, wise in life, who has seen danger and death in his lifetime, and therefore knows the value of life, who tells in the story several stories about love, which can be designated in the artistic structure of the work as inserted short stories. Unlike the vulgar family stories told by Prince Vasily Lvovich, Vera’s husband and owner of the house, where everything is twisted and ridiculed and turns into a farce, General Anosov’s stories are filled with real life details. This is how a dispute arises in the story about what true love is. Anosov says that people have forgotten how to love, that marriage does not at all imply spiritual closeness and warmth. Women often get married to get out of care and be the mistress of the house. Men are tired of single life. A significant role in marriages is played by the desire to continue the family line, and selfish motives are often not in last place. “Where is the love?” - asks Anosov. He is interested in the kind of love for which “to accomplish any feat, to give one’s life, to go to torment is not work at all, but one joy.” Here, in the words of General Kuprin, in essence, reveals his concept of love: “Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world. No life conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.” Anosov talks about how people become victims of their love feelings, about love triangles that exist contrary to all meaning.

Against this background, the story examines the love story of telegraph operator Zheltkov for Princess Vera. This feeling flared up when Vera was still free. But she did not reciprocate his feelings. Contrary to all logic, Zheltkov did not stop dreaming about his beloved, wrote tender letters to her, and even sent her a gift for her name day - a gold bracelet with garnets that looked like droplets of blood. An expensive gift forces Vera’s husband to take measures to stop the story. He, together with the princess's brother Nikolai, decides to return the bracelet.

The scene of Prince Shein's visit to Zheltkov's apartment is one of the key scenes of the work. A.I. Kuprin appears here as a true master-artist in creating a psychological portrait. The image of the telegraph operator Zheltkov represents the image of a small man typical of Russian classical literature of the 19th century. A notable detail in the story is the comparison of the hero’s room with the wardroom of a cargo ship. The character of the inhabitant of this modest dwelling is shown primarily through gesture. In the scene of the visit of Vasily Lvovich and Nikolai Nikolaevich, Zheltkov either rubs his hands in confusion, or nervously unbuttons and fastens the buttons of his short jacket (and this detail becomes repetitive in this scene). The hero is excited, he is unable to hide his feelings. However, as the conversation progresses, when Nikolai Nikolaevich voices a threat to turn to the authorities in order to protect Vera from persecution, Zheltkov suddenly transforms and even laughs. Love gives him strength, and he begins to feel that he is right. Kuprin focuses on the difference in mood between Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Lvovich during the visit. Vera's husband, seeing his opponent, suddenly becomes serious and reasonable. He tries to understand Zheltkov and says to his brother-in-law: “Kolya, is he really to blame for love and is it possible to control such a feeling as love - a feeling that has not yet found an interpreter.” Unlike Nikolai Nikolaevich, Shane allows Zheltkov to write a farewell letter to Vera. A huge role in this scene for understanding the depth of Zheltkov’s feelings for Vera is played by a detailed portrait of the hero. His lips become white, like those of a dead man, his eyes fill with tears.

Zheltkov calls Vera and asks her for a small thing - for the opportunity to see her at least occasionally, without appearing in front of her. These meetings could have given his life at least some meaning, but Vera refused him this too. Her reputation and the peace of her family were more valuable to her. She showed cold indifference to Zheltkov’s fate. The telegraph operator found himself defenseless against Vera’s decision. The strength of love and maximum spiritual openness made him vulnerable. Kuprin constantly emphasizes this defenselessness with portrait details: a child’s chin, a gentle girl’s face.

In the eleventh chapter of the story, the author emphasizes the motive of fate. Princess Vera, who never read newspapers for fear of getting her hands dirty, suddenly unfolds the very sheet on which the announcement of Zheltkov’s suicide was printed. This fragment of the work is intertwined with the scene in which General Anosov says to Vera: “...Who knows? “Maybe your path in life, Verochka, has been crossed by exactly the kind of love that women dream about and that men are no longer capable of.” It is no coincidence that the princess recalls these words again. It seems that Zheltkov was really sent to Vera by fate, and she could not discern selfless nobility, subtlety and beauty in the soul of a simple telegraph operator.

