The formation of circus as an art form and its influence on the writer’s work
(using the example of the story “Allez!”)
RESEARCH
Student A.V. Patlasova
Head of work A.A. Abrosimova
| INTRODUCTION | |
| 1 FROM “GOVERNMENT BOY” TO “SINGER OF SUBLIME LOVE” | |
| 1.1 general characteristics creativity of A.I. Kuprina | |
| 1.2 The emergence of Kuprin’s interest in the circus | |
| 2 CIRCUS OF THE XX CENTURY | |
| 2. 1 The emergence of circus as an art form | |
| 2. 2 Genre originality circus art of the 20th century | |
| 3 KUPRIN AND CIRCUS | |
| 3.1 Kuprin’s circus environment and its influence on the writer’s life and work | |
| 3.2 Reflection of the reality of circus life in the story of A.I. Kuprin "Allez!" | |
| CONCLUSION | |
| LITERATURE | |
| APPLICATION |
INTRODUCTION
Among the outstanding Russian writers of the early 20th century, one of the most prominent and original places belongs to Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Having started literary activity at the very end of the 80s of the last century, Kuprin, during his almost fifty-year creative life, created many significant works that have stood the test of time. He belongs to those writers who know how to interest the reader in the plot of a story and amaze with an unexpected ending. But sometimes his attention to the little person turns into sentimentality, and the dynamism of the narrative turns into outward entertainment.
In our time, such a distinguished writer does not receive due attention. When it comes to Kuprin’s work, the first thing that comes to mind is the story “ Garnet bracelet", "Olesya". But in his work there are many other works that are worthwhile and important for understanding the era in which he lived. The emergence of circus as an art form at the end XIX beginning 20th century, Kuprin’s close acquaintance with circus performers, romantic relationships with several wonderful performers - the whole flavor of the era and the writer’s personal experiences were reflected in the magnificent work of A.I. Kuprin "Allez!" The circus is shown to us from the inside. The writer's skill makes us live more than one day with the heroes of the work, feel the full weight of their lives. We don’t really pay much attention to what the artists actually experience in the arena; all that matters to us is the show itself, the spectacle. The author introduces us to reverse side circus life.
The wonderful miniature “Allez!”, full of humanity, which Leo Tolstoy once admired, is similar in concept. The story also reveals the theme of circus art, which occupies an important place in the writer’s work. Text of this work served as material for our research.
The purpose of the study is to study, describe and analyze in the story of A.I. Kuprin "Allez!" various linguistic units through which the author conveys to the reader his vision and understanding of the life of a circus performer.
The purpose of the work determined the specific objectives of the study:
1. Study the history of the development of circus art.
2. Get acquainted with the works of A.I. Kuprin, which reveals the theme of the circus.
3. Having stopped at the story “Allez!”, identify all the linguistic units through which the author paints us a picture of the life of a circus performer.
4. Group them by topic.
5. Analyze the resulting thematic groups.
Research methods:
1. Interpretive analysis, which makes it possible to resort to interpretation of the material, to draw conclusions based on one’s own conclusions, using knowledge from areas related to linguistics.
2. Contextual analysis, which allows us to determine the relationship of the lexical units in question with other units, gives an idea of the associations that may arise in a certain context.
The relevance of our research is stated at the very beginning of the work: drawing attention to the work of the undeservedly forgotten great writer A.I. Kuprin, whose name once stood alongside M. Gorky, I.A. Bunin. Kuprin's literary heritage is significant both in volume and content.
The novelty of the research lies in the attempt to independently comprehend the stated problem, turning to a small work in order to achieve the goal.
1 FROM “GOVERNMENT BOY” TO “SINGER OF SUBLIME LOVE”
General characteristics of A.I.’s creativity Kuprina
This is the wisdom of true strength,
In the storm itself there is silence.
You are dear and dear to us all,
We all love Kuprin.
Konstantin Balmont
The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance in seeing the world, concreteness, and a constant desire for knowledge. The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by drama and emotion.
Kuprin's biography is like an adventure novel. The writer’s autobiography contains a truly terrifying list of activities that he tried after parting with his military uniform. Chaotic, feverish tossing, changing “specialties” and positions, frequent travel around the country, an abundance of new meetings - all this gave Kuprin an inexhaustible wealth of impressions - it was necessary to artistically summarize them.
In Kuprin's prose of the second half of the 90s, Moloch stands out as a direct indictment of capitalism. This was in many ways a real “Kuprin” prose with its, according to Bunin, “apt and generous language without excess.” This is how Kuprin’s rapid creative flowering begins. Following Moloch, works appeared that brought the writer to the forefront of Russian literature. “Army Ensign”, “Olesya” and then, already at the beginning of the 20th century, “At the Circus”, “Horse Thieves”, “White Poodle” and the story “The Duel”.
In 1901, Kuprin arrived in St. Petersburg. In 1897, he met I. A. Bunin, a little later - with A. P. Chekhov, and in November 1902 - with M. Gorky. In 1903, the democratic publishing house “Znanie”, led by M. Gorky, published the first volume of Kuprin’s stories, which were positively received by critics. Kuprin also becomes close to the leaders of the magazine “World of God” - F. D. Batyushkov and A. A. Davydova. For some time he actively collaborated in the “World of God” and as an editor, and also published a number of his works there: “In the Circus”, “Swamp”, “Measles”, “From the Street”, but to purely editorial work, which interfered with his work, It's getting cold soon.
In Kuprin’s work at this time, accusatory notes sound increasingly louder. The new democratic upsurge in the country evokes in him a surge of creative strength, a growing intention to carry out his long-conceived plan - to “enough” of the tsarist army, this center of stupidity, inhumanity, and an idle, exhausting existence. Thus, on the eve of the first revolution, the writer’s largest work was written - the story “The Duel,” on which he began working in the spring of 1902. Kuprin, an extremely suspicious and unbalanced person, found confidence in himself and in his abilities in the friendly support of M. Gorky.
During the Ochakov era, Kuprin wrote the stories “Staff Captain Rybnikov”, “Dreams”, “Toast”, and began work on the essays “Listrigons”.
During the first decade of the 900s, Kuprin's talent reached its peak. In 1990, the writer received for three volumes literary prose academic Pushkin Prize. In contrast to the increasingly rampant decadence, Kuprin’s talent remains at this time a realistic, highly “earthly” artistic gift.
However, the years of reaction did not pass without a trace for the writer. Kuprin places his new works not in issues of “Knowledge”, but in “fashionable” almanacs - “Life”, “Rose Hip”, “Earth”. If we talk about the fame of Kuprin the writer, then it continues to grow in these years, reaching its highest point. Soon after the brutal suppression of the revolution of 1905 -1907, he creates the utopia "Royal Park". Following the full-blooded, realistic cycle of essays "Listrigons", appears fantastic story“Liquid Sun”, somewhat unusual for Kuprin due to the exotic nature of the material.
The inconsistency of Kuprin’s work in the 1910s reflected the writer’s confusion, his uncertainty and lack of understanding of what was happening. And when the Russian-German war began, he was among those writers who perceived it as “patriotic” and “liberation”. In his few works of these years, themes familiar from his previous work lose their social relevance.
Thus, in the pre-revolutionary period, in an atmosphere of creative crisis, the main period of Kuprin’s writing activity ended, when his most significant works were created.
