Yes, I foresee suffering, blood and death. And I think that it is difficult for the body to part with the soul, but, Beautiful One, praise to you, passionate praise and quiet love. "Hallowed be Thy name"...
In my sad dying hour, I pray only to you. Life could be wonderful for me too. Don't complain, poor heart, don't complain. In my soul I call upon death, but in my heart I am full of praise to you: “Hallowed be thy name”...
A. Kuprin
In the 20th century, in an era of cataclysms, during a period of political and social instability, when a new attitude towards universal human values began to take shape, love often became the only moral category that survived in a collapsing and dying world. The theme of love became central in the works of many writers at the beginning of the century. It became one of the central themes in the work of A. I. Kuprin. Love in his works is always unselfish, selfless, it is not touched by “any of life’s conveniences, calculations and compromises.” But this love is always tragic, obviously doomed to suffering. Heroes pass away. But their feelings are stronger than death. Their feelings don't die. Is this why the images of “Olesya”, “The Duel”, “Shulamithi”, “Garnet Bracelet” remain in the memory for so long?
The story "Shulamith" (1908), written based on the biblical Song of Songs, presents Kuprin's ideal of love. He describes such “tender and fiery, devoted and beautiful love, which alone is more valuable than wealth, glory and wisdom, which is more valuable than life itself, because it does not even value life and is not afraid of death.” The story "The Garnet Bracelet" (1911) was intended to prove that such love exists in modern world, and refute the opinion expressed in the work by General Anosov, grandfather main character: "... love among people has taken... vulgar forms and has simply descended to some kind of everyday convenience, to a little entertainment." And men are to blame for this, “at twenty years old, jaded, with chicken bodies and hare souls, incapable of strong desires, of heroic deeds, of tenderness and adoration before love...”
Kuprin presented the story, which others perceive as an anecdote about a telegraph operator who fell in love, as a touching and sublime Song of Songs about true love.
The hero of the story is Zheltkov G.S. Pan Yezhiy - an official of the control chamber, a young man of pleasant appearance, “about thirty, thirty-five years old.” He is “tall, thin, with long fluffy, soft hair”, “very pale, with a gentle girlish face, with blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle." We learn that Zheltkov is musical and endowed with a sense of beauty. The spiritual appearance of the hero is revealed in his letters to Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, in a conversation with her husband on the eve of suicide, but he is most fully characterized by "seven years of hopeless and polite love."
Vera Nikolaevna Sheina, with whom the hero is in love, attracts with her “aristocratic” beauty, inherited from her mother, “with her tall flexible figure, gentle, but cold and proud face, beautiful, although rather large hands and that charming sloping shoulders that can be seen on ancient miniatures." Zheltkov considers her extraordinary, sophisticated and musical. He “began to pursue her with his love” two years before his marriage. When he first saw the princess in a box at the circus, he said to himself: “I love her because there is nothing like her in the world, there is nothing better, there is no animal, no plant, no star, no more beautiful... and more tender person.” ". He admits that since then he “has no interest in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people.” For Zheltkov, in Vera Nikolaevna “it’s as if all the beauty of the earth was embodied.” It is no coincidence that he constantly talks about God: “God was pleased to send me, as great happiness, love for you,” “love with which God was pleased to reward me for something.”
At first, Zheltkov’s letters to Princess Vera were of a “vulgar and curiously ardent” nature, “although they were quite chaste.” But over time, he began to reveal his feelings more restrainedly and delicately: “I blush at the memory of my audacity seven years ago, when I dared to write stupid and wild letters to you, young lady... Now only awe, eternal admiration remains in me and slavish devotion." “For me, my whole life lies only in you,” writes Zheltkov to Vera Nikolaevna. In this life, every moment is precious to him when he sees the princess or watches her with excitement at a ball or in the theater. When he leaves this life, he burns everything dear to his heart: Vera’s handkerchief, which she forgot at the ball in the Noble Assembly, her note asking “not to bother her anymore with your outpourings of love,” the program for the art exhibition that the princess held in her hand, and then I forgot it on the chair when leaving.