A unique plot structure in the works of A.I. Kuprin lies in the fact that the author makes peculiar signs to the reader that help to predict the further development of the story. In “Oles” this is a motive of fortune-telling, in accordance with which all further relationships between the characters develop; in “The Duel” it is a conversation between officers about a duel. In “The Garnet Bracelet,” the sign foreshadowing the tragic outcome is the bracelet itself, the stones of which look like droplets of blood.

Upon learning of Zheltkov’s death, Vera realizes that she foresaw a tragic outcome. In his farewell message to his beloved, Zheltkov does not hide his all-consuming passion. He literally deifies Faith, turning to her the words from the prayer “Our Father...”: “Hallowed be Thy name.”

The literature of the “Silver Age” had strong anti-God motives. Zheltkov, deciding to commit suicide, commits the greatest Christian sin, because the church prescribes to endure any spiritual and physical torment sent to a person on earth. But with the entire course of development of the plot, A.I. Kuprin justifies Zheltkov’s action. It is no coincidence that the main character of the story is called Vera. For Zheltkov, thus, the concepts of “love” and “faith” merge together. Before his death, the hero asks the landlady to hang a bracelet on the icon.

Looking at the late Zheltkov, Vera is finally convinced that there was truth in Anosov’s words. By his action, the poor telegraph operator was able to reach the heart of the cold beauty and touch her. Vera brings Zheltkov a red rose and kisses him on the forehead with a long, friendly kiss. Only after death did the hero receive the right to attention and respect for his feelings. Only with his own death did he prove the true depth of his experiences (before that, Vera considered him crazy).

Anosov's words about eternal exclusive love become the through-line motif of the story. The last time they are remembered in the story is when, at Zheltkov’s request, Vera listens to Beethoven’s second sonata (“Appassionata”). At the end of the story by A.I. Kuprin sounds another repetition: “Hallowed be Thy name,” which is no less significant in the artistic structure of the work. He once again emphasizes the purity and sublimity of Zheltkov’s attitude towards his beloved.

Putting love on a par with such concepts as death, faith, A.I. Kuprin emphasizes the significance of this concept for human life as a whole. Not all people know how to love and remain faithful to their feelings. The story “The Garnet Bracelet” can be considered as a kind of testament to A.I. Kuprin, addressed to those who are trying to live not with their hearts, but with their minds. Their life, correct from the point of view of a rational approach, is doomed to a spiritually devastated existence, for only love can give a person true happiness.

The story of the great genius of love prose A.I. Kuprin “The Garnet Bracelet” can be interpreted in different ways, discussing who the real hero is here. The opinions of critics differ on this issue, some consider Zheltkov to be the hero, trying by any means to prove his love, but also to declare his existence, others prefer the heroine’s husband, who simply wants his wife to be happy. Analyzing the work according to plan will help you figure this out. This material can be used in preparation for the Unified State Exam in literature in 11th grade.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing— 1910

History of creation— The writer based the plot on a real story told to him by one of his friends.

Theme - The main theme of this story is love, unrequited and real.

Composition - The exposition begins with action introducing the characters of the story, followed by the beginning when Vera Nikolaevna receives a garnet bracelet as a gift. Features of the composition in the use of symbols and secret meanings. Here is the garden, which is described in a time of withering, and the short story, the bracelet itself, the main symbol is the Beethoven sonata, which is the leitmotif of the story. The action develops, Zheltkov dies, and the culminating moment is a Beethoven sonata, and the denouement.

Genre - It is difficult to determine the genre essence of “The Garnet Bracelet”. Based on its composition, consisting of thirteen chapters, it can be classified as a story, and the writer himself believed that “The Garnet Bracelet” is a story.

Direction - In the story, everything is subordinated to the direction of realism, where a slight touch of romanticism is felt.