In Kuprin’s extensive literary heritage, the original, Kuprin thing that the writer brought with him lies on the surface. A hymn to nature, “natural” beauty and naturalness runs through all of Kuprin’s work. Hence his craving for integral, simple and strong natures. At the same time, the cult of external, physical beauty becomes for the writer a means of exposing the unworthy reality in which this beauty perishes.
And yet, despite the abundance of dramatic situations, vital juices are in full swing in Kuprin’s works, and light, optimistic tones predominate. This strong, squat man with narrow, sharp gray-blue eyes on a Tatar face, which seems not so round due to a small chestnut beard, appears in his personal life as the same healthy lover of life as in his work. L. N. Tolstoy’s impression of meeting Kuprin: “Muscular, pleasant... strongman.” And in fact, with what passion Kuprin will devote himself to everything connected with testing the strength of his own muscles, will, which is associated with excitement and risk. It’s as if he is trying to waste the supply of vitality that was not used up during his poor childhood. Organizes an athletic society in Kyiv. Together with the famous athlete Sergei Utochkin he rises in a hot air balloon. He descends in a diving suit to the seabed. Flies with Ivan Zaikin on a Farman plane. At forty-three years old, he suddenly begins to seriously learn stylish swimming from the world record holder L. Romanenko. A passionate lover of horses, he prefers the circus to opera. In all these hobbies there is something recklessly childish. His friends: wrestlers Ivan Poddubny and Zaikin, athlete Utochkin, famous trainer Anatoly Durov, clown Zhacomino, fisherman Kolya Kostandi. Living year after year in Balaklava, Kuprin immediately “became friends with some fishing chieftains” who were famous for their courage, luck and bravery.
But there is something feverish and tense in the hasty change of all these hobbies. It’s as if there were two people living in Kuprin who had little resemblance to each other, and his contemporaries, having succumbed to the impression of one, the most obvious side of his personality, left an incomplete truth about him. Only the people closest to the writer, like F.D. Batyushkov, were able to discern this duality.
The February Revolution, which Kuprin greeted enthusiastically, found him in Helsingfors. He immediately leaves for Petrograd, where, together with the critic P. Pilsky, he edits the Socialist Revolutionary newspaper Free Russia for some time. In his artistic works of this time (the stories “Brave Fugitives”, “Sashka and Yashka”, “The Caterpillar”, “Star of Solomon”) there are no direct responses to the turbulent events experienced by the country. Kuprin collaborates, however, in the bourgeois newspapers “Era”, “Petrogradsky Listok”, “Echo”, “Evening Word”, where he writes political articles “Prophecy”, “Sensation”, “At the Grave” (in memory of the prominent Bolshevik M.M. . Volodarsky, killed by the Socialist-Revolutionary), “Monuments,” etc. These articles reflect the contradictory position of the writer.
A confluence of random circumstances led Kuprin to the emigration camp in 1919. In exile, he writes the novel “Zhanette”. This period of Kuprin is characterized by withdrawal into himself. Large autobiographical work of that period - the novel "Junker".
In exile, the writer Kuprin did not lose faith in the future of his Motherland. At the end life path he still returns to Russia. And his work rightfully belongs to Russian art, the Russian people.
The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. Kuprin devoted all his work to the development of this complex psychological topic. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance in seeing the world, concreteness, and a constant desire for knowledge. The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by dynamics, drama, and excitement.
Kuprin's biography is like an adventure novel. In terms of the abundance of meetings with people and life observations, it was reminiscent of Gorky’s biography. Kuprin traveled a lot, did a variety of work: he served at a factory, worked as a loader, played on stage, sang in a church choir.
At an early stage of his work, Kuprin was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky. It manifested itself in the stories “In the Dark,” “On a Moonlit Night,” and “Madness.” He writes about fateful moments, the role of chance in a person’s life, and analyzes the psychology of human passions. Some stories of that period say that the human will is helpless in the face of natural chance, that the mind cannot comprehend the mysterious laws that govern man. A decisive role in overcoming literary cliches coming from Dostoevsky was played by direct acquaintance with the lives of people, with the real Russian reality.
He begins to write essays. Their peculiarity is that the writer usually had a leisurely conversation with the reader. They clearly showed clear storylines, a simple and detailed depiction of reality. The greatest influence on Kuprin the essayist was G. Uspensky.
Kuprin's first creative quests culminated in the largest thing that reflected reality. It was the story “Moloch”. In it, the writer shows the contradictions between capital and forced human labor. He was able to grasp the social characteristics of the newest forms of capitalist production. An angry protest against the monstrous violence against man, on which the industrial flourishing in the world of “Moloch” is based, a satirical demonstration of the new masters of life, an exposure of the shameless predation in the country of foreign capital - all this cast doubt on the theories of bourgeois progress. After essays and short stories, the story was an important stage in the writer’s work.
In search of moral and spiritual ideals of life, which the writer contrasted with the ugliness of modern human relations, Kuprin turns to the lives of vagabonds, beggars, drunken artists, starving unrecognized artists, and children of the poor urban population. This is a world of nameless people who form the mass of society. Among them, Kuprin tried to find his goodies. He writes the stories “Lidochka”, “Lokon”, “ Kindergarten”, “At the Circus” - in these works Kuprin’s heroes are free from the influence of bourgeois civilization.
In 1898, Kuprin wrote the story “Olesya”. The plot of the story is traditional: an intellectual, an ordinary and urban person, in a remote corner of Polesie meets a girl who grew up outside of society and civilization. Olesya is distinguished by spontaneity, integrity of nature, and spiritual richness. Poetizing life unconstrained by modern social cultural frameworks. Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of the “natural man,” in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in civilized society.
In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg, where he became close to many writers. During this period his story “Night Shift” appears, where main character- a simple soldier. The hero is not an aloof person, not the forest Olesya, but a completely real person. From the image of this soldier, threads stretch to other heroes. It was at this time that the new genre: novella.
In 1902, Kuprin conceived the story “The Duel”. In this work, he undermined one of the main pillars of the autocracy - the military caste, in the features of the decomposition and moral decline of which he showed signs of the decomposition of the entire social system. The story reflects the progressive sides of Kuprin’s work. The basis of the plot is the fate of an honest Russian officer, whom the conditions of army barracks life made him feel the illegality of people's social relations. Once again, Kuprin is not talking about an outstanding personality, but about a simple Russian officer Romashov. The regimental atmosphere torments him; he does not want to be in the army garrison. He became disillusioned with military service. He begins to fight for himself and his love. And Romashov’s death is a protest against the social and moral inhumanity of the environment.
With the onset of reaction and the aggravation of social life in society, Kuprin’s creative concepts also change. During these years, his interest in the world of ancient legends, history, and antiquity intensified. An interesting fusion of poetry and prose, the real and the legendary, the real and the romance of feelings arises in creativity. Kuprin gravitates toward the exotic and develops fantastic plots. He returns to the themes of his earlier novella. The motives of the inevitability of chance in a person’s fate are heard again.
In 1909, the story “The Pit” was published from the pen of Kuprin. Here Kuprin pays tribute to naturalism. It shows the inmates of a brothel. The whole story consists of scenes, portraits and clearly breaks down into individual details of everyday life.
However, in a number of stories written in the same years, Kuprin tried to point out real signs of high spiritual and moral values in reality itself. “Garnet Bracelet” is a story about love. This is what Paustovsky said about it: this is one of the most “fragrant” stories about love.