Knowing full well that his feelings are unrequited, Zheltkov hopes and is “even sure” that someday Vera Nikolaevna will remember him. She, without even suspecting it, hurts him painfully, pushes him to commit suicide, saying telephone conversation the phrase: “Oh, if you only knew how tired I am of this whole story. Please stop it as soon as possible.” Nevertheless, in his farewell letter, the hero “from the depths of his soul” thanks Vera Nikolaevna for the fact that she was his “only joy in life, the only consolation.” He wishes her happiness and that “nothing temporary or worldly should disturb” her “beautiful soul.”
Zheltkov is the chosen one. His love is “selfless, selfless, not expecting reward...”. The one about which it is said “strong as death”... 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...”. In his own words, this love was sent to him by God. He loves, and his feeling “contains the whole meaning of life - the whole universe!” Every woman, in the depths of her heart, dreams of such love - “holy, pure, eternal... unearthly,” “united, all-forgiving, ready for anything.”
And Vera Nikolaevna is also the chosen one, because it’s hers life path"crossed" by real, "modest and selfless" true love. And if “almost every woman is capable of the highest heroism in love,” then men in the modern world, unfortunately, have become impoverished in spirit and body; But Zheltkov is not like that. The date scene reveals many aspects of this person's character. At first he is lost (“jumped up, ran to the window, fiddling with his hair”), admits that now “the most difficult moment has come” in his life, and his whole appearance testifies to indescribable mental anguish: he speaks with Shein and Tuganovsky “with only his jaws” , and his lips are “white... like a dead man’s.” But self-control quickly returns to him, Zheltkov again regains the gift of speech and the ability to reason sensibly. As a sensitive person who knows how to understand people, he immediately rebuffed Nikolai Nikolaevich, stopped paying attention to his stupid threats, but in Vasily Lvovich he recognized an intelligent, understanding person, capable of listening to his confession. During this meeting, when a difficult conversation took place with the husband and brother of his beloved, Zheltkov was returned his gift - a wonderful Garnet bracelet, a family heirloom that he calls “a humble, loyal offering,” the hero demonstrated a strong will.
After calling Vera Nikolaevna, he decided that he had only one way out - to die, so as not to cause any more inconvenience to his beloved. This step was the only possible one, because his whole life was centered around his beloved, and now he is denied even the last little thing: to stay in the city, “so that he can see her at least occasionally, of course, without showing his face to her.” Zheltkov understands that life away from Vera Nikolaevna will not bring relief from “sweet delirium,” because wherever he is, his heart will remain at the feet of his beloved, “every moment of the day” will be filled with Her, the thought of Her, dreams of Her. Having made this difficult decision, Zheltkov finds the strength to explain himself. His excitement is revealed by his behavior (“he has ceased to act like a gentleman”) and his speech, which becomes businesslike, categorical and harsh. “That’s all,” said Zheltkov, smiling arrogantly. “You will never hear from me again and, of course, you will never see me again... It seems that I did everything I could?”
For the hero, farewell to Vera Nikolaevna is farewell to life. It is no coincidence that Princess Vera, bending over the deceased to place a rose, notices that “deep importance” is hidden in his closed eyes, and his lips smile “blissfully and serenely, as if he, before parting with life, had learned some deep and sweet secret that had resolved his entire human life." Last words Zheltkova - words of gratitude for the fact that the princess was his “only joy in life, the only consolation, the only thought”, wishes for happiness to his beloved and the hope that she will fulfill it last request: will perform Sonata No. 2 in D major, op. 2.
All of the above convinces us that the image of Zheltkov, painted by Kuprin with such nobility and enlightened love, is not the image of a “small”, pitiful, defeated by love, poor in spirit person. No, when he passes away, Zheltkov remains strong and selflessly loving. He reserves the right to choose, protects his human dignity. Even Vera Nikolaevna’s husband understood how deep this man’s feeling was and treated him with respect: “I will say that he loved you, and was not crazy at all,” Shein reports after meeting Zheltkov. “I didn’t take my eyes off him.” and I saw every movement, every change in his face. And for him there was no life without you. It seemed to me that I was present at the enormous suffering from which people die."