History of creation

The story of the creation of the story has a real basis. Once upon a time, the writer was visiting a friend of his, where they were looking at family photographs. An acquaintance told a story that happened in his family. Some official fell in love with his mother, he wrote letters to her. One day this petty official sent his beloved woman some trinket as a gift. Having found out who this official was, they gave him a suggestion, and he disappeared from the horizon. Kuprin came up with the idea to embellish this story, covering the love theme in more detail. He added romantic notes, elevated the ending and created his “Garnet Bracelet”, leaving the essence of the story. The year the story was written was 1910, and in 1911 the story was published in print.

Subject

A Alexander Kuprin is considered the unsurpassed Russian genius of love prose; he created many works glorifying love in all its manifestations.

In “The Garnet Bracelet,” the analysis of the story is subordinated to this favorite theme of the author, the theme of love.

In essence, this work examines the moral issues of relationships associated with the love relationships of the heroes of the story. In this work, all events are connected with love, this is even the meaning of the title of this story, since the pomegranate is a symbol of love, a symbol of passion, blood and anger.

The writer, giving such a name to his title, immediately makes it clear what the main idea of ​​​​the story is devoted to.

He examines different forms of love, its different manifestations. Each person described by the writer has a different attitude towards this feeling. For some, it’s just a habit, social status, superficial well-being. For another, this is the only, real feeling carried throughout life, for which it was worth living.

For the main character Zheltkov, love is a sacred feeling for which he lives, realizing that his love is doomed to be unrequited. The adoration of the woman he loves helps him endure all the hardships of life and believe in the sincerity of his feelings. Vera Nikolaevna for him is the meaning of his whole life. When Zheltkov was told that by his behavior he was compromising the woman he loved, the official concluded that problems of social inequality would always stand in his way to happiness, and committed suicide.

Composition

The composition of the story contains many secret meanings and symbols. The garnet bracelet gives a vivid definition of the all-consuming theme of passionate love, defining it as blood, making it clear that this love can be destructive and unhappy, anger led to Zheltkov’s suicide.

The fading garden reminds us of Vera Nikolaevna’s fading love for her husband. The drawings and poems in her husband’s family notes are the story of his love, sincere and pure, which has not undergone any changes throughout their life together. Despite her fading passion and cool attitude towards him, he continues to truly love his wife.

General Amosov prefers to share stories of love with his interlocutors, which is also symbolic. This is the only person in the work who correctly understands the true essence of love. He is a great psychologist, an expert on human souls, clearly seeing all their secret and obvious thoughts.

Beethoven's second sonata, the main symbol of the entire story, runs like a red thread through the entire work. The action develops against the background of music. The final sound of the sonata is a strong climax. Beethoven's work reveals all the understatements, all the innermost thoughts and feelings of the characters.

The beginning of the action - Vera Nikolaevna receives a gift. Development of the action - brother and husband go to sort things out with Zheltkov. The main character of the work, remaining aloof throughout the entire narrative, commits suicide. The climax is when Beethoven’s sonata sounds, and Vera Nikolaevna comes to an awareness of her life.

Kuprin masterfully ends his story, bringing all the actions to a denouement where the true power of love is revealed.

Under the influence of music, the sleeping soul of Vera Nikolaevna awakens. She begins to understand that she has lived, in essence, a purposeless and useless life, all the time creating the visible well-being of a happy family, and the true love that has accompanied her all her life has passed by.
What a writer’s work teaches, everyone decides in their own way; here everything depends on the reader. Only he decides in whose favor to make a choice.

Genre

The work of the great writer consists of thirteen chapters and belongs to the genre of the story. The writer believed that this was a story. The period of events taking place lasts for a long time, it involves a large number of characters, and it fully corresponds to the accepted genre.

One of the most famous works about tragic love in Russian literature, in which Kuprin explores “love-tragedy”, shows its origins and the role of this feeling in human life, and this research is carried out against a socio-psychological background, which largely determines everything that happens to heroes, but cannot fully explain the phenomenon of love as a feeling that, according to the writer, is beyond the boundaries of cause-and-effect relationships understandable to reason, depending on some higher will.