In 1919, Kuprin emigrated. In exile, he writes the novel “Zhanette”. This work is about the tragic loneliness of a person who has lost his homeland. This is a story about the touching affection of an old professor, who found himself in exile, for a little Parisian girl - the daughter of a street newspaper girl.
Kuprin's emigrant period is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel “Junker”.
In exile, the writer Kuprin did not lose faith in the future of his Motherland. At the end of his life's journey, he still returns to Russia. And his work rightfully belongs to Russian art, the Russian people.
Military career
He was born into the family of a minor official who died when his son was in his second year. The mother, from a Tatar princely family, became poor after the death of her husband and was forced to send her son to an orphan school for minors (1876), then a military gymnasium, later transformed into cadet corps, which he graduated in 1888. In 1890 he graduated from Aleksandrovskoe military school. Then he served in the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, training for military career. Without entering the Academy of the General Staff (this was prevented by a scandal associated with the violent, especially drunk, temper of a cadet who threw a policeman into the water), Lieutenant Kuprin resigned in 1894.
Life style
Kuprin was an extremely colorful figure. Greedy for impressions, he led a wandering lifestyle, trying different professions - from a loader to a dentist. Autobiographical life material formed the basis of many of his works.
There were legends about his turbulent life. Possessing remarkable physical strength and explosive temperament, Kuprin greedily rushed towards any new life experience: he went underwater in a diving suit, flew on an airplane (this flight ended in a disaster that almost cost Kuprin his life), organized an athletic society... During the First World War in his Gatchina He and his wife set up a private infirmary in the house.
The writer was interested in people of various professions: engineers, organ grinders, fishermen, card sharpers, beggars, monks, businessmen, spies... In order to get to know the person he was interested in more reliably, to feel the air he breathed, he was ready, without sparing himself, to go into the most unimaginable adventure. According to his contemporaries, he approached life as a real researcher, seeking the most complete and detailed knowledge possible.
Kuprin also willingly practiced journalism, publishing articles and reports in various newspapers, and traveled a lot, living in Moscow, near Ryazan, in Balaklava, and in Gatchina.
Writer and revolution
Dissatisfaction with the existing social order attracted the writer to revolution, so Kuprin, like many other writers, his contemporaries, paid tribute to revolutionary sentiments. However, he reacted sharply negatively to the Bolshevik revolution and the power of the Bolsheviks. At first, he still tried to cooperate with the Bolshevik authorities and even intended to publish the peasant newspaper “Earth,” for which he met with Lenin.
But soon he unexpectedly went over to the side of the White movement, and after its defeat he left first for Finland and then for France, where he settled in Paris (until 1937). There he actively participated in the anti-Bolshevik press and continued his literary activities (novels “The Wheel of Time”, 1929; “Junker”, 1928-32; “Zhaneta”, 1932-33; articles and stories). But living in exile, the writer was terribly poor, suffering both from lack of demand and isolation from his native soil, and shortly before his death, believing Soviet propaganda, in May 1937 he returned with his wife to Russia. By this time he was already seriously ill.
Sympathy for the common man
Almost all of Kuprin’s work is imbued with the traditional Russian literature pathos of sympathy for the “little” person, doomed to drag out a miserable fate in an inert, wretched environment. In Kuprin, this sympathy was expressed not only in the depiction of the “bottom” of society (the novel about the life of prostitutes “The Pit”, 1909-15, etc.), but also in the images of his intelligent, suffering heroes. Kuprin was inclined precisely to such reflective, nervous to the point of hysteria, characters not devoid of sentimentality. Engineer Bobrov (story “Moloch”, 1896), endowed with a trembling soul, responsive to the pain of others, worries about the workers wasting their lives in back-breaking factory work, while the rich are fattening on ill-gotten money. Even characters from a military environment like Romashov or Nazansky (the story “The Duel”, 1905) have a very high pain threshold and a small reserve of mental strength to withstand the vulgarity and cynicism of their environment. Romashov is tormented by the stupidity of military service, the depravity of the officers, and the downtroddenness of the soldiers. Perhaps none of the writers made such a passionate accusation against the army environment as Kuprin. True, in the image ordinary people Kuprin differed from the populist-oriented writers inclined to people-worship (although he received the approval of the venerable populist critic N. Mikhailovsky). His democracy was not limited to a tearful demonstration of their “humiliation and insult.” Kuprin’s simple man turned out to be not only weak, but also capable of standing up for himself, possessing an enviable inner strength. People's life was presented in his works in its free, spontaneous, natural flow, with its own circle of ordinary worries - not only sorrows, but also joys and consolations ("Listrigons", 1908-11).
At the same time, the writer saw not only its bright sides and healthy beginnings, but also outbursts of aggressiveness and cruelty, easily guided by dark instincts (the famous description of the Jewish pogrom in the story “Gambrinus”, 1907).
The joy of being In many of Kuprin’s works, the presence of an ideal, romantic principle is clearly felt: it is both in his craving for heroic plots and in his desire to see the highest manifestations of the human spirit - in love, creativity, kindness... It is no coincidence that he often chose heroes who were outliers, breaking out of the usual rut of life, seeking the truth and seeking some other, more complete and living being, freedom, beauty, grace... and who in the literature of that time, wrote so poetically, like Kuprin, about love, tried to restore its humanity and romance. “The Garnet Bracelet” (1911) has become for many readers just such a work, where a pure, unselfish, ideal feeling is glorified.
A brilliant portrayer of the morals of various strata of society, Kuprin vividly, with special attention, described the environment and everyday life (for which he received criticism more than once). There was also a naturalistic tendency in his work.
At the same time, the writer, like no one else, knew how to feel from the inside the flow of natural, natural life - his stories “Barbos and Zhulka” (1897), “Emerald” (1907) were included in the golden fund of works about animals. The ideal of natural life (the story “Olesya”, 1898) is very important for Kuprin as a kind of desirable norm; he often highlights it modern life, finding in it sad deviations from this ideal.
For many critics, it was precisely this natural, organic perception of Kuprin’s life, the healthy joy of being that was the main thing distinctive quality his prose with its harmonious fusion of lyricism and romance, plot and compositional proportionality, dramatic action and accuracy in descriptions.
Literary mastery Kuprin is an excellent master not only of literary landscape and everything related to the external, visual and olfactory perception of life (Bunin and Kuprin competed to see who could more accurately determine the smell of a particular phenomenon), but also of a literary nature: portrait, psychology, speech - everything is worked out to the smallest nuances. Even the animals that Kuprin loved to write about reveal complexity and depth in him.
The narration in Kuprin’s works, as a rule, is very spectacular and is often addressed - unobtrusively and without false speculativeness - specifically to existential problems. He reflects on love, hatred, the will to live, despair, strength and weakness of man, and recreates the complex spiritual world of man at the turn of eras.
Introduction
Realistic in the story of A.I. Kuprin “Listrigons” and the story “Duel”
Romanticism in the story “Shulamith” and the story “Olesya”
Theory and methodology holistic analysis story “Garnet Bracelet” in a lesson in 11th grade
Conclusion
List of used literature
Introduction
The name of A.I. Kuprin is undoubtedly associated with the realistic trend in Russian literature of the early 20th century. This artist spoke honestly and directly about the pressing problems of his time, touching on many moral, ethical and social issues that worried pre-revolutionary Russian society.
Indeed, he always depicted in his works life as it can be seen every day, you just have to walk along the streets, looking closely at everything. Although people like Kuprin’s heroes are now becoming less and less common, they used to be quite common. Moreover, Kuprin could write only when he himself lived and felt. He did not invent his stories at his desk, but brought them out of life. That’s probably why all his books are so bright and impressive.