An inconspicuous official, a “little man” with a funny surname Zheltkov, performed a feat of self-sacrifice in the name of the happiness and tranquility of his beloved woman. Yes, he was obsessed, but obsessed high feeling. It was “not a disease, not a manic idea.” It was love - great and poetic, filling life with meaning and content, saving man and humanity itself from moral degeneration. Love that only a select few are capable of. Love, “which every woman dreams of... love that repeats itself only once in a thousand years”...
Subject unrequited love is always a dramatic and often tragic basis work of art. One of the characters in the story “Garnet Bracelet,” General Anosov, says: “Love should be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No life’s conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.” Kuprin affirms love as higher form beautiful, but does not ignore the fact that social relations break and distort it.
The story “The Garnet Bracelet” tells the story of telegraph operator Zheltkov’s love for the aristocrat Vera Sheina. The writer shows the spiritual limitations of aristocrats who do not allow the idea that a poor official is capable of great love. Who could cause such tragically hopeless love? Kuprin describes Vera's appearance in detail, comparing her with her sister Anna. Unlike the lively and mocking Anna, Vera “was strictly simple, cold with everyone and a little patronizingly kind, independent and royally calm.” Truly exceptional circumstances are needed for her to escape from the absorbed secular conventions.
Most of the story is devoted to depicting the family of Prince Shein and his entourage. Main character appears only at the end of the work. Kuprin takes his time to recreate the atmosphere of a rich and noble house, describing in detail the behavior and way of thinking of the characters. Guests come to Vera's name day, and as they arrive, the writer characterizes them. The image of General Anosov is drawn with sympathy - “a gigantic and extraordinarily picturesque figure”, “a fragment of antiquity”. In it, Kuprin, in the Tolstoyan tradition, embodied the best features of the Russian man of the older generation - “traits consisting of an ingenuous, naive faith, a clear, good-natured and cheerful outlook on life, cold and businesslike courage, humility in the face of death, pity to the defeated, endless patience and amazing physical and moral endurance.” It is Anosov who expresses the thoughts of the writer himself that one cannot ignore the rare gift of great selfless love.
Prince Vasily Lvovich Shein, Vera's husband, is shown as a man of his environment with its disdain for people of the lower classes. He makes fun of the love letters of the “poor telegraph operator”, parodying them. Vera's brother Nikolai Bulat-Tuganovsky is an arrogant, cruel man who emphasizes his superiority over people from the people. He takes it as a personal insult that some minor official dared to fall in love with his sister. Material from the site
The image of the main character Zheltkov emerges from his letter. Every line of the letter breathes with love, which is “strong as death.” Its author seems to be a noble man, capable of high inspiration and self-denial, of selfless admiration for a woman. Zheltkov appears only in the last part of the story, when Vera’s husband and her brother come to him. This is a “very pale, with a gentle girlish face, blue eyes and a stubborn childish chin with a dimple in the middle” young man. Kuprin creates the appearance of a shy and gentle person, but his stubborn chin allows us to suspect a strong-willed nature in Zheltkov. He feels guilty for disturbing the peace of his beloved woman. Bye we're talking about about the dignity and honor of his beloved, he does not even try to justify himself. But when Bulat-Tuganovsky speaks of his intention to turn to the authorities, a feeling of spiritual superiority suddenly awakens in Zheltkov: in his love, he seems to rise above the vanity of life. The hero's last letter is filled with the highest tragedy, which could not but affect Vera. Indifferent to ordinary people, the aristocrat Vera comes to the poor home of the already dead Zheltkov. His suicide was the last argument of the authenticity of his feelings for the one who was “the only joy in life, the only consolation, the only thought.” Zheltkov's last note mentions a Beethoven sonata. Pathetic, romantic theme love-tragedy is associated in the story with theme song six bars "Appassionata". This is a musical prayer for love. The prayerful, almost religious character of such high and selfless love is reinforced by a number of symbolic images: an old prayer book given to Vera by her sister; a garnet bracelet sent by Zheltkov, and then given as a gift to Madonna; the transformation of six musical phrases into six lines of a prose poem, reminiscent of an akathist of love, with a refrain of a line from the prayer that the hero quotes in his last letter to Vera: “When leaving, I say in delight: “Hallowed be Thy name.”