The creative history of the story “The Garnet Bracelet,” which we will analyze, is widely known: its characters are not fictional, each of them has prototypes, and the “story with the bracelet” itself actually happened in the family of a prominent official, Prince D.N. Lyubimov (member of the State Council), whose wife Lyudmila Ivanovna was presented with a vulgar “garnet bracelet” by the apt telegraph official P.P. Zheltkov; this gift was insulting, the donor was easily identified, and after a conversation with Lyudmila Ivanovna’s husband and brother (in the story - Nikolai Nikolaevich), he disappeared from her life forever. All this is true, but Kuprin heard this story back in 1902, and the story was written in 1910... Obviously, the writer needed time for the first impressions of what he heard to be embodied in artistic images, so that the story from life (quite funny as told by D.N. Lyubimov...) turned into a truly tragic story of sublime love, “of which women dream and of which men are no longer capable.”

The plot of the story “The Garnet Bracelet” is simple: on her name day, Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, “the wife of the leader of the nobility,” receives a garnet bracelet as a gift, sent by her longtime admirer since her girlhood, informs her husband about this, and he, under her influence brother, goes to the mysterious "G.S.Zh.", they demand that he stop pursuing a married woman who belongs to high society, he asks permission to call Vera Nikolaevna, after which he promises to leave her alone - and the next day she finds out about that he shot himself. As we can see, outwardly the story almost repeats life, only in life, fortunately, the ending was not so tragic. However, psychologically everything is much more complicated; Kuprin did not describe, but creatively reworked a real-life incident.

First of all, it is necessary to dwell on the conflict in the story “The Garnet Bracelet”. Here we see an external conflict - between the world of “high society”, to which the heroine belongs, and the world of petty officials, they are “not supposed” to experience any feelings towards women like Vera Nikolaevna - and Zheltkov has long, selflessly, been able to I can even say that he loves her selflessly. Here are the origins of the internal conflict: love, it turns out, can become the meaning of life for a person, what he lives for and what he serves, and everything else - “in Zheltkov’s way” - is just unnecessary things for a person that distract him from the main thing in life. His life purpose is to serve the person he loves. It is not difficult to notice that both the external and internal conflicts of the work become the main way of revealing the characters of the characters, who manifest themselves in how they relate to love, how they understand the nature of this feeling and its place in the life of every person.

Probably, the author expresses his understanding of what love is in the words of General Anosov, spoken by him at Vera Nikolaevna’s birthday: “Love should be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No life’s conveniences, calculations and compromises should concern it.” The author’s position in moral terms is indeed uncompromising, and in the story “The Garnet Bracelet” Kuprin explores why such love (and it exists in life, the author convinces the reader of this!) is doomed.

To understand the events taking place in the story, you need to understand what kind of relationship connects Vera Nikolaevna and Vasily Lvovich Shein. At the very beginning of the story, the author says about this: “Princess Vera, whose former passionate love for her husband has long turned into a feeling of lasting, faithful, sincere friendship...” This is very important: the heroes know what true love is, only in in their lives it happened that their feeling was reborn into friendship, which is probably also necessary in the relationship between spouses, but not instead of love?.. But the one who himself has experienced the feeling of love can understand another person, the one who loves - Unlike people who never knew in life what it is - true love, that’s why Prince Vasily Lvovich behaves so unusually, whose wife received such a compromising, if not offensive, message (this is how Vera’s brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich Tuganovsky, perceives him , who insisted on visiting Zheltkov) congratulations.

On the name day scene, after which the conversation between the Sheins and Nikolai Nikolaevich took place, we should dwell in more detail because it is very important for understanding the role that, as the author believes, love plays in a person’s life. After all, at Princess Vera’s name day, quite prosperous people gathered, who seem to be “doing well” in life, but why do they talk so enthusiastically about this feeling - about love? Maybe because the love of the Sheins turned into “friendship”, Anna Nikolaevna “couldn’t stand her husband... but gave birth to two children from him - a boy and a girl...”? Because any person, no matter what he says about love, secretly believes in it and expects that in his life there will be this bright feeling that changes life?..