K. Chukovsky wrote about Kuprin that “his demands on himself as a realist writer, a depicter of morals, literally had no boundaries, (...) that with a jockey he knew how to carry on a conversation like a jockey, with a cook - like a cook, with sailor - like an old sailor. He boyishly flaunted this vast experience of his, boasted of it in front of other writers (before Veresaev, Leonid Andreev), because that was his ambition: to know for certain, not from books, not from rumors, those things and facts about which he speaks in my books..."
Kuprin looked everywhere for that power that could elevate a person, help him find inner perfection and happiness.
Love for a person could become such a force. It is this feeling that permeates Kuprin’s stories and stories. Humanity can be called main theme such works as “Olesya” and “Anathema”, “ Wonderful doctor" and "Listrigons". Directly, openly, Kuprin does not speak about love for a person very often. But with each of his stories he calls for humanity.
“And to realize his humanistic idea, the writer uses romantic artistic media. Kuprin often idealizes his heroes (Olesya from the story of the same name) or endows them with almost unearthly feelings (Zheltkov from Garnet bracelet ). Very often the endings of Kuprin’s works are romantic.” So, for example, Olesya is expelled from society again, but this time she is forced to leave, that is, to leave a world alien to her. Romashov from “The Duel” escapes reality, completely immersing himself in his inner world. Then, in a duel with life, he dies, unable to endure the painful duality. Zheltkov in the story “Garnet Bracelet” shoots himself when he loses the meaning of life. He flees from his love, blessing his beloved: “Hallowed be thy name!” Kuprin's theme of love is painted in romantic tones. He speaks about her reverently. The writer said about his “Garnet Bracelet” that he had never written anything more chaste. This wonderful story about love, in the words of Kuprin himself, is “a great blessing to everything: the earth, waters, trees, flowers, heavens, smells, people, animals and the eternal goodness and eternal beauty contained in a woman.” Despite the fact that “The Garnet Bracelet” is based on real life facts and its heroes have their own prototypes, it represents the brightest example of the romantic tradition. This tells us about Kuprin’s ability to see the poetically sublime in reality, and the best and purest in a person. Therefore, we can call this writer both a realist and a romantic at the same time. Realistic in the story of A.I. Kuprin “Listrigons” and the story “Duel” An experienced man who traveled around Russia more than once, changed many professions, easily became close to the most different people, Kuprin accumulated a huge stock of impressions and shared them generously and enthusiastically. In his stories, beautiful pages are dedicated to love - painful or triumphant, but always bewitching. Critically depicting life “as it is,” Kuprin made one feel the life that should be. He believed that a person who “came into the world for immense freedom, creativity and happiness will be happy and free.” However, his ideal was a wandering, vagabond life, full of colorful adventures and accidents. And his sympathies are always on the side of people who, for one reason or another, find themselves outside the framework of a measured and prosperous existence. Kuprin story realistic A singer of patriarchal naturalness, it was no coincidence that Kuprin was attracted to forms of labor associated with nature. This is not a painful duty at the machine or in a stuffy mine, but work “with the sun in the blood”, under the fresh wind on the endless expanses of water. Calling his heroes “listrigons” after the fairy-tale fishermen-pirates from the Odyssey, Kuprin emphasized the immutability and stability of this little world, which has retained its customs almost since Homeric times, and idealized this ancient, seemingly untouched by time, type of catcher, hunter, son of nature . But under the ancient masks one could discern the living faces of Kuprin’s contemporary Balaklava Greeks, and one could feel their current worries and joys. “Listrigons” reflected episodes of the writer’s friendly communication with Crimean fishermen; all the heroes of the cycle - real people, Kuprin didn’t even change their names. Thus, from a fusion of prose and poetry, truth and legend, one of the best examples of Russian lyrical essay arose. During the years of the brewing of the first Russian revolution, Kuprin devoted himself to working on his largest work - the story “The Duel”. The story, published in 1905, takes place in the 90s. However, everything about it breathed modernity. The work gave a deep explanation of the reasons for the defeat of the tsarist army in the inglorious war with Japan. Moreover, generated by Kuprin’s desire to expose the vices of the army environment, “The Duel” was a stunning blow to the entire order of tsarist Russia. "Regiment, Officers and Soldiers" written close-up in organic interaction with the main character. In “The Duel” we see realistic paintings that create a large canvas in which “minor” characters can be as important to the artistic whole as the main characters. The story is strong, first of all, in its accusatory pathos. Kuprin, as you know, knew very well the wild customs of army life, where the highest army ranks treated soldiers like cattle. Officer Archakovsky, for example, beat his orderly to such an extent that “there was blood not only on the walls, but also on the ceiling.” Officers were especially angry during senseless soldier drills, when preparations were underway for parade reviews on which their careers depended. The plot of the work is everyday tragic: Second Lieutenant Romashov dies as a result of a duel with Lieutenant Nikolaev. Romashov, a city intellectual in the uniform of a second lieutenant in a junior regiment, suffers from the vulgarity and meaninglessness of life, “monotonous, like a fence, and gray, like a soldier’s cloth.” The general atmosphere of cruelty, violence, and impunity that reigned among officers creates the preconditions for the inevitable outbreak of conflict. Romashov experiences “a surge of warm, selfless, endless compassion” for the hunted soldier Khlebnikov. The author does not idealize young Romashov, does not make him a fighter against the way of army life. Romashov is capable only of timid disagreement, of hesitant attempts to convince that cultured, decent people should not attack an unarmed man with a saber: “It is dishonest to beat a soldier. That's shameful". The atmosphere of contemptuous alienation tempers Romashov. By the end of the story, he reveals firmness and strength of character. The duel becomes inevitable, and his love for married woman, Shurochka Nikolaeva, who was not ashamed to conclude a cynical deal with a man in love with her, in which his life was the stake, accelerated the denouement. The “duel” brought Kuprin European fame. The progressive public enthusiastically greeted the story, because, as a contemporary wrote, Kuprin’s story “undermined, undermined, and struck to death the military caste.” For today's readers, the story is important as a description of the duel between good and evil, violence and humanism, cynicism and purity. Romanticism in the story “Shulamith” and the story “Olesya” Despite all the realism of Kuprin’s works, elements of romanticism can be found in any of them. Moreover, sometimes this manifests itself so strongly that it is even impossible to call some pages realistic. In the story Olesya everything starts out quite prosaically, even a little boring. Forest. Winter. Dark, illiterate Polesie peasants. It seems that the author simply wanted to describe the life of the peasants and does this without embellishing anything, depicting a gray, joyless life in gray. Although, of course, the conditions in which the main character of the story finds himself are far from familiar to most of us, they are still real living conditions in Polesie. And suddenly, among all this dull monotony, Olesya appears, an image that is undoubtedly romantic. Olesya does not know what civilization is; time seems to have stopped in the thickets of Polesie. The girl sincerely believes in legends and conspiracies and believes that her family is connected with the devil. The norms of behavior accepted in society are completely alien to her; she is natural and romantic. But it is not only the exotic image of the heroine and the situation described in the story that attract the writer’s attention. The work becomes an attempt to analyze that eternal that should underlie any high feeling. Kuprin draws attention to the girl’s hands, although roughened from work, but small, aristocratic, in her manner of eating and speaking. Where could a girl like Olesya come from in such an environment? Obviously, the image of the young witch is no longer real, but idealized, the author’s imagination worked on it. After Olesya appears in the story, romanticism is already inseparably adjacent to realism. Spring is coming, nature rejoices