Kuprin develops the traditional theme for Russian literature “ little man" But this little man is elevated by love, becomes tragic hero. The face of the dead Zheltkov reminds Vera of the death masks of Pushkin and Napoleon. By this, Kuprin equates the talent of love with the talents of geniuses.
“Garnet Bracelet” is a hymn to great unrequited love, conquering any conventions and prejudices.
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On this page there is material on the following topics:
- tragic love story of a little man A.I. Kuprin test
- the tragic love story of General Anosov
- tragic love story of a little man
- Kuprin's little man theme
“Hallowed be Thy name...” Great love of the “little man” (based on A. Kuprin’s story “The Garnet Bracelet”)
Glory to the brave who dare to love, knowing that all this will come to an end.
Eat. Schwartz
Hallowed be Thy name...
I read the last lines.
I feel sadness and elation. And Beethoven's sonata sounds in me. I'm crying. Why? Either just pity for the unfortunate Zheltkova, or admiration for the great feeling of the little person. And can he be called “little” if he was capable of loving so reverently and madly? Hallowed be your name...
A petty official with a funny surname Zheltkov fell in love with a girl from upper world- Vera Nikolaevna. He idolized and adored her, although he never dared to even get close to her. He thanked God for knowing such love. He was glad that he was breathing the same air as his beloved. “I mentally bow to the ground to the furniture on which you sit, to the trees that you casually touch, to the servants with whom you speak. Beautiful one, praise be to you... Hallowed be your name..."
Eight years of silent love. Vera Nikolaevna married Shein and became a society lady. And all these eight years there was no reproach, no envy, no anger. Only love and adoration. Faith remained the meaning of life until the end of his days, and therefore he was happy, “... I am not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people - for me, only you have the whole life " Zheltkov sacrifices everything for the sake of his love: career, peace of mind and even life.
Zheltkov could not give his love to her, his goddess, every day, every hour, every minute. That's probably why he gave her his great-grandmother's garnet bracelet - the most expensive thing he owned. This was a symbol of his crazy love for Vera, but she did not accept this love. And only after Zheltkov’s death, during the farewell to his ashes, Princess Vera Nikolaevna “realized that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by.”
Love Zheltkova is a passionate, all-consuming and sizzling feeling. Lyubov Zheltkova is crazy happiness and crazy tragedy. “Love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world. No life conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.” Hallowed be Thy name... This eternal prayer for love resounds within me.
I admire this great feeling of love of the “little man” Zheltkov. I envy Vera Sheiny: there was such love in her life.
I believe that people have not forgotten how to love, and I repeat: “Hallowed be Thy name...”
() Kuprin’s work is unique and interesting; it is striking in the Author’s observation skills and the amazing verisimilitude with which he describes people’s lives. As a realist writer, Kuprin carefully looks at life and highlights the main, essential aspects of it. Recognized master short story, the author of wonderful stories, he was able to show in his works a broad, diverse picture of Russian life at the end of the past and the beginning this century. “Man came into the world for immense freedom of creativity and happiness” - these words from Kuprin’s essay could be taken as an epigraph to his entire work. A great lover of life, he believed that life would get better and dreamed that the time would come when, when all people would be happy. A dream of happiness, a dream of beautiful love - eternal themes in the works of writers, poets, artists, composers. A.I. did not ignore these topics either. Kuprin. With his characteristic highly artistic taste, excellent language, and subtle understanding of the psychology of his heroes, he writes about love.
"Garnet bracelet"
Story
A story about a great unrequited love, a love that “repeats only once every thousand years.”