An interesting compositional technique is used by Kuprin when creating the image of Zheltkov: this hero appears almost at the very end of the story, appears as if for a moment (conversation with guests), in order to disappear forever, but his appearance is prepared both by the story with the gift and a story about his relationship with Princess Vera, so it seems to the reader that he has known this hero for a long time. And yet, the real Zheltkov turns out to be completely different from the “hero-lover”, as perhaps the reader’s imagination portrayed him: “Now he has become completely visible: very pale, with a gentle girlish face, with blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle ;he must have been about thirty, thirty-five years old." At first he feels very awkward, but this is just that: awkwardness, he is not afraid of his distinguished guests, and he finally calms down when Nikolai Nikolaevich begins to threaten him. This happens because he feels protected by his love, it, love, cannot be taken away from him, this is the feeling that defines his life, and it will remain with him until the end of this life.

After Zheltkov receives permission from Prince Shein and goes to call Vera Nikolaevna, Nikolai Nikolaevich reproaches his relative for his indecisiveness, to which Vasily Lvovich replies: “Really, think, Kolya, is he to blame for love and is it possible to control such a feeling, like love - a feeling that has not yet found an interpreter... I feel sorry for this man, and not only do I feel sorry for him, but I feel that I am present at some enormous tragedy of the soul, and I cannot. here to clown around." For Nikolai Nikolaevich, what is happening is “This is decadence,” but Vasily Lvovich, who knows what love is, feels completely differently, and his heart turns out to be more accurate in understanding what is happening... It is no coincidence that Zheltkov in the conversation addressed only Prince Vasily , and the highest wisdom of their conversation was that both spoke the language of love...

Zheltkov passed away, but before his death he sent a letter to a woman, for whose peace he gladly decided to take this step. In this letter, he explains what exactly happened to him: “I tested myself - this is not a disease, not a manic idea - this is love, with which God wanted to reward me for something.” So he gave the answer to the question that tormented Princess Vera: “And what was it: love or madness?” A very convincing, irrefutable answer, because it was given the way Zheltkov did, the price of this answer is a person’s life...

The fact that Zheltkov truly loves Princess Vera is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that even with his death he made her happy. By forgiving her - although what is her fault?.. Is it “that the love that every woman dreams of passed her by”? But, if this happened, wasn’t it so destined from above that his tragic love was sent to Zheltkov? Maybe true love, as General Anosov said, is always tragic - and this is what determines its authenticity?

The tragic ending of the story “The Garnet Bracelet” does not leave a feeling of hopelessness - no matter what! After all, if true love exists in the world, does it mean that it makes people happy, no matter what they have to go through? Zheltkov died happy because he could do something for the woman he loved, can he be judged for this? Vera Nikolaevna is happy because “he has forgiven me now. Everything is fine.” How much more “humane” is this tragic fate of the heroes than life without love, how much they, who have suffered and are suffering, are spiritually higher and humanly happier than those who did not know true feelings in their lives! Truly, Kuprin's story is a hymn to love, without which life makes life...

One cannot help but mention the stunning artistic detail that is the central metaphor of the story. In the description of the bracelet there are the following lines: “But in the middle of the bracelet rose, surrounding some strange small green stone, five beautiful cabochon garnets, each the size of a pea.” This “strange little green stone” is also a garnet, only it is a rare garnet of an unusual color, which not everyone can recognize, especially against the backdrop of “beautiful cabochon garnets.” Just like Zheltkov’s love is a real, only very rare, feeling that is as difficult to recognize as a pomegranate in a small green stone. But because people are not able to understand what is revealed to their eyes, a pomegranate does not cease to be a pomegranate, and love does not cease to be love... They exist, they exist, and it is not their fault that people are simply not ready for meeting them... Probably this is one of the main lessons of the tragic story told by Kuprin: you need to be very careful about yourself, about people, about your own and other people’s feelings, so that when “God rewards” a person with love, you can see and understand and preserve this great feeling.