with lovers. A new, romantic world appears, where everything is beautiful. This is the world of love between Olesya and Ivan Timofeevich. As soon as they meet, this world suddenly appears out of nowhere; when they part, it disappears, but remains in their souls. And lovers, being in the everyday world, strive to enter their own, fabulous one, inaccessible to anyone else. This “two worlds” is also a clear sign of romanticism. Usually the romantic hero performs an “deed.” Olesya is no exception. She went to church, submitting to the power of her love. Thus, the story describes the love of a real person and a romantic heroine. Ivan Timofeevich finds himself in the romantic world of Olesya, and she - in his reality. It becomes clear why the work exhibits features of both one and the other direction. One of the most important phenomena of love for Kuprin is that even a premonition of happiness is always overshadowed by the fear of losing it. What stands on the way to the happiness of the heroes is the difference in their social status and upbringing, the weakness of the hero and the tragic prediction of Olesya. The thirst for a harmonious union is generated by deep emotions. Olesya's love becomes the greatest gift that can give life to the hero of the story. In this love there is dedication and courage, on the one hand, and contradiction, on the other. Olesya initially understands the tragic outcome of their relationship, but is ready to give herself to her lover. Even leaving her native place, beaten and dishonored, Olesya does not curse the one who destroyed her, but blesses those brief moments of happiness that she experienced. The writer sees the true meaning of love in the desire to selflessly give to his chosen one all the fullness of feelings that a loving person is capable of. Man is imperfect, but the power of love can, at least for a short time, return to him the sharpness of sensations and naturalness that only people like Olesya have retained. The strength of the soul of the heroine of the story is capable of bringing harmony even to such contradictory relationships as those described in the story. Love is contempt for suffering and even death. It’s a pity, but only a select few are capable of such a feeling. But sometimes Kuprin doesn’t come up with anything ideal. IN Duel It seems to me that there is not a single flawless image. If Shurochka seems beautiful at first (she is so smart and beautiful, although she is surrounded by vulgar, cruel people), then this impression soon disappears. Shura is not capable of true love, like Olesya or Zheltkov, she prefers the external shine of high society to her. And immediately, as soon as you understand this, her beauty, her intelligence, and her feelings appear in a different light. Romashova's love, of course, was purer and sincere. And although he is not at all idealized by the author, he can be considered a romantic hero. He experiences and feels everything very acutely. In addition, Kuprin guides Romashov through life’s suffering: loneliness, humiliation, betrayal, death. Against the background of a realistic depiction of the order of the tsarist army, vulgarity, cruelty, rudeness, one more person stands out - Nazansky. This is already a real romantic hero. It is in his speeches that one can find all the basic ideas of romanticism about the imperfection of this world, about the existence of another, beautiful one, about eternal struggle and eternal suffering. As you can see, in his works Kuprin did not adhere to the framework of only the realistic direction. His stories also have romantic tendencies. He places romantic heroes in daily life, in a real environment, next to ordinary people. And very often, therefore, the main conflict in his works is the conflict romantic hero with routine, dullness, vulgarity. Kuprin had the ability to combine reality with romantic fiction in his books. This is probably that wonderful ability to see the beautiful and admirable in life, which many people lack. But if you are able to see the best sides of life, then, in the end, a new, wonderful world can be born from the most boring and gray everyday life. The perception and understanding of a work of art as a whole has become especially significant in our time. Attitude modern man to the world as a whole has a value, a vital meaning. Art from its very beginning has been aimed at emotional sensation and reproduction of the integrity of life. Therefore, “... it is in the work that the universal principle of art is clearly realized: the recreation of the integrity of the world of human activity as an endless and incomplete “social organism” in the finite and completed aesthetic unity of the artistic whole.” Literature in its development, temporary movement, i.e. the literary process, reflected the progressive course of artistic consciousness, striving to reflect people’s mastery of the integrity of life and the accompanying destruction of the integrity of the world and man. In order to more or less exhaustively understand a work of art, it is necessary, ideally, to go through all three stages of its scientific examination, without missing anything in them. This means that it is necessary to understand the work as a whole at the level of primary perception, then conduct a scrupulous analysis of it element by element and, finally, complete the consideration with a systemic holistic synthesis. Ideally, the analysis method should be unique to each work; it should be dictated by its ideological and artistic characteristics. In order for the sample analysis not to be random and fragmentary, it must at the same time be a holistic analysis. It would seem like a contradiction, but in fact it is not. Only with a holistic view of the system can one determine which aspects, elements and connections in it are more significant, and which are of an auxiliary nature. First of all, it is necessary to know the “law of the whole”, the principle of its organization, and then it will tell you what exactly to pay attention to. Therefore, consideration work of art it is necessary to begin not with analysis, but with synthesis. It is necessary, first of all, to realize your holistic first impression and, having checked it mainly by re-reading, formulate it on a conceptual level. At this stage, it is already possible to carry out a key operation for further holistic selective analysis - to determine the content and style dominants of the work. This is the key that unlocks the integrity of the structure of an artistic creation and determines the paths and directions for further analysis. Thus, if the dominant content lies in the area of problematics, then the theme of the work may well not be analyzed, focusing on the connection between problematics and ideas; if in the area of pathos, then analysis of the topic is necessary, since in pathos the objective and subjective aspects are naturally combined, but the problematic in this case is not so important. A more specific definition of dominants also suggests more specific ways of analysis: thus, ideological and moral issues require close attention to the individual “philosophy” of the hero, to the dynamics of his views and beliefs, while his connection with social sphere turn out to be, as a rule, secondary. Sociocultural problems, on the contrary, dictate increased attention to statics, to the unchanging features of the external and internal appearance of characters, to the connections of the hero with the environment that gave birth to him. The identification of stylistic dominants also indicates what should be dealt with first in the work. Thus, it makes no sense to analyze the elements of the plot if we observe descriptiveness or psychologism as a dominant style; tropes and syntactic figures are analyzed if the dominant style is rhetoric; a complex composition directs attention to the analysis of extra-plot elements, narrative forms, subject details, etc. As a result, the set goal is achieved: saving time and effort is combined with comprehension of the individual ideological and artistic originality of the work; the selective analysis turns out to be holistic at the same time. The “Garnet Bracelet” has an unusual creative history. Work on the story began in the fall of 1910 in Odessa. At this time, Kuprin often visited the family of the Odessa doctor L. Ya. Meisels and listened to Beethoven’s Second Sonata performed by his wife. Musical composition Alexander Ivanovich was so captivated that work on the story began with him writing down the epigraph. L. van Beethoven. 