Zheltkov G.S. - appears in the story towards the end: “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.” Along with Princess Vera, she can be recognized as the main character in the story. The beginning of the conflict is when Princess Vera received on September 17, her name day, a letter signed with the initials “G.S.Z.” and a garnet bracelet in a red case. Seven years ago, a stranger to the princess, J., fell in love with her, wrote letters, then, at her request, stopped bothering her, but now he confessed his love to her again.
Theme "little man"
In “The Garnet Bracelet,” the poor official Zheltkov is endowed with the gift of love. Great love becomes the meaning and content of his life. The heroine - Princess Vera Sheina - not only does not respond to his feelings, but also perceives his letters and gift - a garnet bracelet - as something unnecessary, violating the usual way of life. Only after Zheltkov’s death does she realize that “the love that every woman dreams of” has passed by. Mutual perfect love did not take place, but this lofty and poetic feeling, albeit concentrated in one soul, opens the way to the beautiful rebirth of another. Here the author shows love as a phenomenon of life, as an unexpected gift - poetic, illuminating life among everyday life, sober reality and sustainable life.
Love illuminates the “little man,” the simple official Zheltkov. But according to his wealth inner world, the greatness of his soul and the strength of feeling cannot be called a “little man”. He finds Nikolai Nikolayevich’s threats to “turn to power” funny. No one can deprive him of the main feeling of life - love for Vera Nikolaevna: both in prison and in another city, he will continue to love her. Only death can stop this feeling, which cannot be controlled by a person living in this world. And even Prince Shein felt that he was present “at some enormous tragedy of the soul.” The feeling he experiences becomes both great happiness and great tragedy for him. He loves the beautiful Princess Vera, no longer counting on any reciprocity. As General Anosov accurately notes, “love must be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No life conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.” For Zheltkov, nothing exists except love, which “contains the whole meaning of life - the entire Universe!” But the tragedy of the story is not only that Zheltkov and Princess Vera belong to different classes, and not even that he is in love with married woman, but the fact that those around them get along well in life without true love and see in this feeling anything but holy and pure affection.
There is an opinion, repeatedly expressed by critics, that there is some defect in Zheltkov’s image, because for him the whole world has narrowed down to love for a woman. Kuprin, with his story, confirms that for his hero it is not the world that narrows to love, but love that expands to the size of the whole world. It is so great that it obscures everything and no longer becomes a part of life, even the largest one, but life itself. Therefore, Zheltkov has no need to live anymore without the woman he loves. He sacrifices himself in the name of his beloved, her happiness, and does not die from hopelessness, having lost the only meaning of life.
Kuprin's little man evokes neither pity nor a condescending smile - Zheltkov is beautiful in his pure and great love. This love became his need, the meaning of life. In his suicide letter to Vera, he admits: “This is not a disease, not a manic idea - this is love with which God was pleased to reward me for something... Leaving, I say in delight: “Hallowed be thy name.”
I want to tell you about a wonderful feeling that cannot be bought or sold, for which the concepts of “rich” and “poor” do not exist, but only “lover” and “lover”, in the name of whose sincerity and strength one is not afraid to even die.
Nowadays, finding a person “possessed” with a high feeling of love is quite difficult. For some reason, more and more people are marrying for convenience. A.I. Kuprin, through the mouth of General Anosov, in the story “Garnet Bracelet” says: “Love must be a tragedy! The greatest secret in the world! No life conveniences, calculations or compromises should concern her.” And really, what kind of life is it when you know that you live with a person just because it’s convenient for you? Princess Vera Nikolaevna says that “the former passionate love for her husband has long passed into a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship...” She does not want to exchange the feeling of calm, confidence in the future for ardent passion, which, in her opinion, has no continuation.