2 Son. (op. 2, no. 2). Largo Appassionato . Beethoven Sonata Appassionata", one of the most intense, languid, passionate creations of human genius in music, awakened Kuprin to literary creativity. The sounds of the sonata were combined in his imagination with the story of the bright love that he witnessed. From Kuprin's correspondence and memoirs, the prototypes of the heroes of the story are known: Zheltkov - petty telegraph official P.P. Zheltikov, Prince Vasily Shein - member of the State Council D.N. Lyubimov, Princess Vera Sheina - his wife Lyudmila Ivanovna, nee Tugan - Baranovskaya, her sister Anna Nikolaevna Friesse - Lyubimova's sister, Elena Ivanovna Nitte, Princess Sheina's brother - State Chancellery official Nikolai Ivanovich Tugan - Baranovsky. The story went through a number of editions in French, German, English, Swedish, Polish, Bulgarian, Finnish. Foreign criticism, noting the subtle psychologism of the story, greeted it as “a gust of fresh wind.” For a holistic analysis of a work of art, students need to ask the following questions: What is the work of A. I. Kuprin about? Why is it called that? (The story “The Garnet Bracelet” glorifies the feeling of the “little man,” telegraph operator Zheltkov, for Princess Vera Nikolaevna Sheina. The story is named so because the main events are connected with this decoration.) How did Kuprin artistically transform the real story he heard? (Kuprin embodied in his creation the ideal of the beautiful, omnipotent, but not mutual love, showed that small mancapable of a great, all-encompassing feeling. Kuprin finished the story with the death of the hero, which made Vera Nikolaevna think about love, about feeling, made her worry, sympathize, which she had not done before). How do we learn about Zheltkov’s love? Who's talking about her? (We learn about Zheltkov’s love for the first time from the stories of Prince Shein. For the prince, truth is intertwined with fiction. For him it is funny story. The image of Zheltkov in the prince's stories undergoes changes: a telegraph operator - dresses up as a chimney sweep - becomes a dishwasher - turns into a monk - dies tragically, leaving a will after his death). Read the description of the autumn garden. Why does it follow the description of Vera’s feelings for her husband? Is she happy? (The author shows that her manners are distinguished by cold courtesy, regal calm. “The former passionate love is long gone,” perhaps Vera does not love her husband because she does not know love, therefore she treats her husband with “a feeling of lasting, faithful, true friendship” She is a sensitive, selfless and delicate person: she tries to quietly help her husband “make ends meet.”) Identify important key episodes in the story and relate plot elements to them. (1. Vera’s name day and Zheltkov’s gift - the beginning 2. The conversation between Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Lvovich with Zheltkov - the climax. 3. Zheltkov’s death and farewell to him - the denouement.) How is Kuprin portraying Zheltkov and his love? Why does he “force” Vera to listen to Beethoven’s second sonata? (Looking at his face, Vera recalls the same peaceful expression on the masks of the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon. Zheltkov is great for his suffering, his love. The detail of the rose, meaning love, death, is symbolic (I. Myatlev’s poem “Roses”, I.S. Turgenev “How beautiful, how fresh the roses were”), the perfection of the universe. In the story, two are awarded the rose: General Anosov and Zheltkov, beautifully, like poetry, convinces the reader of the sincerity and strength of his feelings. For Zheltkov, loving Vera even without reciprocity. “Immense happiness.” Saying goodbye to her, he writes: “As I leave, I say in delight: “Hallowed be Thy name.” Zheltkov truly loves, with passionate, selfless love. Death does not frighten him. The hero asks to hang the garnet bracelet, not accepted by Vera, on the icon. This deifies his love and puts Vera on a par with the saints. Zheltkov is talented in his love, like Pushkin and Napoleon, talent is unthinkable without realization, but the hero remains. misunderstood. Posthumously, Zheltkov bequeaths Vera to listen to a Beethoven sonata, a majestic reflection on the gift of life and love. The greatness of the experience a simple person is comprehended by the sounds of music, as if conveying shock, pain, happiness to him, and unexpectedly displaces everything vain and petty from the soul, instilling a reciprocal ennobling suffering.) How does Zheltkov appear in his suicide letter? (Zheltkov admits that crashed into an uncomfortable wedge into Vera’s life and am eternally grateful to her just for the fact that she exists. His love is not a disease, not a manic idea, but a reward sent by God. His tragedy is hopeless, he is a dead man). What mood will the ending of the story have? (The finale is imbued with a feeling of bright sadness, and not tragedy. Zheltkov dies, but Vera awakens to life, the same “ great love, which repeats itself once every thousand years." Does ideal love exist? Are loving and being loved the same thing? What's better? What is the fate of the garnet bracelet? (The unhappy lover asked to hang a bracelet - a symbol of holy love - on the icon) Does unearthly love exist? (Yes, it does occur. But very rarely. This is exactly the kind of love that A. Kuprin described in his work) How to attract love? (It’s not enough to wait for love, you have to learn to love yourself, to feel like a part of the world around you) Why does love control a person, and not vice versa? (Love is an eternal flow. A person reacts to the waves of love. Love is eternal, it was, is and will be. And a person comes and goes) How does A.I. Kuprin see true love? (true love is the basis of everything earthly. It should not be isolated, undivided, it should be based on high sincere feelings, strive for the ideal. Love is stronger than death, it elevates a person) What is love? (Love is a passion, these are strong and real feelings that elevate a person, awaken him best qualities, this is truthfulness and honesty in relationships). For a writer, love is the basis of everything that exists: “Love should be a tragedy, the greatest secret in the world. And no life inconveniences, calculations and compromises should concern her.” His heroes are people with with an open soul and with a pure heart, rebelling against the humiliation of man, trying to defend human dignity. The writer glorifies sublime love, contrasting it with hatred, enmity, mistrust, antipathy, and indifference. Through the mouth of General Anosov, he says that this feeling should not be frivolous, nor primitive, and, moreover, based on profit and self-interest: “Love should be a tragedy. The greatest secret in the world! No life conveniences, calculations and compromises should touch". Love, according to Kuprin, should be based on sublime feelings, mutual respect, honesty and truthfulness. She must strive for the ideal. Conclusion Today, the works of A. Kuprin are of great interest. They attract the reader with their simplicity, humanity, and democracy in the noblest sense of the word. The world of A. Kuprin’s heroes is colorful and crowded. He himself lived a bright life, filled with diverse impressions - he was a military man, a clerk, a land surveyor, and an actor in a traveling circus troupe. A. Kuprin said many times that he does not understand writers who do not find anything more interesting than themselves in nature and people. The writer is very interested in human destinies, while the heroes of his works are most often not successful, successful people satisfied with themselves and life, but rather the opposite. Kuprin struggled with his emigrant fate; he did not want to submit to it. He tried to live intensely creative life and continue serving literature. It is impossible not to pay tribute to the talented writer - even in these difficult years for him, he managed to make a significant contribution to Russian literature. The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was highly appreciated by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Alexey Maksimovich Gorky, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Konstantin Paustovsky wrote about him: “Kuprin cannot die either in the memory of Russians or in the memory of many people - representatives of humanity, just as the angry power of his “Duel”, the bitter charm of his “Pomegranate Bracelet”, the stunning picturesqueness of his “Listrigons” cannot die, just as his passionate, intelligent and spontaneous love for man and for his land cannot die.” Kuprin's moral energy and artistic, creative magic come from the same root, from the fact that he can safely be called the healthiest, most cheerful and life-loving among Russian writers of the 20th century. Kuprin's books must be read and lived in youth, for they are a kind of encyclopedia of healthy, morally impeccable human desires and feelings. List of used literature Corman B.O. On the integrity of a work of art. Proceedings of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Ser. literature and language. 1977, no. 6 Kuprin A.I. Garnet bracelet. - M., 1994. - P. 123. Paustovsky K. Flow of life // Collection. Op. in 9 volumes. - M., 1983. T.7.-416 p. Chukovsky K. Contemporaries: portraits and sketches (with illustrations): ed. Central Committee of the Komsomol “Young Guard”, M., 1962 - 453 p.
The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance of vision of the world, concreteness, constant desire for knowledge . The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by dynamics, drama, excitement .
At an early stage of his work, Kuprin was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky. It manifested itself in the stories “ In the dark”, “Moonlit night”, “Madness" He writes about fateful moments, the role of chance in a person’s life, and analyzes the psychology of human passions.
Kuprin’s first creative quests ended with the story “ Moloch”, in which the writer shows the contradictions between capital and forced human labor. An angry protest against the monstrous violence against man, on which the industrial flourishing in the world of “Moloch” is based, a satirical demonstration of the new masters of life, the exposure of shameless predation in the country of foreign capital - all this cast doubt on the theories of bourgeois progress.
In search of moral and spiritual ideals of life, Kuprin turns to the lives of tramps, beggars, drunken artists, starving unrecognized artists, and children of the poor urban population. This is a world of nameless people who form the mass of society. Among them, Kuprin tried to find his positive heroes. He writes stories Lidochka”, “Curl”, “Kindergarten”, “At the circus” - in these works, Kuprin’s heroes are free from the influence of bourgeois civilization.
In 1898, Kuprin wrote the story “ Olesya" Poetizing life, unrestricted by modern social cultural frameworks, Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of the “natural man,” in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in civilized society.
In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg, during this period his story “ Night shift" It was at this time that a new genre appeared in Kuprin’s work: the short story.
In 1902, Kuprin conceived the story “ Duel" In this work, he undermined one of the main pillars of the autocracy - the military caste, in the features of the decomposition and moral decline of which he showed signs of the decomposition of the entire social system.
With the onset of reaction and the aggravation of social life in society, Kuprin’s creative concepts also change. During these years, his interest in the world of ancient legends, history, and antiquity intensified. Interesting things arise in creativity a fusion of poetry and prose, the real and the legendary, the real and the romance of feelings .
In 1909, from the pen of Kuprin the story “ Pit”, in which he pays tribute to naturalism, showing the inhabitants of a brothel.
However, in a number of stories written in the same years, Kuprin tried to point out real signs of high spiritual and moral values in reality itself. “ Garnet bracelet” - a story about love. This is what Paustovsky said about it: this is one of the most “fragrant” stories about love.
In 1919, Kuprin emigrated. In exile he writes a novel “ Janet” about the tragic loneliness of a person who has lost his homeland.
Kuprin's emigrant period is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel “ Juncker”.
Kuprin's prose became one of the notable phenomena of Russian literature at the beginning of the century, its literary traditions were innovatively and originally enriched by the writer, Kuprin noticeably strengthened it in his works event, plot beginning. Kuprin – a master of a fascinating plot, a depicter of sometimes strange and unlikely events (“Staff Captain Rybnikov”, “Captain”, “Star of Solomon”).
ANALYSIS OF WORKS
"DUEL"
Thematically" Duel“continued many of Kuprin’s stories about the Russian army, reaching hitherto unprecedented sharpness and depth of understanding. Criticism responded vividly and approvingly to this particular line of the story, noting that army reality is exposed here “in all its terrible and tragic ugliness.”
Kuprin's story was viewed as a truly artistic, revealing document of the era and as an expression of the author's confused and passive positive program. At the core" Duel" – a person’s comprehension of the world and his “I”, his spiritual awakening. Critical understanding of army orders is only one of many facets of this process.
Second Lieutenant Yuri Romashov goes through a path of difficult and painful thoughts. Such a seemingly traditional motif for Russian literature acquires a special meaning from Kuprin. Romashov - young, pure, even naive, but forced to be in the painful and meager environment of a low-ranking regiment. Everything that is characteristic of youth - dreams of happiness, love, attraction to beauty, is painfully aggravated in constant communication with narrow-minded and rude officers. And the perception of the surrounding life acquires a rare intensity under the influence of the impatient expectation of one’s “finest hour.” In a short period (the action of the story takes place within about two months), the soul matures and new moral and aesthetic ideals mature. And therefore, Romashov’s understanding of specific people and the essence of human relationships is rapidly changing and deepening. A heart yearning for beauty measures reality according to its internal laws.
The author's voice is organically woven into the main thoughts actor"Duel", expanding and deepening them. This is how the truth is conveyed about the Russian officers, for whom military service – forced, "resentful corvée"". A specific fact - the suicide of a soldier - is compared (by no means in Romashov's memory) with the same incident in the past - a sad pattern is shaded. It is the author who connects the characters of the story with all people by the same tragedy of "confused and oppressed consciousness." The boundaries of plot time and space are freely expanded.
The meaning of Romashov’s life should also be sought not in the judgments of his friends and colleagues, but in the holistic sound of the work. Such definitions of Kuprin’s hero as “weak-willed,” “doubting,” and “passive” have become stable. Maybe because Shurochka called Romashov “weak,” although she clearly interpreted this quality in her own way as an inability to win “a place in the sun.” The constant doubts and remorse of the young second lieutenant seem to the writer himself to be a stimulus for insight. And there were insights, and of the most secret nature for Kuprin.
IN " Duel" There is cross-cutting motif of youth . Romashov's youth intensifies his painful experience of the ubiquitous "absurdity, confusion, incomprehensibility." At the same time, the thirst for a new existence is a sure sign of the fragility of a decrepit world. The age of the hero leads to a different association - with the transformation of life. That’s why Romashov’s senseless death in a duel at the hands of an insignificant careerist is so tragic. The last chord is filled not only with compassion, but also with condemnation of selfish people who did not appreciate their beautifully blossoming youth. Kuprin was dissatisfied with the brevity of the final chapter of his story. It seems, however, that it is the dry, official report on the murder of Romashov that most strengthens the feeling of the inadmissibility of the death of a young man who until the last moment passionately strived for truth and beauty, who entered into a duel with vulgarity and meanness.
"GARNET BRACELET"
The discrepancy between what was desired and what existed was overcome in the most original way; Kuprin abandoned the option of happy, perfect love. But this very feeling, absolutized in one soul, became the stimulus for the rebirth of another. This is how one of the most chaste works arose - "Garnet bracelet" (1911).
The story is often interpreted in a primitive way - as a contrast to the aristocrat Vera Sheina and the poor official Zheltkov. And they both belonged to approximately the same circle of educated intelligentsia. IN " Garnet bracelet"More and more complex and significant.
The rarest gift of high and unrequited love became “enormous happiness”, the only content, the poetry of Zheltkov’s life. The phenomenality of his experiences raises the image of the young man above all other characters in the story. Not only the rude, narrow-minded Tuganovsky, the frivolous coquette Anna, but also the smart, conscientious Shein, who considers love the “greatest secret” Anosov, the beautiful and pure Vera Nikolaevna herself are in a clearly reduced everyday environment. However, this contrast is not where the main nerve of the story lies.
From the first lines there is a feeling withering . It can be read in the autumn landscape, in the sad sight of empty dachas with broken windows, empty flower beds, with “degenerate” small roses, in the “grassy, sad smell” of the pre-winter. Similar to autumn nature is the monotonous, seemingly drowsy existence of Vera Sheina, where familiar relationships, convenient connections and skills have been strengthened. Beauty is not at all alien to Vera, but the desire for it has long been dulled. She “was strictly simple, cold with everyone and a little patronizingly kind, independent and regal calm.” The royal calm destroys Zheltkov.