And yet, love is a passion that completely captures a person, it is a feeling, experiencing which it is impossible to think about anything or anyone other than the loved one. But there is another point of view: is it good that, when loving, a person loses his head and does not think at all about the consequences that this love can lead to? Sometimes lovers, immersed in feelings and deciding to live together, are left without a roof over their heads, without the possibility of a normal existence. But, unfortunately, love does not protect you from everyday problems. They say that where love and passion appear, reason is lost. What a person immersed in feelings can do is unknown even to himself. Having fallen in love, a person becomes very vulnerable, he needs support, and this, first of all, is reciprocity of his feelings. After all, love can both revive a person and destroy him. This is exactly what happened to Zheltkov, the hero of the “Garnet Bracelet”. He lived with unrequited love, incinerating him, he lived with thoughts of his beloved. He is grateful to her for those wonderful feelings that elevated him above the world around him, his little man!
“,” says Zheltkov, turning to Vera Nikolaevna. He places Her above everything and everyone. For him, She is a saint, the most precious thing he has in his life. Such selfless love, having become mutual, can rule the world, overcome any difficulties, but, remaining unrequited, it can destroy everything... And even human life...
You can talk about love tirelessly, citing as examples various stories of happy and unhappy love. But it is so multifaceted that you will never be able to fully understand lovers... But only until you fall in love yourself; but even in this case, it will be your love, individual and unlike anything else...
Love... What is it? Where is she? Does she exist? Is the image of Zheltkov real?.. Such questions arose in me after reading the story “The Garnet Bracelet” by A. I. Kuprin. It is very difficult, almost impossible, to answer these questions, because any possible answers to them are correct and incorrect at the same time. It is impossible to prove the opposite to a person who is sure that there is no love. And it is useless to talk about the uniqueness of this feeling to a frivolous person. But I still want to express my opinion about Zheltkov’s love, to show my vision of this feeling.
“It’s not my fault, Vera Nikolaevna, that God was pleased to send me enormous love for you,” this is how Zheltkov began his letter. Love is happiness... Yes, great happiness, but in certain circumstances. And the most important of them is reciprocity; without reciprocity, great happiness turns into great sorrow. Is a person happy who “is 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”? I think not. I think you can’t live like this, you can’t just suffer and dream about your beloved, but unattainable. Life is a game, and each of us must play our role, manage to do it in such a short period of time, manage to become positive or negative hero, but under no circumstances remain indifferent to everything except her, the only one, the beautiful one.
Zheltkov thinks that this is him - to love madly, but unrequitedly, that it is impossible to escape from fate. If it weren’t for this last thing, he would undoubtedly have tried to do something, to escape from the feeling doomed to death. Here are the words that show that Zheltkov was aware of his doom to suffer and suffer from unhappy love: “Think, what did I need to do? Run away to another city? Anyway, my heart was always near you, at your feet, every moment of the day is filled with you, thoughts about you, dreams about you... sweet delirium."
Yes, I think I should have run. Run without looking back. Set a long-term goal and plunge headlong into working to overcome obstacles on the way to this goal. I had to force myself to forget my crazy love. It was necessary to at least try to avoid its tragic outcome.
However, despite the sad ending, Kuprin’s hero is happy. He believes that the love that illuminated his life is genuine wonderful feeling. And I no longer know whether this love is so naive and reckless. And maybe she really is worth giving up your life and desire for life for her. After all, she is beautiful like the moon, clear like the sky, bright like the sun, constant like nature. Such is Zheltkov’s chivalrous, romantic love for Princess Vera Nikolaevna, which consumed his entire being. Zheltkov departs this life without complaints, without reproaches, saying like a prayer: “Hallowed be Thy name.”
It is impossible to read these lines without tears. And it’s unclear why tears are rolling from my eyes. Either it’s just pity for the unfortunate Zheltkov (after all, life could have been wonderful for him too), or admiration for the splendor of the little man’s enormous feelings.
The theme of love is one of the central themes in Kuprin's work. In his stories there is unselfish, selfless love, not waiting for reward, the kind for which one can do anything, go to torment and even die. No living conveniences, calculations and compromises should concern. “Be silent and perish” - this is the motto of Kuprin’s heroes. I don’t know whether he is right or wrong, but I know that more than once I will have to return to the pages of Kuprin’s works and meet his wonderful heroes. Indeed, in our difficult times, it is so pleasant to plunge into the world of loving and selfless people.