Kuprin writes not about the origin of Vera’s love, namely about the awakening of her soul . It proceeds in the refined sphere of premonitions and acute experiences. The external course of the days goes on as usual: guests arrive for Vera’s name day, her husband ironically tells them about his wife’s strange admirer, the plan for Shein and Vera’s brother Tuganovsky to visit Zheltkov matures and then comes to fruition, at this meeting young man he is offered to leave the city where Vera lives, but he decides to leave life completely and leaves. All events respond to the growing emotional tension of the heroine.
Psychological climax of the story– Vera’s farewell to the deceased Zheltkov, their only “date” is a turning point in her internal state. On the face of the deceased she read “deep importance,” a “blissful and serene” smile, “the same peaceful expression” as “on the masks of the great sufferers - Pushkin and Napoleon.” The greatness of suffering and the peace in the feeling that caused it - Vera herself had never experienced this. “At that second she realized that the love that every woman dreams of had passed her by.” Former complacency is perceived as a mistake, an illness.
Kuprin endows his beloved heroine with much greater spiritual powers than those that caused her disappointment in herself. In the final chapter, Vera's excitement reaches its limit. To the sounds of a Beethoven sonata - Zheltkov bequeathed to listen to it - Vera seemed to take into her heart everything that he suffered. He accepts and anew, in tears of repentance and enlightenment, experiences “a life that humbly and joyfully doomed itself to torment, suffering and death.” Now this life will forever remain with her and for her.
The process of rare complexity and intimacy is contained in the “Garnet Bracelet”. The writer, however, refuses to convey both the heroine’s detailed thoughts and his own direct thoughts about her. Surprisingly chastely he touches the sophisticated human soul and at the same time conveys in detail the appearance and behavior of other characters in the story.
Vera's experiences in their culmination and resolution are embodied laconically, but with poignant expression. It is achieved by an expressive association of what is happening with the music of one of the movements of Beethoven’s second sonata (also included in the epigraph of “The Garnet Bracelet”). Merging Vera's thoughts with sounds allows you to naturally express sublime prayerful state of mind , as if to convey Zheltkov’s voice. And the heroine’s involvement with flowers, trees, and a light breeze brightens the woman’s tears, as if blessing her for the faithful memory of the deceased. The most elusive human feelings are indirectly captured.
The poetic "Garnet Bracelet", dedicated to a seemingly special case, is very important for understanding the author's concept of a person. In this work, perhaps more clearly than in many other things, the concepts sacred to Kuprin - creativity and love - are brought together. It is interpreted as a mysterious energy that creates harmony in earthly existence, including human relationships. “The Pomegranate Bracelet,” perhaps the only one in Kuprin’s prose, reflected the phenomenon of love and co-creation with Mother Nature herself.
The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the epiphany of a simple Russian man who greedily sought the truth of life. Kuprin devoted all his work to the development of this complex psychological topic. His art, as his contemporaries put it, was characterized by a special vigilance in seeing the world, concreteness, and a constant desire for knowledge. The educational pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by dynamics, drama, and excitement.
Kuprin's biography is a lie for an adventure novel. In terms of the abundance of meetings with people and life observations, it was reminiscent of Gorky’s biography. Kuprin traveled a lot, did a variety of work: he served at a factory, worked as a loader, played on stage, sang in a church choir.
At an early stage of his work, Kuprin was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky. It manifested itself in the stories “In the Dark,” “On a Moonlit Night,” and “Madness.” He writes about fateful moments, the role of chance in a person’s life, and analyzes the psychology of human passions. Some stories of that period say that the human will is helpless in the face of natural chance, that the mind cannot comprehend the mysterious laws that govern man. A decisive role in overcoming literary cliches coming from Dostoevsky was played by direct acquaintance with the lives of people, with the real Russian reality.
He begins to write essays. Their peculiarity is that the writer usually had a leisurely conversation with the reader. They clearly showed clear storylines and a simple and detailed depiction of reality. The greatest influence on Kuprin the essayist was G. Uspensky.
Kuprin's first creative quests culminated in the largest thing that reflected reality. It was the story “Moloch”. In it, the writer shows the contradictions between capital and forced human labor. He was able to grasp the social characteristics of the newest forms of capitalist production. An angry protest against the monstrous violence against man, on which the industrial flourishing in the world of “Moloch” is based, a satirical demonstration of the new masters of life, an exposure of the shameless predation in the country of foreign capital - all this cast doubt on the theories of bourgeois progress. After essays and short stories, the story was an important stage in the writer’s work.
In search of moral and spiritual ideals of life, which the writer contrasted with the ugliness of modern human relations, Kuprin turns to the lives of vagabonds, beggars, drunken artists, starving unrecognized artists, and children of the poor urban population. This is a world of nameless people who form the mass of society. Among them, Kuprin tried to find his positive heroes. He writes the stories “Lidochka”, “Lokon”, “Kindergarten”, “At the Circus” - in these works Kuprin’s heroes are free from the influence of bourgeois civilization.
In 1898, Kuprin wrote the story “Olesya”. The plot of the story is traditional: an intellectual, an ordinary and urban person, in a remote corner of Polesie meets a girl who grew up outside of society and civilization. Olesya is distinguished by spontaneity, integrity of nature, and spiritual richness. Poetizing life unconstrained by modern social cultural frameworks. Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of the “natural man,” in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in civilized society.
In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg, where he became close to many writers. During this period, his story “Night Shift” appears, where the main character is a simple soldier. The hero is not an aloof person, not the forest Olesya, but a completely real person. From the image of this soldier, threads stretch to other heroes. It was at this time that a new genre appeared in his work: the short story.
In 1902, Kuprin conceived the story “The Duel”. In this work, he undermined one of the main pillars of the autocracy - the military caste, in the features of the decomposition and moral decline of which he showed signs of the decomposition of the entire social system. The story reflects the progressive sides of Kuprin’s work. The basis of the plot is the fate of an honest Russian officer, whom the conditions of army barracks life made him feel the illegality of people's social relations. Once again, Kuprin is not talking about an outstanding personality, but about a simple Russian officer Romashov. The regimental atmosphere torments him; he does not want to be in the army garrison. He became disillusioned with military service. He begins to fight for himself and his love. And Romashov’s death is a protest against the social and moral inhumanity of the environment.
With the onset of reaction and the aggravation of social life in society, Kuprin’s creative concepts also change. During these years, his interest in the world of ancient legends, history, and antiquity intensified. An interesting fusion of poetry and prose, the real and the legendary, the real and the romance of feelings arises in creativity. Kuprin gravitates toward the exotic and develops fantastic plots. He returns to the themes of his earlier novella. The motives of the inevitability of chance in a person’s fate are heard again.
In 1909, the story “The Pit” was published from the pen of Kuprin. Here Kuprin pays tribute to naturalism. It shows the inmates of a brothel. The whole story consists of scenes, portraits and clearly breaks down into individual details of everyday life.
However, in a number of stories written in the same years, Kuprin tried to point out real signs of high spiritual and moral values in reality itself. “Garnet Bracelet” is a story about love. This is what Paustovsky said about it: this is one of the most “fragrant” stories about love.
In 1919, Kuprin emigrated. In exile, he writes the novel “Zhanette”. This work is about the tragic loneliness of a person who has lost his homeland. This is a story about the touching affection of an old professor, who found himself in exile, for a little Parisian girl - the daughter of a street newspaper girl.
Kuprin's emigrant period is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel “Junker”.
In exile, the writer Kuprin did not lose faith in the future of his Motherland. At the end of his life's journey, he still returns to Russia. And his work rightfully belongs to Russian art, the Russian people.